Ryanair Internal and External Factors

Ryanair Internal and External Factors The following report analyses how internal and external factors control to the strategy that Ryanair Plc is following. This report undertakes a detailed study of Ryanair which include a brief outlining of the companys products and services. Mission, vision and values of the airline will be also explained. It evaluate companys current strategy and the management of that strategy. It also gives a brief evaluation of Ryanairs financial structure as well as an environmental analysis of the European airline industry and how this affects Ryanair. Each section of the following report represent the key findings. Introduction to company section includes Ryanairs background, mission and vision statements, Corporate Social Responsibility policy, companys stakeholders. External environment section include SWOT analysis. This analysis explain Internal (Strengthens and Weaknesses) and External (Opportunities and Threats) factors. Furthermore, PEST analyse is described. In order to understand companys profitability in relevance to the competitors, the Porters Five Forces framework is used. In Financial sector the turnover , profit margins, operating profit, current ratio, solvency ratio, gearing ratio and the comparability of these during 2006-2008 period is explained. Using the Ansofts growth matrix the main strategic direction that Ryanair follow was indentified. The methods of development such as low cost, no- frills model, finding new markets for existing products, opening new routes are outlined and analysed. Conclusions and recommendations was explained using a SPACE . Introduction to Company 4.1 The largest low-fare European company Ryanair was set up in 1985 by Cristy and Tony Ryan and Liam Lonergan. Company started working only with 25 members of staff. Ryanair replicated the American Southwest Airlines business model and re-launched it in 1990 growing in nowadays to be the biggest low fare European company with 7,118 of employees. From the statistic of European Low fare Airline Association (June 2009) The number of passengers carried from June 2008 to June 2009 was 60,2 millions, the load factor was 81.4%, number of flight per day-1,200 and average fleet age is 2.8 years.(ELFAA 2009) Chief Executive officer from 1994 is M. OLeary. Ryanair became a public company in 1997. It is currently offering flights to 26 European Countries with 150 destinations and it operates on 880 different routes daily with 1,200 flights a day. (History of Ryanair) Ryanair does not have a formal mission or vision statement. But from the public statements of the company is to simply continue to be the largest low -cost leader in the European airline industry (Box,Tomas M, Byus, Kent 2007, p 2). The company has a bigger market share, better customer service than its competitors, good reputation and a strong image. Ryanair aims to be a leader in all airline industry and have a stable competitive advantage. Stakeholders From the definition of Freman (1984) stakeholders are people or organisation who are affected or can be affected by the organisations actions. One type of stakeholders is individuals or groups who have any relationship with company. Another type is secondary stakeholders which are other societal groups affected by activities of a company. First of all Ryanairs stakeholders are shareholders who own the shares and have rights to claim dividends, elect the board of directors and have other important rights. Employees are very important to the company as their knowledge, skills, loyalty and abilities provide success for Ryanair. Employees want to have satisfaction from job and various benefits from the company. Customers are the biggest source of income for the company. Customers expect that the company meets their needs and wants. Suppliers are part of the company providing goods and services to give service to the customers and meet their needs and wants. Competitors are also important stakeholders as they are used to compare the service and product quality with to increase competitiveness. Governments have direct impact on the company. Ryanair has to pay taxes and follow the rules and regulations set by the government. Local communities are also stakeholders. Ryanair has to support the local governments, respect the locals and provide employment to take part in community relationships. Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility policy is a function of self-regulating mechanism which ensures a loyalty to law and ethical standards. Company would ensure responsibility for the impact of their activities on the environment and all stakeholders. Wood (1984) According to the spectrum created by Robin and Reidendach (1995) there are five levels of Corporate Social Responsibility: amoral, legalistic, responsive, ethically engaged and ethical. Based on the articles from The Business Respect news (2007) the Ryanair provided incorrect information in regards to its CO2 emission. Instead of the correct figure of 5.5% it reported a figure of 2%. The company was also very misleading about its price in adverts in Denmark and Britain. Another negative factor of Ryanairs social responsibility was the Bob Ross case about disability discrimination. In January 2004 Ryanair refused to give free wheelchair to Mr Ross. (Archive of Ethical Corporation) These examples of unacceptable behaviour show that Ryanair can be marked as a legalistic company without code of ethics. From the case study by Valerie Swaen (2005) negative image of company and negative CSR can cause bad reputation, decrease in sales and as the result loss in profits and future financial; performance. External Environment 5.1 From the research of the Euromonitor International (2008) using their SWOT analysis. Hill, T and Westbrook, R(1997 ) suggested that SWOT analysis is strategic planning method to estimate Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Treats engage in company. 5.1.1 Strengths Ryanairs biggest strength is its ability to maintain profitability and the position of leading low-cost carrier while offering the cheapest flight fares in the whole of industry. 5.1.2 Weaknesses Poor reputation when it comes to cancelling flights on short notice and hidden fees. As any other airline the Ryanair is exposed to the high fuel prices, increased costs of airport security (as the response to the global terrorism threat) and generally bad economic climate. Struggling Irish economy also poses its risks as Ryanair is an Irish company. Customers prefer to spend less money for travel as result of global economic downturn and redundancy at work place for many people. Moreover there is a lot of competition in the low-cost flights market. Strengths and weaknesses are internal environmental factors. 5.1.3 Opportunities: One of the main opportunities for Ryanair lays in opening new routes, for example US or Eastern European destinations. Another opportunity is favourable climate for acquisitions after bankruptcies of some airlines. As it will allow to expand the market for example market expansion in Italy after the Alitalia was bankrupted. Another opportunity that can be attached to the company is it would gain more customers if they would be able to conclude the latest trends in airline management and marketing to meet the demands of their target market. 5.1.4 Threats: One of the main threats is increasing taxes and airports surcharges. Threats of terrorist attracts on airplanes and in airports. Fall down in the number of passenger preferring the fly as the result of the economic downturn of European economic. Not using the main airports, especially Heathrow, will make it difficult to open new routes and will cause the company to lose share of the market. 5.2 PEST It has been observed by Kotler (1998) that PEST analysis is a very useful tool for a company to find out the business situation and indentify important factors that could decline or help to grow the business. It also analyzes the entire market and discovers new market share. Political UK government put on enforced security and restrictions due to terrorism attacks on airline and airports. Also changes in policies and rules in countries where Ryanair flies to could affect the airline. Desire to support local air carriers by some national governments can hurt the Ryanair, but on the other hand other countries governments might welcome and support the Ryanair wanting to benefit from the increasing number of tourists coming to the country. Economical The main problems facing the company and the whole industry in general are the exchange rates -devaluation of GBP against the Euro and the USD and recent modern phenomenon known as the Credit crunch -a panic-driven massive withdrawal of credit from all sections of society desperately in need of it by banks that have previously been engaged in an orgy of unsustainable, irresponsible lending of fictitious money in huge amounts largely to people who any fool could see had no means of repaying it. (Gegan(2009),p 1) which cause reduction of business activity in all sectors of the world economy. Also that puts off a significant number of people to spend money, moreover increasing the number of unemployed (Euromonitor International Report). Cost of fuel and sometimes volatile and unpredictable situations in countries which supply the fuel, as well as the economic change in countries where Ryanair want to open the new routes to. There is also the Bird flu; Swine flu and extreme weather chang e that can hurt companys performance.(Guardian news paper 2003, 2007,2009 ) Social Because of the low price for tickets company attract a wide range of demographic group of consumers. Expansion of the market as the result of new member countries joining the European Union.(Key Note, Airlines 2008 report) Technological Ryanair is using a well known aircraft the Boeing 737(European Low fare Airline Association 2009) that gives less pollution to atmosphere, less noise and less carbon emission (Boeing website). Using website sales and services as well as check-in online, self service checks at airports allows the company to reduce the costs, but also could put off some passenger for whom it might be too technical and make them unhappy. (Ryanair website) Porters Five Forces (1979) is a framework used to analyze the strategy of business development. This analysis helps to understand and clarify the sustainability of profit of company against bargaining and competitors. The business strategies are : Barrier to entry Supplier power Buyer power Availability of substitute Rivalry 5.3.1 Barrier to entry Entire airline industry needs a big capital investment. But a new company can grow gradually by leasing or buying small airplanes as it was with Ryanair that started with only one 15-seater plane (Ryanair website). Some difficult come with starting new routes which are particularly competitive. It is medium threat to entry. Supplier power The airline industrys has two main suppliers: plane manufacturers and the aviation fuel suppliers. Ryanair has a very good and long-standing relationship with its main aeroplane supplier Boeing. Ryanairs relationship with fuel suppliers is a more difficult one. The cost of fuel heavily depends on the cost of oil. The price of oil is heavily influenced by market speculators, international cartels and the governments of several Middle-Eastern countries. Buyer power Customers exert a huge power because they can easily go to competitors. 5.3.4 Availability of substitute Ryanair does not have a strong loyalty from its customers. This is all the result of a bad reputation it gets in the press and by word of mouth. Mostly because of the delayed flights, missing luggage, dirty planes, low level of safety standards for disable people (The Independent 2006). All these problems should in theory make Ryanairs customers run to its competitors and create a genuine risk to the companys existence, but they dont. Other low cost airlines suffer from similar problems while other types of transport such as Eurostar train, ferries, and cars do not offer the speed of travel modern customers need. So it can be concluded that availability of substitutes does not pose a high treat to Ryanair. Rivalry The number of low-cost airlines has increased in nowadays, but Ryanair has a very strong position on the market. The big advantage is in avoiding the main airports. It significantly reduces the operational costs. Unfortunately this is a disadvantage as well since lots of passengers prefer to use major airports. To compete with Ryanair will put a heavy pressure on price and profitability. Here is not much difference in provided services. All competition is about the price. Moreover there is a high exit barrier in the air industry. Company Financial Performance According to figures from FAME that help to measure financial performance of Ryanair to estimate progress and achievement of the business. Looking at the figures from 2006 to 2008 companys turnover increased by 42% in the year 2007 as a result of adding on charges and side business and adding new popular routes in that year. Figures of company profit margins decreased in 2008 by 16 % result of increasing fuel prices and increased number of employees. Furthermore critical globally changes to the economic climate also caused the decrease in profitability. In the year 2006 and 2007 profit margin was in a stable position at 20%. Operating profit increased by 23% in 2007 and by 33% in 2008 thanks to bigger number of passengers using the services of Ryanair and growing subsidiary revenue. The company has a good current ratio of 1.53. It has decreased from the year 2007 figure of 2.10. The current ratio indicates companys ability to pay short-term obligation. The meaning of these figures is that Ryanair had less liquidity than in the year 2007, but still had enough funds to pay their debts. Solvency ratio in year 2008 substitute less glowing than in previously years 2007 and 2006 .Solvency ratio in 2007 was 44.63% it is decreased by 2% comparing the ratio from year 2006 when it was 42.98%. Though the indicator of solvency ratio in 2008 which was 39.54% has decreased for five percent, company is in a condition to gather its liability obligations. In 2008 Ryanair employed more staff because it opened new routes (Ryanair website) as result of it its gearing ratio increased by 18% from 87.12% in 2007 to 105.31% in 2008, also a result of rising cost of fuel. Gearing ratio measures the long term finance. If the gearing ratio is high the company depends on long term borrowing. Very high gearing ratio is quite risky for a company, but companies have to borrow money to invest it in their growing business.(Encyclopaedia online). In the face of all difficulties Ryanair achieved growing revenue and sales by attracting big numbers of customers by the low price for the ticket and giving the consumers what they want excluding the extra service. Ryanair can reduce the borrowing by decreasing the number of new aircrafts or by cancelling new purchases of planes and concentrating attention on efficient use of existing aircrafts (FAME) (See appendix 1). Company Strategy Using the Porters (1985) genetic competitive strategies Ryanair follows the cost leadership strategy. These include cost leadership, differentiation, cost focused and differentiation focus. Each generic strategy helps the company to establish and exploit a competitive advantage within an exacting competitive range. Cost leadership achieved competitive advantage by being the lowest cost company in air industry using the cost control. (Porter 1985) Ryanair European low cost carrier provides to its passengers a big variety of routes and reduced prices of tickets by excluding extra facilities such as free meals, free drinks, first and business classes, pillows, blankets, which are usually offered to passenger who travel by full cost air operators.(Ryanair website) From The Daily Telegraph survey of 19.09.09 Ryanair charges more for the extra services than other low fare flights: 35% more for coffee and tea; 50% more for small bottle of wine and 30% more for sandwiches than EasyJet, Flybe, BMI and Monarch. Ryanair only gives service by provide transportation from one destination to another avoiding the main airports and excluding frills, all extra services are still available for an additional payment to a willing customer. According to Thompson, J and Martin, F (2009, chapter 5 p 301) Cost focus strategies can be based on finding a distinct group of customers whose needs are slightly below average. Costs are saved by meeting thei r needs specifically and avoiding unnecessary additional cost. In addition prices are reduced by providing 100% internet check-in, no tickets, no refund for tickets, putting more sits by reducing room for legs. Airline providing only direct flights from one airport to another maximizes the number of flights it can have per day. Prices are reduced by not depending on travel agents with direct tickets sales through phone and website. For Ryanair using the same aircraft Boeing is just another way to reduce the costs by saving money on retraining the staff. Furthermore newly recruited employees have to pay for the training by themselves. Main competitors are EasyJeat, BMI baby; Flybe who also attract customers with cheap flights. In the article written by Mun,J it is indicated that all the additional costs are passed to the passengers in order to maximise the profits. By providing the variety of destinations and routes in Europe give big opportunity for Ryanair increasing their market share and had become one of the most important core competencies for them to carry on competitive advantages. Strategic Direction of Development The Ansoffs Growth matrix (1987) is a tool that helps businesses decide their product and market growth strategy. Using the matrix to analyse the main strategic direction that Ryanair follows. Ryanair follows market penetration model. It penetrates market with both its products and services. It starts with existing customers of the company and convinces them to use companys services more often. They do increase sales without forgetting the original strategy. Ryanair penetrate markets by getting competitors customers and attracting new customers by offering the lowest priced services. Retaining existing customers is more beneficial and cheaper than attracting new ones. This means that Ryanair has to gain more loyal customers. Ryanairs objective of establishing the company as Europes leading low-cost airline are being well carried out. Methods of Development Methods used by Ryanair to pursue its strategic directions have been successful so far. Ryanairs main response to its competitors remains providing the lowest fares from all the European budget airlines. It offers frequent flights on short-haul routes. Ryanair uses the Internet as the main distribution channel to keep operational and customer service costs low. It further reduces expenditure by staying out of major airports and so avoiding excessive airport access fees. Their low cost, no frills strategy has been very effective and has helped in challenging competitors. Ryanair continued to demonstrate strong growth. It responds with low fares and aggressive pricing to attract customers and maintain high load factors. (Mognetti, 2002). Expansion strategy is one of the factors that put Ryanair to position itself in the air industry market. From Robinson and Lundstrom (2003) market expansion is the strategy of organisations growing when company is trying to find new market for existing product. Company could grow by attracting new customers or catch the attention of new geographic or demographic markets The company start only with one route and continuing to explore new. Buying the Buzz company gives to company opportunity to opened new routes in France. Ryanair already have 880 routes to different destination and their plans to opens routes to the US. In addition, the company website has been able to make the company position itself in the global market (Daily Mail 2009). In terms of suitability, the opportunities of Ryanair are definitely directed to growth. This is based on the companys on-going strategic planning. Further, by exhausting the companys research and development efforts, the possible future strategies are feasible. By looking on the financial framework of Ryanair, it could be deemed that the company is able to carry out such strategies, while maximizing returns, enhancing profitability and minimizing risks. Finally, the acceptability of such strategies meets the expectations of the stakeholders. Conclusions and Recommendations The SPACE matrix (Rowe et al. (1989)) shows that company pursue an aggressive strategy. The company is the strong competitor in the market and is growing rapidly within the industry. Using the matrix it was identified that Ryanair could use its internal strengths to develop market penetration and market development strategy. (see appendix 2) 10.1 Changes that occurred in the airline industry over the past ten years directly reflect in how the Ryanair evolved over the last years. From a company servicing just few European destinations it became a leading low-cost carrier, outweighing any other company with the cheapest available fares on the market. The airline industry is not a natural monopoly and the sunk costs are not that dramatic as planes can be both bought and sold, and the air that people fly through is essentially free. With deregulation however, the airline industry became a realistic version of a contestable market, and firms such as Ryanair and Easyjet were able to enter. But in the process, Ryanair has managed to take control of the European airline industry. However Ryanair have forced new entrants into investing in sunk costs far greater than when they entered the market themselves, coming through the importance and strength of the Ryanair brand name. The control and growth potential is and will be so strong that Ryanair appears to be single-handedly taking over the European airline market. This former minnow has persevered with a very simple but effective policy; people will travel for as little amount as possible. 10.2 In the airline industry Ryanair is more profitable than its competitors. Company needs to continue to expand into new markets and at the same time built better relationships with existing internal and external customers. Ryanair has to strive to become a more ethical company. Ryanair should build customers loyalty by improving their customer service. Their challenges for the future will be sustaining growth, expanding globally and maintaining their cost leadership model. Ryanair following the sustainable growth model should be able to generate more sales without borrowing. Expanding their routes outside of Europe would be a great opportunity for Ryanair to become world leading low-cost airline. List of References Anonymous(2009), Ryanair reveals record profits. DailyMail.co.uk.available online at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-158288/Ryanair-reveals-record-profits.html accessed 16.11.09 Ansoff,HI (1987) Corporate Strategy, revised edition, Penguin Boeing 737, products available online at http://www.boeing.com/commercial/737family/ accessed on 05.11.09 Box, Thomas, M, Byus, Kent (2007) Ryanair (2005):Successful low cost leadership, Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies, p2, available online at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5452/is_200705/ai_n21289700/pg_2/ accessed 09.11.09 Business Respect,(2007) archive news Issue Number 112, dated 18 Jul 2007 available online at http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/page.php?Story_ID=1880 accessed 13.11.09 Archive of Ethical Corporation (2004) available online at http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=3132 accessed 13.11.09 European Low fares Airline Association, 2009 statistic, available online at http://www.elfaa.com/statistics_June 2009.pdf accessed 10.10.09 European Low fares Airline Association (2009)available online http://www.elfaa.com/statistics_June2008.pdf accessed 13.10.09 Financial Analysis made easy Ryanair Plc financial report available online at http://www.fame.bvdep.com/version-20091130/cgi/template.dll?checkathens=1kick=1product=1user=glpadyako10pw=lZlaM78QFb6npNlJovi0%2fA%3d%3d accessed 17.11.09 Freeman, RE (1984), Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Pitman Gegan, Philip(2009) ,The Real Credit Crunch Definition, 28 July available online at http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Real-Credit-Crunch-Definitionid=2672921 accessed 05.11.2009 Global Market Information Database (2008, a) Ryanair Holding PLC-Travel and Tourism World available online at https://www.portal.euromonitor.com/Portal/ResultsList.aspx accessed 23.10.09 Global Market Information Database Ryanair Holding PLC-Travel and Tourism World (2008, b)https://www.portal.euromonitor.com/PORTAL/ResultsList.aspx accessed on 15.11.2009 Guardian news archive available online at http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/dec/23/ryanair-jet-glasgow-prestwick-airport accessed 11.11.09 Hill, T and Westbrook, R(1997) SWOT analysis: Its time for a product recall, Long Range Planning volume 30, issue 1 pp 46-52 Jess Mun (2008), Analysis of Ryanairs Competitive Advantages available online at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1159874/analysis_of_ryanairs_competitive_advantages.html?cat=3 accessed on 03.11.09 Key Note, Market report Airline (2008 )available online at https://www.keynote.co.uk/market-intelligence/view/product/2123/chapter/6 accessed 17.10.09 Kotler, P. (1998) Marketing Management Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control, 9th Edition, Prentice-Hall , Englewood Cliffs Mognetti, J., (2002), Organic growth: cost-effective business expansion from within. John Wiley Sons Online Encyclopaedia available online at http://www.encyclo.co.uk/define/gearing%20ratio accessed on 21.11.09 Porter ME, (1991) Towards a Dynamic Theory of Strategy, Strategic Management Journal Volume 12, (pp 95-117) Porter,ME (1985)Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, Free Press Porter, ME (1979) How competitive forces shape strategy, Harvard business Review Reidenbach,E and Robin, D (1995) Quoted in Drummond, J: Saints and sinners, Financial Times, 23 March Robinson, G and Lundstrom, W (2003) Market expansion strategy: development of a conceptual market expansion decision scorecard, Strategic Change, Volume 12, Issue 5 (pp 259 272) Wiley InterScience Rowe, AJ, Mason, RO, Dickel and Snyder, NH (1989) Strategic Management: A Methodological Approach, 3rd edn., AddisonWesley Ryanair history available online at http://www.ryanair.com/en/about accessed 12.10.09 Stahl, M, Grigsby D (1997), Strategic Management: Total Quality and Global Competition, Blackwell Publishing, New Jersey Starmer-Smith,C (2009), Ryanair has highest charges for in-flight food and drink ,The Daily Telegraph available online at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/6204904/Ryanair-has-highest-charges-for-in-flight-food-and-drink.html accessed 27.12.09 Thompson, J and Martin, F (2009) Strategic Management: Awareness and Change, 5th edition Cengage Learning Tuck, A (2006) The Independent Brand Disloyalty: Successful, rich, but still unpopular available online at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/brand-disloyalty-successful-rich-but-still-unpopular-476152.html accessed 20.12.09 Valerie Swain (2005) The Use of Corporate Social Responsibility Arguments in Communication Campaigns: Does Source Credibility Matter? Advances in Consumer research ,volume 32 Erasmus University Rotterdam-ERIM Wood, D. (1991) Corporate Social Performance Revisited. The Academy of Management Review, Volume 16, No. 4 (Oct., 1991) available online at http://www.jstor.org/stable/258977 accessed 12.11.09

We Are Made of Star Stuff

We are â€Å"star stuff†. Discuss in detail our connections to the stars as established by modern astronomy. Modern astronomy has allowed us to understand how the universe functions and also provides the answers to some of the big questions. Questions like the origin of the universe and origin of life itself. It tells us that stars are the cosmic furnaces where all most all the building blocks of life and planets were synthesized. Lighter, basic and abundant elements like hydrogen and helium were formed during the Big Bang.During Big Bang, space expansion cooled the early energy dominated universe and a lot of energy transformed into matter. These basic elements were then able to create the early stars and also the stars of today. Inside of these stars lighter elements fused to release large quantities of energy and in the process of doing that converted hydrogen and helium into heavier elementary particles. Such elements would be deposited in the core of the star and are spew ed out into surrounding interstellar space when the star dies an explosive death.These newly synthesized heavy elements are essential for life to begin and evolve. 1 Hydrogen, helium and a little bit of lithium were made in the Big Bang. Hydrogen, the most abundant element accounted for around 75% of the matter, followed by helium at 25%. 2 Large quantity of these primordial gas formed clouds and such clouds were then condensed by local gravity to form the very first stars that lit up the dark skies of early universe. 3 As the baby stars contracted, temperature in the core rose to extreme level triggering nuclear fusion/hydrogen fusion.Nuclear fusion is a process in which two or more atoms fuse to synthesize heavier atom and this process of fusing releases large quantities of energy. 4 All the ingredients/elements needed to make the earth and all life forms on earth were created in the cores of stars. 5 These ingredients are then released out of the core of star into the surrounding when the giant star dies an explosive death known as the supernovae. This phenomenon occurs only to stars that are very big. Elements of up to iron can be made in a star and heavier than iron elements are produced in the supernovae. At least six of these essential elements compose life on earth and they are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorous. 8 Almost all life forms on earth are carbon based. This applies to the smallest living organisms (with exception of the new Inner core of a star7 discovery of arsenic based bacteria) to the biggest – the blue whale and all the living plants. They all have the same basic building blocks in their DNA. 9 Those building blocks are the essential elements.All of the rocky and metallic materials that made up our planet, the iron that runs in our blood, the calcium in our teeth and bones10, oxygen atoms that form water after combining with hydrogen, and, nitrogen and oxygen atoms that make up most of the atmosphere of earth are all products of stars billions of years ago. 11 As you can see in the picture above all of the heavier elements (above H and He) and including helium are made by the stars. The elements shown on the cross-section of the picture form heavier elements, they make up all the elements we discovered so far; the elements on the periodic table.Stars begin its life mostly made out of hydrogen and helium. The breakdown of hydrogen and helium in our sun is seventy percent and twenty eight when it started its life. 12 The building of heavier elements begins with hydrogen. Hydrogen is taken four at a time to form a single atom of helium. This process goes on for ninety percent of a stars’ life. When a star runs out of hydrogen, it starts fusing helium atoms to stay alive (producing energy to fight its own immense gravity from causing itself to collapse). Three atoms of helium are fused in the process of nuclear fusion to form an atom of carbon.As the process of fusing moves to n ext heavier atoms the duration of fusion process of newer atom becomes a lot shorter because for fusing atoms higher than hydrogen the number of available atoms for fusing is far fewer than the number atoms available when the star was fusing hydrogen for example. Next in line is oxygen. Adding one more helium to the carbon makes oxygen. Nitrogen is also made in the stars. 12 Without oxygen life as we know cannot survive. This process goes onto making silicon and iron. Nuclear fusion stops at iron because temperatures in star don’t reach high enough to fuse iron.So how do the elements heavier than iron form? The answer to this question lies in the size of the star. Only big stars (much bigger that our sun) are capable of producing a supernovae. Only such a catastrophic explosion can break the boundary set by iron and produce heavier atoms to fill the rest of the periodic table of elements. From the dusts and particles leftover of dead stars combined together to form asteroids and comets. Asteroids clumped together can form planet core. So life on earth basically began with the basic material that was available.These material/large molecules essential for the formation of living cells are proteins, carbohydrates (sugar), fats, and nucleic acids. It’s been found that meteorites contains essential stuff like amino acids (proteins made of amino acid), sugars, fatty acids (building block of fats), and bases for nucleic acids. For instance, the Murchison meteorite that crashed in Australia in 1969 is found to contain chains of fatty acids, different types of sugars, all five nucleic acid bases, and more than 70 kinds of amino acids (life forms use only 20 amino acids). 3 â€Å"We are star stuff â€Å"in the unforgettable words of Dr. Carl Sagan. The atoms that made up our bodies are created in the innards of stars that died many aeons ago. The planet we live on is made up materials like iron, silicon and carbon, etc are all forged in the natureâ€℠¢s grandest factory we know as stars. The air we breathe to stay alive is a product of stars. Stars also nourish life. The sun ray helps plants with photosynthesis; helps them break down carbon dioxide into organic compounds (sugars). Plants are a major source of food for humans and other creatures.Over the past few centuries (mainly 1900-2000) astronomy has made many eye opening discoveries; about the origin of the whole universe, our fate, and that we human are not the centre of the universe. It encourages humility in us and makes us better understand our connections the cosmos. References 1. Carl Sagan (No Date). Cosmos-We are Star Stuff Available: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=0UR2L_4ic6Y&feature=related 2. Lawrence Krauss (3-27-2009). Life, the Universe and Nothing lecture Available: http://www. youtube. com/watch? =rdvWrI_oQjY [2011-04-04] video start at 51:11-52:16minutes 3. Dr. Tony Phillips (7-18-2000). X-ray Star Stuff [online] Available: http://science. nasa. gov/sc ience-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast18jul_1m/ [2011-04-04] 4. Wikipedia-Nuclear Fusion (no date). [online] Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion [2011-04-04] 5. Sam Neill (presenter) (no date). Space with Sam Neill Available: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=0zU1F6liZKo [2011-04-04] 6. =3 7. Mike S (12-7-2010). Science & Religion #8: We are all made of stars online] Available: http://www. wheatandtares. org/2010/12/07/science-religion-8-we-are-all-made-of-stars/ [2011-04-04] 8. Jason Palmer (12-2-2010). Arsenic-loving bacteria may help in hunt for alien life [online] Available: http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/science-environment-11886943 [2011-04-04] 9. Dan Solomon (12-2-2010). NASA Announces Arsenic Based Life Forms- But Are They Going To Kill Us? [online] Available: http://www. asylum. com/2010/12/02/nasa-announcement-aliens-arsenic/ [2011-04-04] 10. Korintherne (7-7-2006).Reasons & Facts: Cosmic Connection [online] Available: http://curezone. com/blogs/fm. asp? i =982845 [2011-04-04] 11. Dayanara (MA) (No Date). We are star stuff†¦ [online] Available: http://www. free-daily-motivational-self-improvement. com/we-are-star-stuff. html [2011-04-04] 12. Neil Tyson (presenter) (No Date). Elements: Forged in Stars Available: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=uKqvjEE0wFg [2011-04-04] 13. Leslie Mullen (9-5-2005). Building Life from Star-Stuff [online] Available: http://www. astrobio. net/exclusive/1702/building-life-from-star-stuff [2011

`Les Demoiselles d`Avignon` by Picasso Essay

When Picasso painted `Les Demoiselles d`Avignon` he didn`t show the work immediately. What was so controversial and different about this painting? Discuss painting disrupt prevailing aesthetics of the time?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pablo Picasso, one of the most outstanding and influential artists of art history created the icon of the Modernism era in art. Modernism in arts is now 100 years old and this is attributed with the release of one of Picasso’s painting, Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon. In 1907, the Titanic has yet to sick, San Francisco in the United States was still shattered with the devastation of an earthquake, but in the Parisian Hill of Montmartre, which is home to anarchy and cabaret, a Spanish immigrant named Pablo Picasso is creating the first and greatest masterpiece of modern art. Picasso at the age of 25 drew Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon in the winter of 1906-1907. His ideas of his subject were created with conscious planning and a resemblance of some of his influences, Leonardo and Gà ©ricault. The 8 feet square canvass described with the nature of reality was to be discovered as profound as other advancement of the field of knowledge contributed by Picasso’s contemporary, Albert Einstein, in the field of Physics. It cannot be said that 100 years of painting has occurred with the masterpiece of Picasso, but rightfully stated is that modernism had initiated with his masterpiece.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon shows five women entangled in silver and blue draperies and two of them stand with arms raised to flaunt their breast. The other three women wore masks; one was in brown wooden simulacrum of a face, the two in African masks. One of the two women wearing African masks is intruding behind a jagged cloth while the other squats among fabric of diamonds. There in the canvass is also a plate of fruits. And the painting shows the first emergence of cubism, with nude women where scarce curves could be seen, sharp elbows, geometrical silhouettes of hips and waists and triangle breast. The painting attends to symmetry and space. To many art historians and critics, the work of Picasso in particular with this painting is incomparable. As an artist, he somehow knew that he was doing something of grave importance in the art world, even revolutionary but cannot seem to discern it. To look intently of the Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon does not bring its full content and meaning, in order to interpret it, one must look at it from afar, and with an unfocused eye. This painting exemplifies the art of looking into the painting. What Picasso is conveying is the furious return of look with contempt from the painting spectator.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The African masks worn by the three women are essential in describing the disguise of the characters intent. Picasso picked his subjects intently because it had a sense of being a clichà ©, and what Picasso was trying to do was show the originality of art being not bounded by morality, or formality but in being innovative. What Picasso did with this painting is to introduce what Modernism is, that arts triumphs from over content. There is also a sense of earthiness of Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon as it showcase sexuality at the same time anticipates the discoveries explicit in Cubist art. It can be described as a rebellion from the western tradition styles. Picasso liberates eroticism because the painting lacks any meaning or narration. Today painting is on its re-emergence period, with several British artists going back to using the medium of paint and canvass. But for over 100 years, Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon is still so new as a form and style employed in painting. It has transcended into greater respect for the art community because Picasso’s work showed the trend of modernism and even started it. For it to be called a masterpiece is an insult because Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon can still be regarded as the most recent face of Modernism art. Discuss Matisse`s painting `Blue Nude,` in particular the formal dynamics of the painting, the style and subject matter. Also, compare with his earlier works `The Joy of life,` and `Luxe, Calme et Volupte.`   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Henri Matisse is considered the most important painter of the 20th century. He was the leader of the fauvist movement which emerged in the 1900. His works are described with expressive colors and subjects who are domestic or figurative treated in a distinct Mediterranean style. Pablo Picasso is one of his contemporaries and is characterized as more methodical in terms of temperament compared to Picasso. Matisse if often times compared to Raphael, who taught and encourage other painters. His works employs different styles, from Impressionism to near abstraction. His paintings are more exciting with its colors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Blue Nude is Matisse showcase of his fondness in the use of colors. Released in 1907, the Blue Nude exemplifies Matisses’ employment of abstract expressionism. Blue Nude or Souvenir de Biskara is a painting of journey. The artist experimented with contraposto or the undulating S-curve pose. He uses this method also in his later sculptures. The painting was done after Matisse’s trip to North Africa in which he became inspired form the African culture and society; this evidently is carried in his works. The painting is a reclining nude, a dynamic variation of the classic Venus pose and abstracts his painting with African influences. The Blue Nude: memory of Biskra has increased abstraction, extreme contraposto, vigorous application of blue as its color, and mask- like character of the woman’s face.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Le Bonhour de vivre or the Joy of Life measures 8 feet wide and is characterized with lines, spaces and colors influenced by the Art Nouveau style. There are the arrangement of trees and people. The different groups in the painting exhibit the independence and arrangement of their distinctions. The dancers at the center of the painting became frequent as subject of Matisse in later works; they were inspired by fishermen dancing in the village. There is also the reclining image motif. This painting was believed to have started the inspiration for Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon painting which was a breakthrough. Luxe, Calme et Volupte of 1904 is often thought of as the first Fauve painting which emerged in art history. It is painted primarily in tones of red and yellow and had languid nudes at water’s edge that is part of depicting a landscape. There is countless of sunlight rays and images and the objects usually Matisse employs; beach promenades, nestled fishing boats sinous trees and inviting houses that reveals a sense of serenity. Discuss the use of language and found objects in Analytical Cubism and Cubist Collage. Analytical cubism is characterized with fragments and intersecting planes that have argued that the underlying intention of cubism artists is to depict object or human forms from multiple perspectives. The analytical cubism invented a new visual language that has its own internal logic and consistency that does not attempt to depict accurately or directly nature. Shown by the works of Picasso and Braque, they limited the use of color scheme to dark browns and grays that radically departed from the form of nature. Cubist collage on the other hand or synthetic cubism began with Picasso alone in the early 1914 or late 1913. It is the point in which Picasso gained and led the Cubist innovation among his contemporary, Braque. The language is to escape the flatness and constricting form of collage and divert the process into forming literal three dimensional objects and paintings. Cubist collage aims to push forward into literal space in front of the picture plane.    Reference: Luxe, Calme Et Volupte. (2004).  Ã‚   Retrieved March 2, 2007, from http://www.henry-matisse.com/luxe.html Anonymous. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso.  Ã‚   Retrieved March 2, 2007, from http://www.geocities.com/picasso0408/demoizav.html Anonymous. (2007). Cubism: Analytical Cubism.  Ã‚   Retrieved March 2, 2007, from http://www.lycos.com/info/cubism–analytical-cubism.html Greenberg, C. (2003). Collage.  Ã‚   Retrieved March 2, 2007, from http://www.sharecom.ca/greenberg/collage.html Harden, M.  Ã‚   Retrieved March 2, 2007, from http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/matisse/bonheur.jpg.html

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