Theories Of Corporate Social Responsibility Commerce Essay

Theories Of Corporate Social Responsibility Commerce Essay In the olden days, businesses were mostly with the idea of making profits and existing into the unforeseeable future. Gradually, it has changed dramatically and has shifted attention to responsibilities that firms have. For many years scholars have learnt firms public concerns (e.g., Berle, 1931; Bowen, 1953; Davis, 1960; Dodd, 1932; Frederick, 1960). Still, it is only currently that attraction in Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) has become extensive (Serenko Bontis, 2009; Wagner, Lutz, Weitz, 2009). CSR is a practice with the purpose of embracing responsibility for organisations conduct and supporting a definite impact through its activities on consumers, employees, shareholders, environment, communities, and all other members of the public scope who may also be considered as stakeholders. Other names for CSR include social performance, corporate citizenship, corporate conscience, or Responsible Business or sustainable responsible business (D Wood, 1991). Part A of this paper describes the three theories of Corporate Social responsibility, which are the managerial, utilitarian and relational theories (Secchi, 2007). The practice and significance will also be discussed as CSR seeks to pay attention to efforts that is being put to communities which they are situated, and whether they are been used for the right purposes. The discussion will be on how Anglo-gold Ashanti, Obuasi mining operations has impacted the community both positively and negatively. A personal analysis will be made on whether company pratices the stakeholder theory and a conclusion at the end. Theories of Corporate Social Responsibility Utilitarian Theory The hoary idea of laissez faire business gives way to determinism, individualism to public control, and personal responsibility to social responsibility. Instrumental theories could also be taken evenly with Utilitarian theory (Garriga and Mele, 2004; Jensen, 2002) in which the business is perceived as simply a mechanism for wealth making, as well as its public actions are only a means to attain profitable outcomes. The business is considered as part of the environment that it is situated in. This theory assumes the business has a responsibility to incorporate CSR in their daily working business ethics. Part of the utilitarian approach which is the functionalist also describes the business as part of the echo system therefore has a duty to make profit for its stakeholders through investment in profitable ventures. Managerial theory Secci (2007) examinations explained the reasoning of managerial theory that points out corporate management in which CSR is approached within the corporation. The distinction between the two theories is that, managerial theory suggests that all things outside the scope of the business be taken into account when making decisions. Corporate Social Performance (CSP), theories on social accountability, auditing and reporting and social issues in international business are the divisions in the Managerial theory. This theory is connected to political theories based on bringing out an idea, explaining and planning it mentally, Garriga and Mele (2004), and supported by Wood and Lodgson (2002). It explains that the greatness and power a business has should show in his involvement in the community it is situated and that the business itself is a citizen in that community. Relational theory Relational theory has a root from the complex firm-environment relationships. The theory was unfolded by Garriga and Meles (2004) analysis of stakeholder approach and was backed by the work of Mitchel, Agle and Wood (1997). The focal point of this theory is between the business and the environment. It has four sub-divisions mainly the business and society, stakeholder approach, corporate citizenship and theory of social contract. It talks more about the business and its society and also emphasizing on the stakeholder approach. Anglo-Gold Ashanti, Obuasi Obuasi Gold mine started its operations in 1897 when it was known as the Obuasi mine. Since 1975, the mine has been severely condemned for its environmental pollution, but still continues till date. In 2004 the company merged with Anglo gold Ashanti- South Africa and changed its name to Anglo-gold Ashanti, Obuasi. The company employed over 5700 people in 2009, http://www.anglogoldashanti.com/subwebs/InformationForInvestors/Reports09/AnnualReport09/f/AGA_AR09.pdf (Accessed on 04/12/2012). Mr. Kwesi Enyan is currently the managing director of the company. Positive Impact of the company on the community Anglo-Gold Ashanti has a trust fund that was created by the government of Ghana and the company. One percent of the companys profit at the end of every year is directed to the fund which would be used to develop the community. The company built AngloGold-Ashanti (AGA) primary and junior secondary school. The school is still one of the largest and well-designed junior secondary schools in Ghana. The school developed many talented people with some going on to become managers and CEO of big companies in Ghana. The company also built a hospital near one of its shafts which attended to needs of people of staffs. The hospital was linked to the government as part of an inter-governmental HIV AIDS treatment program. The company distributed condoms with pay slips and also at maternity and child care sections at the hospital. The hospital proved very vital to the community as there were not many hospitals when it was built. The hospital treated a lot of diseases and infections of employees and their children. The company recently opened the Malaria Control department which is independent from the company now but works hand-in-hand with the company. The Malaria control programme has reduced the rate of malaria deaths drastically and also given opportunity to a lot of job opportunities for people in the community. Negative impact of the company on the community During the process of mining there are many gases which are released which pollute the air and spread a lot of diseases to the community. Many people fall sick and die due to some of these unbearable gases used in mining. Mining has accounted for a lot of deaths in communities that they operate. Companies still do not care because as long as they make profits for their shareholders and if company keeps growing, they are alright. The company has also been heavily criticized of mostly employing dependants of its workers. This has resulted to a lot of youth in the community practising illegal mining popularly known as galamsey. There are almost 500,000 small scale miners composed of illegal and legal miners. There have been clashes between company workers and galamsey boys which the workers were wounded. This epitomizes the tense relationship between the two parties. Immoral issues are raised against some managers of the company. There is criticism levelled against recruitment policies of the company. Some ladies are sexually abused before being employed. There are also issues of tribalism and how there is inequality in recruitment policy and bias on the part of some managers in awarding promotions. Many farmers also have to leave their lands because of mining activities, these mining activities has destroyed a lot of vegetation. Mining activities also destroys water bodies and other natural resources which deprive the society and government of required revenue. The company surprisingly also employs huge numbers of foreign labour which really worsens and increase unemployment rate in the community and the country as a whole. The unemployment rate in Ghana including the informal sector is estimated 11% with about 28% of the population living below the poverty line. Is the company practising relational theory and the Stakeholder approach? From 2007-2009, there were no deposits added to the trust fund and as at January 2010, no funds had been disbursed. People started raising question marks to the real usefulness of the funds and whether the projects were just made out of just the company being generous. Some of the companys corporate social responsibilities were not purposefully for the Obuasi community, but for the company itself. This is because the Anglo-gold school only admits dependents of workers and does not give opportunity to other children in the community. This is an unfortunate situation and is unethical because the companys pollution and waste it disposes affects the whole community. The hospital also only benefits the employees and those that the company has relations with. The company argues that the hospital also provides counselling and testing for other community members and also the education giving to the dependents of workers is turn is educating the community because the children are also part of the community. With the theories discussed above and the stakeholder theory, the company view of responsible business is not really geared towards the improvement of the society but making profits and the welfare of its workers only. It is also unethical to destroy the land and vegetation of the community with them not getting so much in return. This depicts the current situation of Anglo-gold Ashanti (Johannesburg) compared to Obuasi, since 2004 when the two companies merged. The city has had massive improvement due to a good CSR towards the city with Obuasi not seeing any major development. Conclusion The company has a point when it employs foreign labour because there are not so much skilled personnel in the country to handle certain job aspects but saying that there must be a win-win situation. The community cannot just be suffering whiles foreigners will be enjoying, so there must be intensive training of human resource in the country to be able to acquire the needed skills to take up these positions. There should be training on plants, chemicals and awareness also made for people in the community to participate in these training programs. There must be the need for our own local resources so that most of the machinery used for mining would not be imported. There must be laws to help improve the lives of the local people and the society as a whole. Government should also play his part in ensuring the company comply with all rules and acts concerning the human rights of people in the community. Finally, companies should see corporate social as a growth engine and not a form of something charitable. PART B (SECTION A) Introduction As individuals we work with people, interact with them and might disagree or agree with them on issues. Conflict management means putting in place ways that reduces bad aspects of conflict and raising the good aspects of it at standards the same or higher than the place where the conflict took place. Additionally, conflict management seeks to improve learning and group results, that is capability or performance in a business environment (Ra him, 2002). People might disagree in decision making because they might have ideas of their own. Conflict may be important to groups and businesses, when managed well; it increases group results (Alpert, Osvaldo, Law, 2000; Booker Jame son, 2001; Ra-him Bono ma, 1979; Kuhn Poole, 2000; Church Marks, 2001). Part B of this paper is divided into two, section A and B. Section A explains conflict, its theory and my experience of it at Mining Building and Contractors Ltd (MBC,Obuasi), Ghana and a conclusion at the end. Section B of this paper expla ins building trust, relationships and communications, theories of building trust, relationships and communication as well as a personal reflection on these skills and a conclusion. Theory of conflict management Conflict is defined as disparity amongst people. It sometimes differs from a slight misunderstanding to a win-or-lose or agitated clash (Kirchoff and Adams, 1982). There are two types of theories under conflict management. The traditional theory is centred on the theory that conflict is immoral, is instigated by troublesome people, and should be subdued. Contemporary theory identifies that conflicts amid people is unavoidable. They can be beneficial to an individual and emerge as a natural result of change and therefore should be managed efficiently (Kirchoff and Adams, 1982) reflects origination as a device for conveying collectively several thoughts and perspectives into a fresh and changed combination. An environment of tautness and resulting to conflict is therefore vital in every business devoted to emerging or operating with new thinking. Personal reflection I worked at MBC Ltd, Obuasi with a colleague at the Accounts Office. My colleagues uncle was the Marketing Manager but wasnt in good terms with Mr. Ocloo, the Accountant, who was our boss. I got to know our boss was someone who was really passionate about his work and disliked lazy and insolent people. I built a strong relationship with my boss and always listened to and respected his views. My boss observed my colleague most of the time missing at the office, this continued for a few weeks. My colleague had been visiting his uncle during periods which there were no work at the office. One day I returned from an errand to find out my colleague had had a confrontation with our boss because of his continuous absence during working hours. He also had reported the case to his uncle who had come and exchanged words with our boss and had worsened the situation. I quickly called my colleague and spoke to him about the way our boss had observed him for a long period before voicing out his fr ustration. I recommended to him outside apologizing to our boss. I also advised him to go back to his uncles office to calm him down. I then ensured he explained things to his uncle and admit it was his fault to make peace. I later talked to my boss for hours explaining that, my colleague was at fault but he really left when we had finished with our work. I wanted to make sure the case does not escalate to higher levels and wanted it solved that day. It wasnt easy because we had to stay behind after office hours when everyone had left to resolve the issue. Both my colleague and his uncle came back with my colleague apologizing and acknowledging the mistake that brought about the conflict. I helped solve the solution because it would have really developed into a real mix-up which would have brought other parties and disciplines into the matter. Conclusion Every day we work with people, who might wrong us or rub us in a way. I personally think conflict is unavoidable but can be managed. At the workplace individuals should always be thoughtful and always try to negotiate with fellow workers to resolve conflicts. Workers must be sensitive to the feelings of other workers and understand that individuals may react to anger, fear and frustration. Workers should provide viable solutions to problems amongst themselves. Mangers should identify and analyse the reason for conflict to understand the root cause of conflict. Any solution for resolving the issue should be aimed at doing away with the root cause. Managers need to have good communication skills to be able to empathize with all the concerned parties and put across their solutions convincingly. Conflicts should be resolved in a healthy way without favouring any individual; all parties involved should be treated with respect and spoken to politely. Managing conflict effectively is valuab le in the progress of an organization. SECTION 2 Introduction Nowadays, businesses are looking for ways to help maintain trust, build good relationships and acquire communication skills in helping them achieve growth in their workplace. Trust is explained as the condition of preparedness for an interaction with something or someone without protection (Duane C. Tway, Jr.,1994). Trust, relationships and communication at the workplace is very essential to the success of a business and wellbeing of people at work. Trust is seen by others as equivalent to trustworthiness, explaining trust in the subject of individual traits that stimulate positive expectations on other individuals behalf(e.g., Butler Cantrell, 1984; McKnight et al., 1998).Organisational relationships can be grouped into functions, departments and teams; union, staff and the management. These relationships are influenced by how people individually treat each other in the workplace, http://www.dol.govt.nz/er/bestpractice/prc/infosheets/GPG-WP-RELATIONSHIP.pdf (Accessed on 03/12/12). Culture of trust is beneficial in disorganized and uncertain places, (Bjerke, 1999). Theories of Building Trust, Relationships Communication Trust is the anticipation by an individual, group, or a business of moral activities, that is, ethically truthful judgments and ways built upon principled values of scrutiny in favour of another person, group, or business in a mutual effort or pecuniary dealing. This explanation highlights the significance of trust in private and workplace relationships, Hosmer (1995). Trust gives way to developing a relationship more effective between the trustor and trustee (Blau, 1964). Jarvenpaa and Leidner (1998) explained that a very fast trust cannot be maintained if there isnt sequential communication. As a result, swift trust is important but doesnt guarantee a situation for communication of trustworthiness. (Meyerson, Weick, Kramer, 1996) explain communication of trustworthiness as a joint way of controlling and directing peoples behaviours and ways in their interplay with each other, and that eventually shows the standard trust that exists between them. Personal Reflection When I started work at MBC Ltd, (Obuasi), the first thing I did was to learn and quickly adapt to the organisational behaviour and culture. The next thing was to win the trust of fellow workers and build good communication levels and relationships with them. I was humble, obedient and was always eager to work. I became more involved in issues of workers in the company. This made me my boss favourite and made him sometimes go to the extent of discussing his personal issues with me. I had already won his trust and had built a vibrant relationship with him. As a new worker of the company, it was not done overnight but through hard work I was able to achieve it. If I saw workers not in good terms at work, I will quickly try to address it. I will have a conversation with the people involved and if it was still not working, I will try a higher authority. I always made sure that no party felt betrayed or offended but it was always a win-win case. I also kept private information from others confidential. When we had finished with work and the place seemed boring I would suggest a group meeting where we thrived on issues to be addressed at the office. We did this at least two times and really helped us a lot and always brought the best in us. I suggested this to fellow workers but did not work at start because some managers did not agree with the idea. Gradually interest for it grew and the company now holds a special meeting once every month where selected workers from various departments share views and discuss problems facing them to managers. This really improved communication and enhanced good relationships and trust in the organization. Conclusion Communication, trust and relationships can be improved in all workplaces, no matter the size of the company. The basis of an individuals interaction in the workplace is through these skills. These skills are very important and should be amalgamated into team building in every organization. Individuals should be encouraged to stop engaging in activities that will reduce trust existing between workers. Workshops and meetings should be organized to prepare and educate workers on developing good communication skills and fostering healthy relationships among themselves. It is never easy to impress or satisfy everyone at the workplace because we are human but we must also know that it takes a lot of effort to fix a broken relationship or trust that existed between workers than to prevent it from happening. If any company wants to move from being just a working group to a high performing one these skills must be taking seriously. None of us is perfect but we can be much more effective and e fficient if we work on building good relations, having easy and simple communication systems and being trustworthy. This will inspire and influence others to help build a successful business environment. Bibliography for Part A Berle, A. A. 1931. Corporate powers as powers in trust. Harvard Law Review, 44: 1049-1074. Bowen, H. R. 1953. Social responsibilities of the businessman. New York: Harper Row. D Wood, Corporate Social Performance Revisited (1991) 16(4) The Academy of Management Review. Davis, K. 1973. The case for and against business assumption of social responsibilities. Academy of Management Journal, 16: 312-322. Dodd, E. M. 1932. For whom are corporate managers trustees? Harvard Law Review, 45: 1145-1163. Frederick, W. C. 1960. The growing concern over business responsibility. California Management Review, 2: 54-51. Garriga, E. and Mele, D. (2004) Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping and territory. Journal of Business Ethics, 53, 51-74. http://www.anglogoldashanti.com/subwebs/InformationForInvestors/Reports09/AnnualReport09/f/AGA_AR09.pdf (Accesed on 04/12/2012). Jensen, M. C. (2002) Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12, 2, 235-256. Mitchell, R. K., Agle, B. R. and Wood, D. J. (1997). Towards a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle of who and what really counts, Academy of Management Review, 22(4),853-886. Secchi, D. (2007). Utilitarian, managerial and relational theories of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Management Reviews, 9, 4, 347-373. Serenko, A., Bontis, N. 2009. A citation-based ranking of the business ethics scholarly journals. International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 4: 390-399. Wagner, T., Lutz, R. J., Weitz, B. A. 2009. Corporate hypocrisy: Overcoming the threat of inconsistent corporate social responsibility perceptions. Journal of Marketing, 73: 77-91. Wood, D. J. and Lodgson, J. M. (2002). Business citizenship: From individuals to organizations. Business Ethics Quarterly, Ruffin Series, 3, 59-94. Bibliography for Part B Alper, S., Tjosvold, D., Law, K. S. (2000) Conflict management, efficacy, and performance in organizational teams. Personnel Psychology, 53, 625-642. Bodtker, A. M., Jameson, J. K. (2001) Emotion in conflict formation and its transformation: Application to organizational conflict management. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 3, 259-275 Bjerke, B., Business leadership and culture. National management styles in the global economy, Edward Elgar Publishing, 1999 Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley. Butler, J. K., Jr., Cantrell, R. S. (1984). A behavioral decision theory approach to modeling dyadic trust in superiors and subordinates. Psychological Reports, 55, 19-28. DeChurch, L. A, Marks, M. A. (2001) Maximizing the benefits of task conflict: The role of conflict management. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 12, 4-22. D. C. Tway, Jr., A Construct of Trust, Doctoral dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 1994. Hosmer, L. 1995. Trust: The connection link between organizational theory and philosophical ethics. Academy of Management Review, 20: 379-403. http://www.dol.govt.nz/er/bestpractice/prc/infosheets/GPG-WP-RELATIONSHIP.pdf (Accessed on 03/12/12). Jarvenpaa, S. L. Leidner, D. E. 1998. Communication and trust in global virtual teams. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 3(4): 1-36 Kirchoff, N., Adams, J.R. 1982. Conflict Management for Project Managers. Drexel Hill: Project Management Institute. Kuhn, T., Poole, M. S. (2000). Do conflict management styles affect group decision making? Human Communication Research, 26, 558-590. McKnight, D. H., Cummings, L. L., Chervany, N. L. (1998). Initial trust formation in new organizational relationships. Academy of Management Review, 23, 473-490. Meyerson, D., Weick, K. E., Kramer, R. M. 1996. Swift trust and temporary groups. In R. M.Kramer (Ed.), Trust in organizations: Frontiers of theory and research: 166-196. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Rahim, M. A., Bonoma, T. V. (1979). Managing organizational conflict: A model for diagnosis and intervention. Psychological Reports, 44, 1323-1344. Rahim, M. A. (2002) Toward a theory of managing organizational conflict. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 13, 206-235.

Ethics Competency

Also, cases Like stealing are hard to report since collecting evidence Is not always easy unless the act is captured by a security camera or another employee witnesses the same situation. 2. Waste My answer to this question was NO, as I feel that waste is hard to be defined and measured. Waste can be as simple as waste of paper, wasting valuable work time where tasks can be performed or wasting resources such as not matching up employee's potentials with the type of work performed. Waste of paper is something very simple and can be quickly corrected by setting up an environmental awareness policy at the workplace.But, waste of valuable work time or resources Is more serious, especially If It affects everyone else on the team (I. E. ) deliverables to the client and would have to be reported to a superior. 3. Mismanagement My answer to this question is YES, as mismanagement might lead to waste of resources and time. This also leads to frustration amidst employees as they might have to repeat a task over and over again due to mismanagement of Information or work long hours due to miscalculation of time.This should be reported to a superior as mismanagement over time leads to economical problems in an organization as more money has to be spent to fix something that should have been done right in the first place. Safety Problems 4. My answer to this question Is YES, as workplace safety Is top portly as It affects the life of employees, productivity of the team and also costs an employer a lot of money in worker's coma and employee's compensation. Workplace safety is very important and needs to be reported as the damages caused by safety issues might involve one or several people and may turn out to be fatal if neglected. . Sexual Harassment and quality of work. Many employees may not report this issue for fear of losing their jobs, but it is important to report such behavior to stop the issue from occurring gain and to protect the overall morale of the team. It is g ood to collect evidence, such as taped conversations or emails so that the person is unable to deny his/her behavior. 6. Unfair Discrimination My answer to this question is YES, as the corporate culture today is very diverse and people from various countries and cultures work together. Unfair discrimination on the basis of race, religion, culture, sexual orientation etc†¦ s very demoralizing and brings down an employee's morale. Unfair discrimination also leads to stereotyping as the group or individual who faces discrimination feels that no matter how good hey perform, it will never be acceptable. Unfair discrimination needs to be reported as it squashes good talent, new ideas and innovation. Good support from superiors above managers is necessary to curb discrimination. It is also helpful to collect evidence in the form of emails or support from other employees who have experienced similar discrimination. Legal Violation and Financial Reporting 7.My answer to both of these is YES, as legal and financial violations both face serious consequences from the Judicial system and the company might incur huge fines as a result of these violations. Companies can even get shut down as a result of legal violations and financial reporting issues and both of these must be taken seriously and reported. Types of Retaliation 1 . Coworkers not associating with person. I have not witnessed this yet as many of us on my current team confide in each other and discuss common issues, we maintain an open dialogue and do not dissociate with a person who brings up an ethical issue.We collectively work and support each other to resolve the issue. 2. Pressure from co-workers to stop complaint. I have personally not witnessed this till date, but have seen it in other cases where there co- workers have persuaded another co-worker to not complain against my boss as several other people who complained before about similar issues were let go. My boss being the director of the departmen t has the support of the UP of our department who can influence HRS decisions even if a person chose to report to HER.It would be nice to have a non biased and approachable person heading the department or a HER manager or UP who was open to review issues. But the key is collect adequate and relevant evidence to support the case. I have witnessed this in work environments where people have been with the organization for a very long time and consider any new hire or entry to be a threat or challenge to their position. Ego, insecurity and narrow mindedness play a key part in this issue, as people feel that though they have done a task inefficiently for several years, it is right as nobody has pointed out otherwise.If a person new to the team points out the inefficiency, egos flare up and hostility begins. 4. Poor performance appraisal. This happened to a co-worker of mine who no longer works for the organization as my boss felt that he was a threat to her position as he was very knowl edgeable and ride to suggest new processes for existing tasks (I. E. ) new ways of doing things more efficiently. His probation was extended during his review stating that he did not complete his tasks on hand in a timely manner, did not communicate effectively etc†¦ Which were all false accusations.He did have adequate evidence to go to HER to report my manager and chose not to come back to an environment of hostility but was well compensated by the company for the entire mental trauma he went through and for the time he spent on the issue. 5. Verbal harassment or intimidation. I did witness this in several situations at different workplaces. In my current workplace (I. E. ) in the case I mentioned in the previous item (#4), my ex-coworker had to put up with verbal harassment from my manager who would snap at him for reasons unknown or would confront him on issues in staff meetings and try to put him down.In another case at a previous workplace, my immediate manager would alwa ys give one of my co-workers a hard time as she was recently promoted to a Project Meg's position but he expected a lot out of her and offered no help to mentor her. He loud constantly criticize her work and would lower her morale with his demoralizing comments. She finally resigned after feeling intimidated and threatened by her superior. This type of issue hampers team work and lowers the teams morale as people get scared to present new ideas for fear of getting shunned or losing their position.Tighter scrutiny of daily work by management, reassignment to a different 6. Job, reassignment to a different Job with less desirable duties and denial of a promotion. I have seen this happen in cases in my current organization when an employee rises to report a manager's unethical actions such as discrimination to higher authorities and the manager indicates hostility towards the employee as the manager is under scrutiny. s run and tries to apply for another position within the company, th e current manager starts getting hostile and indifferent as they consider a person transferring from their department to be an indication of bad management on their part. A simple dialogue and an effort to resolve the issue is all that is required which most managers tend to ignore. As stated in an article published in the Ethics Resource Center (2009) about Enron's downfall: To help avoid the fate of Enron and other companies whose ethics are called into question.

Media – Pre production piece, storyboard for music video

In order to make my storyboard I had to research many different music videos. I looked at music videos from many different music channels and from many different musical genres, such as rock, pop and hip-hop. After analysing these videos I came to the conclusion that there were a number of important points I had to consider when making my storyboard. I decided to use Bob Dylan's ‘Blowin' in the wind' for my music video storyboard as there was never a video created for it. Also I think the issues of war in the song are very topical to the current affairs in the world today. Firstly, something I had to consider carefully was my audience. The song I chose was released in the 1960s. So, obviously it would not significantly appeal to the younger age groups. The majority of my audience will be of the older age group, probably between 40 and 60. This song would appeal to both men and women, so there was no particular gender to target. I do not think that this song would attract any particular class of people, as the song discusses issues that affect all social classes. Furthermore, I had to consider the length of each frame, as it must coincide with the rhythm of the music playing. For example, if I were to make a storyboard for a slow song then I would most probably have long frames of about 4 seconds. Whereby on the other hand if I were to make a storyboard for a fast song then I would most probably have short frames of about two seconds. So, in my case I chose to use long frames to capture the slow, mellow rhythm of the song. Another point to deliberate was whether to follow the words of the song in my storyboard or to use a number of interesting images linked together which don't have much relevance to the song. I decided to use the words of the song in my storyboard to convey what the song was about. Some of the words in the song were ambiguous, but I conveyed what I felt the words meant. All of the images are outside and most are linked with nature. I chose to do this to give the video a relaxing and peaceful theme, to fit in with what the song is about. This is also linked in with my target audience, as I tried to achieve a calm video, something that someone of the older generation would enjoy watching and would help relieve them of stress. I decided to repeat the same images in each chorus to reinforce the meaning and importance of the words. Furthermore, I also chose to repeat the same images in each instrumental section of the song. I chose the image of the sun going down, from morning, to afternoon, to evening, to dusk; I did this to create the affect that one verse was over and the next was beginning. I also used it at the end to indicate the song was ending, as the day was ending.

Astronomy 101 - Early History of Astronomy

Astronomy is humanitys oldest science. People have been looking up, trying to explain what they see in the sky probably since the first human-like cave dwellers existed. Theres a famous scene in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, where a hominid named Moonwatcher surveys the sky, taking in the sights and pondering what he sees. Its likely that such beings really did exist, trying to make some sense of the cosmos as they saw it. Prehistoric Astronomy Fast forward about 10,000 years to the time of the first civilizations, and the earliest astronomers who already figured out how to use the sky. In some cultures, they were priests, priestesses, and other elites who studied the movement of celestial bodies to determine rituals, celebrations, and planting cycles. With their ability to observe and even forecast celestial events, these people held great power among their societies. This is because the sky remained a mystery to most people, and in many cases, cultures put their deities in the sky. Anyone who could figure out the mysteries of the sky (and the sacred) had to be pretty important.   However, their observations were not exactly scientific. They were more practical, although somewhat used for ritual purposes. In some civilizations, people assumed that that celestial objects and their motions could foretell their own futures. That belief led to the now-discounted practice of astrology, which is more of an entertainment than anything scientific.   The Greeks Lead the Way The ancient Greeks were among the first to start developing theories about what they saw in the sky. Theres much evidence that early Asian societies also relied on the heavens as a sort of calendar. Certainly, navigators and travelers used the positions of the Sun, Moon, and stars to find their way around the planet.   Observations of the Moon suggested that Earth, too, was round. People also believed that Earth was the center of all creation. When coupled with the philosopher Plato’s assertion that the sphere was the perfect geometrical shape, the Earth-centered view of the universe seemed like a natural fit.   Many other early observers believed the heavens were really a giant crystalline bowl arching over Earth. That view gave way to another idea, expounded by astronomer Eudoxus and philosopher Aristotle in the 4th century BCE. They said the Sun, Moon, and planets hung on a set of nesting, concentric spheres surrounding Earth. Nobody could see them, but something was holding up the celestial objects, and invisible nesting balls were as good an explanation as anything else. Although helpful to ancient people trying to make sense of an unknown universe, this model did not help in properly tracking the motions planets, the Moon, or stars as seen from Earths surface. Still, with few refinements, it remained the predominant scientific view of the universe for another six hundred years. The Ptolemaic Revolution in Astronomy In the Second Century BCE, Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy), a Roman astronomer working in Egypt, added a curious invention of his own to the geocentric model of nesting crystalline balls.   He said that the planets moved in perfect circles made of something, attached to those perfect spheres. All that stuff   rotated around Earth. He called these little circles epicycles and they were an important (if erroneous) assumption. While it was wrong, his theory could, at least, predict the paths of the planets fairly well. Ptolemys view remained the preferred explanation for another fourteen centuries! The Copernican Revolution That all changed in the 16th century, when  Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer tiring of the cumbersome and imprecise nature of the Ptolemaic model, began working on a theory of his own. He thought there had to be a better way to explain the perceived motions of planets and the Moon in the sky. He theorized that the Sun was at the center of the universe and Earth and other planets revolved around it. Seems simple enough, and very logical. However, this idea conflicted with the Holy Roman churchs idea (which was largely based on the perfection of Ptolemys theory). In fact, his idea caused him some trouble. Thats because, in the Churchs view, humanity and its planet were always and only to be considered the center of all things. The Copernican idea demoted Earth to something the Church didnt want to think about. Since it was the Church and had assumed power over all knowledge, it threw its weight around to get his idea discredited.   But, Copernicus persisted. His model of the universe, while still incorrect, did three main things. It explained the prograde and retrograde motions of the planets. It took Earth out of its spot as the center of the universe. And, it expanded the size of the universe. In a geocentric model, the size of the universe is limited so that it can revolve once every 24 hours, or else the stars would get slung off due to centrifugal force. So, maybe the Church did fear more than a demotion of our place in the universe since a deeper understanding of the universe was changing with Copernicuss ideas.   While it was a major step in the right direction, Copernicus’ theories were still quite cumbersome and imprecise. Yet, he paved the way for further scientific understanding. His book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, which was published as he lay on his deathbed, was a key element in the beginning of the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment. In those centuries, the scientific nature of astronomy became incredibly important, along with the construction of telescopes to observe the heavens. Those scientists contributed to the rise of astronomy as a specialized science that we know and rely upon today.  Edited by Carolyn Collins Petersen.