What Are Dead Zones in the Ocean

Legality and Ethicality of Financial Reporting - 1239 Words

Legality and Ethicality of Financial Reporting ETH/376 August 25, 2014 Legality and Ethicality of Financial Reporting Excello Telecommunications has a history of excellent performance but with a surge in oversea competitors the company may not be able to meet its financial estimates for the first time. Executives were worried that not being able to meet the financial estimates could impact stock options, bonuses, and the share price of company stock. While looking to find a way to meet the financial estimates Terry Reed, the CFO, discovers a transaction on December 20, 2010 that might solve the problem. Excello sold $1.2 million of equipment to Data Equipment Systems. This type of transaction would be recorded as a sale on the†¦show more content†¦All CPAs who are members of AICPA are purely governed by the AICPA code of conduct. The code takes into consideration the needs of all financial statement users. Consideration of public interest is the main aim of the code. The Excello accounting department has the duty of following the professional d uties, be honest in the financial prospering and protecting the public interest. This means upholding their ethical status and protecting the interest of the public. In response to Reeds request the accounting department came up with three main scenarios they felt met his points of recording the $1.2 million transaction in 2010 and the decision must be defensible from a GAAP view point. They are as follows: 1. Transfers the products to an off-site warehouse owned by Excello by December 31 and hold it until January 11 when it would be shipped to Data Equipment. 2. Transfer the product to Data Equipment by December 31 and agree that the customer could return it for a full refund after it arrives at Data Equipment’s warehouse. 3. Offer Data Equipment a 10 percent discount to take the product by December 31. The first one, transferring the product to an off-site warehouse until January 11, is unethical. Despite the fact that the goods are located at an off-site storage facility, the product is still in the hands of Excello. They still hold the legal rights and therefore the sale has not happened. The second one, transfer the product toShow MoreRelatedLegality and Ethicality of Financial Reporting1296 Words   |  6 PagesLegality and Ethicality of Financial Reporting Petra Clark ETH / 376 June 3, 2013 Ding Hardin Abstract Excello Telecommunications is a successful organization, but because of a growing rivalry, the organization has begun to notice their earnings estimations might not be achieved. Excello’s top administrators are worried how this will impact the organization. We will look at possible options as well as their moral ramifications as well as the federal laws which can be applied to the situationRead MoreLegality and Ethicality of Financial Reporting1241 Words   |  5 PagesLegality and Ethicality of Financial Reporting Janet Tran ETH/376 Kathrine Parks University of Phoenix/Axia July 21, 2014 Excello Telecommunications was presented with a dilemma on how the company should report earnings so that they would appear to have met earning estimates for the 2010 financial year. The CFO, Terry Reed, was concerned with how failure to meet earning estimates would affect bonuses, stock options, and the share price ofRead MoreEthics Case 3-3: United Thermostatic Controls Case932 Words   |  4 PagesLegality and Ethicality of Corporate Governance ETH 376 Ethics Case 3-3: United Thermostatic Controls Case The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the legality and ethicality of the corporate governance activities that occurred in an ethics case presented in the text. The paper will provide relevant details regarding the legality of the activities, the criteria by which Sarbanes-Oxley would apply to this case, the ethicality of the activities, whether or not the activities were equitableRead MoreLegality and Ethicality of Corporate Governance985 Words   |  4 PagesLegality and Ethicality of Financial Reporting Clairice Sikoski ETH-376 December 10, 2012 Samuel Hinton Legality and Ethicality of Financial Reporting Excello Telecommunications is looking to record revenue before the earning process has been completed or before the unconditional exchange has occurred. Terry Reed, the CFO is trying to influence the accounting department to look for options to record the sale of 1.2 million in equipment by December 31 to boost earnings on financial statementsRead MoreLegality and Ethicality1100 Words   |  5 PagesLegality and Ethicality in Financial Reporting In week3, we are looking into the case of Excello Telecommunications, and study their behavior base on the knowledge of legality and ethicality in financial reporting. Excello Telecommunications has been successful in the past. However, in recent years, the company is facing more and more competitors. For the first in the company’s history, the earnings estimate won’t be met. This means nervous investors and drop in value of Excello stocks. And theRead MoreExcello Telecommuncations1587 Words   |  7 Pages 2014 Excello Telecommunications Case The year is quickly ending for Excello Telecommunications, and they are trying to maximize earnings for the company. With increased competition from foreign companies, Excello meeting its financial estimates are looking bleak. Failure to meet earnings expectations can reduce the availability of bonuses, stock options and could lessen the value of the company. Because of the threat in not meeting estimated earnings, the company’s CFO TerryRead MoreExcello1402 Words   |  6 PagesThe firm must adhere to all the laws and other regulations as set. Among the regulations include Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), and AICPA code of conduct. The rules impact the mechanism, of financial reporting in the company and also help sin the actions of major principles of accounting. As a result of this, the accounting team must ensure they get the best method that will help in maximizing g the wealth of the shareholders. 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It detailed a survey of more than 600 respondents which included general managers, financial managers, and others. An analysis of the survey results suggests the question of whether the management of earnings is ethical inRead MoreUnited Thermostatic Controls Eth 376 Essay951 Words   |  4 Pages ETH 376 June 25, 2012 Susan Paris United Thermostatic Controls This paper will show the legality of the activities that happened within United Thermostatic Controls based on federal, state, and local laws. As this case is examined the Sarbanes-Oxley act will be discussed as it played a role in this case because United is a publicly owned company. Also this paper will show the ethicality, if the activities were equitable to internal and external stakeholders, and what is the next step

Democracy And Democratic Education Education Essay Free Essays

Introduction When I worked in the Affiliated High School of National Chengchi University and observed the Forest School and The Seeding Experimental School in Taiwan, I found that in their specific acquisition atmosphere, the pupils can believe and move more creatively and critically. We can ever see their originative merchandises in the campus, such as verse forms, postings, pictures and statues. Furthermore, the schools are full of freedom, regard, trust and grasp, it is common to see their pupils spontaneously singing and dancing in campus. We will write a custom essay sample on Democracy And Democratic Education Education Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now Due to these interesting findings, I started to inquire myself a inquiry: ‘are there any connexions between the democratic ambiance and the student ‘s creativeness? ‘ Further, ‘to what extent can the democratic attack to education support more originative acquisition? ‘ I later searched for the literature about the two constructs ; as a consequence, I found some valuable information about the connexions between democratic instruction and creativeness. However, it is rare to see the surveies that are straight look intoing the connexions between the two educational attacks ( democratic instruction and originative instruction ) , the motive to carry on this survey has hence emerged. In order to turn to the issue, this essay is designed to foremost research the nature of democracy, democratic instruction, and so creativeness and originative instruction. After researching those constructs, this survey turns to look into the connexions between democratic instruction and originative instruction, besides replying the inquiry that ‘how can a democratic attack to education support more originative acquisition? ‘ This paper is organised into the undermentioned three subdivisions: the first subdivision discusses democracy and democratic instruction, whereas the 2nd high spots the constructs of creativeness and originative instruction. In the 3rd portion, I chiefly use Rhodes ( 1961 ) Four Ps Model ( Person, Place, Process and Products ) of creativeness to analyse/ compare the two sorts of attacks to instruction, complementing with a treatment of two democratic schools in Taiwan – the Forest School and the Seeding Experimental School. Democracy and Democratic Education ‘Two innovations of adult male must certainly be viewed as the most hard: the art of authorities and the art of instruction ‘ – Immanuel Kant, Kant on Education ( Ueber Padagogik ) Translated by Annette Churton ( 1992, p.12 ) Democracy can be applied to many contexts, from narrowly political position to loosely personal life. In political degree, Danziger ( 1998 ) stated that democracy is the leader of a state who is elected by all eligible citizens, as echt options to do some political determinations for the populace. Vanhannen ( 1997 ) further argued that as a political signifier, democratic society should hold different groups or parties every bit viing for power, every bit good as to be responsible to the people, through the manner of elections. John Calhoun ( paraphrased by Roper 1989 ) besides mentioned that democracy itself is non a bulk regulation but stand foring the public involvements and at the same time recognizing the minorities. On the other manus, sing democracy as an facet of life, Dewey ( 1916 ) stated that ‘Democracy is more than a signifier of authorities: it is chiefly a manner of associated life, a conjoint communicated experience ‘ . It is just to state that democracy ca n be regarded as a regulating power for a state, and all the people can fall in for doing its corporate involvements. In the same manner, holding the rights to do determinations would perchance impact their lives every bit good. Sing democratic instruction ( hereafter DE ) , it is believed that to set up, keep and develop of a democratic society, citizens ‘ engagement is needed, and taking to make this end citizens should be equipped with the cognition and therefore understand the values of democracy, and instruction has ever been regarded as a good mode. John Dewey, the male parent of progressive instruction, placed DE the premiss of his work in the early 20th century, as he claimed that in order to advance a state that genuinely valued democratic rules, all of its citizens must be empowered to prosecute in a democratic discourse. Greene ( 1995 ) mentioned in the book ‘Releasing the Imagination ‘ , proposing that the impression of instruction is to link with others, enabling people to develop high quality of democratic behaviors and to be communicative in their societies. Nussbaum ( 1997 ) stated that people should be antiphonal to others in order to raise their democratic achievements as citizens. Therefore instruction and schooling, in order to further future citizens the sense of democracy, is taking an of import function ( Dewey 1916 ; Gutmann, 1987 ; 1999 ) . In the tendency of prioritizing DE, many have attempted to do clear definition and happen its embedded aspects. Since DE is full of pluralism and complexness, after a long argument throughout the past decennaries, a by and large agreed definition has non been reached. However, I found that DE inherits most of the characteristics of democracy[ 1 ]and have been mentioned invariably, including a. freedom of pick, b. equal entree, c. shared duty, d. regard and trust, and e. student-centred acquisition. Sing the understandings made by DE related administrations, the 13th International Democratic Education Conference ( IDEC ) in Berlin 2005, clearly stated their understanding on DE that ‘in any educational scene, immature people have the right: 1. to make up one’s mind separately how, when, what, where and with whom they learn, and 2. to hold an equal portion in the decision-making as to how their administrations – in peculiar their schools – are run, and which regulations and countenances, if any, are necessary ( www.idec2005.org ) . ‘ On the other manus, the European Democratic Education Community ( EUDEC ) stated that DE is ‘self-determined larning ‘ and ‘a larning community based on equality and common regard ‘ ( www.eudec.org, 2012 ) . As the facet of equality, in other words, equal entree, the instruction for low category of the society did non have public attending and go something for the Commonwealth until the nineteenth century, when Leo Tolstoy founded a school: merely for the peasant kids, where students are allowed to make up one’s mind whether to come to school or listen to the instructors ( trans. Leo Wiener, 1967 ) . Sing the concluding facet of student-centred acquisition, Moswela ( 2010 ) pointed out that it is a good manner of democratizing their school and schoolroom acquisition: ‘placing the pupils in the Centre of learning embodies the rule of democracy ‘ . Learning is meaningful when subjects are relevant to the pupils ‘ involvements, the thought that pupils can take what and how to analyze is that merely when they have motive, they can actively build their ain cognition. Some basic democratic experiences are important in back uping pupils to show their ideas and thoughts Democratic attack enables pupils to find their manner of lives and demands, which should be regarded every bit granted as a intent of instruction. In order to implement these thoughts, the democratic schools have been established in over 30 states. The UK has long been regarded as the innovator of democratic schooling, it is undeniable that the earliest democratic school that we have known, and still be, is Summerhill School.[ 2 ]It was founded in Germany in 1921, and moved to England subsequently on. The laminitis is A. S. Neill, a Scots pedagogue, who has written several books about the subject of democracy and democratic instruction, such as That Dreadful School ( 1937 ) , and Hearts Not Heads in the School ( 1945 ) . In fact, most of his books have later influenced many of the democratic schools founded subsequently on. The school tally as a democratic community, which means that the running of the school is conducted in the school meetings that every individual individual in this school are available to go to every bit good as to vote for the issues they addressed in the meetings. Sudbury Valley School, on the other manus, is another sort of democratic school that founded in the United States in 1968, which has been the theoretical account for a figure of Sudbury schools loosely around the universe. The theoretical account has three basic dogmas: a. educational freedom b. democratic administration, and c. personal duty. Students are allowed freely to set up their acquisition agenda, they believe that larning should be a personal attempt that based on single involvements, but non necessary to be experienced through classs or standard course of study ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sudval.org/index.html ) . In drumhead, there are assorted sorts of definitions of democracy and DE, nevertheless, five subjects have been found to be indispensable to both constructs, including a. freedom of pick, b. equal entree, c. shared duty and d. regard and trust. And, it should be noted that all the elements can lend to a more student-centred acquisition. Creativity and Creative Education Albert Einstein one time said that ‘Creativity is intelligence holding merriment ‘ , it is believed that creativeness is something instead absorbing and graphic, something kids ain since the really first twenty-four hours they were born. ‘All kids are creative persons. The job is how to stay an creative person one time he grows up. ‘ , said Pablo Picasso. Although many creative persons, authors and bookmans advocated the importance of creativeness, it is still a instead elusive one to trap down for research workers. Creativity, similar to democracy, is full of pluralism and complexness ; hence, because it is highly hard to do clear definitions, some even argue that it has been unsuitably overused ( Abinun, 2012 ) . Therefore, it is suggested that creativeness should be explained in a clearer mode, and sometimes it varies in different contexts. However, most scholarly works agree that creativeness has two characteristics, viz. originality/novelty and usefulness /valuable ( Boden, 1999 ; Feist, 1999 ; Gruber A ; Wallace, 1999 ; Lumsden, 1999 ; Lubart, 1999 ; Martindale, 1999 ; Nickerson, 1999 ) . Csikszentmihalyi, in add-on to originality and utility, advanced the construct and asserted that there is another indispensable characteristic of creativeness – execution ( Csikszentmihalyi A ; Wolfe, 1995 ) . He suggested that it is of import to convey the advanced and utile thoughts into being. Similarly, Edwards stated in her book Pulling on the Right Side of the Brain ( 1979 ; 1989 ; 1999 ; 2012 ) that creativeness is ‘ †¦ the ability to happen new solutions to a job or new manners of look ; therefore it brings into being something new to the person and to the civilization. ‘ Rollo May ( 1975 ) besides had a similar account on creativeness, claiming that creativeness is the procedure of conveying new things or thoughts into world. Creativity can be invetigated by using many attacks. For illustration, Mayer ( 1999 ) asserted that it can be investigated through psychometric, experimental, biographical, biological, computational, and contextual ; whereas Ivcevic ( 2009 ) summarised that the attacks of single traits and beliefs, biological temperaments, interactions with environment, societal groups, situational elements, and inexplicit state of affairs are normally used. However, more bookmans agreed that the major methodological attacks, which have been employed from 1950s, are the undermentioned: a. personality ; b. knowledge ; c. ways to excite creativeness, and d. creativeness and societal systems ( Craft, 2001 ; Ryhammar and Brolin, 1999 ) . Research refering personality in creativeness embracings assorted facets, such as personality appraisal, personal traits, and personal motive. Two major attacks lending to the field are biographical and biological methodological analysiss. While the biographical attack has particular involvement in analyzing personal traits, biological methodological analysiss chiefly focus on the biological features of originative or non-creative individuals. Another attack, knowledge on the other manus, pays more attending to an person ‘s cognitive procedures, such as intelligence, unconsciousness, and mental procedures. Psychological and psychometries are the two major attacks of creativeness probe under the knowledge umbrella. Mayer ( 1999 ) concludes that while psychological research workers efforts to depict cognitive procedure involved in originative and non-creative thought, psychometries attacks try to develop creativeness related measurings or appraisals. The most well-known psychomet ries work is arguably Guilford ‘s attempts in 1950 and 1967 in mensurating to prove divergent thought. This is regarded as the starting point for all psychometric steps of creativeness. The 3rd major attack to creativeness research is to research the ways to excite creativeness. For illustration, knowledge psychologists advocate assorted signifiers of programmes for exciting participants ‘ thought procedures, whereas behaviourism research workers believe that creativeness is something that can be learnt from environment, something which like all other behaviors can be explained in footings of support, and be trained for in the stimulating-responding procedure. In contrast with these earlier developments, research into creativeness in the 1980s and 1990s became rooted in a societal psychological model, which recognises the of import function of societal constructions in furthering single creativeness ( Rhyammar A ; Brolin, 1999, Jeffrey A ; Craft, 2000 ) . This has been described as being a 4th, consistent country of survey ( Jeffrey A ; Craft, 2000 ) : creativeness and societal systems, which is a more consistent model to transport out a co-ordinated set of surveies therefore is needed for switching focal point from one â€Å" specific dimension † such as personal traits to a â€Å" system † . Some research workers such as Csikszentmihalyi ( 1988, 1996, 1998, 2000a ) , Amabile ( 1983, 1996 ) , and Sternberg A ; Lubart ( 1991, 1995 ) , hence advocate the survey of creativeness in the societal context. To the bookmans above, irrespective of whether creativeness is considered as a personal trait, originative behavior, cognit ive procedure, or something that can be trained, creativeness should be finally linked to societal contexts, and be understood through interaction procedures. Amabile was the first bookman to develop a theoretical account within a societal context. Amabile foremost published the Componential Model of Creativity in 1983, discoursing the societal influences on originative behaviour. The theoretical account can be regarded as the first one to comprehensively take into history cognitive, personality, motive, and societal influences on the originative procedure, and is besides the first to look into how these factors influence the different stairss in originative procedure. In Amabile ‘s ( 1983, 1996 ) theoretical account, creativeness is the originative production that emerges in a five stairss procedure, viz. : ( 1 ) job or undertaking designation ; ( 2 ) readying ; ( 3 ) response coevals ; ( 4 ) response proof ; and ( 5 ) result rating. Further, the procedure interacts with undertaking motive, domain-relevant accomplishments and creativeness relevant accomplishments. Figure 1.3 Amabile ‘s ( 1983 ; 1996 ) Componential Model Beginning: Amabile, T. M. ( 1996 ) . Creativity in context: Update to â€Å" The Social Psychology of Creativity. † ( p. 113 ) . Boulder, CO, US: Westview Press. Another societal context creativeness research worker Csikszentmihalyi investigates the relationship between creativeness and cultural development. Inspired by the procedure of species development, Csikszentmihalyi developed the DIFI[ 3 ]model in 1988. The DIFI model has three subsystems: person ; sphere ; and field, each of the subsystem interacts with others. Csikszentmihalyi revised the DIFI model and named it Systems Model of Creativity in 1999, and harmonizing to the theoretical account, creativeness can be best understood as a â€Å" meeting † of three subsystems[ 4 ]. The sphere includes a set of regulations and practises. Any civilization is composed of 1000s of independent spheres, and most human behavior or activities are affected by regulations of some spheres. An person is the most of import one from a psychological position. An single makes a fresh fluctuation in the content of a sphere and the fluctuation will be evaluated by the 3rd portion of the system, which is the field. The Fieldss are held by assorted gatekeepers, such as experts and bookmans, who have the right to take which fluctuations can be reserved in the spheres. McIntyre ( 2007 ) refers to Csikszentmihalyi ‘s analysis of creativeness as an synergistic system. Merely as air, kindling and a flicker are all vitally necessary to make fire. Csikzentmihalyi ( 1999 ) takes the place that creativeness means â€Å" the ability to add something new to the â€Å" civilization † . The creative activity by an single must be â€Å" sanctioned by some group entitled to do determinations as to what should or should non be included in the sphere † ( Figure1.4 ) . Figure 1.4 Csikszentmihalyi ( 1999 ) System Model of Creativity Beginning: Csikszentmihalyi ( 1999 ) . Deductions of a systems position for the survey of creativeness. In R. J. SternbergiEd. ) , Handbook of Creativity. United kingdom: Cambridge University Press. Sternberg and Lubart besides investigate creativeness in societal contexts, and hence developed the Investment Theory of Creativity in 1991. Unlike research workers like Csikszentmihalyi or Amabile who focus on depicting the subsystems and its interactions, Sternberg and Lubart have investigated the different factors that might act upon creativeness. The factors include intelligence, believing manners, personality, cognition, motive, and environment. Nonetheless, compared with other theoretical accounts suggested by Amabile or Csikszentmihalyi, Sternberg ‘s and Lubart ‘s Investment Theory of Creativity is simply a heuristic theoretical account, and it falls short on many elements. The inside informations of the operation and how different factors interact with each other still need to be clarified. â€Å" Buy low and sell high † is the nucleus construct of the investing theory, and originative people are those willing and able to purchase low and sell high in the k ingdom of thoughts[ 5 ]. Due to the word bound of this essay, I merely articulate the two more related attacks for current survey, including the ways to excite creativeness, aboard with creativeness and societal systems.Ways to Stimulate CreativitySince the 1950s, there has been a strong concern that instruction should prioritize the development of creativeness. Implicit in this is the premise that creativeness can be so influenced. Since so, a scope of efforts to excite creativeness have been developed, although there is, as Ryhammer A ; Brolin ( 1999 ) point out, a serious deficiency of systematic, controlled ratings of such programmes. It is besides the instance that the methods and standards for measuring these are underpinned by differing theories of creativeness. In add-on, whether looking at efforts by cognitive psychologists, psychodynamicists, humanists or behaviorists, there is no grounds of transportation into new contexts. See the subdivision on patterned advance and development for farther trea tment of transportation issues. There was besides work done in the 1980s which suggested that early household duties and chances for independent action promote originative accomplishment and that creativeness developing programmes in schools are more effectual when teacher engagement is high ( Benjamin, 1984 ) .Creativity and Social SystemsBy contrast with these earlier developments, research into creativeness in the 1980s and 1990s became rooted in a societal psychological model which recognises the of import function of societal constructions in furthering single creativeness ( Rhyammar A ; Brolin, 1999, Jeffrey A ; Craft, 2000 ) . This has been described as being a 4th, consistent country of survey ( Jeffrey A ; Craft, 2000 ) : creativeness and societal systems. Some important theories have been put frontward in which creativeness is seen from a systems position ( Cziksentmihalyi, 1998, Sternberg, 1998, Sternberg A ; Lubart, 1991a, 1991b, 1995 ) , where assorted elements of t he overall societal and cognitive context are seen as extremely relevant to the activity of making. Three major surveies were undertaken – 1 in Europe ( Ekvall, 1991, 1996 ) and two in the USA ( Amabile, 1988, Isaksen, 1995 ) – which explored the organizational climes which serve to excite creativeness. The consequences from these three programmes have converged at several major points, proposing that, in a originative clime, the participants in the administration: feel challenged by their ends, operations and tasksfeel able to take enterprises and to happen relevant informationfeel able to interact with othersfeel that new thoughts are met with support and encouragementfeel able to set frontward new thoughts and viewsexperience much argument within a prestige-free and unfastened environmentfeel uncertainness is tolerated and therefore risk-taking is encouraged.In add-on, Amabile ‘s ( 1983, 1996 ) theoretical account suggests that single creativeness may be affec ted by even really minor facets of the immediate societal environment ( relevant theoretical account please refer to appendix ) . For illustration, creativeness may be impeded where wagess are determined in progress, where there is undue clip force per unit area, over-supervision, competition or where picks are restricted in footings of attack or working stuffs, or where rating is expected. The function of the context or capable sphere has been progressively emphasised since the early 1990s. In 1970s, arguments on creativeness within doctrine regarded creativeness as traveling off from merchandise results and being connected with imagination ( Elliott, 1971 ) . During the 1980s a new line was developed, born of societal psychological science and systems theory, where environmental conditions were taken into history. Within these four lines of development, ( personality, knowledge, exciting creativeness and societal theories ) there were specific focal points such as the individual w ho creates, the originative procedure, environmental factors, and the result ( a fourfold set of focal point, originally proposed by Mooney in 1963 as indicated above ) . Later on, during the 1990s, due to the development of the attack from societal psychological science, research into creativeness became more comprehensive, incorporating these specific focal point. Research began to concentrate more on the creativeness of ordinary people within facets of instruction. At the same clip the methodological analysis for look intoing creativeness in instruction besides shifted, within a general tendency, from rationalist, large-scale surveies taking to mensurate creativeness, toward ethnographic, qualitative research concentrating on the existent site of operations and pattern, every bit good as philosophical treatments around the nature of creativeness. In instruction in the United Kingdom, for illustration, Beetlestone ( 1999 ) focused on creativeness in the early old ages ‘ scho olroom, Woods ( 1995 ) and Woods A ; Jeffrey ( 1996 ) explored teacher creativeness, and Craft ( 1996 ) looked at how to nurture the originative instructor. Beetlestone paperss practical schemes for furthering creativeness within the early old ages course of study, utilizing illustrations from a big assortment of early old ages contexts. Woods A ; Jeffrey work through in-depth instance surveies to document ways in which a little group of instructors operate creatively in the face of a wider context which arguably suppresses the creativeness of the instruction profession. Craft explores in deepness the positions of 18 pedagogues involved in a holistic graduate student class specifically designed to foster their ain creativeness. There are, of class, some convergences in these periods. For illustration, from the applied instruction context, Fryer ( 1996 ) undertook a large-scale study of instructors ‘ attitudes towards creativeness in their day-to-day professional work.Creativ e Education There is a strong principle for researching creativeness and acquisition and instruction: they are cardinal, interdisciplinary issues. Within instruction, creativeness is normally associated with invention, synthesis and doing connexions in the procedure of acquisition and instruction, ( Reid A ; Petocz, 2004 ) . Robinson ( 2001 ) positions creativeness and originative drama as a planetary educational precedence, indispensable to effectual acquisition and instruction, the modernisation of our educational systems, employability, and concern success and economic prosperity. Howard Gardner defines creativeness as the ability to ‘knit together information from disparate beginnings into a consistent whole ‘ and believes that ‘the head most at premium in the 21st century will be the head that can synthesise good ‘ ( Gardner, 2006, p.46 ) . The penetrations and deductions in developing creativeness through instruction can be scrutinized into three facets. The first facet is concerned with ‘teaching ‘ , including how to supply originative and advanced patterns which stimulate the development of multiple intelligence ( Armstrong, 2000 ; Chen, 1997 ; Torrance, 1963 ; Torrance A ; Myers, 1970 ; Woods, 1995 ) , possibility thought ( Craft, 2000, 2005 ) , and higher-level thought ( Cropley, 1992 ; Fryer, 1996 ; Yeh, 2006 ) , or how to affect the chance of researching and work outing jobs ( Cropley, 1992 ; Fryer, 1996, 2003 ; Torrance, 1963 ) . The 2nd facet of the deductions suggests making an ‘environment ‘ , both external and societal, that is exciting and supportive to scholars ‘ motivation/enthusiasm ( Collins A ; Amabile, 1999 ; Hennesay, 1995, 2007 ; Woods A ; Jeffrey, 1996 ) and originative behavior ( Craft, 2001a ; Esquivel, 1995 ; Lucas, 2001 ; Torrance, 1995 ) . The 3rd concern of fo stering creativeness is about ‘teacher ethos ‘ , which includes keeping an unfastened attitude towards originative thoughts or behaviors, demoing a humanistic student control political orientation ( as opposed to being autocratic ) , being flexible, and valuing independency thought ( Chen, 2008 ; Craft, 2001a, 2005, 2007 ; Cremin, Barnes, A ; Scoffham, 2009 ; Esquivel, 1995 ; Hennessey, 1995 ; NACCCE, 1999 ) . Many states have hence launched several programmes advancing invention and creativeness, such as the European Union embarked on a undertaking called European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009[ 6 ]. In the specific country of instruction, Burnard ( 2006 ) mentioned that in the United Kingdom there have been an extended figure of creativeness enterprises in instruction during the past decennary, and important public deliberation and promotion around the creativeness. Significant sum of attempt and support devoted to gestating and developing creativeness in both acquisition and teaching method. Some creativeness instruction programmes can besides be found in other states. It should be noted that many believe the developments of creativeness instruction programmes in the UK ( including England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland ) have to a great extent based on the NACCCE ‘s ( National Advisory Committee on Culture, Creativity, and Education ) study to OFSTED in 1999, viz. â€Å" All our Futures, Creativity, Culture, and Education † . Similarly, in Taiwan, the Chinese Ministry of Education ( MOE ) published the ‘White Paper on Creative Education[ 7 ]‘ in 2002, aimed at steering the populace to endeavor toward a ‘Republic of Creativity ‘ ( MOE, 2002, p. 1 ) . Taiwan accordingly launched creativeness programmes in instruction at primary, secondary, and third degrees. The MOE proposed 10 rules so that creativeness instruction could be implemented more strictly and efficaciously. Harmonizing to the 10 rules, 20 schemes were developed, which can be categorised into four wide dimensions-School, Societal, Industrial, and Cultural. In order to implement these schemes more expeditiously, the MOE proposed that six action programs be initiated to actively advance creativeness instruction in our society. For illustration, the Creative High School Programme and Intelligent Ironman Creativity Contest are executed at secondary instruction degree, whilst the Local Creative Education Programme is performed in primary schools. Reviewing the ‘White Paper on Creative Education ‘ , it is found that Taiwan has complex aims refering schools and instructors. There are six action programs stated in the paper ( p.16~p.19 ) as follows: a. Nurturing trips for originative scholars ; B. Professional development for originative instructors ; c. Comprehensive direction for originative schools ; d. Creative life in action ; e. Online acquisition via a originative intelligence bank ; and f. Ongoing consolidation of creativeness cultivation. Ultimately, the MOE purposes to make a user-friendly environment and clime for the publicity of participants ‘ divergent thought and motive for invention, every bit good as to promote them to bask the making procedure. Alongside with the outlook on po sitive alterations in the attitudes or behaviors of all instructors, students, and originative practicians, the MOE besides wants to see some merchandises come out from its intercession. With respect to the effectivity of the creativeness enterprises, some publications in Taiwan revealed that the publicity of related programmes have brought important benefits to pedagogues, pupils, parents, schools, and even for our educational system and society. Dancing with Democracy and Creativity: How can a democratic attack to education support more originative acquisition? By using Rhodes ( 1961 ) Four Ps Model and the creativeness theories suggested by Csikszentmihalyi ( 1999 ) and Amabile ( 1983, 1996 ) , this subdivision critically analyses the connexions of democratic attacks and originative acquisition. The two instance schools of Taiwan- Forest School and Seeding School will besides used to back up the statement. The Four Ps Model was foremost claimed by Rhode ( 1961 ) that creativeness can be understood by Person, Place/ Press, Process and Product. I found that, based on the theoretical account, there are a broad scope of similarities between the two sorts of instruction. First, sing Person, people are ever the most of import portion in instruction, particularly in democratic and creativeness attacks. It is reported that many personality features are typically associated with creativeness, including brave in strong beliefs ; funny, seeking ; independent in opinion ; independent in believing ; intuitive ; going preoccupied with undertakings ; airy, idealistic ; willing to take hazards ( Torrance, 1965 ; Csikszentmihalyi, 1976 ; Simonton, 1984 ) . Interestingly, most of the features are someway, to some extent, related to the purposes of democratic instruction. For illustration, the intent of democratic instruction is to fit people with the ability to understand their nature involvements, and to hold the ability to separate right from incorrect, so that they can keep the democratic society every bit good as the system. It is about furthering kids with the ability to believe independently and critically. Last, ‘student-centred ‘ instruction is both pursued by the two attacks, which can be described as the displacement in power from the instructor to the scholar, driven by a demand for a alteration in the traditional environment ( Rogers, 1983 ) . Nonetheless, until now there are still many schoolrooms which are seen as teacher-directed ( Young, 1984 ) , and this seems to be harmful to pupils ‘ creativeness. Place/ Press refers to the relationship between you and your environment – those things pressing on you, including physical, psychological, societal and emotional safety and comfort in your environment, which besides help or impede your creativeness. In originative acquisition, it is suggested that a alimentary environment should be constructed for stimulating and back uping scholars ‘ motivation/enthusiasm ( Collins A ; Amabile, 1999 ; Hennesay, 1995, 2007 ; Woods A ; Jeffrey, 1996 ) and originative behavior ( Craft, 2001a ; Esquivel, 1995 ; Lucas, 2001 ; Torrance, 1995 ) . Furthermore, in Csikszentmihalyi or Amabile ‘s theories, motive is suggested to be indispensable for creativeness. Similarly, democratic instruction besides advocates the publicity of scholars ‘ motive, particularly the intrinsic 1, as they can follow their ain inner counsel in finding what and how they are traveling to larn. More than the physical scenes, the ethos – a common re spected and trusted clime is indispensable to both originative and democratic attacks. Merely as pointed by Inter American Children ‘s Institute ( 2009 ) and Hanson A ; Howe ( 2011 ) , it is needed for a civics instruction to demand of its pupils to be reciprocally respected, besides grownups and kids are more likely to develop common regard and learn to treat struggles. In originative acquisition, to keep an unfastened attitude towards originative thoughts or behaviors, demoing a humanistic student control political orientation ( as opposed to being autocratic ) , being flexible, and valuing independent thought ( Chen, 2008 ; Craft, 2001a, 2005, 2007 ; Cremin, Barnes, A ; Scoffham, 2009 ; Esquivel, 1995 ; Hennessey, 1995 ; NACCCE, 1999 ) . The 3rd facet is Process ; it explains the method and pattern that is used to do people more originative. In school scene, procedure largely uses to mention instruction, includes how to supply originative and advanced patterns which stimulates the development of multiple intelligence ( Armstrong, 2000 ; Chen, 1997 ; Torrance, 1963 ; Torrance A ; Myers, 1970 ; Woods, 1995 ) , and to affect the chance of researching and work outing job ( Cropley, 1992 ; Fryer, 1996, 2003 ; Torrance, 1963 ) . Fryer mentioned that some instruction ways are helpful in fostering creativeness in schoolroom, including ‘encouraging inquiries ‘ , ‘providing firsthand experiences ‘ , ‘giving some pick ‘ , ‘building assurance ‘ , ‘developing creativeness by non making, and ‘valuing students ‘ thoughts and parts ‘ . I found that four major subjects are every bit of import to both originative and democratic instructions, including freedom and duty, regard and trust. Sing freedom, it is believed that students have the capacity to ‘developing creativeness by non making ‘ . Fryer ( 1996 ) stated that in the interviews with five instructors, the instructors noted that non-interference aids: â€Å" If you ‘re seeking to develop creativeness in immature kids, you set up tonss of things and you hope they will interact with them, you talk about what they ‘re making and demo involvement, but you do n’t make everything for them, there ever has to be an gap left for them. † ( ibid, 1996, p.83 ) Duty, in the portion of giving some pick to kids, instructors believe that if students are given pick, their attitude to a piece of work will be more originative. Some of these instructors even see pick as a agency of giving kids a sense of ownership of their work, which they find additions their engagement in it. In some sense, this is about doing students take duty for their work. They have their ain determination of what to make and how to make it, . Refering Respect and Trust, it is widely believed that promoting pupils to inquire inquiries is one of the cardinal points in development of creativeness ( Torrance, 1965 ) . Young ( twelvemonth ) suggested that instructors should be really careful to every treatment from every pupil in the schoolroom, but non being selective to those, which did non back up their thoughts or statements. Which means, regard. It is, in fact, the same thought which democratic instruction is underscoring, to be respectful, and promote pupils to hold inqui ries is a manner to reflect that how grownups are giving infinites to allow kids show themselves. On the other manus, regard should non merely be between grownups and kids, but should besides be among students. It is believed in instructors who are seeking to advance creativeness in category that valuing students ‘ thoughts and parts is besides indispensable. Teachers should value all of their students thoughts and ideas, every bit good as to learn their pupils to be respectful to others in the category. Merchandise, no affair whether touchable or intangible, originative thoughts, results or merchandises are new to the Godhead, has some degree of usefulness, and has been produced and communicated in some manner. The merchandise could be seen as the least related portion between democratic and originative attacks. No affair how the environment is fostering a student ‘s creativeness, or how the attack in democratic instruction is exciting more originative thought, it is still in demand of specific accomplishments in order to make a merchandise that can be valued by others, for case, one has to cognize some basic music theories in order to compose a vocal, or to larn how to pull in oil pigments before really pigment in oils. Therefore, in order to make more originative acquisition, some other elements should be incorporate into democratic instruction, including originative accomplishments and specific sphere knowledgeaˆÂ ¦ etc. The two instances in Taiwan: The Forest School and The Seeding Experimental School ‘Here, instructors, pupils and animate beings are equal. No 1 bullies the Canis familiariss here. ‘ ( Teresa Hong, pupil of FS ) . Because ‘Humans are animate beings excessively, so we ‘re all equal. ‘ ( Ellen Wei, another pupil of FS ) The Forest School ( FS ) in Taiwan offers a different manner of instruction concentrating on creativeness, harmoniousness with nature and independent thought ( Teh, 2006 ) . The school have around 60 pupils in entire, and their town hall meeting ( the meeting that is held to put up school ordinances ) is chaired by the pupils themselves. Bing the really first alternate school in Taiwan, FS has long been confronting a figure of troubles and critics from the society and parents who do non truly understand their rules of schooling. As a school based on humanitarianism, they believe it is merely when schools stop bodily penalty will the childs can bask their survey every bit good as their school lives. Located in a mountain country in Taipei, FS believe that pupils should populate with nature and develop independent thought. ‘We hope that kids in this school can finally go person with the ability to pass on and to populate independently, besides to develop their personality in a more positive and kind-hearted manner. ‘ ( Lin, manager of the FS, 2011 ) . They besides pointed out that it is truly of import for pupils to cognize more about their place state, so one of the one-year classs in FS is to go around Taiwan with instructors. For illustration, in some countryside topographic points pupils really involved in agriculture, this provides them the first manus experience and cognition alternatively of reading them in a text edition. It is besides believed that the existent life experience can broaden their skyline and assist them to be more originative. The Seeding Experimental School ( SES ) locates in a vale surrounded by mountains, which is a school founded by a group of parents who are seeking for a better instruction for their kids ( Currently SES has approximately 90 pupils with 9 instructors in school, which makes their teacher-student ratio of 1:10 ) . Whilst visiting SES, one bookman noticed a miss sitting on the grass entirely. He thought she might hold some issues so he went nearer, but when he stepped following to the miss, he heard she said, ‘Come. Let ‘s bask the sunlight. ‘ Then he saw a smiling with felicity on her face. SES believes that freedom, regard, response, support, openness, trust and democracy should be integrated both into course of study and ordinary life in campus. Merely the topics of linguistic communication and mathematics are mandatory, and pupils are free to take to analyze in an advanced degree if they believe they have the ability. At the last twelvemonth in this school, pupils have to make something before graduating, and they are allowed to make up one’s mind their subject or topic ; besides, they will hold to complete a challenge, such as encampment and hike in a mountain, or travel on a trip by siting a motorcycle. Apart from this, there is nil that pupils in SES have to make or hold to larn. They write a composing because they were inspired by the creek in forepart of the campus, or they sing because they were touched by flowers on the trees ; and that is the purpose of the SES: to love, to populate, to larn, to make ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.seedling.tw/ ) . FS and SES are both categorised as alternate school, and more exactly, democratic school in Taiwan. Hence, it is sensible for them to incorporate all the indispensable elements of democratic instruction, that I came up with on page XY, into their schooling, among them freedom of pick, regard and trust, shared administration and duty, equal entree and pupil centred acquisition ( can be seen on Table x.x ) . However, the thought of equal entree can non be wholly actualised, it is impossible for all the Chinese kids to analyze at that place, as the tuition fee is about 10,000 USD for an academic twelvemonth, in contrast, the tuition to go to a public school is less than 700 USD. In fact, ideally, the school should supply the high quality instruction for a bigger population of pupils ; nevertheless, their budgets do non let them to do it possible. Bing private self-funded schools, the entire tuition fees the two schools received are less than 2/3 of their outgo on schooling. Rather than trying to procure some support from the authorities, the two schools choose to be to the full self-funded to guarantee their independent place without any governmental influence. Sing the student ‘s originative public presentation, it has been reported repeatedly that their schooling can advance creativeness ( Yuan, 1994 ; Chang, 1999 ; Teh, 2006 ) . By utilizing the Four Ps Model to analyze their schooling, I found that the democratic instruction enables the pupil to come out with originative thoughts and merchandises. With respect to topographic point and procedure, the thoughts of freedom, regard and trust, shared administration and duty are employed throughout their schooling. Refering the facet of individual, it is all about freedom of pick, because the pupils can make up one’s mind what and how to larn, they become more self-motivated, which is an indispensable component for making. These three Ps, individual, topographic point and procedure work with democratic instruction absolutely, and therefore build a good foundation for the students to do something both advanced and valuable. However, if we use the creativeness theories of Csikszentm ihalyi and Amabile to analyze the two schools, some sphere cognition ( such as the cognition of linguistic communication, mathematics, scientific discipline ) and creativeness relevant accomplishments ( such as divergent thought and convergent thought ) are besides needed. Democracy Creativity Freedom Respect A ; Trust Equal Access Duty Person Students are allowed to find their acquisition that are triggered by intrinsic motive, which has been proved as an of import factor to better creativeness Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’ Teachers and staffs have faith in kids and believe that they have the ability to do the right determinations. Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’i?’ Ideally, every kid should hold the equal entree to analyze at these schools Forest i?â€Å"iˆ Seeding i?â€Å" With more freedom in doing determination, pupils are besides holding more duty towards their plants. Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’i?’ Topographic point An environment without restrictions halting them from researching anything new. Students are allowed to believe and move freely and go more originative minds. Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’ i?’ Adults and kids are mutual-respected in the topographic point that full of regard and trust every bit good as grasp. Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’i?’ An environment that opens to everyone. Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’i?’ School governed by grownups and kids together, so that pupils can really find something that is act uponing their school lives. Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’ i?’ Procedure Teachers provide stimulation and alimentary ethos that facilitate the student ‘s thought. In order to allow the students think more creatively, critically and independently, instructors choose non to make everything for them. Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’i?’ Teachers encourage and value every inquiry that has been asked in category, every bit good as every pupil ‘s plants. Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’i?’ Children and instructors have equal power in the determination devising for learning and larning Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’ i?’ The manner of sharing the authorization every bit good as duty with kids is one sort of methods to do pupils experience more involved. Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’ i?’ Merchandise Students have the rights to make their ain merchandises such as verse forms, Hagiographas, pictures, statues, vocalizing, and dance. Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’i?’ Creative thoughts and merchandises are extremely valued and appreciated. Furthermore, the schools cherish and have willingness to show the merchandises Foresti?’ i?’iˆ Seedingi?’ i?’ i?’ Not applicable Not applicable Decision In this paper I wanted to look into aˆÂ ¦ By reexamining the scholarly plants, I found that, although the significances are somewhat different in the constructs of democracy and democratic instruction, some common characteristics have been clearly stated including freedom, regard and trust, equal entree and shared administration and duty. Some outstanding illustrations of democratic schools are the Summerhill School and Sands School in England, and those later established 1s including the Forest School and the Seeding Experimental School in Taiwan. Creativity is full of pluralism and complexness, although it is ‘notorious hard to specify and step ‘ ( Runco, 2004 ) , late many research workers indicate that the cardinal elements of it are novel/originality and valuable/usefulness ( Boden, 1999 ; Feist, 1999 ; Gruber A ; Wallace, 1999 ; Lumsden, 1999 ; Lubart, 1999 ; Martindale, 1999 ; Nickerson, 1999 ) . For heightening creativeness, a broad scope of subjects have be en introduced into instruction, demuring the often cited Four Ps Model ( 1961 ) , still others such as cognitive, psychodynamic, humanitarianism and behaviorism attacks. However, a more dynamic attack emerged late, viz. the perusal of creativeness though societal contexts, sing creativeness as the results appear in a status of dynamic interaction, for illustration, the Systems Model of Creativity, which was suggested by Csikszentmihalyi ( twelvemonth ) , claimed that creativeness appears when the three subsystems including single, sphere and field work together. Analyzing the literature of democratic instruction and originative instruction, non surprisingly, there are many overlapping facets. By the employment of the Four Ps Model ( Place/Press, Process, Person and Product ) to analyze their connexions, I found that the most similarities are in the facets of place/press and procedure, for illustration, they both pursue a more broad clime, preferring the more student-centred acquisition, prioritizing more weights on the pupil ‘s freedom, voice and creative activity, furthermore, they both seek for a mutual-respected environment. Broadly talking, when sing creativeness as ‘Mini-C ‘ – novel and personal meaningful reading of experiences, actions and events ( Beghetto and Kaufman, 2007 ) , or merely simple as what Piaget said ‘To understand is to contrive ‘ , or the celebrated citation from Dewey ‘Learning by making ‘ , so, creativeness can be a procedure or merchandise that happens as a consequen ce of a strictly democratic instruction. Similarly, humanist Maslow one time argued that what pedagogues need is supplying a alimentary environment assisting the students to ‘climb ‘ to the highest degree of its hierarchy of demands – self-actualisation, where creativeness, job resolution, morality and democracy appear. That is, democratic instruction can be regarded as a necessary status every bit good as a sufficient status for creativeness. However, when we see creativity as Big-C ( high creativeness ) or Little-C ( mundane creativeness ) , which means that creativeness demands to be evaluated or valued by others. The democratic instruction may non be regarded as sufficient status but a really supportive factor for creativeness. It can be seen as a basis for originative acquisition, for illustration, no affair Csikszentmihalyi, Amabile or Sternberg all suggest that environment is a important factor lending to the successful creativeness, and the democratic environment can work with creativity instruction absolutely. Nonetheless, for the research workers, creativeness is something more directional and functional. It relies on job designation and bring forthing thoughts to its terminal, that is, creativeness still needs to hold some back uping elements such as cognition, domain-relevant accomplishments and creativity-relevant accomplishments. In other words, democratic instruction can be supportive to more originative acq uisition by building a back uping environment and a more student- centred acquisition, but, in order to do more originative merchandises ( particularly those are extremely valued by others ) , the proviso of cognition and relevant accomplishments are every bit of import. Mention How to cite Democracy And Democratic Education Education Essay, Essay examples

Data Analysis Is a Significant Component for the Enhancement of a Firm

Question: What You ToFor Flowcharts As Presented In Your Prescribed Textbook? Answer: Introduction Data analysis is a significant component for the enhancement of a firm. The data analysis software and techniques are crucially utilized for the diversification of the stats of a firm thereby recognizing the inclinations with respect to the customers and construct a bonding. Data mining is a part of data analysis techniques and these software supports the organizations to obtain additional knowledge about the customer demands and the trend that is pertinent in the market. The advent of the new and improved techniques have led to the increase in the use of the online services as it would lead to the segmentation of the information that are discovered from the customers and then are obtained by the companies for evaluation so that they can give out efficient services. It is seen that numerous organizations utilize the data analytics like the method of data mining that supports in obtaining information about the consumers in the most appropriate manner. These techniques aid in explaining the future trends of the consumers (Zhao 2015). It is seen that the customers have extensive understanding about the fact that the firms record their personal data in order to initiate the method of data mining. It is seen that the customers do not prefer that their personal information is not unutilized and are not falling into the wrong hands. The requirement for maintain privacy is important and therefore, it is seen that the organizations undertake ethical implicatio ns and methodological concerns to preserve the privacy of the data (Witten et al., 2016). The process of data mining gives out several concerns and thus, several belvederes are displayed, that reveals the appropriate utilization of the procedures. Methodology Data Mining The process of data mining is described as gathering the unidentified data that were available from the previous histories out of the large data sets and it is seen that if they are utilized in an accurate way, it would lead to rise in understanding. Kop et al., (2015) reveals that data mining is only a single step of data analytic tools for the attainment of the analytical techniques and the understanding the behavior of the customers. Web mining even known as the data mining process even adds certain knowledge regardingthe overall process of data mining and methodologies associated with it that are spontaneously applied to extract and determine the data from the online services and online documents. The definition discussed in this paper describes the concepts in the most efficient way. The process is by far provides the expanded form of the process of data mining that is secured by the moral codes of conduct to limit the intervention of the personal security or any other injuries that can have an effect on the society (Gandhi Armstrong 2016). The fortification of the information is the most vital function for the companies and they frame their task according to the routing standards that have been developed and follow the recommended methods that will be useful in providing a proper point of start for the firms as they develop their policies of data fortification. Therefore, it can be said that data safeguarding is the utmost role of the organizations. Role of Data Mining The introduction of data mining within the organizations has mainly been due to innumerable factors. The advantages of exploiting the process of data mining are well understood by the firms in the current scenario. It is known that data mining was mainly used for tracking any fraudulent operations and to analyze the national security of a country. However, recently with the advent of globalization, there have been various companies that have been entering the market of various countries and thereby increasing their customer base (Larose 2014). In order to organize the vast information with respect to customers organizations have been implemented the data mining procedure as reduces their work load and they can segregate the personal information of the consumers from the general information that can be shared with everyone. During the traditional method that were used by the organizations there was a confusion regarding, which data were personal and which were for general use. This le d to misplacement of the data and the data falling into false hands thereby leading to problems for the consumers. The consumers were reluctant to share their original data. However with the introduction of data mining the information can be segmented with ease and this helps the firms to protect their personal information (Koh et al., 2015). The main role of data mining is to predict the future inclination of the market and the behaviors of the consumers with respect to the knowledge driven process of undertaking a decision. The mechanism of data mining can be useful for revealing the challenges that are faced by the organization. Data mining reduces the resolving time that traditionally took more time to rectify the challenges of the organization (Fan et al., 2014). The process of data mining improves the database mechanism with respect to the information that has not been discovered. Therefore data mining transforms the process of statistical evaluation within the organization. Findings Description and Identification of the Ethical Implications with respect to recording, obtaining of the customer data The ethics and the moral conducts are essential to be examined so that the actions of individuals can be well understood. The ethics are established by looking at the sentiments of the society where the organization operates and thereby satisfying the consumers. Culture is regarded as the tombstone for the creation of ethical standards. The process of ethics is constructed with the help of a pool of moral assessment that sustains organizational behavior and attitudes of the human beings. It is the most effective process of completing a job that are demanded by the society and can be controlled under the legal system of a country (Shmueli et al., 2016). The assistance of the society is vital in order to frame an effective ethical procedure. There are circumstances when certain companies undertake unethical procedures but they perform by staying within the legal system. The ethical implication in a firm requires to be framed by looking at the factors that reveals discovers what is righ t and wrong. The moral liabilities that a company is answerable to their customers and therefore it are their role to roam around and obtain figures and facts from the customers so that they can rectify the discrepancies that are available within the information given by the consumers (Nadiammai Hemalatha 2014). There are various theoretical establishments that are prepared by companies to prepare the codes of ethics. It is seen that ethical implication can have a positive effect on the association of the firm with respect to their exterior partners. The codes even has a positive impact on the top level management of the firm and this up lifts them to establish a healthy culture leading to improved end results for the firm (Jain Srivastava 2013). The convenience of the information is enhanced even with the implementation of ethical standards. The companies tries to frame an extensive ethical strategy so that the customers are satisfied with their initiative and motivates them to share their information that can be useful for the process of data mining and increase the understanding of the customers by the industries. The use of ethical standard implies that the privacy of the personal information is maintained and thereby prohibits the exploitation of this information by other parties who are associated with the firm (Kaur Aggarwal 2013). The implication of ethical standard is obvious as it typically safeguards the personal information and even segregates the general and personal information and thereby even aids the scientific analysts of the organization to analyze only the relevant information for their research (Fan and Bifet 2013). It is crucial that all the information are maintained in a server network with various pr otections and can be easily be accessible to only the parties who require this information in order to undertake any decisions or complete the data mining analytics. Discussion Ethical implication is significant while assembling and recording the information in an effective way as the implementation of ethics establishes the feeling of safekeeping about the safety of the privacy thereby satisfying them (Braha 2013). Ethical procedure is undertaken to collect the data and the customers are not compelled to provide the information. The customers have the liberty to share their information up to limit they want. The companies therefore, introduce several operations thereby gaining an idea about their customers that develops their service and the procedure of data mining (Roiger 2017). Conclusion The paper under consideration is mainly constructed in order to understand the data analytical tools, mainly the technique of data mining and their role that helps in the enhancement of any firm. The next section of the study reveals the use of ethical standards and code of conducts that are essential to make the customers well aware of the processes that are used by the companies for the collection and the storing of their information and makes satisfies them that their data are in safe hands. Reference List Braha, D. (Ed.). (2013).Data mining for design and manufacturing: methods and applications(Vol. 3). Springer Science Business Media. Fan, C., Xiao, F., Wang, S. (2014). Development of prediction models for next-day building energy consumption and peak power demand using data mining techniques.Applied Energy,127, 1-10. Fan, W. and Bifet, A., 2013. Mining big data: current status, and forecast to the future.ACM sIGKDD Explorations Newsletter,14(2), pp.1-5. Gandhi, N., Armstrong, L. J. (2016, October). Rice crop yield forecasting of tropical wet and dry climatic zone of India using data mining techniques. InAdvances in Computer Applications (ICACA), IEEE International Conference on(pp. 357-363). IEEE. Jain, N., Srivastava, V. (2013). Data mining techniques: a survey paper.IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology,2(11), 2319-1163. Kaur, P., Aggarwal, H. (2013). Analysis of different Web Data Mining Techniques: A review. Koh, H. C., Tan, W. C., Goh, C. P. (2015). A two-step method to construct credit scoring models with data mining techniques.International Journal of Business and Information,1(1). Kop, R., Hoogendoorn, M., Moons, L. M., Numans, M. E., ten Teije, A. (2015, June). On the advantage of using dedicated data mining techniques to predict colorectal cancer. InConference on Artificial Intelligence in Medicine in Europe(pp. 133-142). Springer International Publishing. Larose, D. T. (2014).Discovering knowledge in data: an introduction to data mining. John Wiley Sons. Nadiammai, G. V., Hemalatha, M. (2014). Effective approach toward Intrusion Detection System using data mining techniques.Egyptian Informatics Journal,15(1), 37-50. Roiger, R. J. (2017).Data mining: A tutorial-based primer. CRC Press. Shmueli, G., Patel, N. R., Bruce, P. C. (2016).Data Mining for Business Analytics: Concepts, Techniques, and Applications with XLMiner. John Wiley Sons. Witten, I. H., Frank, E., Hall, M. A., Pal, C. J. (2016).Data Mining: Practical machine learning tools and techniques. Morgan Kaufmann. Zhao, Y. (2015). Data mining techniques.

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Free Essays on What Is Philosophy Of Education

, we define our society and the society of our future by how and why we educate the young. Do we want our children to be educated for democracy or consumerism? Should children learn by rote memorization or through creative problem solving? Does school exist to teach values or skills for use in the job market? Because these decisions will affect the course of society for decades to come, the questions asked are as important as those found in any other branch. The Philosophy of Education in modern times has been heavily influenced by developments in the field of psychology - in particular, psychoanalysis and behaviorism. The former has argued that there are psychological processes affecting our ability to learn which are not entirely under our control; the latter has influenced the way we think about how things can be taught, especially topics like morals and values. Curiously, the Philosophy of Education is one of those fields where philosophy itself is both the object being studied and the tool used to study it. One of the things discussed is the role which philosophy itself can play: Should students learn about philosophy? Does philosophy create a better educated person, or is it ultimately a useless and dispensable topic... Free Essays on What Is Philosophy Of Education Free Essays on What Is Philosophy Of Education Philosophy of Education What is it? The field known as the Philosophy of Education is relatively self-explanatory - it deals with how children should be educated, what they should be educated in and what the ultimate purpose of education should be for society. This is an often neglected field of philosophy, and when it is addressed, it tends to only be in educational programs designed to train teachers - in this context, it is a part of pedagogy, which is learning how to teach. Despite this neglect, the Philosophy of Education is nevertheless of fundamental importance. How and why a society educates its children will be dispositive for the following generations and long-term political health. In other words, we define our society and the society of our future by how and why we educate the young. Do we want our children to be educated for democracy or consumerism? Should children learn by rote memorization or through creative problem solving? Does school exist to teach values or skills for use in the job market? Because these decisions will affect the course of society for decades to come, the questions asked are as important as those found in any other branch. The Philosophy of Education in modern times has been heavily influenced by developments in the field of psychology - in particular, psychoanalysis and behaviorism. The former has argued that there are psychological processes affecting our ability to learn which are not entirely under our control; the latter has influenced the way we think about how things can be taught, especially topics like morals and values. Curiously, the Philosophy of Education is one of those fields where philosophy itself is both the object being studied and the tool used to study it. One of the things discussed is the role which philosophy itself can play: Should students learn about philosophy? Does philosophy create a better educated person, or is it ultimately a useless and dispensable topic...

ECONOMIC institution and policy(British economy) Essay

ECONOMIC institution and policy(British economy) - Essay Example But the sector experienced a tragic downfall during the post-war period which continued till mid-1980s. However, the trends improved post 1983 and continued to develop till 1990 when it once again underwent a bust period (Buxton & Mananyi, 1998). Many researchers blame this erratic behavior of the supporting sector of UK to the economic policies adopted by the decision makers of the nation and thus, the present paper will attempt to outline the trends of the nation over the decades between 1970 and 2010. Contribution of UK’s Manufacturing Sector, 1970-2010 The contribution of UK’s manufacturing sector could be assessed from a few statistics aligned to the sector. The adjoining graph depicts the change in the gross value added by the manufacturing sector over the years between 1970 and 2009. The trends so depicted denote an overall heavy impact created by the manufacturing sector over the years. However, the difference is found to be rather stark from 1970 to 1980 and th en 1990. In other words, these three years depict huge differences in the gross value added figures. On the other hand, the figures corresponding to the years between 1990 and 2009 are found to be quite near to each other. The year 2000 is characterized by a peak but is followed by a slight dent at the end of 2009. Nonetheless, the figures are found to have improved by almost a multiple of 10 between 1970 and 2009. The following diagram shows the growth in industrial production of UK over the years, which is suggestive of a gradual improvisation in its position. Although the above diagram for gross value added shows a downfall from 2000 to 2009, the present one shows a positive growth occurring between 2000 and 2010. This clearly indicates that there had been a hike in industrial production between 2009 and 2010. The above graph depicts the contribution of manufacturing sector of UK in absolute terms. However, to draw a more robust comparison, the ideal method would be to form a rel ation with the GDP of the economy. Such an interpretation could help in making an assessment of the contribution of the sector to the economy. The bar-graph alongside shows the contribution of the manufacturing sector as receding over time. The decline is a consistent one over the years thus implying the gradually falling importance of the manufacturing and industrial segments of the nation. The declining importance of the manufacturing sector of UK is also prominent from its receding contribution to the employment share of the nation. The adjoining bar graph shows the trends in the share of employment rate accounted by the manufacturing sector of UK. The decline is found to be the greatest from 14980 to 1985 followed by that from 2000 to 2005. As per the latest records, the employment share of the sector to the gross economic value stands at 9.83% which is almost 20% below that in the year 1975. Given the historic importance of the manufacturing sector behind the economic developme nt and growth of UK, a decline in its popularity over the years took a toll upon the net disposable income of the economy. Net disposable income of the economy is found to be traversing through a negative phase after having reached a peak during 1980. This is an obvious indication of the increased costs of structural unemployment in the economy. Another prominent indication is that of a declining percentage change

Marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing plan - Essay Example The third objective is to increase customer loyalty significantly and turn at least 30 percent of its customers into repeat customer during the season. The company will use television advertisements, bill boards, and social media to market its brand to its main target market which is the young population of Hull City. The strategy of market penetration will be adopted by the company to increase its market share. The company will also use the occasion of Christmas and the tradition of gift giving in its marketing messages to the young population of Hull City. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 SWOT Analysis 4 Marketing Objectives 5 Target Markets 6 Product Offering 7 Brand Positioning 8 Marketing Strategies 9 Consumer Behavior 9 Marketing Mix for the Marketing Strategy 10 Implementation and Control 13 Budget 14 Appendix 16 Figure 2: Balance Scorecard of Chocolate Industry UK 17 Source: Trading Vision 17 Introduction The Christmas season is good for the retail industr y as it is a season where people exchange gifts. The season offer immense opportunities for businesses all over United Kingdom. Chocolate industry like other similar industries also experience significant increase in sales in the Christmas season (Holmes, 2009). Thorntons is a famous chocolate company of United Kingdom having presence all over the country (Thorntons, 2012). ... A detailed budget will also be presented in the marketing plan. In the marketing plan specific steps will be discussed that the company can use to increase its sales in the Hull City. The marketing plan will aim at increasing the sales of the company in the Christmas season. SWOT Analysis s Strengths Weaknesses Established Brand Name (See figure 2 in Appendix) Rich History Established Infrastructure in Markets Good Public Image Reduced Sales Confused Pricing Strategy Consistent Profitability issues Issues in Distribution Opportunities Threats Growing Chocolate Industry Young population of Hull City Seasons like Christmas and Easter Governmental regulation regarding food marketing and chocolate sizes Increasing competition in the industry Ethical issues reading Cocoa farmers Marketing Objectives The main marketing objective of Thorntons is to increase its sales in the Christmas season in the Hull City. As discussed above the sales of chocolate increase significantly in the Christmas s eason (Sweet Retailing, 2011) and therefore the company has a vast market in front of it. Thorntons should follow the strategy of market penetration in order to increase its sales in the Christmas season. Market penetration strategy helps the company increase its market share (Proctor, 2000). The strategy of market penetration is very appropriate for the company at this particular point because its overall sales are reducing and this strategy will help the company remedy this weakness. The company also has a rich history and well established brand name in the market and it can use it to attract more sales. The company should have three specific marketing objectives. The first objective should be to increase its sales by at least 25 percent from October to December. This is

Consulting opportunity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Consulting opportunity - Essay Example Laurent (Ferdows., 2004). 1.1. Outline of the opportunity Fast Fashion is a type of disruptive business process. In this process, smaller firms and lesser-known designers copy designs, fabrics, materials, colours and other distinguishing features from the products of well designers who display their styles in fashion magazines and in fashion shows. These designs are then given to small and independent firms based in China, Vietnam and other developing nations where labour is economical. These firms are equipped with modern machines that produce the items very quickly and in large volumes. Original designers such as Dolce and Gabanna may take up to 18 months or more to manufacture their designs. The fast fashion firms use mass manufacturing and distribution methods to productionise the designs in just a few weeks (Fiorito, 2009). The fast fashion sector is growing at a rapid pace and it fills the need of men and women to wear affordable designs and clothes, too look good and be presen table. In 2010, Fast Fashion sector was worth 27 billion GBP and it makes up 12% of the UK apparel market. While a large number of Chinese manufacturers and suppliers are present, a number of established brands have also become fast fashion retailers. Some of the more popular ones are Zara, Uniqlo, GAP, H&M and others. Some top fashion houses and retailers have also adopted fast fashion methods to fill their displays with affordable clothes. Some of these are New Look, Top Shop, Asda, Armani Exchange, Abercrombie & Fitch, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, MUJI, Comme ca ism, C&A, American Appeal, Aeropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, United Colours of Benetton and Next. Other reputed brands are also using some principles of fast fashion by getting their outfits manufactured economically and quickly from China. These brands include Mark One, Burton, BHS, Evans, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and many others. Clearly, fast fashion has caught the fancy of small fashion houses and leading design ers (WGSN, 2011). Fashion has two distinct genres and these are Haute Couture or high fashion and Mass or Fast Fashion. Haute Couture is designer clothing where designers take up limited designs of their apparel and very few items are produced. Besides being custom stitched, these items are very expensive and an evening dress for women by a designer such as Dior or Armani would cost more than 50,000 GBP. These exclusive items are also displayed in exclusive and branded fashion stores on high street in selected cities and capitals. Customers who wear such clothes include celebrities, movie stars, rich business people and socialites who move in their own limited circle of friends. The genre of fast fashion includes apparel used for office wear, leisure and eveningwear, formals, sportswear and other items. These are affordable and cost from 30 to 80 GBP per item. There are for everyday use and for middle class people, students, working professionals who want to look good but who cannot afford the high rates of Haute Couture designs. In many cases, fast fashion items are copies of the high street fashion items with some improvisations and additions (Tungate, 2005). This report will present an idea to start a fast fashion brand

Effects of Copyright on the Consumption Music

Effects of Copyright on the Consumption Music The aim of this dissertation is to understand the effects of copyright on the consumption and acquisition of music online. With a focus on Feels Like Free services such as Spotify as well as illegal file sharing services, research into the copyright issues surrounding the debate present a picture of how music is being consumed at present. Building on notable works and theories of research in the area {} the dissertation supplies evidence supporting the continuing dominance of labels as right-holders in the new digital era. With one-on-one interviews with emerging artists at the forefront of digital music as well as group interviews with consumers a convergence of opinion on key points provides an insight into the effectiveness of current digital music distribution services as well as the enforcement and enforceability of current copyright laws. Introduction This dissertation focusses on the challenges of distributing digital music in an era of unprecedented web use. Access to digital media is increasingly a part of peoples every day lives and the issues surrounding access to content and the legal implications therein are the subject of much debate. It is natural that the rights holders and their representatives would assume a position protecting their legal rights and the cases of pursuance of both individual and commercial rights infringers are well documented, however some say copyright law is dated (Negroponte, 1995) and beyond the task of policing the digital frontier of music distribution. This dissertation investigates the effect of copyright on audience and artist attitudes to digital music distribution in both legal and illegal forms. Using relevant literature and established studies it addresses the benefits of the chosen research for this investigation and provides results giving evidence for the various claims and counter cla ims made on both sides of the copyright argument. In doing so it is intended that my results will give a picture of current distribution methods and their ability to deal with copyright as well as rights holders ability to enforce it in an increasingly digitised age. By gathering evidence using one-to-one interviews with two emerging artists as well as consumer interviews conducted at group level I am able to establish the artists interaction with the process of copyright and the extent to which it alters their distribution of music whilst also engaging the audience in debate about their understanding and adherence to the existing issues surround accessing digital music. The involvement of both artist and audience provides a unique opportunity to pinpoint the present effect of the existing systems of music distribution and the copyright protection available. Digital Music Copyright At the crux of the debate surrounding digital music distribution is the issue of copyright and the infringement thereof. Arguments both for and against the current system of rights ownership and management are well documented and some clear division between the opinions of those who hope to gain capital from the ownership of rights and those who wish to produce and consume digital music is revealed. The representative bodies existing to support the rights of the artist , such as the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) and the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) have staunch views on the use of their intellectual property and defined by the BPI, copyright in its current form can be surmised as follows: Copyright is the foundations which the music business is built. In its simplest terms, it is a form of intellectual property and, as such, gives the creator or the owner/ author of that work exclusive rights over how it is published, distributed and adapted. (BPI [online] 2009) The collective gusto of the recording industry to enforce their stance on what they see as a critical issue to the music business has led to much bad publicity and a galvanisation of some copyright infringers as a group with a serious social point to make. Kembrew McLeod (2005) agrees that infringement of copyrighted material online presents a significant problem for the monopoly held by the industry giants, even going as far as to view this as a positive consequence of file sharing and distribution. Arguing in favour of a diminished corporate monopoly, McLeod uses examples of successes for smaller independent artists, helped in part by the evolution of media distribution methods available to cut out the middle-man. With both artist and audience interviews revealing a symRobhy for McLeodÊ ¼s statements, most participants demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the possible advantages that new distribution methods offer smaller/less established artists, who often work outsi de of the boundaries of the established music industry. Williamson Cloonan (2007) accuse the BPI of blurring its distinction between the ‘interests of British record companies which it claims to represent with a wider definition of the ‘music business . The process of recording, distributing and marketing music is one element of the music industry but its inferred connection to grassroots music of all levels seems to be the bone of contention, as is borne out in my group research. The strength of language words and aggressive tone of both the RIAA and BPI in dealing with infingers, combined with the appropriation of the wider music industry for moral grounds (Williamson Cloonan, 2003, p. 305-7) adds to a misunderstanding regarding what exactly the music industry is and how it affects users access to media. There is an obvious disparity in opinion on either side of the debate surrounding copyright law, with the nature of what copyright represents and who it protects a nd particularly how it is relevant to new digital models of distribution and consumption open to much debate. These diverging opinions are likely to have an impact on how consumers and artists understand the issues within this field, and clearly how they relate and react to them. Media Access The history and development of studying audiences and their consumption habits is by now highly sophisticated and the subject of much debate and research. Using the work of others as a guide as well as theory and research my aim is to understand how audiences are accessing digital content and if their understanding of the legality of so doing , alters how they interact with the content. Longhurst (2007) observes that the most significant contemporary change to [music consumption] is coming through downloadability (p. 205). The pervasive nature of digital consumption in todays culture is displayed throughout both artist and audience responses showing high levels of use and understanding of the medium. An RIAA commissioned report (Siwek, 2007) carried out in the United States by the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) suggest that online copyright infringement costs the industry $12.5 billion annually(online). It is fair to assume the the access to both legal and illegal digital musi c is affect the industry greatly but these figures are open to criticism for there bias. The research of Huang (2005) into file sharing as a means of music consumption through group interviews of college students concludes that music file sharing is now a facet of music culture from a social perspective. My studies have some support for this claim with even artists describing extensive p2p use and one actively embracing it as a means of propagation of his material. Mascheroni et al (2008) conducted a comparable ethnographic study digital television consumption. The study concludes that young viewers are capable of defining their relationship with media based on present developments in the field rather than existing paradigms and traditions, and in doing so perhaps goes some way to explain the findings of Huangs research on college students. In similar ethnographic profiling Harwood (1997) compared television viewing Robterns of different aged groups, finding that decisions are representative of perceived Ê »social identityÊ ¼. It is arguable that similar influe nces are at play in consumers interaction with digital music consumption and with the increasing convergence of digital content, user generated content, and the social influences aforementioned, copyright infringement and any repressions appear to have very marginal impact on consumption habits. Based on the highlighted works the interaction between consumers and the legal implications surrounding content access are likely to vary in line with social perception and experience led understanding of the field. The fact that the artists were so Robert about file sharing, their involvement with it and its potential for positive use, adds weight to the claim copyright regulations for digital music are past their prime and lacking in effectiveness. Unique Online Considerations Various possible explanations for the ways in which digital media access has changed consumption habits have been covered previously. Increased media access has inevitably led to increased temptation to use nodal connectivity for illegal file sharing, although if the enactment of this abuse is as widespread as the BPI and RIAA would like us to think is another matter. Borne out of this peer to peer system of file distribution new products are being brought to market that provide alternatives to illegal acquisition of content. Analysing the manner in which consumers access content and services online has led to , sophisticated modEmmang of the accessibility and demand for said content and services. AndersonÊ ¼s (2006) presents a long tail model which serves as an example of such studies. The model refers to online commercial distribution with the most popular and commercial, products at one end of the graph with the highest volume of sales. The graph extends to illustrate the alm ost limitless potential for online sales in specialist or minority markets. Fig i. Long Tail Model (Anderson, 2006) Anderson further sets forth an opinion that the broadening of potential promotion and distribution online has increasingly opened up more possibilities for for both artists and consumers. Applying the long tail theory, it is obvious that it proposes a different system of economics to the traditional retail sector. Adding to this the obvious advantages of products being available around the clock, often irrespective of regional restrictions and the idea of a new economic model is further strengthened. The ability to cover areas of minuscule interest with little additional overheads enables retailers to offer huge depth of choice as well as broadening the idea of ownership of content through streaming.. Clearly the economics of online commerce are very different to the traditional model, however the rules of engagement surrounding copyright are expected to fit both models. two is different, yet the laws of copyright remain the same. Illegal sharing of content is viewed as an infringement of rights and therefore a form of theft as attested by the RIAA. The case that eventually closed the late nineties file sharing platform Napster, as detailed first by Merriden (2001) and then Menn (2003) illustrates the ramifications and interest in the first high-profile case of file sharing. Speaking of Napster Wall states; The record companies proposed that the Napster system ripped off artists and would kill music, while they made the legal argument that Napster encouraged the infringement of copyrights they held. Napster countered by arguing that members of Napster were making fair non-commercial use of the rights already assigned with the original sale of the record that had been converted into mp3 files. (Wall 2003, p223) Continuing where the Napster litigation left off, cases between the industry and p2p networks are still widespread today, showing that the industry has moved on little in the intervening years. The Swedish prosecution and proposed imprisonment of the creators of infamous file sharing tracker The Pirate Bay (Johnson Kiss, 2009) is perhaps the highest profile case today and could be seen as the modern Napster. In an attempt to bolster the music industries grasp on digital distribution a number of new models have been brought to market., Many mobile phone operators worldwide now offer unlimited music bundles with cell contracts and the emergence of streaming services mentioned such as Last.fm and Spotify, are seen in the group interviews to have a positive influence on peoples adherence to copyright. Gerd Leonhard (with Kusek 2005 2008) is describes these services as Ê »feels like free.Ê ¼ Advertising and premium service upgrades present the creates potential for capitalisat ion of music. Spotify has been a particular success in Europe, with the BBC reporting figures that already 5% of its users have upgraded to a premium service, giving it some 320,000 users paying  £10 per month for its full offering (BBC, 2010, online). This small percentage provides and annual turnover in the region of  £38,400,000 excluding additional revenue provided by advertising, proving that Spotify is a serious force in the online distribution business without even launching fully in the United States. By looking at audience habits and interaction with both copyright and media we can see that the new media model and the traditional approach to distributing music are increasingly unable to keep up with the consumer driven demand for online services, leaving companies such as Spotify to move in and become a type of new music industry for the 21st century. The difficulty inherent to their role is that the copyright for the material they wish to distribute is often owned by o ne of their more traditional predecessors. Methodology In this chapter I offer justification for the effectiveness of my methods for the collection of audience and artist responses to their interaction with digital music copyright. I use two groups of participants; one younger (16- 25) as well as a group from an older demographic of consumers (40-65) with both groups being representative of consumers as well as two individuals representative of artists. As this study represents a small cross section of the many people who are involved in roles as both consumer and artist definitive conclusions solely gathered from my findings alone are difficult to ascertain. The value however, of conducting the comparative interview types, is the provided overview of responses, and how they interplay with the core arguments surrounding the debate. Work by Huang (2005) and Macheroni et al (2008) would suggest that younger audiences are less concerned about the implications of peer to peer sharing and thus more likely to use the distribution method. Using relative methods I build upon their work, highlighting and supporting claims by providing complimentary evidence and similar findings. HuangÊ ¼s (2005) use of groups interviews highlighted specific areas of interest with direct interaction with audience members, whilst MascheroniÊ ¼s (2008) research adopted ethnographic studies of online, as well as off line interaction in a more one to one manner. Due to the nature of copyright interaction online ethnographic study of users could be applied to researching users of file sharing services. The problem with this is the anonymity in this type of cinteraction, discussed by Watt, Lea and Spears (2002). Although there is potential for some light to be shed on how audiences share music online, it would be difficult to rationalise the reasons for this activity, providing little evidence to illuminate the reader on audience behaviour. My own studies, made use of extensive one on one interviews allowing unsigned artists a mouthpiece within the debate. The benefit of exposing the artists to the one on one interview process was expected to be a greater understanding and experience of copyright yielding technical data on the subject. This was then coupled with group based research. With guidance from Bertrand and Hughes (2005, p81), the group interviews, were expected to benefit from inter-participant discussion allowing some involved to make up in shortfalls of technical knowledge. As a well established means of audience research, group interviews can help garner natural responses from participants. It must always be considered however that these discussions do not take place in unmonitored environments and so must be viewed as having the potential to be polluted by the participants knowledge that what is being said is also being recorded. A particularly pertinent issue given the legal climate surrounding the issues covered. The legal aspect of my research may encourage participants to shy away from full, Robert answers, however the focus group environment should also foster greater candour and less inherently solicited responses than that of one on one interviews for instance (Boubour 2007) although the combination of the two means of study should have a balancing effect on the results. Research Findings Here I present the findings of my primary research investigating the interplay between copyright issues and digital music consumption. The material put forward here is the product of the two group interviews and two individual interviews with consumers and artists respectively. The discussions centred around the same key themes including the participants access to and use of digital music as well as attitudes and understanding of the related legal issues. Of particular importance for my study are responses they may have relevance towards legal the constraints and considerations surrounding the notion of digital music access. Providing the the structural basis of this chapter my aim is to discover any visible Robterns between the responses of the two types of interviewee. Consumption Listening Habits: The primary question for the interviews is one of use and involvement in digital music. It is essential to establish the extent, if any, to which the interview subjects interact with digital music content, irrespective of its origin. The following section examines participant music consumption routines and in particular, digital music consumption habits. Based on their replies, I address the stereotype that older audiences are less willing and able to undertake interaction with new delivery methods whilst isolating comparisons between the groups in other forms of music consumption. On broaching the subject of use of digital music with the older group, it was clear that most participants were involved and responsive to the means of content distribution. Many of the group cited the iPhone or iPod as an influence on their ease of access and enjoyment of digital music, proving Apple have a huge say in how this market is set to develop. either using mp3 players or their mobile phone to co nsume digital music. When the group was asked if they had access to a digital music player the response was as follows, Howard: Of course IÊ ¼ve had mp3 phones for a good 5 years now and players for a bit longer. Dominic: Yeah me too I would say, not the players but the phones, I use an iPhone for everything now. Howard: I still use my player for jogging though, I dont like to be bothered by phone calls but I still want my music with me. Most made some use of access to digital music on a regular basis. This helps to dispel the myth of a generation gap regarding digital media use as alluded to in the work of Mascheroni et al (2008). Although this establishes a commonality in usage of devices we are yet to establish meaningful connections between access and consumption habits. In the older group. The concept of digital music consumption representing the mainstay of their listening habits produced varied responses. For the older group the response was as follows: Dominic: For the car or the house I spose real music, sorry I should say CDs and stuff I spose, real music is normally what I go for. Robert: Yeah the same really. This is similar to the attitudes of both artists interviewed. Biometrix: Yeah its really all about vinyl for me but that normally means I have to rip the vinyl if I want to listen to it on my phone or anything like that Gecko: I collect all sorts of CDs and records, when we go on tour I normally come back with a pile of discs Ive either bought or been given. With the artists and the older audience still actively engaged in the acquisition and collation of music it is clear that there is still a space for tangible products within the music industry. Such observations are notably absent when dealing with the younger of the group studies. In this group there was evidence of a fractured landscape of media access with no commonly held method of consuming music. Youtube, Spotify and Soundcloud provide a number of feels like free options for home use along with the ubiquitous iPod/Phone, however the access to music was overwhelmingly digital amongst this group. It can be said that both groups access digital content in a number of ways, with the younger group being more selective and more aware of different delivery methods, perhaps indicated by the greater disparity in the services and methods of consumption they chose. Within this younger group, extensive different ways of acquiring digital music were referenced, including demonstrable evidence of LeonhardÊ ¼s (2008) Ê »feels like freeÊ ¼ streaming services such as Spotify and Last.fm. The following extract is taken from the opening stages of the younger focus group; MarT: Spotify, mainly. Youtube too, but there is much less music on there now and when you find something you like it gets deleted after a while for copyright stuff. Spotify have made it so easy and if they have pretty much everything so you can just go there, and if you canÊ ¼t find it aint on Spotify there might be a live version or something on Youtube but the quality is always ropey. The only bad thing about Spotify is that you get ads but its still free and its much safer than downloading audio files. Steve: Everything is so joined up on Spotify, like suggested artists and playlists and stuff, I spose its similar on Youtube, you can spend hours exploring. Claire: And you dont have to buy anything or give your card details over. Similarly both artists are avid users of Spotify amongst other streaming services: Gecko: I know the money is peanuts for getting played on there but it makes you accessible to so many people, some of them dont have enough money to pay for your album or your mp3 or whatever but the fact that they can still access it is important to grow as an artist. Its like playing a gig and barely making the petrol money to get home. We all do it but some of us are a bit more relaxed about the good it does for us. Biometrix: I use Spotify all the time, really its stopped me stealing a lot of music really. Its so much easier than actually downloading something so normally I just do that because I cant be bothered finding what I want and then waiting on it to arrive on my computer. Clearly Spotify offers an innovative model that can fit into both of MyÃ… ¡kaÊ ¼s (2009) subscription service model categories. A monthly fee can be paid to allow listeners to enjoy uninterrupted music without advertising and also allow access to feature rich content such as mobile streaming and offline listening, as well as Leonhards (2009) Ê »feels like freeÊ ¼ model that is funded by advertising. Of the myriad methods of media access identified, use of Web 2.0 music consumption models such as Spotify demonstrates a fall in favour of traditional peer to peer networks, contrary to the testaments of the recording industry (Siwek, 2007.) This goes some way to enforce the claims of Leonhard (2009) that these new, lawful access streams provide an attractive alternative to illegal downloading and also allay industry concerns about copyright protection. The interview subjects also cited the simplicity of these new methods in allowing them to locate music without the extensi ve searching that is commonplace with peer to peer access to media. Engagement with File Sharing: In this section, we assess the subjects involvement with the file sharing. I present rationalisation of the participants use or otherwise of file sharing networks and investigate their understandings and interactions with the legal ramifications of such actions. As the conversation developed, unexpectedly within the older group, many of the participants had used peer to peer services in the past, whilst perhaps their usage was limited, responses seemed mixed. Shaun: IÊ ¼ve used Megaupload in the past Yeah. Subscribed to that. We didnt download without our subscription, but now lapsed, I dont about the kids but yeah, Megaupload. I used to et a lot of other stuff there like films and ebooks so it was great. We can see that the participants have an understanding of file sharing as a concept, if not perhaps the finer points of nodal networking. There is an inference that by purchasing a subscription the subject considers themselves to have bought their downloads. This is however false and the subscription simply provides faster download speeds. The artists had a more sophisticated understanding of how rights related to downloading and sharing content, however it is notable that this greater insight did little to dissuade them from partaking in file sharing. Biometrix: Yeah I do download stuff, not as much as I used to but if theres something I cant find on Spotify or Soundcloud or that stuff then I will just go on a torrent site but I feel bad about it, I reckon, well I reckon because I think about what it would be like if the musicians were like me, just starting out or something. The guilt mechanism in this response shows a belief that the RIAA/BPI position is correct and that the copyright issues surrounding this kind of media access is universally illegal. This shows some support for the industry having a direct influence over peoples online interactions despite their diminished market share. One of the artists in particular also uses p2p sharing to promote and distribute their own material. Biometrix: I try to make a couple of free songs every month and put them on soundcloud for people to download. Its pretty much a thanks to all the people on Facebook, Soundcloud and Youtube who like my music and keep my profile hits high. I know theyre on the torrent sites but I dont mind, they were free anyway. This positive use of filesharing allows the artist greater exposure with virtual nil as an overhead, undercutting the top-heavy music industry and presenting the egalitarian model favoured by McLeod (2005). Responses to Legal Issues Industry Implications; This section aims to build on the responses in the previous section by filling out the subjects understanding of the legal issues involved with file sharing. Particularly noticeable in these answers is the difference between the artist and audience categories. As mentioned earlier there have been many examples of litigations against providers of p2p services, such as the media-circus trial of Ê »The Pirate BayÊ ¼ founders. Whilst the audience groups had little knowledge of such cases the artists seemed far better versed in what was going on within the industry to shape the distribution of music. Biometrix: Yeah, IÊ ¼ve know a lot about it actually The pirate bay have been found guilty of copyright abuse and theyre appealing their jail term now I think. Its a pretty big deal, all of the big film companies have been after them. The site is still going though, so it doesnt seem to have done much good does it? Gecko: Pirate bay is huge. Its not just pirating things, they do all sorts, politics and freedom of speech stuff and all of that. I think it was started by activists but I dont know whos involved nowadays. As soon as something gets taken off it seems to come straight back up. Loads of people use it. Infringement and theft are put forwards by McLeod as tactics to enforce the monopoly of the recording industry. Of the subjects opinions on the significance file sharing has for the music industry, the various subjects displayed an array of responses. The following extracts are taken from the older subjects; Dominic: Small bands dont have a bean basically. Those are the people you are robbing off, not the execs or anything. Emma: They must be getting paid somehow, the music is still out there. Robert: But the money doesnt go to the band. This passage underlines the fact that members in this group believe that the majority of income for musicians, particularly less prolific artists, is provided by their record sales. This understanding of the revenue streams available to music industries also demonstrates a finely tuned understanding of what the Ê »music industryÊ ¼ entails. Williamson and CloonanÊ ¼s (2007) arguments against the wide spread use of the term, based on my findings, suggest older generations are indeed more inclined to understand the term equating to the recording industry. The actions of the recording industries and the responses from audiences can be seen as an example of Michel de CerteauÊ ¼s idea of Ê »strategies and tacticsÊ ¼ (1984). The strategies of the power structures within the relationship, in this case, the industries retention of traditional retail models and the discourse that it equates to the music industry (BPI, 2009), in contrast to the tactics of audiences. This investigation finds between age demographics the response tactics identifiable and noticably different. The older group creates their own space through a sceptical approach to recording industry practices, methods of media access and opinion demonstrate stronger ties with the recording industry discourse crime and punishment. The both the artists and younger group members seemed much more separated from these established means of operation, shown in their symRobhy for file sharing, anti-corporate comments and reluctance to trust established regulations regardin g copyright infringement. Based on the findings outlined above, the suggestion is that audiences are highly aware that there are legal implications surrounding the sharing of files, but their opinions and responses to the validity of these implications are generationally split. The evidence provided by the younger demographic of both audience and artists provides support for the views of McLeod (2005) whereas the older group demonstrated a much more accepting response for the necessity of copyright legislation as a protection against theft. Applying music retail and commerce theories presented by Anderson (2006) and Dubber (2007), most of the participants appeared to be informed of the changes online distribution was experiencing, although there was rejection of the industrys reluctance to develop progressive content access agreements along with them. The divergence of opinion in the application of rights enforcement between the two groups adds weight to the arguments presented by Garofalo (2003), acting to s et the balance between the two sides of the rights argument, preventing the financial exploitation of free music, whilst also managing a free channel of access to consumers. Conclusion It can be established from the results of my investigation that audience and artist opinions are divided on the justifications for rights protection and the enforcement thereof in relation to digital music access. Whilst there is clear evidence of a move towards digital media consumption, there is a distinct generational gap in the manner in which different age groups access music digitally. Older generations seem to fall into line with traditional models of product capitalisation, purchasing physical formats and viewing transgression of copyright online as theft. Younger subjects more immersed in digital media and having grown up during the internet gold rush have a far less strict attitude to the acquisit Effects of Copyright on the Consumption Music Effects of Copyright on the Consumption Music The aim of this dissertation is to understand the effects of copyright on the consumption and acquisition of music online. With a focus on Feels Like Free services such as Spotify as well as illegal file sharing services, research into the copyright issues surrounding the debate present a picture of how music is being consumed at present. Building on notable works and theories of research in the area {} the dissertation supplies evidence supporting the continuing dominance of labels as right-holders in the new digital era. With one-on-one interviews with emerging artists at the forefront of digital music as well as group interviews with consumers a convergence of opinion on key points provides an insight into the effectiveness of current digital music distribution services as well as the enforcement and enforceability of current copyright laws. Introduction This dissertation focusses on the challenges of distributing digital music in an era of unprecedented web use. Access to digital media is increasingly a part of peoples every day lives and the issues surrounding access to content and the legal implications therein are the subject of much debate. It is natural that the rights holders and their representatives would assume a position protecting their legal rights and the cases of pursuance of both individual and commercial rights infringers are well documented, however some say copyright law is dated (Negroponte, 1995) and beyond the task of policing the digital frontier of music distribution. This dissertation investigates the effect of copyright on audience and artist attitudes to digital music distribution in both legal and illegal forms. Using relevant literature and established studies it addresses the benefits of the chosen research for this investigation and provides results giving evidence for the various claims and counter cla ims made on both sides of the copyright argument. In doing so it is intended that my results will give a picture of current distribution methods and their ability to deal with copyright as well as rights holders ability to enforce it in an increasingly digitised age. By gathering evidence using one-to-one interviews with two emerging artists as well as consumer interviews conducted at group level I am able to establish the artists interaction with the process of copyright and the extent to which it alters their distribution of music whilst also engaging the audience in debate about their understanding and adherence to the existing issues surround accessing digital music. The involvement of both artist and audience provides a unique opportunity to pinpoint the present effect of the existing systems of music distribution and the copyright protection available. Digital Music Copyright At the crux of the debate surrounding digital music distribution is the issue of copyright and the infringement thereof. Arguments both for and against the current system of rights ownership and management are well documented and some clear division between the opinions of those who hope to gain capital from the ownership of rights and those who wish to produce and consume digital music is revealed. The representative bodies existing to support the rights of the artist , such as the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) and the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) have staunch views on the use of their intellectual property and defined by the BPI, copyright in its current form can be surmised as follows: Copyright is the foundations which the music business is built. In its simplest terms, it is a form of intellectual property and, as such, gives the creator or the owner/ author of that work exclusive rights over how it is published, distributed and adapted. (BPI [online] 2009) The collective gusto of the recording industry to enforce their stance on what they see as a critical issue to the music business has led to much bad publicity and a galvanisation of some copyright infringers as a group with a serious social point to make. Kembrew McLeod (2005) agrees that infringement of copyrighted material online presents a significant problem for the monopoly held by the industry giants, even going as far as to view this as a positive consequence of file sharing and distribution. Arguing in favour of a diminished corporate monopoly, McLeod uses examples of successes for smaller independent artists, helped in part by the evolution of media distribution methods available to cut out the middle-man. With both artist and audience interviews revealing a symRobhy for McLeodÊ ¼s statements, most participants demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the possible advantages that new distribution methods offer smaller/less established artists, who often work outsi de of the boundaries of the established music industry. Williamson Cloonan (2007) accuse the BPI of blurring its distinction between the ‘interests of British record companies which it claims to represent with a wider definition of the ‘music business . The process of recording, distributing and marketing music is one element of the music industry but its inferred connection to grassroots music of all levels seems to be the bone of contention, as is borne out in my group research. The strength of language words and aggressive tone of both the RIAA and BPI in dealing with infingers, combined with the appropriation of the wider music industry for moral grounds (Williamson Cloonan, 2003, p. 305-7) adds to a misunderstanding regarding what exactly the music industry is and how it affects users access to media. There is an obvious disparity in opinion on either side of the debate surrounding copyright law, with the nature of what copyright represents and who it protects a nd particularly how it is relevant to new digital models of distribution and consumption open to much debate. These diverging opinions are likely to have an impact on how consumers and artists understand the issues within this field, and clearly how they relate and react to them. Media Access The history and development of studying audiences and their consumption habits is by now highly sophisticated and the subject of much debate and research. Using the work of others as a guide as well as theory and research my aim is to understand how audiences are accessing digital content and if their understanding of the legality of so doing , alters how they interact with the content. Longhurst (2007) observes that the most significant contemporary change to [music consumption] is coming through downloadability (p. 205). The pervasive nature of digital consumption in todays culture is displayed throughout both artist and audience responses showing high levels of use and understanding of the medium. An RIAA commissioned report (Siwek, 2007) carried out in the United States by the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) suggest that online copyright infringement costs the industry $12.5 billion annually(online). It is fair to assume the the access to both legal and illegal digital musi c is affect the industry greatly but these figures are open to criticism for there bias. The research of Huang (2005) into file sharing as a means of music consumption through group interviews of college students concludes that music file sharing is now a facet of music culture from a social perspective. My studies have some support for this claim with even artists describing extensive p2p use and one actively embracing it as a means of propagation of his material. Mascheroni et al (2008) conducted a comparable ethnographic study digital television consumption. The study concludes that young viewers are capable of defining their relationship with media based on present developments in the field rather than existing paradigms and traditions, and in doing so perhaps goes some way to explain the findings of Huangs research on college students. In similar ethnographic profiling Harwood (1997) compared television viewing Robterns of different aged groups, finding that decisions are representative of perceived Ê »social identityÊ ¼. It is arguable that similar influe nces are at play in consumers interaction with digital music consumption and with the increasing convergence of digital content, user generated content, and the social influences aforementioned, copyright infringement and any repressions appear to have very marginal impact on consumption habits. Based on the highlighted works the interaction between consumers and the legal implications surrounding content access are likely to vary in line with social perception and experience led understanding of the field. The fact that the artists were so Robert about file sharing, their involvement with it and its potential for positive use, adds weight to the claim copyright regulations for digital music are past their prime and lacking in effectiveness. Unique Online Considerations Various possible explanations for the ways in which digital media access has changed consumption habits have been covered previously. Increased media access has inevitably led to increased temptation to use nodal connectivity for illegal file sharing, although if the enactment of this abuse is as widespread as the BPI and RIAA would like us to think is another matter. Borne out of this peer to peer system of file distribution new products are being brought to market that provide alternatives to illegal acquisition of content. Analysing the manner in which consumers access content and services online has led to , sophisticated modEmmang of the accessibility and demand for said content and services. AndersonÊ ¼s (2006) presents a long tail model which serves as an example of such studies. The model refers to online commercial distribution with the most popular and commercial, products at one end of the graph with the highest volume of sales. The graph extends to illustrate the alm ost limitless potential for online sales in specialist or minority markets. Fig i. Long Tail Model (Anderson, 2006) Anderson further sets forth an opinion that the broadening of potential promotion and distribution online has increasingly opened up more possibilities for for both artists and consumers. Applying the long tail theory, it is obvious that it proposes a different system of economics to the traditional retail sector. Adding to this the obvious advantages of products being available around the clock, often irrespective of regional restrictions and the idea of a new economic model is further strengthened. The ability to cover areas of minuscule interest with little additional overheads enables retailers to offer huge depth of choice as well as broadening the idea of ownership of content through streaming.. Clearly the economics of online commerce are very different to the traditional model, however the rules of engagement surrounding copyright are expected to fit both models. two is different, yet the laws of copyright remain the same. Illegal sharing of content is viewed as an infringement of rights and therefore a form of theft as attested by the RIAA. The case that eventually closed the late nineties file sharing platform Napster, as detailed first by Merriden (2001) and then Menn (2003) illustrates the ramifications and interest in the first high-profile case of file sharing. Speaking of Napster Wall states; The record companies proposed that the Napster system ripped off artists and would kill music, while they made the legal argument that Napster encouraged the infringement of copyrights they held. Napster countered by arguing that members of Napster were making fair non-commercial use of the rights already assigned with the original sale of the record that had been converted into mp3 files. (Wall 2003, p223) Continuing where the Napster litigation left off, cases between the industry and p2p networks are still widespread today, showing that the industry has moved on little in the intervening years. The Swedish prosecution and proposed imprisonment of the creators of infamous file sharing tracker The Pirate Bay (Johnson Kiss, 2009) is perhaps the highest profile case today and could be seen as the modern Napster. In an attempt to bolster the music industries grasp on digital distribution a number of new models have been brought to market., Many mobile phone operators worldwide now offer unlimited music bundles with cell contracts and the emergence of streaming services mentioned such as Last.fm and Spotify, are seen in the group interviews to have a positive influence on peoples adherence to copyright. Gerd Leonhard (with Kusek 2005 2008) is describes these services as Ê »feels like free.Ê ¼ Advertising and premium service upgrades present the creates potential for capitalisat ion of music. Spotify has been a particular success in Europe, with the BBC reporting figures that already 5% of its users have upgraded to a premium service, giving it some 320,000 users paying  £10 per month for its full offering (BBC, 2010, online). This small percentage provides and annual turnover in the region of  £38,400,000 excluding additional revenue provided by advertising, proving that Spotify is a serious force in the online distribution business without even launching fully in the United States. By looking at audience habits and interaction with both copyright and media we can see that the new media model and the traditional approach to distributing music are increasingly unable to keep up with the consumer driven demand for online services, leaving companies such as Spotify to move in and become a type of new music industry for the 21st century. The difficulty inherent to their role is that the copyright for the material they wish to distribute is often owned by o ne of their more traditional predecessors. Methodology In this chapter I offer justification for the effectiveness of my methods for the collection of audience and artist responses to their interaction with digital music copyright. I use two groups of participants; one younger (16- 25) as well as a group from an older demographic of consumers (40-65) with both groups being representative of consumers as well as two individuals representative of artists. As this study represents a small cross section of the many people who are involved in roles as both consumer and artist definitive conclusions solely gathered from my findings alone are difficult to ascertain. The value however, of conducting the comparative interview types, is the provided overview of responses, and how they interplay with the core arguments surrounding the debate. Work by Huang (2005) and Macheroni et al (2008) would suggest that younger audiences are less concerned about the implications of peer to peer sharing and thus more likely to use the distribution method. Using relative methods I build upon their work, highlighting and supporting claims by providing complimentary evidence and similar findings. HuangÊ ¼s (2005) use of groups interviews highlighted specific areas of interest with direct interaction with audience members, whilst MascheroniÊ ¼s (2008) research adopted ethnographic studies of online, as well as off line interaction in a more one to one manner. Due to the nature of copyright interaction online ethnographic study of users could be applied to researching users of file sharing services. The problem with this is the anonymity in this type of cinteraction, discussed by Watt, Lea and Spears (2002). Although there is potential for some light to be shed on how audiences share music online, it would be difficult to rationalise the reasons for this activity, providing little evidence to illuminate the reader on audience behaviour. My own studies, made use of extensive one on one interviews allowing unsigned artists a mouthpiece within the debate. The benefit of exposing the artists to the one on one interview process was expected to be a greater understanding and experience of copyright yielding technical data on the subject. This was then coupled with group based research. With guidance from Bertrand and Hughes (2005, p81), the group interviews, were expected to benefit from inter-participant discussion allowing some involved to make up in shortfalls of technical knowledge. As a well established means of audience research, group interviews can help garner natural responses from participants. It must always be considered however that these discussions do not take place in unmonitored environments and so must be viewed as having the potential to be polluted by the participants knowledge that what is being said is also being recorded. A particularly pertinent issue given the legal climate surrounding the issues covered. The legal aspect of my research may encourage participants to shy away from full, Robert answers, however the focus group environment should also foster greater candour and less inherently solicited responses than that of one on one interviews for instance (Boubour 2007) although the combination of the two means of study should have a balancing effect on the results. Research Findings Here I present the findings of my primary research investigating the interplay between copyright issues and digital music consumption. The material put forward here is the product of the two group interviews and two individual interviews with consumers and artists respectively. The discussions centred around the same key themes including the participants access to and use of digital music as well as attitudes and understanding of the related legal issues. Of particular importance for my study are responses they may have relevance towards legal the constraints and considerations surrounding the notion of digital music access. Providing the the structural basis of this chapter my aim is to discover any visible Robterns between the responses of the two types of interviewee. Consumption Listening Habits: The primary question for the interviews is one of use and involvement in digital music. It is essential to establish the extent, if any, to which the interview subjects interact with digital music content, irrespective of its origin. The following section examines participant music consumption routines and in particular, digital music consumption habits. Based on their replies, I address the stereotype that older audiences are less willing and able to undertake interaction with new delivery methods whilst isolating comparisons between the groups in other forms of music consumption. On broaching the subject of use of digital music with the older group, it was clear that most participants were involved and responsive to the means of content distribution. Many of the group cited the iPhone or iPod as an influence on their ease of access and enjoyment of digital music, proving Apple have a huge say in how this market is set to develop. either using mp3 players or their mobile phone to co nsume digital music. When the group was asked if they had access to a digital music player the response was as follows, Howard: Of course IÊ ¼ve had mp3 phones for a good 5 years now and players for a bit longer. Dominic: Yeah me too I would say, not the players but the phones, I use an iPhone for everything now. Howard: I still use my player for jogging though, I dont like to be bothered by phone calls but I still want my music with me. Most made some use of access to digital music on a regular basis. This helps to dispel the myth of a generation gap regarding digital media use as alluded to in the work of Mascheroni et al (2008). Although this establishes a commonality in usage of devices we are yet to establish meaningful connections between access and consumption habits. In the older group. The concept of digital music consumption representing the mainstay of their listening habits produced varied responses. For the older group the response was as follows: Dominic: For the car or the house I spose real music, sorry I should say CDs and stuff I spose, real music is normally what I go for. Robert: Yeah the same really. This is similar to the attitudes of both artists interviewed. Biometrix: Yeah its really all about vinyl for me but that normally means I have to rip the vinyl if I want to listen to it on my phone or anything like that Gecko: I collect all sorts of CDs and records, when we go on tour I normally come back with a pile of discs Ive either bought or been given. With the artists and the older audience still actively engaged in the acquisition and collation of music it is clear that there is still a space for tangible products within the music industry. Such observations are notably absent when dealing with the younger of the group studies. In this group there was evidence of a fractured landscape of media access with no commonly held method of consuming music. Youtube, Spotify and Soundcloud provide a number of feels like free options for home use along with the ubiquitous iPod/Phone, however the access to music was overwhelmingly digital amongst this group. It can be said that both groups access digital content in a number of ways, with the younger group being more selective and more aware of different delivery methods, perhaps indicated by the greater disparity in the services and methods of consumption they chose. Within this younger group, extensive different ways of acquiring digital music were referenced, including demonstrable evidence of LeonhardÊ ¼s (2008) Ê »feels like freeÊ ¼ streaming services such as Spotify and Last.fm. The following extract is taken from the opening stages of the younger focus group; MarT: Spotify, mainly. Youtube too, but there is much less music on there now and when you find something you like it gets deleted after a while for copyright stuff. Spotify have made it so easy and if they have pretty much everything so you can just go there, and if you canÊ ¼t find it aint on Spotify there might be a live version or something on Youtube but the quality is always ropey. The only bad thing about Spotify is that you get ads but its still free and its much safer than downloading audio files. Steve: Everything is so joined up on Spotify, like suggested artists and playlists and stuff, I spose its similar on Youtube, you can spend hours exploring. Claire: And you dont have to buy anything or give your card details over. Similarly both artists are avid users of Spotify amongst other streaming services: Gecko: I know the money is peanuts for getting played on there but it makes you accessible to so many people, some of them dont have enough money to pay for your album or your mp3 or whatever but the fact that they can still access it is important to grow as an artist. Its like playing a gig and barely making the petrol money to get home. We all do it but some of us are a bit more relaxed about the good it does for us. Biometrix: I use Spotify all the time, really its stopped me stealing a lot of music really. Its so much easier than actually downloading something so normally I just do that because I cant be bothered finding what I want and then waiting on it to arrive on my computer. Clearly Spotify offers an innovative model that can fit into both of MyÃ… ¡kaÊ ¼s (2009) subscription service model categories. A monthly fee can be paid to allow listeners to enjoy uninterrupted music without advertising and also allow access to feature rich content such as mobile streaming and offline listening, as well as Leonhards (2009) Ê »feels like freeÊ ¼ model that is funded by advertising. Of the myriad methods of media access identified, use of Web 2.0 music consumption models such as Spotify demonstrates a fall in favour of traditional peer to peer networks, contrary to the testaments of the recording industry (Siwek, 2007.) This goes some way to enforce the claims of Leonhard (2009) that these new, lawful access streams provide an attractive alternative to illegal downloading and also allay industry concerns about copyright protection. The interview subjects also cited the simplicity of these new methods in allowing them to locate music without the extensi ve searching that is commonplace with peer to peer access to media. Engagement with File Sharing: In this section, we assess the subjects involvement with the file sharing. I present rationalisation of the participants use or otherwise of file sharing networks and investigate their understandings and interactions with the legal ramifications of such actions. As the conversation developed, unexpectedly within the older group, many of the participants had used peer to peer services in the past, whilst perhaps their usage was limited, responses seemed mixed. Shaun: IÊ ¼ve used Megaupload in the past Yeah. Subscribed to that. We didnt download without our subscription, but now lapsed, I dont about the kids but yeah, Megaupload. I used to et a lot of other stuff there like films and ebooks so it was great. We can see that the participants have an understanding of file sharing as a concept, if not perhaps the finer points of nodal networking. There is an inference that by purchasing a subscription the subject considers themselves to have bought their downloads. This is however false and the subscription simply provides faster download speeds. The artists had a more sophisticated understanding of how rights related to downloading and sharing content, however it is notable that this greater insight did little to dissuade them from partaking in file sharing. Biometrix: Yeah I do download stuff, not as much as I used to but if theres something I cant find on Spotify or Soundcloud or that stuff then I will just go on a torrent site but I feel bad about it, I reckon, well I reckon because I think about what it would be like if the musicians were like me, just starting out or something. The guilt mechanism in this response shows a belief that the RIAA/BPI position is correct and that the copyright issues surrounding this kind of media access is universally illegal. This shows some support for the industry having a direct influence over peoples online interactions despite their diminished market share. One of the artists in particular also uses p2p sharing to promote and distribute their own material. Biometrix: I try to make a couple of free songs every month and put them on soundcloud for people to download. Its pretty much a thanks to all the people on Facebook, Soundcloud and Youtube who like my music and keep my profile hits high. I know theyre on the torrent sites but I dont mind, they were free anyway. This positive use of filesharing allows the artist greater exposure with virtual nil as an overhead, undercutting the top-heavy music industry and presenting the egalitarian model favoured by McLeod (2005). Responses to Legal Issues Industry Implications; This section aims to build on the responses in the previous section by filling out the subjects understanding of the legal issues involved with file sharing. Particularly noticeable in these answers is the difference between the artist and audience categories. As mentioned earlier there have been many examples of litigations against providers of p2p services, such as the media-circus trial of Ê »The Pirate BayÊ ¼ founders. Whilst the audience groups had little knowledge of such cases the artists seemed far better versed in what was going on within the industry to shape the distribution of music. Biometrix: Yeah, IÊ ¼ve know a lot about it actually The pirate bay have been found guilty of copyright abuse and theyre appealing their jail term now I think. Its a pretty big deal, all of the big film companies have been after them. The site is still going though, so it doesnt seem to have done much good does it? Gecko: Pirate bay is huge. Its not just pirating things, they do all sorts, politics and freedom of speech stuff and all of that. I think it was started by activists but I dont know whos involved nowadays. As soon as something gets taken off it seems to come straight back up. Loads of people use it. Infringement and theft are put forwards by McLeod as tactics to enforce the monopoly of the recording industry. Of the subjects opinions on the significance file sharing has for the music industry, the various subjects displayed an array of responses. The following extracts are taken from the older subjects; Dominic: Small bands dont have a bean basically. Those are the people you are robbing off, not the execs or anything. Emma: They must be getting paid somehow, the music is still out there. Robert: But the money doesnt go to the band. This passage underlines the fact that members in this group believe that the majority of income for musicians, particularly less prolific artists, is provided by their record sales. This understanding of the revenue streams available to music industries also demonstrates a finely tuned understanding of what the Ê »music industryÊ ¼ entails. Williamson and CloonanÊ ¼s (2007) arguments against the wide spread use of the term, based on my findings, suggest older generations are indeed more inclined to understand the term equating to the recording industry. The actions of the recording industries and the responses from audiences can be seen as an example of Michel de CerteauÊ ¼s idea of Ê »strategies and tacticsÊ ¼ (1984). The strategies of the power structures within the relationship, in this case, the industries retention of traditional retail models and the discourse that it equates to the music industry (BPI, 2009), in contrast to the tactics of audiences. This investigation finds between age demographics the response tactics identifiable and noticably different. The older group creates their own space through a sceptical approach to recording industry practices, methods of media access and opinion demonstrate stronger ties with the recording industry discourse crime and punishment. The both the artists and younger group members seemed much more separated from these established means of operation, shown in their symRobhy for file sharing, anti-corporate comments and reluctance to trust established regulations regardin g copyright infringement. Based on the findings outlined above, the suggestion is that audiences are highly aware that there are legal implications surrounding the sharing of files, but their opinions and responses to the validity of these implications are generationally split. The evidence provided by the younger demographic of both audience and artists provides support for the views of McLeod (2005) whereas the older group demonstrated a much more accepting response for the necessity of copyright legislation as a protection against theft. Applying music retail and commerce theories presented by Anderson (2006) and Dubber (2007), most of the participants appeared to be informed of the changes online distribution was experiencing, although there was rejection of the industrys reluctance to develop progressive content access agreements along with them. The divergence of opinion in the application of rights enforcement between the two groups adds weight to the arguments presented by Garofalo (2003), acting to s et the balance between the two sides of the rights argument, preventing the financial exploitation of free music, whilst also managing a free channel of access to consumers. Conclusion It can be established from the results of my investigation that audience and artist opinions are divided on the justifications for rights protection and the enforcement thereof in relation to digital music access. Whilst there is clear evidence of a move towards digital media consumption, there is a distinct generational gap in the manner in which different age groups access music digitally. Older generations seem to fall into line with traditional models of product capitalisation, purchasing physical formats and viewing transgression of copyright online as theft. Younger subjects more immersed in digital media and having grown up during the internet gold rush have a far less strict attitude to the acquisit