The concept and characteristics of Leadership viewed through the Essay

The concept and characteristics of Leadership viewed through the JoHari Window - Essay Example The Johari window is often referred to as a ‘Disclosure/feedback’ model of self awareness and as a tool for processing information. It’s a self awareness tool because it represents information on feelings, attitudes, views, skills, intentions, experiences and motivation that a person presents in relation to his team, from four different angles. The two main concepts behind the Johari window is that the individuals are able to foster relations based on trust by simply disclosing personal information about themselves and secondly, they can become better persons by dealing with personal issues with the assistance obtained from others [Chapman 2003]. Essentially, better understanding between individuals and groups can be created with the assistance of the Johari window. It is also applicable to the leadership of an organization as it is in understanding the concept of the Johari window that leaders are able to understand the value and importance of self disclosure. This then results to their appreciation of giving and receiving personal feedback. When the Johari window is administered with sensitivity, the team members are able to build trusting relationships amongst themselves, are able to deal with problems and consequently be more effective as a team. This automatically leads to improved productivity within the organization, which is an objective for any goal oriented organization. Loft and Ingham, the founders of the Johari window, divided this window into four quadrants as show below: Quadrant 1 Open Area /Public Area/ The arena Quadrant2 Blind Area / Blind Spot Quadrant 3 Hidden Area Quadrant 4 Unknown Area Open Area | Public Area | The arena This quadrant represents the areas that are known by both ourselves and others. These areas are such as our strengths and weaknesses which we openly choose to share with and display to others. Information known in this quadrant is both factual and behavioral. Factual information is such as one's name and place of residence. While behavioral information includes: wants, needs, feelings etc. This quadrant is a basic description of who one is. Whenever individuals meet for the first time, the size of this quadrant is small and individuals have the choice of whether or not to expand it by exchanging information. Blind Area / Blind Spot This quadrant represents the traits that others know about an individual but are unknown to the individual. These traits could be positive or negative and have an influence on how others respond towards the individual. These traits could be as simple as appearance or as complex as feelings of insecurity, inadequacy and incompetence. More often than not, it is difficult to communicate these traits to an individual as it may sometimes be viewed to be degrading or attacking. This poses a problem as the relationship can be compromised. Hidden / Avoided Area This quadrant represents information that an individual knows about himself but is unknown to others. Unless the individual deliberately decides to reveals this information, it remains unknown. Feelings of trust and comfort usually encourage people to reveal more about themselves and consequently, the window shade is pulled down;

Frontier Airlines Portfolio Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Frontier Airlines Portfolio - Research Proposal Example former Frontier Airlines, together with the founders put together a business plan to reformulate the company into a new incarnation and call it ‘Frontier’. With an investment of $516,000, the business could forge a new place for itself in the market. On February 9, 1994, this plan was put into action as the newly formed company became incorporated. The head office was opened on March 15, starting an airline that could serve both coasts and earn a position as a ‘national’ airline (Our History, 2009). In April of 1994, private stock placements net $1.3 million, and by May 20 public stock offerings earn $7.6 million which covers the startup financing as outlined in the business plan. By June 9, the first reservation is made by our first passenger and the company is ready to fly! By July 1, 1994, Continental Airlines has vacated 25 routes through Denver, which allows Frontier to launch its first flights on July 5th. In the first month of service, Frontier carries 5,922 passengers and in the next five months, the airline has added several new routes. Within the first six months that Frontier has been flying, the airline We are now flying to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and other locations, and will be adding flights to Seatle/Tacoma, San Diego, and St Louis during the year. The airline ends flights to Fargo and Bismarck, N.D., which is an end to the original eight destinations flown by the airline. At the end of 1996, the airline has increased its size in eighteen months of operation to a fleet of 10 737’s, 725 employees, and 1,877,3372 passengers. (1993, 2009). In 1997, Frontier announces that it will merge with Western Pacific, but the merger is called off in September. However, Western Pacific is forced to shut down operations in February of 1998, allowing Frontier to become the principal carrier out of Denver International Airport, offering low-fare prices and quality service. By the end of 1998 we have grown to a fleet size of 17 Boeing 737

Appraisal Techniques Available to Finance Managers

Appraisal Techniques Available to Finance Managers INTRODUCTION: What are the different appraisal techniques available to finance managers to make decisions relating to investment projects? Discuss each of them and recommend, giving your reasons, which of them you consider as the best technique applicable to your company. INVESTMENT APPRAISAL: Investment appraisal also known as capital budgeting. As finance manager one of the important areas of decision-making for the long-term is must to tackle the investment the need to committed funds by buying buildings, machinery and land. Finance manager have to check of the size of the inflows and outflows of funds, for handling these types of decisions, the degree of risk and the lifespan of the investment cost of obtaining funds are despatched. The capital budgeting cycle can be summarised in some stage which are as follows: Expecting investment needs Identifying project to satisfy needs Examine the alternatives Choose the best alternatives Making the spend Monitor the project Looking at investment appraisal involves us in stage 3 and 4 of this cycle. We can classify capital expenditure projects into four broad categories: Maintenance replacing old or obsolete assets for example. Profitability quality, productivity or location improvement for example. Expansion new products, markets and so on. Indirect social and welfare facilities. Even the projects that are unlikely to generate profits should be subjected to investment appraisal. This should help to identify the best way of achieving the projects aims. So investment appraisal may help to find the cheapest way to provide a new staff restaurant, even though such a project may be unlikely to earn profits for the company. WHAT ARE THE INVESTMENT APPRAISAL TECHNIQUES? Investment Appraisal also known as Capital Budgeting is used to assess whether capital Expenditure on a particular project will be beneficial for the entity or not. These techniques can be used to evaluate projects both in the private and public sector companies. Most commonly used the following techniques. A: Traditional Methods 1: Payback Period 2: Accounting Rate of Return (ARR) B: Discounted Cash Flow Methods 3: Discounted Payback Period 4: Net Present Value (NPV) 5: Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 6: Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR) 7: Adjusted Present Value (APV) Traditional Methods Payback and Accounting rate of return (ARR) period are non discounted methods while all other mentioned methods are discounted. By discounted it is meant that the time value of money is considered in these methods. 1: Payback Period Payback period calculates the time taken by a project to recoup the initial investment. For a finance manager, evaluating projects by this technique would prefer projects with short payback period than those with longer payback periods.It is simple to calculate and easy to understand. Payback is literally the amount of time required for the cash inflows from a capital investment project to equal the cash outflows. The usual way that firms deal with deciding between two or more competing projects is to accept the project that has the shortest payback period. Payback is mostly used as a starting screening method. Payback period = Initial payment / Annual cash inflow So, if  £12,000000 is invested with the aim of earning  £12,00000 per year or net cash earnings, the payback period is calculated thus: P =  £12,000000 /  £12,00000 = 10 years This all looks fairly easy! But what if the project has more uneven cash inflows? Then we need to work out the payback period on the cumulative cash flow over the duration of the project as a whole. Payback with uneven cash flows: Of course, in the real world, investment projects by business organisations dont yield even cash flows. Have a look at the following projects cash flows with an initial investment in year 0 of  £120,000 The payback period is precisely 6 years. The shorter the payback period, the better the investment, under the payback method. We can appreciate the problems of this method when we consider appraising several projects alongside each other. We can see that the payback period for two of the projects (3, 5) is six years. In this case, then, the two projects are of equal merit. But, here we must face the real problem posed by payback: the time value of income flows. Put simply, this issue relates to the sacrifice made as a result of having to wait to receive the funds. In economic terms, this is known as the opportunity cost. More on this point follows later. So, because there is a time value constraint here, the two projects cannot be viewed as equivalent. Project 3 is better than 5 because the revenues flow quicker in years five and six. Project 4 is better than Projects 1 and 2, because of the earlier flows and because the post-payback revenues are concentrated in the earlier part of that period. So its clear that the payback method is a bit of a blunt instrument. So why use it? Advantages of payback: 1st, it is popular because of its simplicity. Research over the years has shown that UK firms favour it and perhaps this is understandable given how easy it is to calculate. 2nd, in a business environment of rapid technological change, new plant and machinery may need to be replaced sooner than in the past, so a quick payback on investment is essential. 3rd, the investment climate in UK in particular demands that the investors got fast returns. Mostly long-term profitable possibilities investments are viewed due to longer wait for revenues flow. Disadvantages of payback: It has not enough real facts, which choose the length of best payback time? No one from other does it is planned by pitting one investment opportunity against another. Cash flows are regarded as either pre-payback or post-payback, but the latter tend to be ignored. Payback takes no account of the effect on business profitability. Its sole concern is cash flow. Payback summary. It is probably best to regard payback as one of the first methods you use to assess competing projects. It could be used as an initial screening tool, but it is inappropriate as a basis for sophisticated investment decisions. 2: Accounting Rate of Return (ARR): This technique compares the profit earned by the project to the initial investment required for the project. Thus a project with higher rate of return is preferred. The Accounting rate of return expresses the profits arising from a project as a percentage of the initial capital cost. However the definition of profits and capital cost are different depending on which textbook you use. For instance, the profits may be taken to include depreciation, or they may not. One of the most common approaches is as follows: ARR = (Average annual revenue / Initial capital costs) x 100 Lets use this simple example to illustrate the ARR: A project to replace an item of machinery is being appraised. The machine will cost  £550,000 and is expected to generate total revenues of  £80,000 over the projects seven year life. What is the ARR for this project? ARR = [( £ 90,000 / 7) / 550,000] x 100 ARR = 2.37% Advantages of ARR As with the Payback method, the chief advantage with ARR is its simplicity. This makes it relatively easy to understand. There is also a link with some accounting measures that are commonly used. The Accounting rate of return is similar to the Return on Capital Employed in its construction; this may make the ARR easier for business planners to understand. The ARR is expressed in percentage terms and this, again, may make it easier to use.There are several criticisms of ARR which raise questions about its practical application: Disadvantages of ARR: 1st, the ARR doesnt take account of the project duration or the timing of cash flows over the course of the project. 2nd, the concept of profit can be very subjective, varying with specific accounting practice and the capitalisation of project costs. As a result, the ARR calculation for identical projects would be likely to result in different outcomes from business to business. 3rd, there is no definitive signal given by the ARR to help manager to decide whether or not to invest. This lack of a guide for decision making means that investment decisions remain subjective. Discounted Cash Flow Methods 3: Discounted Payback Period This technique works similar to payback period, the difference here is that discounted values of cash flows are used for calculation of the payback period. 4: Net Present Value (NPV) The NPV method calculates the present values for all future cash flows. The discount rate may be the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) or it may be any cost of capital depending on the risk of the project in consideration. This type of appraisal is regarded superior to the ARR and the payback period, however there are certain assumptions, on which this technique is based, making its evaluation less reliable. The Net Present Value (NPV) is the first Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) technique covered here. It successes on the idea of situation cost to put a value on cash inflows increasing from capital investment. Keep in mind that opportunity cost is the calculation of what has been given or forward as a result of a special decision. It is also referred to as the real cost of taking some action. We can look at the concept of present value as being the cash equivalent now of a sum receivable at a later date. So how does the opportunity cost affect revenues that we can expect to receive later? Well, imagine what a business could do now with the cash sums it must wait some time to receive. Looked at another way, it is simply that the business have to receive the capital to invest in the project. So, it has to wait for the revenues arising from the investment, the interest is paid on received capital. NPV is a technique where cash inflows expected in future years are discounted back to their present value. This is calculated by using a discount rate equivalent to the interest that would have been received on the sums, had the inflows been saved, or the interest that has to be paid by the firm on funds borrowed. Present Value Table Net Present Value tables provide a value for a range of years and discount rates. Notice the time scale used in the table: The present value for 0 years is always 1, and this is not included in the present value table. If we are looking to find the present value of  £ 10, 0000 which you expect to receive in 5 years time, at a rate of interest of 7 %, we should use the following table: Step 1 Look down the top column of the table (After n years) and find 5 years. Step 2 Look across the row titled At rate r for the rate of interest of 7 %. Step 3 Where the row for 5 years intersects with the column for 7 % in the table, there is the relevant present value factor. In this case this is 0.713. Step 4 Multiply  £ 10, 0000 by 0.713 =  £ 71300 NPV Illustration Calculate the present value of the following projects cash flows, using a 10 % discount rate. Assessing the value of NPV calculations is simple. A positive NPV means that the project is worthwhile because the cost of tying up the firms capital is compensated for by the cash inflows that result. When more than one project is being appraised, the firm should choose the one that produces the highest NPV. 5:Internal Rate of Return (IRR): IRR calculates the rate at which the NPV of a project equals zero. According to this method if the cost of capital of a company is more than the IRR, the project will be rejected and if it is lower than the cost of capital it is likely to be accepted. IRR and NPV concepts are correlated. We know that when a positive NPV is produced by our DCF calculations, a project is worthwhile. We have also seen that when there are competing projects, we should select the one that produces the highest NPV. But sometimes a finance manager will wants to know how well a project will perform under a range of interest rate scenarios. The aim with IRR is to answer the question: What level of interest will this project be able to withstand? Once we know this, the risk of changing interest rate conditions can effectively be minimised. The IRR is the annual percentage return achieved by a project, at which the sum of the discounted cash inflows over the life of the project is same to the sum of the capital invested. Another way of looking at this is that the IRR is the rate of interest that reduces the NPV to zero. Making the investment decision Lets set out the criteria for accepting or rejecting investment opportunities, using the NPV and IRR. As a Finance manager, considering whether to accept or reject an investment project, on the basis of their acquiring the funds necessary at a known rate of interest. 1: The NPV approach asks if the present value of cash inflows less the initial investment is positive, at the current borrowing rate. 2: The IRR approach asks if the IRR on the project is greater than the borrowing rate. Illustration of NPV IRR An initial investment of  £ 2500 in a project produces cash inflows of  £ 750,  £ 750,  £ 900,  £ 900 and  £ 595 at 12 month intervals. The cost of capital to finance the project is 12 %.We are required to decide whether the project is worthwhile using: 1. The Net Present Value 2. The Internal Rate of Return A positive NPV makes the project worthwhile because the cost of tying up the firms capital is compensated for by the cash inflows that result. 2. IRR The above calculation for NPV used a 12 % discount rate and produced a positive value of  £ 318.07. We need to find a discount rate that produces a negative NPV. Lets try 20 %. The IRR lies between 12 % and 20 %. But we can get much closer to the precise answer by using arithmetic. IRR = 12% + Difference between the two discount x Positive NPV Range of +ve to â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"ve NPVs IRR = 12 % + (8 % x 318.07) IRR = 478.73 IRR = 12 % + 5.32 IRR = 17.32 % IRR Problems While there are some different difficulties with the IRR, MIRR solves two of them. First problem is the IRR accepts that interim complete money movements are invested again at the rate of return which was same as the project which creates them. This is most often happening a plan which is not real and a very simple situation, that the funds will be invested again at a rate where the firms cost of capital is closure. Therefore, the IRR often provides a reasonable, hopeful image of the projects which is under study. Normally for checking the projects in the fair way, the weighted average cost of capital can be used for investing again the interim money movements. 2nd, you can find more than one IRRs for projects with different negative and positive flows of cash, which control to confusion. IRR Summary: The value to a business of calculating the IRR is that its decision-makers are able to see the level of interest that a project can withstand. In the case where a number of projects are competing for selection, the one that is most resilient can be chosen. 6: Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR) (MIRR) is a managing the methods of an investments attractiveness. It is used in capital budgeting to give the rank to different investments. Modified Internal Rate of Return is a change of the (IRR) internal rate of return and intent to solve some problems with the internal rate of return (IRR). Using (IRR) we assumes that reinvestment rate of the company is the (IRR). (MIRR) overcomes this assumption and evaluate projects on the assumption that the reinvestment rate is the same as the companys cost of capital. This assumption for the cost of capital makes it a more effective technique as compared to the IRR. MIRR is calculated as follows: mbox{MIRR}=sqrt[n]{frac{-FV(text{positive cash flows, reinvestment rate})}{PV(text{negative cash flows, finance rate})}}-1 Where n is used for the number of same periods which is at the finish stage, where the cash flows occur, PV is used for present value, FV is used for future value. 7:Adjusted Present Value (APV) APV method is used for evaluating investment in projects where risks for a project are different from the company considering such undertakings. This type of evaluation overcomes weaknesses present in the NPV technique. Adjusted present value (APV) is similar to NPV. Use the cost of equity as the discount rate is different. For the financing effects different adjustments are made. Normally with DCF models, adjusted present value calculation is simple but boring. Calculating the first step of an APV is to calculating the basic NPV by using the cost of equity like discount rate. The companys cost of equity and this may be the same. To recalculate using CAPM and by estimating a beta, in some cases may be it is necessary. First calculated the base of NPV, after that calculate the NPV of every set of cash flows which results from financing. The tax results of using debt rather than equity are most obvious. The cost of debt can be discounted or that shows unknown activities about the tax effects at a higher rate. NPV of the tax effects is added then to the basic NPV. If there are some other activities of financing, also added or subtracted, then APV is the final result. Given capital organization unrelated, savings from the financing should be levelled by changes in the necessary return on equity and changes in capital structure as well. Normally this makes a simple NPV with the WACC like the discount rate suitable. Normal NPV calculation: Where, in a simple situation: These more complicated situations are more easily handled BY using Adjusted Present Value (APV), more difficult conditions are very easy to handle. APV based on the below: APV = NPV of project pretended, itâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s all equity financed + NPV of financing results. APV divide the total value of the project into different parts: any debt is no used for value assuming in one part, and then using the debt in capital structure we add the extra value Best Technique: After discussing all the financial appraisal techniques, it seems that the choice of best financial appraisal techniques depends upon the nature of Project. References Internal Rate of Return: A Cautionary Tale Find MIRR with FinEasy MIRR v1.0 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modified_internal_rate_of_return http://www.bized.co.uk/timeweb/reference/using_experiments2.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finance http://moneyterms.co.uk/dcf/ http://moneyterms.co.uk/capital-structure/

Culture and Body Modification :: essays research papers fc

The African Bushmen: Driven Out of the Bush and into the Industrial Era?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   4.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technology and Culture have both influenced each other equally. Technology has been directed as an improvement in our lives, but on the other hand, Culture has been present in every invention, noticeable or not, and advancement in our evolving society. Technology is becoming focused upon more and more everyday, but culture is the determining factor that decides if there is a necessity for an improvement. There are endless views and perspectives that this situation can be viewed from, but without a doubt, technology and culture shape one another. Culture has been a part of our society, and way of life, forever. It is almost impossible to come up with an idea that isn’t influenced by culture. Picture our lives without cars, television, and computers. This would be an example of everyday life without technology. People could function happily in that type of atmosphere, but technology has changed our lives forever. Technology has also cha nged our pace and perspective on education. Students previously would have to go to libraries and spend a lot of time researching to find out information for class assignments, but with technology students can find almost anything on their home computers and by accessing the internet. Technology has definitely become the authoritative factor in our lives, but culture has shaped technology. Technology is made and used in such a variety of ways because many people who use the technology of today come from all walks of life and have different necessities, so to compensate for that, technology must adapt to all different cultures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technology in all of its forms, and in recent times with its rapid improvement and advancement, seems to push itself upon us and our culture, and the same can be said for the rest of the world. Cultures that have never been exposed to technology are now using it in small forms, or have adapted to it quite fondly. These cultures realize the supposed importance of technology in their lives, or may enjoy the simplicity of a new tool that frees up spare time and can get objectives accomplished faster and possibly in a better way than previous endeavors.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Of course, there are cultures than ours who do not so easily embrace technology. This decision on a culture’s part may represent its wish to retain customs, or may just as easily represent its fear.

Crisis hostage management/criminal justice Essay

It is saddening when every day we read about reports of hostage taking happening all over the world. Reports from police intelligence departments across the world indicate that, hostage taking cases ranges from kidnapping of infants to taking hostage of crew of big water vessels, as is rampant along the coast of Somalia in Africa. US is not an exeption, infact many cases of hostage taking have been reported especially in the southern region states. An example of hostage taking case happened at Hillary Rodham Clintons campaign offices in Rochester, New Hampshire. A nicely dressed grey haired man known as Leeland Eisenberg walked into the offices on a Friday demanding to talk to Hillary Clinton about helping him get mental health care and ended up taking at least five people hostage including an infant. The ordeal went on until night when the last hostage walked to freedom and the hostage taker peacefully surrendered to the police. Although Eisenberg had a packet of road flares taped on his body, when he was persuaded by the states police negotiator he gave up and surrendered to SWAT police team. According to Hillary Clinton as she addressed a press conference later in Portsmouth that night, Eisenberg was in need of help and was seeking attention in absolutely the wrong way. Eisenberg was held on state charges of kidnapping and reckless conduct, federal charges were being considered. (http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/22043358). Another hostage taking incidence occurred in Louisville whereby a mother (Gail Lynn Coontz) killed her two children aged 14 and 10 years in their beds and later went to a college she attended with a gun before handing over the weapon to the college’s health counselor. The threat at Louisville University College ended with no injuries about half an hour after it began, but school officials asked police to check on the children, which were found dead with gunshot wounds. Mrs. Coontz was taken to a psychiatric clinic and later taken to Louisville jail. According to university police, Maj. Kenny Brown, she was charged with terrorist threatening for pointing a gun at a police officer. (http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/23827059). The two counts of hostage taking were very different from one another because the first case was carried out in a mild manner i. e. no violence was reported, the road flares posed some considerable danger, had the suspect decided to use them. The hostage taker was just trying to seek attention according to Hilary Clinton because he unconditionally released the hostages after persuasion by a police negotiator. The second case was a serious one, with the suspect having shot dead her two children earlier on. It’s true that both hostage taking incidences were perpetuated by people who were undergoing psychological problems. For instance Eisenberg had a court case filled by his wife for drug abuse, assault, and verbal threats, while Mrs. Coontz was a window and therefore was stressed by family burden. In both incidences of hostage taking, the hostage takers were persuaded into giving up peacefully, i. e. they never put up any violent resistence. in view of the US governments policy on hostage taking threats, based on past experience, making concessions that benefit hostage takers in exchange of release of hostages increased the danger that others will be taken hostage. At the same time the US government always makes every effort to contact the captors or even their representatives so as to secure the release of hostages. under current US law, 18 USC 1203(act for prevention and punishment of the crime of hostage taking, enacted oct 1984),seizure of a US citizen as a hostage anywhere in the world is a crime and therefore subject to investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to prosecution by US authorities (http://www. state. gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2002/8190. htm. ) In the first incidence Eisenberg was sweet talked to by a state police negotiator into giving up and surrendering peacefully to the police. And in the second case Mrs. Coontz although pointed a gun to police a officer she voluntarily gave out the gun to the college health counselor. This shows clearly that the negotiators played their part professionally and with a lot of patient. From both counts it’s evident that very minimal force was applied by the police to free the hostages. In the first incidence for instance, although police camped outside the building they never attempted to use excess force lest they provoke the hostage taker into doing a nasty action. Similarly, in the second incidence police played safe until Mrs. Coontz surrendered the gun to the college health counselor voluntarily. Therefore the outcomes of both cases of hostage taking were a success on the part of police since no one taken hostage was injured and the suspects were apprehended. The articles from which I extracted these two hostage taking counts were fairly written, providing detailed information about the hostage takers, and the hostage taking incidence. But the part on negotiation between the suspects and the negotiators was not well expounded in both counts. Readers would want to know the agreements leading to the softening of hostage takers and hence giving up. The writers also gave very little coverage on police action about the incidences. The motive of the killings of the two children by their mother should have been provided . References: A man takes more than five people hostage at Sen. Hilary Clinton’s campaign office in Rochester N, H, available at; 1) http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/22043358 accessed on April 15, 2008 a mom takes terrorizes a college with a gun after killing her own two children, available at; 2)http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/23827059accessed on April 15, 2008 US policy on hostage taking threats, available at; 3) http://www. state. gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2002/8190. htm accessed on April 15, 2008

Jamie Oliver †Spoken Language Essay

Jamie Oliver is a chef who has made a number of television programmes for Channel 4; in most of these programmes he is cooking and instructing the audience, although he is sometimes part of documentaries about food, for example in schools. His style of speech is very different to many of his contemporaries: he uses his distinctive style to present himself as a down to earth, friendly TV chef. Oliver is the only person talking in this transcript because he is cooking and explaining his actions for the TV show. The fact that he is cooking while talking means that there are numerous pauses in the transcript, for example ‘†¦Your burger (2) and then some rosemary’. The two second pause indicates that he is demonstrating this action on the programme; it is important in his role as a TV chef that he doesn’t just sit and talk through a recipe because viewers want to see the recipes being made and they also want to be entertained and kept interested by Oliver moving around in the kitchen. Other pauses suggest that, although this programme is probably scripted to some degree, Oliver is not reading from an autocue but retains an element of spontaneity to his speech. The pauses at the start of the transcript, ‘Hi guys (.) welcome to ministry of food (.)’, are indicators of this spontaneity, as is the non-fluent ‘er’, which is present ed later on in the show. Although sometimes a sign of nervousness, in this case I think the pauses help Oliver to appear normal, like his viewers, so they are more likely to attempt his recipes and, of course, buy his books. Jamie Oliver’s Estuary accent and his accompanying use of London slang are also distinctive features of his talk. A Word such as ‘bash’ is a colloquial and is not a word we expect to hear on a cooking programme. We are used to words from the cooking semantic field such as ‘whisk’, ‘bake’, ‘stir’ but Oliver’s language use again makes him seem very normal, approachable and relaxed. As well as specifically accented words such as the dropping of the ‘h’ in ‘orrible’, Oliver’s elisions ‘gonna’, ‘wanna’ and ‘kinda’ demonstrate his relaxed tone. As well as using these to build a successful TV persona, Oliver could be using this informal language because he is concentrating more on the actual cooking and explaining the key details of the recipe rather than the functional language he uses. It is important that Oliver does not appear too bossy to his audience: they need to feel like they can relate to him; it is therefore important that he moderates his use of imperatives. Throughout the transcript, he softens his instructions to viewers: ‘†¦about a tablespoon of oregano (1) you want about’; ‘an egg some rosemary some (.) mustard’; this lack of precision is encouraging to people watching his because it suggests this recipe is easy to follow. The self-deprecating suggestion that Oliver is not entirely sure of what he is doing, just guessing, means that he does not assume a too-powerful position in relation to his viewers. The word ‘;literally’ implies that the solution is simple and easy, so Oliver maintains his persona as the ‘friendly, easy’ TV chef in contrast with someone like Gordon Ramsay and his very technical, scientific recipes that cannot be replicated in ordinary kitchens. In conclusion, Jamie Oliver uses many features of talk that are typical of TV chefs, such as numerous pauses and imperative instructions which are essential in his role, but he also has a very distinctive personal style of talk, characterised by his accent, use of slang and colloquial vocabulary. He uses his own idiolect to create a successful TV personality that viewers can relate to and follow as a cooking role model.