The role of Business Analysis within organsiations and how it has Research Paper

The role of Business Analysis within organsiations and how it has evolved over the past thirty years - Research Paper Example Concurrent with globalization is the fast phase development in computer and information technology. The developments in the field transformed not only information itself but also the manner of its collection, handling, processing and storing (Axelrod 2004). In this regard, both globalization and information technology have undeniably altered the nature of business and the manner of conducting businesses (Stead & Stead 2006). In light of these developments, the paper will be looking into the role and evolution of business analysis within the last thirty years and possibly come up with trends and projections within the field in the next five years. In this regard, this study aims to understand the notion of business analysis. Likewise, it aims to identify the role of business analysis in an organization. Finally, it tries to know what will be the possible trends and developments in the field of business analysis in the next five years. As such, the main questions of the research are ‘what is the role of business analysis?’ and ‘where is business analysis going?’ These questions are significant because it deals with one concrete instance in contemporary society where the needs of society and technology meet (Mumford 2006) and it seeks to find out how to enhance further the symbiotic relation between man and technology in the business world. To address the questions of the study, a documentary research had been conducted. The electronic databases Academic Source Premier, Business Source Premier, Jstor, and Google Scholar had been searched using the combination of the following key terms: business analysis, computer and information technology, globalization, nature of organization, and business. Articles written only in English and published in journals from the period of 2005 – 2010 had been selected. Likewise, books and empirical studies had been included in the searched. Excluded in the selection were monographs, position papers, editorials and

“The Yellow Wall-Paper” Character Analysis Essay Example for Free

â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper† Character Analysis Essay The heroine’s belief that her husband did not believe she was ill in â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper† was accurate. As mentioned, John is a doctor and â€Å"John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of thing not to be felt and seen and put down in figures†(639). Since psychological disorders are not â€Å"seen,† John dismisses his wife’s warnings throughout the story, â€Å"John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer and that satisfies him† (641). John simply feels that all she had to do was not think, â€Å"He says no one buy myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self-control and not let any silly fancies run away with me† (644). In addition, John was â€Å"kept in town very often by serious cases† (643) – as if her case wasn’t. When she tried to talk to him, for him to take her away because she was not getting better, he simply explained to her that she was better, â€Å"†¦whether you can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, and I know† (645) and even mocked her, â€Å"Bless her little heart! She shall be as sick as she pleases† (645). It is confirmed that John didn’t believe his wife when he finally realized how mentally disturbed she really was at the end of the story; when he saw her â€Å"creeping† around and he fainted. One great example of the Christian cruelty as well as the humanity of the Indians is when they sent Morton off to an island to fend for himself and the Indians were the ones that came to his aid â€Å"relieved by savages that took notice that mine host was a sachem of Passonagessit, and would bring bottles of strong liquor to him and unite themselves into a league of brotherhood with mine host, so full of humanity are these infidels before those Christians†(113). Add to this the fact that the separatists burned down Morton’s Maypole because they saw it as sacrilegious bad behavior. The setting up of this Maypole was a lamentable spectacle to the precise separatists that lived at new Plymouth. They termed it an idol; yea, they called it the Calf of Horeb and stood at defiance with the place, naming it Mount Dagon, threatening to make it a woeful mount and not a merry mount† (107).

Leadership Development And Norma Rae

Leadership Development And Norma Rae An Interactive Successful leader, the Norma Rae (Portrayed by Sally Field) and this classic movie is actually based on the true life of Crystal lee Sutton formerly known as Crystal Lee Jordan who was an employee at J.P Stevens Plant in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina before being fired in an attempt unionize the employees of the factory. Crystal lee Sutton, who was an American advocate and union organizer, made $2.65 an hour and like Norma Rae had struggled for a safe, fair, working environment for all. (Source-Wikipidea.com) Norma Rae, is a classic example of courage and determination of a strong and motivated women who beyond being small, Un-certain and Un-sophisticated has demonstrated an exceptional leadership quality which facilitated as an instrument to eradicate the common suffering prevalent in her community. Its a brave act of a strong woman against discrimination, sexism and racism. Its a fight for the human rights to live in a fair working environment. Movie has confirmed the truth again that one doesnt needs to be better than the people whom they lead as Norma Rae(Sally Field) exhibits the most robust act of wordless suasion further acknowledging that in leadership, Oratory isnt the whole thing. A radical transformation of a destined follower benefitting more than just a few is the storyline behind Norma Rae. As the study done by Calliper also states that: Women leaders are more assertive and persuasive, have a stronger need to get things done and are more willing to take risks than male leaders.Women leaders were also found to be more empathetic and flexible, as well as stronger in interpersonal skills than their male counterparts.enabl[ing] them to read situations accurately and take information in from all sides.These women leaders are able to bring others around to their point of view.because they genuinely understand and care about where others are coming from.so that the people they are leading feel more understood, supported and valued Norma Rae as a protà ©gà ©e and Rueben being her mentor have exhibited an effective leadership with slightly different leadership styles which further benefitted them to sell their vision to others and guides others for a better tomorrow. In the Movie, Norma Rae, shares the same social identity (Hogg et al, 2001) as she is one of them who have worked within the same mill with her whole family throughout their lives. Anxious still firm, she never denies her past and engages in battle passionately for what she believed was indispensable for the community. Its the Rueben efforts that catalyses Norma from a being a follower to a rebel for a common cause and suffering. Norma Rae demonstrates a more intuitive, task oriented, shared power approach towards leadership and an eagerness to encompass and seek conciliation as suggested by studies about women managers (Fox Shuhmann, 1999; Rosener, 1995; Lunneborg, 1990; Billing and Alvesson, 1994; Gilligan, 1982: Guy, 1992). The Film In the Movie, Norma Rae the protagonist, leads her people towards a better livelihood from a despondent drudgery (Clemens et al, 2000) struggling with all who with money and rights tried to trample the basic human rights. O.P Henley Mill, where she worked as a worker provided her the real platform to explore her true potential. Norma Rae an un-educated, poor worker who finally articulates the pain, and sufferings of all the co workers without any domination but with the power of a unionised effort. As said by Dr. Musimbi kanyaro also that in todays world: Domination as a leadership style is becoming less and less popular. There is a new growing appreciation ofthose traits that women use to keep families together and to organize volunteers to unite and make change in the shared life of communities. These newly admired leadership qualities of shared leadership; nurturance and doing good for others are today not only sought after but also indeed needed to make a difference in the world.A feminine way of leading includes helping the world to understand and be principled about values that really matter. Similarly Norma Rae utilizes the power of shared leadership, nurturance and participative leadership to sell the vision and value behind working in a safe, fair environment being equal for everyone everywhere. It was the exuberant effort of her mentor Reuben Warshawsky , an American labor Union Organiser (Played by Ron Liebman) who sparked the flame inside the passive follower Norma Raes heart, radically transforming her from a follower to rebel with a cause. According to a study of Calliper also it states, that women leaders like Norma Rae learns from adversity and carry on with an Ill show you attitude. Norma Rae has demonstrated the fact that even being denigrated due to the dicey sexual past and bad temper she would never deny who she is and even wont let it matter also. She continued the struggle passionately and won the allegiance of the downtrodden workers while remaining as one of them. As power is not based on title or status; it comes from connecting with people and standing up for what you believe in (Goleman et al, 2002), Norma Raes has also demonstrated the same when she stood up after scrawling the word union on a board, holding her declaration for almost three minutes and as a result, the workers switched off their machines. She stood scared but firm to elucidate the apathy of her and her co-workers. As been described by John Mac Gregory Burns observation: The key distinctive role of the leadership at the outset is that leaders take the initiative. They address their creative insights to potential followers, seize their attention, and spark further interaction. The first act is decisive because it breaks up a static situation and establishes a relationship. It is in every sense, a creative act. (2003:172) Norma Rae who took the initiative of unionisation, and were able to establish the connection became a vital part in the formation of the victorious union. According to (Paglis and Green, 2002) also leaders with high Self Efficacy takes more initiatives to solve the problems and introduce the desirable changes, So Norma Rae shares an high self efficacy to bring substantial changes in system. In the movie Reuben, who knew the legal system and laws, guides Norma as a mentor to take matured and rightful strong decisions. As Gini, A. (1998) explains about the use of power, Norma Rae has pushed the common goal of Unionisation even without any official authority such that through her actions and diligence she persuaded, orchestrated, guided, directed and mobilised her co-workers. Leaders like Norma Rae are confident in the ability to influence people and are more likely to use persuasion rather than coercive or manipulative influence tactics (Goodstadt Hjelle, 1973). As a leader, Norma Rae has interacted in non-coercive ways to decide what changes they wanted to make. It was a multi-directional influence relationship (Rost-1991) between the Norma and its co followers with a mutual objective to accomplish a real change. After being polished and waging a war with full throttle energy Norma shared a teacher-student relationship with Reuben where reverse mentoring (Bass et al, 1994) also cultivated. It was cultivated further into peer relationship, where mentor also being guided by protà ©gà ©e -In the movie also it was depicted when Norma advises Rueben, that the flyer was too complicated and needed more simplification. In the whole movie Rueben, an expertise and an experienced leader was able to organize the zeal inside the Norma Rae to overcome the obstacles together. Rueben has also used the authority and knowledge to individually deal with some difficult situations in the movie for example, when he gets the notice rightly positioned on the notice board during the official visit within the factory. In the end Norma Rae, finally confronts the management more strongly to amputate the whimsical management system as she herself being victimized when her father dies due to pathetic working conditions. One amongst the 800 mill workers she dares and raises her voice to fight for a common cause. The Director perspective The director has demonstrated three distinct leadership styles within the movie where Norma Rae portrays as a Transformational leader with social identity theory and participative leadership style. She demonstrates Situational leadership corroborating the fact that leaders are made not born and leadership is not gender specific. The second style being portrayed by Rueben is of Authentic-Ethical, and of a charismatic Transformational leader, having mentor-protà ©gà ©e relationship with Norma Rae mentoring her, the democratic style of leadership. The third style is of the management of O.P.Henley Textile Mill, being totally autocratic, authoritarian style of leadership. Analysing leadership The main leadership paradigms illustrated in the film are- Leaders can be created or Leadership as a Process Contingency Theory of Leadership and Situational Leadership Transformational Leadership Mentor-Protà ©gà ©e Relationship Authentic Ethical Leadership The Gender Perspective of leadership Social identity theory of leadership Leadership can be created or leadership as a process: A strong theme across disciplines is to gain better understanding of what constitutes effective leadership and which factors have an influence on leadership performance(Singh 2008) It was the confidence, Integrity, Connection, Resilience and the aspiration which made Norma Rae an overall effective leader. She was a made leader who gathered the courage and made the most effective use by synergising the team work for a purposeful action. Gather the courage and understanding to confront the competitive -independent milieus of most organisations; work with employees so that they are convinced that teamwork is to their advantage; and put teamwork to work to achieve synergy up and down and across the organisation.(Tjosvold and Tjosovold 1991) Norma Rae as a movie opposes the applicability of trait leadership also. As under the tutelage of Ruebens, Norma even without the charismatic power which is perceived to be an important aspect of leadership achieves the impossible even for her also. It is one of the contradictions under which she lived till the time Ruebens became his mentor and the relationship converted into mentor-protà ©gà ©e relationship. Norma marshalled (Bennis and Nanus, 1997) the skills under the tutelage of Rueben. Norma Rae with the cognitive ability (Bruce Avolio, 2005:25) even, after being rejected from the pastor, conducted meeting at her home, facing the conflict with Sonny also. Even after facing the conflicts both from the work and even from the family she was able to trudge through the path successfully and won her followers what they deserved. Even after being confronted hard by the company (work-conflict) she was able to stand as strong, as a powerful woman who conveyed the vision to everyone. She was able to win the hearts of the followers as she had the same pain. Contingency Theory of leadership and Situational Leadership As Bennis suggested that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦more leaders have been made by accident, circumstances, and sheer will then have been made by all the leadership courses. Leadership and the leadership style is subjected to situations and circumstances (Howell et al, 2006) as shown in the movie also where Norma is completely being transformed and she fights for workers altogether. Its the way she exhibited situational leadership to motivate other workers when she holds the piece of cardboard with the word union written on it. This further formulated the worker to understand the real depth behind that word and they joined together by switching off their machines. Norma took the responsibility to integrate them through a single powerful word with deep silence and innocent eyes thriving to get them what they actually deserved. All the workers got turned into the followers as being aroused by eager and wants, by portraying the single idea from their perspective (Halpern et al, 2003) Transformational leadership Enthusiasm, Energy, Engagement, Sharing Power and information and encouraging participation are key skills or traits being present in a transformational leader. As said by Roserner (1990), a transformational leader is one who can transform and is able to motivate subordinates to transform their own self interest into the interest of the group through concern for a broader goal. Norma as a transformational leader had a very good understanding of the psychology of his followers to inspirationally motivate them and intellectually stimulate them. (Pierce et al, 2008). Norma Rae being personally identified as one of them was able to encourage the followers and motivated them to lend themselves for a common cause. Vinnicombe and Singh (2002) also described a women management and communication style as being based on personal respect, mutual trust, and regard for the contribution that each team member can bring, and the development of the individual and diverse talent. Rueben, being a charismatic transformational leader, told the story about his grandfather and unions to create a vision and demonstrate the values of working as a team and how a unified team is like a family. He knew that transformational leadership is a multi-level construct and type of individualised relationship that a leader establishes with followers which emerges within team members also. Even as described in transformational theories that emotional processes being as important as rational processes it signifies symbolic action and Instrumental behaviour. Rueben also told Norma Rae to leave when she behaves rudely and counsels her to be diplomatic. Rueben displays a very high emotional intelligence in situations. Even ( Avolio and Bass-1995) argued that transformational leadership is a multi-level construct and its the type of individualised relationship that a leader establishes with followers which emerges within team members also. High levels of Emotional Intelligence as said by (Goleman-1998) being the most important for effective leaders as it provides them the ability to adapt themselves to the different situations especially crisis. Authentic-Ethical leadership Gardener also has stated about authentic leadership and authentic leaders such as Genuine leaders are the ones who lead by example in fostering healthy ethical climates characterised by transparency, trust, integrity, and high moral standards. Such leaders can be called as authentic leaders who are not only true to themselves, but they lead also lead others by helping them to achieve authenticity also (Gardener et al. 2005:344) Rueben also exhibits authentic ethical leadership which is related to values and commitment for self development of the team members. As said: Ethical Leadership is also related to leader personality traits and needs (Brown Trevino, 2006b; OConnor Mumford, Clifton, Gessner , Connelly , 1995). Rueben has demonstrated all aspects of an effective leader with high level of conscientiousness, High Emotional maturity, Low nuerotocism, Low narcissism and high internal locus of control. Even Norma also shares strong internal locus of control as she also believes that lives are determined more by our own actions than by chance or Uncontrollable forces ,which is further groomed with Rueben motivation. According to Bass and Steidlmeier (1999), there is disparity between authentic transformational leader and the Pseudo Transformational leadership. Authentic leadership is a lot more than performing in a transformational way. The authentic transformational leaders are more based on their moral and virtuous foundations. The Gender Perspective of leadership As the meta analysis done by Eagly,Johannesen-Schmidt Van Engen ,(2003) it explains that women uses slightly more transformational leadership behaviour than men which makes them more renowned among the followers. Norma demonstrated courage as well as individualised consideration for everyone as shes used to remember the names of people in the movie which included supportive behaviour as well as the efforts to develop subordinates skill and confidence. Acc to Heller (1982) also there is a common myth that leadership is gender specific and only men make good leaders. Even in the movie Sonny complains to Norma about her casual behaviour towards family and paying more attention towards her union work. This incident also reflects that women are supposed to be taking care of household work only. This mindset is completely condemned by Norma and she proves that leadership is beyond gender and in fact women have certain characteristic that awards them the edge over men in being the leaders, like -empathy, and a caring attitude (Heller, 1982). Norma exhibits a classic example of an made leader and marks that womens posses the potential to become an outstanding leaders than men. Social Identity theory of leadership Norma Rae closely represents the group characteristics as well as aspiration, Norms and values of the group as shes one of them. She creates a social identity (Hogg ,2001) within the group. Norma Rae works closely with the followers and transforms them. Norma as depicted in the movie also very creative in expressing her beliefs for social development particularly when she holds that play card of Union in her hands. As supposed by (Reicher and Haslam, in press-b) that both leader and followers are active interpreter of social world. In Norma Rae also both Norma and the followers struggles for creating an equal world for all. It allows them to create their own world and rather than the one made by others. Such strategies are most common when there is Undemocratic and dictatorial regimes( Reicher Hopkins ,2003; Koonz, 2003: Overy ,2004) which is being followed by O.P Henley management. Conclusion Norma Rae has demonstrated the real potential of the womens and portrayed the real life of Crystal Lee Sutton. Like Norma Rae all the women do posses the ability to become effective leaders. Norma had portrayed a very distinct and extra-ordinary style of leadership with the help of his mentor Rueben. She achieved the goal of Unionisation and got her people what they actually deserved. Stodgill (1948, p. 64) also said that: A person does not become a leader by virtue of the possession of some combination of traits.the pattern of personal characteristics of the leader must bear some relevant relationship to the characteristics ,activities, and goals of the followers.

Economic growth in Botswana :: essays research papers

I recently had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Scott Beaulier speak on his research on the reasons why the small and desolate country of Botswana has had such drastic economic growth in the last 30 years. Dr. Beaulier partook in what is called an analytic narrative, which is the act of learning about a country by going there and totally immersing ones self in their economy and way of life as to experience it all first hand. This helped him with his research. Botswana is a small country roughly the size of Texas with 1.7 million inhabitants. Nearly 80 percent of Botswana is the Kalihari desert. This makes Botswana a sub-Saharan, land locked country. Many economists believe in the geography hypothesis, which states that countries that are northern and near water will prosper, while those that are southern and land locked will most likely struggle. Botswana broke this hypothesis, being both southern and land locked. Botswana, unlike many neighboring countries, pursued a sound economic policy, favoring free trade, a free market, and a limited government. There was no military presence in Botswana till 1976. With no military presence, Botswana could grow without the need of military spending. Botswana also relied on their traditional customs, even in post colonial periods. Botswana had a pre-colonial institution called the Kgotlas that consisted of chiefs from various regions of the country. These chiefs would hold basically what was consider ed a town council with all the tribesmen to discuss issues. The chiefs took complaints constructively and worked to better the situation. This form of government set Botswana aside from many other African countries. Botswana was colonized by Great Britain in the 1880’s in an attempt to prevent to German, who had colonized neighboring Namibia, from tapping into South Africa’s diamond source. Great Britain was reluctant to colonize Botswana, due to its lack of favorable geographic qualities. In 1965, Botswana was established as an independent state. A major leader that emerged to lead Botswana was a man by the name of Comma. He married a white woman by the name of Ruth Wilson. He was a very lenient ruler, and tried to establish a successful country. He allowed refugees in from neighboring countries. He believed that no defense was the best defense. He figured that if his country was invaded, one of the major world powers would come to his aid. Therefore he had no military to spend money on. Economic growth in Botswana :: essays research papers I recently had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Scott Beaulier speak on his research on the reasons why the small and desolate country of Botswana has had such drastic economic growth in the last 30 years. Dr. Beaulier partook in what is called an analytic narrative, which is the act of learning about a country by going there and totally immersing ones self in their economy and way of life as to experience it all first hand. This helped him with his research. Botswana is a small country roughly the size of Texas with 1.7 million inhabitants. Nearly 80 percent of Botswana is the Kalihari desert. This makes Botswana a sub-Saharan, land locked country. Many economists believe in the geography hypothesis, which states that countries that are northern and near water will prosper, while those that are southern and land locked will most likely struggle. Botswana broke this hypothesis, being both southern and land locked. Botswana, unlike many neighboring countries, pursued a sound economic policy, favoring free trade, a free market, and a limited government. There was no military presence in Botswana till 1976. With no military presence, Botswana could grow without the need of military spending. Botswana also relied on their traditional customs, even in post colonial periods. Botswana had a pre-colonial institution called the Kgotlas that consisted of chiefs from various regions of the country. These chiefs would hold basically what was consider ed a town council with all the tribesmen to discuss issues. The chiefs took complaints constructively and worked to better the situation. This form of government set Botswana aside from many other African countries. Botswana was colonized by Great Britain in the 1880’s in an attempt to prevent to German, who had colonized neighboring Namibia, from tapping into South Africa’s diamond source. Great Britain was reluctant to colonize Botswana, due to its lack of favorable geographic qualities. In 1965, Botswana was established as an independent state. A major leader that emerged to lead Botswana was a man by the name of Comma. He married a white woman by the name of Ruth Wilson. He was a very lenient ruler, and tried to establish a successful country. He allowed refugees in from neighboring countries. He believed that no defense was the best defense. He figured that if his country was invaded, one of the major world powers would come to his aid. Therefore he had no military to spend money on.

HR is staffed with nice people Essay

Strategic management of people through HR programs and policies helps to ensure organizational outcomes such as: Organizational survival, profitability, customer satisfaction and employee performance. HR Professionals have been criticized for not understanding and using language of business when discussing the value of the HR Programs. STRATEGY: the formulation of organizational missions, goals, objectives and action plans for achievement that explicitly recognize the competition and the impact of outside environmental forces Future direction and performance targets Strategic planning=rationale process Ends are measure bale Resources are allocated to achieve ends THE FIVE P’S OF STRATEGY BY MINTZBERG 1. Plan: an intended course of action a firm has selected to deal with a situation 2. Purpose: a consistent stream of actions that sometimes are the result of a deliberate plan and sometimes the result of emergent actions based on reaction to environmental changes or shifting of assumptions 3. Ploy : a specific maneuver at the tactical level with a short time horizon 4. Position: the location of an organization relative to its competitors and other environmental factors 5. Perspective: the personality of the organization DESCRIPTIONS OF STRATEGY Strategy: a declaration of intent Strategic intent: a tangible corporate goal, a point of view about the competitive positions a company hopes to build over a decade Strategic planning: the systematic determination of goals & the plans to achieve them Dynamic process, moving, shifting & evolving as conditions warrant changes Objectives: the end, the goals, make-it-or-break it! Plans: the product of strategy, the means to the end Strategic plan: a formal written statement that outlines the future directions and goals of an organization, including long-term performance goals/targets Policies: broad guidelines to action, which establish the parameters or rules Strategy formulation: the entire process of conceptualizing the mission of an organization, identifying the strategy, and developing long-range performance goals Strategy implementation/ execution: those activities that employees and managers of an organization undertake to enact the strategic plan, to achieve the performance goals STRATEGY TIMEFRAMES strategic planning=thinking about the future,the future is unpredictable planning horizon commonly 3-5 years, plans must be flexible enough to cope with changes that appear STRATEGIC TYPES **different org strategies require different HRM strategies (policies and practices) 1. Corporate strategies: Overall strategy for organization and businesses or interests Usually focus on long-term growth and survival goals Typically represented in the â€Å"mission statement† Is key to attracting investors as it examines and questions about which competitive strategy to choose from 2. Business Strategies (LOB) a. Focus on one line of business as opposed to overall organization b. Plans to build a competitive focus with supporting action plans in one line of business 3. Operational Strategies a. Resources, processes, people and how they are organized to support the Corporate and LOB strategic direction

Scopic regimes of modernity Essay Example

Scopic regimes of modernity Essay Example Scopic regimes of modernity Paper Scopic regimes of modernity Paper Centuries of studying visuality has given birth to several methods of visual analysis. These scopic regimes as defined by Jay are quite simply systems for organizing vision. This essay will focus on the two main systems discussed by Jay: Renaissance and Baroque. Both systems arose during similar time frames, and consequently contain some similarities. Yet, each approach is clearly different. Renaissances central themes of order, reason and Cartesian space are clearly in contrast to the themes of the Baroque system, which is far more spectacular and sensational. Images from each regime will be used to illustrate the differences between Renaissance and Baroque. The Renaissance period lasting between the 14th and 16th centuries was a stark cultural shift from the preceding Middle Ages. Born out of European culture notably Italian Renaissance means rebirth, which suggests how radical this period was for its time (Web Museum, 2004). The Renaissance denoted the rise of individual and social values, and strong growth in scientific exploration (Web Museum, 2004). The themes associated with this cultural period were transferred into Renaissance art, which is a defining period in visual history. Jay (1998, p. 4) asserts that the Renaissance or Cartesian perspectivalism, is often regarded as the dominant scopic regime for the modern era due to its representation of natural, realistic images. Renaissance is summarized by order, closure, and fixity according to Wollen (1993). Up until then, visual images of the Middle Ages did not represent the natural appearance of objects in real life. They included no sense of depth or realism. Renaissance art involved for the first time the consistent use of perspective vanishing points (see appendix 1), making the imagery of the period most realistic. It saw the beginnings of geometrical mathematics used to represent objects, and the portrayal of three dimensional rationalized space, as viewed through a singular eye, rather than jumping from focal point to focal point (Jay, 1988 p. 7). Indeed, the shadows and true representation of a foreground and background made the Renaissance approach to visuality the first real period to express depth. It is the concept of Cartesian space that underpins Renaissance imagery. Cartesian space refers to the linearity of Renaissance art (see appendix 1), which is illustrated by the neutrality of the periods artwork (Jay, 1998, p9). Jay (1998, p. 9) claims that the orderly coldness of the Renaissance perspective resulted in the withdrawal of the painters emotional entanglement with the objects depicted, which explains why Renaissance visuality is not as surreal as either the preceding Middle Ages or the subsequent Baroque period. To illustrate the Renaissance approach to visual culture, the painting View of an Ideal City (appendix 1) will be considered. The first thing one notices about this picture is that it is truly balanced, being symmetrical in is imagery. The dominating axes of this picture form an articulated system, as described by Barnard, 2001, p. 175). The size of the buildings on either side of the central piece are the same, and the buildings are spaced equally apart, an underpinning theme of Renaissance imagery. It should be noted that all these peripheral buildings are square in structure. The focal point of the piece is the circular building in the middle (see appendix 1). This notion of geometrically balanced shapes is a strong theme of the Renaissance period (Barnard, 2001, p. 174). However, the image is not completely symmetrical, as closer inspection reveals the light source of the image is located somewhere left of the images center. This is evident by the fact that the buildings on the left are in shadow, whereas the buildings on the right are in full light. It is this shadowing effect that truly makes the image feel realistic. An interesting point about View of an Ideal City is that it is an image of what looks to be a clean well kept relatively large city, yet there are no people in the entire painting. In this regard, the image appears somewhat unnatural. Yet this is what makes the image a perfect example of the Renaissance: it is so mathematically organized that the existence of people would probably make the image less balanced. The Baroque period began in Italy in the late 16th century (Martz, 1991, p7). However, these two periods overlapped (Martz, 1991, p. 7). Baroque, in contrast to Renaissance, is far more spectacular and sensational as a scopic regime. Paintings of the Baroque period are regarded as excessive, extravagant, and even mad. Whereas Renaissance is often subdued, Baroque art is usually on a grander stage, and employs theatrical visual drama (Web Museum, 2004). Martz (1991, p219) considers Baroque a recreation of older forms, both ancient and renaissance, in a sensory swirl of action, moving towards some spiritual goal. This suitable definition comprises common elements of other definitions. One of the strongest themes of the Baroque period was a return to spirituality. A potential reason for the emergence of the spectacular Baroque period according to Calabrese (1992) is that it was a period during which the Catholic Church attempted to steer culture back towards tradition and spirituality. Indeed, these two themes are regularly evident in many paintings of the Baroque era. The heavy religious presence in Baroque artwork confirms the powerful influence of the church, and also adds a surrealist flavour. The concept of the surreal associated in Baroque is in direct contrast with Renaissance. This element of surrealism can be applied to two concepts: the viewers perspective of the painting, and the content of the painting itself. As explained earlier, Renaissance provides the viewer with a realistic representation of natural objects. Baroque is far more bizarre and peculiar, as it crams a multiplicity of visual aspects into one overwhelming image (Jay, 1988, p. 16). It does not offer a natural eyes perspective of the events it aims to portray. Rather, representations of Baroque images have been considered to offer the perspective of Gods eye (Jay, 1988, p. 7), a theory that fits in well with Baroques religious roots. This surrealist concept is well summarized by Buci-Glucksmann who suggested Baroque succeeded in represent[ing] the unrepresentable; it does not merely describe a moment of time (Jay, p. 7), rather it offers far more symbolic and creative food for thought. To demonstrate the contrast of Baroque to Renaissance, the classic ceiling painting by Tiepolo Apollo and the Four Continents (appendix 2) provides a fine example. Immediately, the viewer notices how dramatic the painting is in contrast to any Renaissance image. The painterly nature of Baroque art, as opposed to Renaissance, as described by Barnard has a strong presence in this image (Barnard, 2001, p. 173). Clearly, Apollo and the Four Continents is not realistic. This is for two reasons: the perspective and the content the painting displays. Firstly, the perspective is typical of Baroque. It is not a natural view at all, rather it is more like the Gods eye perspective that Jay discusses (1998, p. 4). The painting offers an all encompassing view of what is a large scene. The multiple focal points of the image are necessary for the viewer who cannot take the whole image in at once at a glance (Web Gallery of Art, 2004). Indeed, the image is of open form common to Baroque, rather than the closed form found in Renaissance (Barnard, 2001, p. 74). The images openness is apparent due to the lack of verticals and horizontals, which are most prominent in View of an Ideal City. Secondly, the strong religious element of the painting removes any sense of realism. Apollo sits in the centre of the heavens, surrounded by light, with other gods believed to be Venus and Mars resting on a cloud below him (Web Gallery of Art, 2004). An endless flow of things to look at in Apollo and the Four Continents means the viewer must take his or her time deciphering the image. The fact that these images melt into each other instead of being strictly distinguished (Barnard, 2001, p. 174) a Baroque trait makes this process more time consuming, but also more interesting. Furthermore, the content offers only symbolism rather that a representation of any true events. Its strong religious focus is intended to elicit emotional responses instead of recreating a real scene. Clearly the Renaissance and Baroque scopic regimes are different methods for organizing images. On one hand, Renaissance aims to represent realism, by way of its scientific like Cartesian perspective. Yet, Baroque on the other hand offers the viewer something that may be confusing to digest, but with arguably more meaning and options for interpretation. The central themes of each style are quite different, despite their coexistence for albeit a brief period. Nonetheless, both regimes have paved the way for contemporary scopic regimes, and demonstrated a strong shift from the previous artwork of the Middle Ages.