Business Strategic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Strategic - Essay Example number of mergers and acquisitions over the years have seen AB InBev increase its production, market and distribution of about of its beer 200 brands that include the popular global brand Budweiser Beck’s. In addition to brands such as Stella Artois, Klinskoye, Bud Light, Leffe Hoegaarden, Skol, Jupiler, Brahma, Quilmes, Harbin, Sedrin, Michelob, Sibirskaya, Chernigivske and Korona (Reuters, 2014; Solitro, 2013). The company’s production and distribution is based on a division of its brands into global, multi-country and local beer in order to take advantage of different tastes of its customers based on geographical and regional presence. The beer brands produced by AB InBev has been further been categorized into premium brands, mainstream, and sub-premium brands to take care of the economic aspects of their customers (Reuters, 2014). This essay explores value chain analysis of AB InBev PLC that will provide a clear perspective on how the company achieves maximum process effectiveness. Therefore, this analysis will rely on key aspects of the value chain hypothesis introduced by Porter where the main activities under review will cover inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service, which are all essential components in the operations of a company in the beverage industry (Porter, 2008). The importance of this value chain analysis is to find out how AB InBev PLC creates its competitive advantage and shareholder value that can only be attained through measures that ensure the cost of providing their products remains low. This is in order to generate a profit margin in addition to identifying and making assessment of competency in core areas of the company (Woodside, 2009). Inbound Logistics for any company covers all the necessary activities that take place to ensure uninterrupted supply of the necessary inputs and raw materials the company needs for a smooth production process (Dagoon, 2005). To have a have control over

The predictions of corporate failures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The predictions of corporate failures - Essay Example Corporate failures gained higher rates in last two decades. There are lots of factors that lead businesses to fail. Those factors attributed by different economists are high interest rates, heavy debt burdens and recession-squeezed profits. There are lots of industry-specific factors such as government regulation and the nature of operations, can results into to a firm’s financial failures. Studies have found that small, private and newly opened companies with poor cash flow planning and ineffective controlling systems are more exposed to financial crisis than the large and well-established firms. It is very important to have robust and reliable models that predict corporate failure accurately and promptly. It is very important for the management to take either preventive or corrective measure to secure the interest of all the stakeholders. This study would go to discuss about different models for preventing corporate failures and the study would assess the strengths and weakn esses of those models. Financial satiability is very important for any corporate house. Corporate houses are having lots of stakeholders attached with it. It is also an important duty of Government and Financial regulating authorities to keep a close look on the financial health of firm. There are lots of models are there to take preventive actions but it is very important to chose the right one for the right problem. Every model has its own strength and weaknesses. Identification of the proper model for the specific crisis is very important things to follow for any corporate house to avoid corporate failures. Failure of one firm can cause for a serious disaster for all those stake holders related with that firm. According to Beaver (1966), who used classification test to identify different financial ratios for corporate failure predictions. Author used 30 financial ratios and 79 pairs of companies for test

Risk management in British Airways Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Risk management in British Airways - Essay Example The overall process has been designed in a manner that it remains an iterative process wherein the changes and implementation of the existing and new risk management practices are scrutinized on continuous basis.( Goh, 2011). British Airways (BA) has a separate Corporate Risk Management Group in place which not only oversees the organization wide risk management practices of the firm but is also involved in managing internal control systems of the company. The Corporate Risk Group is overseen by a management board and senior key executives to ensure that the involvement of the key senior managers remains so that required improvements could be achieved and the process is managed strategically. The existing risk management practices of BA involve not only the identification of the key risks and their drivers but also their mitigation and management. The overall process is monitored at the Board Audit Committee level and involves senior management to provide an independent review and in sight into the risk management practices of the firm. Current Risk Management Process The current risk management process and its infrastructure within the organization are based on a combination of independence and authority. BA has put in place a separate risk management group which has the overall responsibility of managing the corporate risk affairs of the firm. The group is headed by the Head of Corporate Risk and Internal Controls and oversees different aspects of the risk management process. Further, there is a supervisory management board which comprises of the key senior managers of the firm to provide strategic insight and ownership to the strategic management process within the organization. (Rothwell, 2011). Company maintains a corporate risk register which is actually used for the purpose of identifying the risks and recording them for the purpose of review and assessment. The overall assessment process is based on quarterly reviews wherein the management board as well as the senior managers along with the Corporate Risk Managers evaluate the existing and new risks and determine the future course of action. It is also important to note that this is the highest level within the organization which actually assess and outlines the risk management processes within the organization. The work is further distributed to the individual departments and risk leaders within each department responsible for the management of risk at the departmental and individual level. It is also important to note that the risk at the individual level is measured through an internally developed matrix called Heat Map. Heat Map takes into account each individual risk based on its likely impact and the overall likely scale.1 This therefore allows BA to map its overall risk identification process according to the overall importance and impact of the risk on the organization. Once the different critical risks are identified, mitigating factors for managing the risk are identified and are each risk is individually managed. A report is finally produced which attempt to address different risk issues and responsibilities and accountabilities are than fixed at the individual level to ensure that the overall process is delegated to the lowest level of the organization. It is also critical to understand that this report usually do not contain the mapped results and critical actions required to be undertaken. This is purposefully done by BA in order to

The predictions of corporate failures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The predictions of corporate failures - Essay Example Corporate failures gained higher rates in last two decades. There are lots of factors that lead businesses to fail. Those factors attributed by different economists are high interest rates, heavy debt burdens and recession-squeezed profits. There are lots of industry-specific factors such as government regulation and the nature of operations, can results into to a firm’s financial failures. Studies have found that small, private and newly opened companies with poor cash flow planning and ineffective controlling systems are more exposed to financial crisis than the large and well-established firms. It is very important to have robust and reliable models that predict corporate failure accurately and promptly. It is very important for the management to take either preventive or corrective measure to secure the interest of all the stakeholders. This study would go to discuss about different models for preventing corporate failures and the study would assess the strengths and weakn esses of those models. Financial satiability is very important for any corporate house. Corporate houses are having lots of stakeholders attached with it. It is also an important duty of Government and Financial regulating authorities to keep a close look on the financial health of firm. There are lots of models are there to take preventive actions but it is very important to chose the right one for the right problem. Every model has its own strength and weaknesses. Identification of the proper model for the specific crisis is very important things to follow for any corporate house to avoid corporate failures. Failure of one firm can cause for a serious disaster for all those stake holders related with that firm. According to Beaver (1966), who used classification test to identify different financial ratios for corporate failure predictions. Author used 30 financial ratios and 79 pairs of companies for test

What could help solve poverty in Calcutta Essay

What could help solve poverty in Calcutta - Essay Example A few of the numerous people who come from different backgrounds and they are present in Calcutta include; Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains. There are numerous languages that are spoken in Calcutta includes but not limited to; Tamil, Urdu, Punjabi and Bengali. One of the biggest issue that Calcutta is facing is overcrowding. The main reason for this is the numerous activities that take place in Calcutta. In addition, there diversity of the people that are present in Calcutta is one of the reason that it has a high population density of 4.5 million people. Another reason for the over population of Calcutta is the Bangladesh conflict which took place in the 1970s which made refugees to settle in the northern and southern suburbs of the city. People move to Calcutta to take, coal, petroleum, manganese, jute, manganese and iron. This is because it is a major export centre of these products. Due to the large population, Calcutta has been having a big unemployment crisis since early 1950s. With the high population density and the equally high levels of poverty, Calcutta has a huge problem when it comes to housing (Banerji, 2007). It is estimated that more than a third of the city lives in places of severe poverty (slumdogs, 2015). In this place, the houses have poor ventilation, very limited sanitary conditions and very little open space. One of the main reason for the poverty is Calcutta is overcrowding. It is brought about when people are numerous and located in just one place (Phelan, 2015). This limits even the ability of the people to get ample space to live. There are numerous reason as to why people may be over populated in one place. As for Calcutta, the main reason for its overpopulation is the fact that numerous activities take place there (Weaver, 1985). The main industries that thrive in Calcutta include; transport industry, export industry, and manufacturing industries. In addition,

Labor Relations Essay Example for Free

Labor Relations Essay In reviewing information pertaining to labor unions, there is a plethora of information about unions in the transportation industry. One of the most widely known unions is the teamster unions, which deals with truckers. Labor unions and issues with automotive industry are often seen in the media. The newest transportation industry in American history is the airline industry. As the newest transportation industry that is still vital to American comfort, convenience, and commercial, the airline industry is ripe for workers to organize and demand a greater piece of the profits from operations. In this essay, an effort will be made to review this company in regards to labor relations. Company’s stance toward Labor Delta Airlines was founded by C. E. Woolman, an agriculture extension agent (Anthony, Kacmar, Perrewe, 2010). C. E Woolman was not a banker, venture capitalist or war pilot, as many of the competing airlines were. He didn’t have the aggressive military style that many of the other airline founders had. What C. E. Woolman instilled within the employees at all levels of the organization is that people matter and should be treated fairly and equitably. This philosophy led Delta Airlines to be the leader in customer service from the company’s inception through the many mergers over the years. Through the difficult financial times when other airlines were laying off employees and filing for bankruptcy, Delta continued to pay their people well and keep them employed. There was an exception during the Ronald Allen CEO era of 1987 thru 1997. Human relations took a significant down turn during his tenure as CEO, especially during 1993 and 1994, but Delta decided to part ways with Allen and began repairing those fragile relationships with its employees. Delta Airlines still focuses on the human relations factor and has been able to repair the relationship with its employees; they believe it is their key to success. Despite the corporate culture to take care of its employees, a number of Delta employee departments are unionizing. They feel as though that piece is not being distributed justly. Formulate a strategy for negotiating a labor agreement Human behavior dictates that there will be problems. As a company starts making money, there is always a desire by the employees to acquire more of the profit. On the other hand, management has a desire to retain as much of the profit to be provided to investors and to receive bonuses for their â€Å"supposedly† wise business practices. When one group wants more and another wants to retain, there will be conflict. And this is precisely what is happening at Delta Airline, as well as among many industries in the transportation arena. Employees, seeking to gain an upper hand threaten to strike; however, management must be willing to address the matter through negotiation. The Negotiation Process Fisher and Ury recommend conducting negotiations according to the process of principled negotiation. Their method has four main tenets: 1. Separate the people from the problem. The idea should be for both sides to work together to attack a problem, rather than attacking each other. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to overcome emotional responses and set aside egos. 2. Focus on interests rather than positions. The natural tendency in many negotiations—for example, dickering over the price to be paid for an antique—is for both sides to state a position and then move toward middle ground. Fisher and Ury warn against confusing peoples stated positions with their underlying interests, and claim that positions often tend to obscure what people truly hope to gain through negotiation. 3. Generate a variety of options before deciding what to do. The pressure involved in any type of negotiation tends to narrow peoples vision and inhibit their creativity, making it difficult to find optimal solutions to problems. Instead, Fisher and Ury suggest developing a wide range of possible solutions as part of the negotiating process. These possible solutions should attempt to advance shared interests and reconcile differences. 4. Base the result on objective criteria. No one will be happy with the result of a negotiation if they feel that they have been taken advantage of. The solution is to find and apply some fair standard to the problem in order to guarantee a mutually beneficial result. Fisher and Urys principles provide a good overall guide for the actual negotiation process. In his book, Nierenberg offered a number of other tips and strategies that may be effective in promoting successful negotiations. For example, it may be helpful to ask questions in order to form a better understanding of the needs and interests of the other side. The questions must be phrased diplomatically and timed correctly in order to avoid an antagonistic response. The idea is to gain information and uncover basic assumptions without immediately taking positions. Nierenberg stressed the importance of listening carefully to the other sides responses, as well as studying their facial expressions and body language, in order to gain quality information. Nierenberg noted that good negotiators will employ a variety of means to accomplish their objectives. Small business owners should be aware of some of the more common strategies and techniques that they may see others apply or may wish to apply themselves. One common strategy is forbearance, or patience pays, which covers any sort of wait or delay in negotiations. If one side wishes to confer in private, or adjourn briefly, they are employing a strategy of forbearance. Another common strategy is to present a fait accompli, or come to a final offer and leave it up to the other side to decide whether to accept it. In a simple example, a small business owner may scratch out one provision in a contract that he or she finds unacceptable, then sign it and send it back. The other party to the contract then must decide whether to accept the revised agreement. Nierenberg warns that this strategy can be risky, and encourages those who employ it to carefully appraise the consequences first. Another possible negotiating strategy is reversal, which involves taking a position that seems opposed to the original one. Similarly, feinting involves apparently moving in one direction in order to ivert attention from the true goal. For example, a negotiator may give in on a point that is not very important in order to make the real objective more attainable. Another strategy involves setting limits on the negotiation, whether with regards to time, the people involved, or other factors. It is also possible to change the participation in the negotiation if it seems to be at an impasse. For example, a neutral third party may be enlisted to help, or one or two people from each side may be sent off to continue the negotiation separately. It may also be helpful to break down the problem into small pieces and tackle them one by one. Another strategy might be to trade sides for a short time and try to view the situation from each others perspective. All of these techniques may be applied either to gain advantage or to push forward a negotiation that has apparently reached an impasse. Analyze the principle economic and administrative issues The airline industry is a fast growing sector demonstrating a very strong growth rate. It is associated with a number of social and economic benefits and is a growing contributor to the global inventory (Whitelegg, 2000). Business cycles have a wide reaching impact on the airline industry; during recession, air travel was considered a luxury and therefore spending is cut which leads to reduced prices. The industry creates its impact not just by providing direct employment, but also through the creation of opportunities throughout the travel and hospitality sector of the economy. Jobs in hotels, resorts, restaurants and car rental agencies are all impacted by the airline industry (Global Airline Industry Program, 2011). The airline industry itself is a major economic force, both in terms of its own operations and its impacts on related industries such as aircraft manufacturing and tourism. There are few industries that create the amount and intensity of attention that airlines receive, not only among its participants but from government policy makers and the media as well. The crucial issues on the table vary depending on whether the person is in management or is a worker. For management, the key to retain as much money as possible, while for the workers the goal is to obtain more of the profit. Thus, in management, the argument would be made to show how much money is used to provide employee insurances and benefits, reinvest in equipment and aircraft, general property and liability. On top of that, investors must be repaid. For the employee or worker, this is a stressful environment where the employee needs to be compensated for his work-related stress. Employee paid benefits continues to decrease, and the employee is forced to pay a disproportionate share. Thus, the employee needs more money just to live at a sustainable level. Recommend policies and procedures to administer a labor contract and resolve disputes. It is of utmost importance to resolve conflict expeditiously and justly for all parties involved. Thus, I would recommend the following policies as a means to resolve disputes: When a team oversteps the mark of healthy difference of opinion, resolving conflict requires respect and patience. The human experience of conflict involves our emotions, perceptions, and actions; we experience it on all three levels, and we need to address all three levels to resolve it. We must replace the negative experiences with positive ones. Acknowledge the conflict – The conflict has to be acknowledged before it can be managed and resolved. The tendency is for people to ignore the first signs of conflict, perhaps as it seems trivial, or is difficult to differentiate from the normal, healthy debate that teams can thrive on. If you are concerned about the conflict in your team, discuss it with other members. Once the team recognizes the issue, it can start the process of resolution. †¢ Discuss the impact – As a team, discuss the impact the conflict is having on team dynamics and performance. Agree to a cooperative process – Everyone involved must agree to cooperate in to resolve the conflict. This means putting the team first, and may involve setting aside your opinion or ideas for the time being. If someone wants to win more than he or she wants to resolve the conflict, you may find yourself at a stalemate. †¢ Agree to communicate – The most important thing throughout the resolution process is for everyone to keep communications open. The people involved need to talk about the issue and discuss their strong feelings. Active listening is essential here because to move on you eed to really understand where the other person is coming from. Determine the most likely interest dispute and determine how you could leverage economic pressure to help resolve that dispute. â€Å"There is no way to overstate the role â€Å"leverage† plays when it comes to achieving favorable settlements. Leverage is defined as: â€Å"positional advantage; the power to act effectively; strategic advantage†. Stated more simply, your leverage is whatever power you have† (Cory, 2011). Leverage is usually more about situational advantage than objective strength or power. For example, a single individual or small business may have few resources relative to a large corporation but still have situational advantage by virtue of being able to compel the larger corporation to appear and answer in a favorable venue. Likewise even when there is a legitimate claim which could result in a significant loss to the defendant, if the plaintiff does not have the resources or the fortitude to stay the course, then the defendant has the situational advantage by virtue of being able to delay and wait the plaintiff out. Leverage can be real or imagined. Your actual leverage at any point in time is based only on the other side’s perception of your leverage (which can obviously differ significantly from the actual facts). There are obviously situations where you have an information advantage, such as when you know about a weakness in your case that is not yet known by the other side. In such a situation you will, perhaps only briefly, appear to have more leverage than you actually do. Likewise, you can be at an information disadvantage such as when you mistakenly think that the other side has a stronger case than they actually do. There are also situations where you mistakenly think that your case is stronger than it actually is which occurs when for one reason or another you don’t have all the facts, or when the facts have not been accurately relayed to you. But regardless of your actual leverage, if there is no fear on the other side, you have little if any effective leverage (Cory, 2011).

Cindy Sherman Artist Biography

Cindy Sherman Artist Biography No other artist has ever made as extended or complex career of presenting herself to the camera as has Cindy Sherman. Yet, while all of her photographs are taken of Cindy Sherman, it is impossible to class call her works self-portraits. She has transformed and staged herself into as unnamed actresses in undefined B movies, make-believe television characters, pretend porn stars, undifferentiated young women in ambivalent emotional states, fashion mannequins, monsters form fairly tales and those which she has created, bodies with deformities, and numbers of grotesqueries. Her work as been praised and embraced by both feminist political groups and apolitical mainstream art. Essentially, Shermans photography is part of the culture and investigation of sexual and racial identity within the visual arts since the 1970s. It has been said that, The bulk of her workà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦has been constructed as a theater of femininity as it is formed and informed by mass culture (her) pictures insist on the aporia of feminine identity tout court, represented in her pictures as a potentially limitless range of masquerades, roles, projections (Sobieszek 229). Born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Cindy Sherman grew up in suburban Huntington Beach on Long Island, the youngest of five children and had a regular American childhood. She was very self-involved, found of costumes, and given to spending hours at the mirror, playing with makeup (Schjeldahl 7). Cindy Sherman attended the state University College at Buffalo, New York, where she first started to create art in the medium of painting. During her college years, she painted self-portraits and realistic copies of images that she saw in photographs and magazines. Yet, she became less, and less interested in painting and became increasingly interested in conceptual, minimal, performance, body art, and film alternatives (Sherman 5). Shermans very first introductory photography class in college was a complete failure for she had difficulties with the technological aspects of making a print. After her disastrous first attempt in photography, Sherman discovered Contemporary Art, which had a profound and lasting effect on the rest of her artistic career (Thames and Hudson 1). Shermans first assignment in her photography class was to photograph something which gave her a problem, thus, Sherman chose to photograph her self naked. While this was difficult, she learned that having an idea was the most important factor in creating her art, not so much the technique that she used. While she was talented at copying with pencils and paints, this artistic method would not allow Sherman to express herself personally. But with a camera, Sherman could use her body as a tool (Sills 64). The young artist became fascinated by the way any image at all, simply being presented, activates a mysterious charge-neither subjective nor objective, but of both (Schjeldahl 7). In college, Sherman became active in the local avant-garde scene, the liveliest of two decades, and especially in Hallwalls, an artist-run alternative exhibition space (Heller 223). In 1975, while still attending college, Cindy She rman created her first series of five photographs entitled, Untitled A-E. Within these first photographs, Sherman attempts to alter her face with makeup and hats, attempting to take on different personas, such as a little girl in Untitled D, and a clown in Untitled A (Thames and Hudson 2). This first series is Shermans first attempt of documenting transformation. The Curator Linda Cathcart, saw the pictures at Hallwalls and put them at the Albright Knox Art Gallery (Heller 225). Because Sherman had such vivid imagination and became fascinated with self-transformation, Sherman often bought vintage clothes and accessories from thrift stores, which helped her to form and create different characters. So it just grew and grew until I was buying and collecting more and more of these things, and suddenly the characters came together just because I had so much of the detritus from them (Thames and Hudson 2 ). Sherman went even as far as wearing the costumes and dressing as different charact ers to gallery openings and events in Buffalo. She wore these costumes because she wanted to see how far she how transformed she could look (Haller 225). Yet, Sherman never considered dressing up for performance purposes because she was not maintaining a character but simply getting dressed up to go out (Thames and Hudson 2). Cindy Sherman began her famous series of Untitled Film Series at the end of 1977. The small black and white photographs are of Sherman impersonating female character types from old B grade movies, which speak to a generation of baby boomer women who had grown up absorbing these glamorous images ay home on their televisions, taking such portrayals as cues for their future (Thames and Hudson 1). Upon graduation of college in 1977, Cindy Sherman and her fellow student Robert Longo moved to Manhattan, New York together. She continued with her interest in role-playing and dressing up as different characters, and began to photograph herself in these different guises among different locations such as her apartment Untitled Film Still #10, in the Southwest in Untitled Film Still #43, and in Long Island in Untitled Film Still # 9. Shermans manipulation of lighting, makeup, and dress make it difficult to believe that all of the characters represented were indeed the same person (Heller 225). A ll of the portraits are of her but none of the works are in any way a self-portrait of Sherman. They are portraits of an identity that Sherman shares with every female who thinks of her life in the way of a cheap movie. For this reason alone, is why her work has been looked at for special by feminist who hold the view that women do not hold theories, but tell stories. In the stills it is important to get a deep and true understanding that her use of photography is more integral to the performance then a photographic record of what took place. (Danto 10-11). Each of the stills is about the girl in trouble, but in the aggregate they touch the myth we each carry out of childhood, of danger, love, and security that defines the human condition. Desire mixed with nostalgia fuels the allure of the Untitled Film Stills-desire for the woman depicted as well as desire to be that woman, during that time (Thames and Hudson 4). Sherman said that the last thing she wanted her pictures to have was emotion. The still only provided a framework through which her deeper artistic impulses found expression (Danto 9). She was most interested in what a character was like when they were completely emotionless (Sherman 8). These black and white photographs were purposely grainy because Sherman wanted them to look like cheap publicity shots. While, Sherman takes most of her own photographs using a remote shutter-release, some of her pictures are also taken by her family and friends. This Untitled Film Series was first exhibited in 1995, in the Hirshborn Museum of Washington D.C. In each of the photographs, Sherman is depicted alone, As a familiar but unidentifiable film heroine in an appropriate setting (Thames and Hudson 2). Some of the many characters depicted are of a perky B-movie librarian in Untitled Film Still #13; a voluptuous lower-class women from an Italian neo-realist film in Untitled Film still #35; and a young secretary in the city Untitled Film Still # 21 (Thames and Hud son 2). In terms of the untitled film still #35 and Untitled Film still #15, both depict Sherman as a seductress, Sherman says To pick a character like that was about my own ambivalence about sexuality-growing up with the woman role models that I had, and a lot of them in films, that were like that character, and yet you were supposed to be a good girl (Thames and Hudson 2). Sherman encourages the viewers participation in constructing their own narratives of her Untitled Film Still #10, Untitled Film Still # 14, and Untitled Film Still #65 (Thames and Hudson 3) Sherman created sixty-nine photographs in total, presenting her works in an array of types. According to Judith Williamson, force upon the viewers that elision of image and identity which women experience all the timeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Thames and Hudson 3). Cindy Shermans Untitled Film Stills are also seen as related to feminist performance work of the 1970s by artists such as Adrian Piper and Eleanor Antin. Sherman is also noted as being heavily influenced by these artists. The Untitled Film Series are not only photographic records of performance but performative accounts of filmic images (Thames and Hudson 4). Sherman ended her sixty-nine photograph scenes in 1980, when she began to realize that she was duplicating previously used characters, clichà ©s, and stereotypes. Cindy Shermans next series or collection of photographs was her first working color called the Rear Screen Projections, which exude the artifice of a television show. With her increasing desire to work at home, Sherman created her photographs in front of a projected screen, which she projected slides of outdoor and indoor scenes. Viewing the photographs one can obviously tell that the background is fake. The very realistic and sometimes quite closely cropped images of Sherman contrast with the blurry and substantial settings, heightening the artifice of the entire scene (Thames and Hudson 5). Her second series concentrates on the 1960s and 1970s rather then the 1950s depicted in the Untitled Film Series. Rather then female victims, the Rear Screen Projections depict women who are confident and independent, usually youthful, middle-class women in the real world. The characters of the Rear Screen Projections are best identified as being counterparts of women in the media of the 1970s s uch as Mary Richards character in The Mary Tyler Moore television series (Thames and Hudson 5). In 1981, after creating a portfolio of images for an issue of Artforum, Sherman became inspired by the magazines horizontal format and produced a series of works that refer to the photo spreads in photographic magazines. This is said to be Shermans first mature work. These large photographs are in color, are cropped and close-up with each image depicting a young woman looking off to the side with a vacant and vulnerable look. She keeps background details to a minimum allowing the attention to be drawn to the figure. Shermans horizontals suggest a profound transgression against form. Within these pictures have there is no coherent point of view (Sobieszek, 25). When Sherman showed this series, she was criticized by some for having created women that reaffirm sexist stereotypes, therefore Artforum rejecting this series. Critics have found Untitled #93 as the most suggestive of all her works. This photograph shows a woman with messy hair and smudged makeup in bed covering her eyes, whil e looking toward the light that shines in her eyes. Although Sherman has stated that She was imagining someone who had just come home in the early morning from being out partying all night, and the sun wakes her shortly after she has gone to bed (Thames and Hudson 6). Critics on the other hand have read this photograph as a rape portrayal. Misreading of the centerfolds became very common because people tried to create stories from them, discovering hidden meanings where none were present (Schjeldahl 9). Much like her earlier works, the centerfolds mimic and repeat mass media modes. In the Pink Robe series, Sherman uses herself once again to imitate the stance of porno models, choosing to pose only in a pink chenille bathrobe. This series conveys a state of loveless intimacy, intimacy without understanding or personal tenderness (Schjeldahl 10). In this series, Sherman responds to the criticism of the centerfold series, and switches to a vertical format in order to do away with the vulnerability of the characters. Yet, the Pink Robe Series is just a continuation of the Centerfold series because Sherman thinks of these images as depiction of the porno model during breaks between posing for nude shots (Thames and Hudson 7). Sherman sits in front of the camera deciding to appear as un-sexy and without makeup or wigs, staring directly toward the viewer. Many critics interpret this series as the real Cindy and most revealing of all of her photographs (Thames and Hudson 7). Sherman has produced four groups of works that quote from fashion photography. In Shermans fashion series, she reminds the viewer that that fashion allows us to create and display a wide range of appearances as if we each possessed a wide range of identities (Sobieszek, 253). Her first fashion series was commissioned in 1983 for a spread in Interview magazine. Provided with designer clothes such as Jean-Paul Gaultier, Sherman undoubtedly provided an antithesis of a glamour ads. The models look silly but utterly delighted in their high fashion frocks. Her second commissioned fashion photographs are even more bizarre from the previous works, with the models looking dejected in Untitled #137, exaggeratedly wrinkled in Untitled #132, and even homicidal in Untitled #138. It appears inevitable that Sherman would be drawn to fashion spreads because fashion is yet another means of masquerade for women, and ads for clothing promise to convert the buyer into a more perfect version of herself ( Thames and Hudson 8). Like all advertisements, fashion photographs manufacture a desire in a woman that could never be filled. Sherman uses her fashion photographs to undermine the desirability of such images by emphasizing their manipulating nature (Thames and Hudson 8). In the fairy tales and monster series, Sherman reminds us of the monsters from childhood memories and may be suggesting through these photographs that everyone harbors a secret, repressed self that can shift form and shape at will (Sobieszek, 253). The undercurrent turned, rather startling in the 1980s into a torrent of gore and rage when she switched to using a larger format and often lurid colors, and to concocting increasingly horrific and surreal images (Kimmelman 142). These images represent a time in her career when her images truly become strange and surreal. These photographs are unusual not only because of their horrific images, but also because a viewer is unaccustomed to seeing such stories represented in photographs. The strangest scene appears in Untitled #150, In which an androgyn with a huge, extended tongue fills the foreground, and tiny figures stand in the landscape behind it, making it seem like a giant among Lilliputians (Thames and Hudson 9). Shermans Fairy Tales do not depict a specific example, but evoke a narrative form. By the early 1990s Sherman had tired of creating these shocking images turning to art history for inspiration. The result was a series of photographic portraits of her returning as the model, transformed by her usual false noses, bosoms, into both male and female figures as painted by various old masters of Western painting (Heller 225). Even when Sherman was creating history portraits she worked out of books, with reproduction, she says that Its the aspect of photography that I appreciate, conceptually: the idea that images can be reproduced and seen anytime, anywhere, by anyone ( Kimmelman 145). Just like all the rest of her works, the history paintings do not depict a particular painting but depicts types for the history genre. Sherman creates the most memorable and humorous pictures of women. Often spoofing the awkward depictions of the female anatomy of the Old Masters paintings. Understanding how ridiculous these history paintings are helps the viewer understand that Sherman is mocking the Western canon and its depiction of royalty and religious figures (Thames and Hudson 12). Shermans next career move was to a raunchy pornographic depiction of individuals called the Sex Pictures. Using mannequins and body parts form medical catalogues, she constructs hybrid dolls. Rather then showing the dolls having sex, Sherman proudly shows the sex. Sherman created these works in response to the controversy over the National Endowment for the arts ands the debates over the constitute obscenity in the arts. Typically, pornography portrays sex as anonymous, but in Shermans series she depicts sex as ridiculous (Thames and Hudson 14). It Shermans work, the notion of self is completely abandoned, replaced by the concept of multiplicity, dissociation, and fluidity. Yet, her portraits do not appear as performances only unstable representations in ambiguous non-narratives making brief appearances, caught in a moment of ambivalent emotional expression (Sobieszek, 253). Much of her work is clearly meant to be ambiguous. Her pictures have been interpreted as feminist indictments of gender stereotyping, but Sherman insists that she is not political (Heller 226). References Danto, Arthur C. Cindy Sherman: Untitled Film Stills. New York: Rizzoli, 1990.. Heller, Nancy G. Women Artists and Illustrated History. New York: Abbeville Press, 1987. Kimmelman, Michael. Portraits. New York: Random House, 1998. Schjeldahl, Peter. Cindy Sherman. New York: Pantheon Books, 1984. Sherman, Cindy. The complete Untitled Film Stills. New York: The museum Of Modern Art, 2003. Sills, Leslie. In Real Life: Six Women Photographers. New York: Holiday House, 2000. Sobieszek, Robert A. Photography and The Human Soul 1850-2000. Los Angles: MIT Press and Los Angles County Museum of Art, 1999 Thames and Hudson. Cindy Sherman Retrospective. Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1998.