Sunday, January 26, 2020

Representations of media in film

Representations of media in film Question 2: Compare and Contrast the Approaches to the Representations of the two different Media in Almost Famous (2000) and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). Word count: 2305 Almost Famous is a 1998 American film directed by Cameron Crowe, it tells the story of the 1970s American hard rock band Stillwater struggling in the harsh face of stardom from the perspective of a Rolling Stone Magazine journalist William Miller (Patrick Fugit). Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a 2004 American parody film directed by Adam McKay, it tells the story of how Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), a famous television news anchor in San Diego, descends from fame and later comeback. I choose these two films as both protagonists William Miller and Ron Burgundy are from San Diego and these two different stories happened in the same period of time – mid 1970s. They both portray the media effects on audiences and their reaction to these audiences. In Almost Famous, audiences are portrayed as active to the music industry and have a good knowledge of the entertainment business. In contrast, audiences in Anchorman are presumed as passive receivers of TV news information rig ht at the beginning. It lacks serious critics of events. Females are presented considerably in both films as important but a menace to the male characters. Almost Famous treats women less seriously but females are free to do what they like. On the contrary, female characters in Anchorman are constantly under male power and cannot do what they want but they are treated more justly as a practitioner within the industry. Both films shed light upon the gender inequality in a serious tone. I am going to use theories of ‘reflexivity’ to examine how audiences are portrayed respectively in two different types of media. I will also use the theories of ‘self-reflexivity’ to compare the difference between two industries in terms of the production and competition. I will use ‘intertextuality’ to discuss the genres of two films. Reflexivity, argued by Rosenberg (1990. p3), refers to the process of an entity acting back upon itself. Almost Famous and Anchorman both reflected the media effects on audiences. Almost Famous started its story in the house of the Millers. The first actual audience mentioned in the film is William Miller’s sister Anita Miller (Zooey Deschanel) who is a real fan of rock n’ roll music. She is an inner-directed person and regards rock n’ roll music as an integral part of her life and her future. Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand), mother of William and Anita, is a traditional-minded woman who teaches in a local college. Her ideas would not allow Anita to get involved with the low culture she deemed. Anita angrily leaves her home at the age of 18 and starts her career as an air stewardess. At the very beginning of the film, the notion of ‘audience’ is seriously examined. The first audience of music is portrayed as brave and, most-importantly, fully awar e of their own behaviours and wants. Before Anita leaves home, she holds her brother William and tells him ‘Look under your bed’. Judging from those worn surfaces of records and the notes she made on each one of them, we can speculate here Anita has been a very loyal fan and has spent much time, energy and money on the medium she consumes. William is clearly influenced by her sister as he later grows up to be an even more loyal fan to rock music. It would be hard to imagine that in such a strict household, an obedient young child like William Miller will grow up to be a journalist on rock n’ roll which is against his mother’s will. He often writes for Creem magazine and knows every song from his lyrics. The devotion wins the chance for him to make friends with musicians as he uses the word ‘incendiary’ to describe the ‘Fever Dog’ song of Stillwater right in front of its members. His passion in pursuing his career as a journalist e ven makes him give up the chance of attending his graduation ceremony. Another important character inside the film is Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), the founder of Band Aid. She gathers friends to support bands they love instead of just passively listening to their songs without thinking. Penny and William sometime challenge the thoughts of their idols and will give them some constructive ideas. The sad thing is that they have never been regarded seriously until the very end of the film. Anchorman also examines the media effect on audiences but in a less serious tone. From the beginning, a non-diegetic voice narrates the traits of television audiences in the 1970s – ‘There was a time, a time before cable, when the local anchorman reigned supreme, when people believed everything they heard on TV’. This statement at the very beginning positions TV audiences as passive receivers of information. The first time when Ron Burgundy starts broadcasting, an old rocker-like man yells in a bar ‘hey everybody, shut the hell up, Ron Burgundy is on’. The following scene is a toddler saying her first words ‘Ron Burgundy’. It is a clearly a computer generated scene. However, it is a metaphor of the overwhelming power of television in 1970s. ‘Stay classy San Diego’ is what Ron Burgundy says every time at the end of his broadcasting. Then we see people from different places (home, bar, work place), young or old, white or black , repeat after Ron. This scene fortifies the idea of Television’s manipulation over audiences. In a general case in film, males are often portrayed as heroes who struggle and females are put to a less important position (Mortimer, 1997). In both films, females play a great part of the plot but inevitably become portrayed as sex objects. In Almost Famous, Penny Lane and her band aid claim to be supporters of band only, however, ironically, they failed to escape the fate as groupies. Penny Lane is in a very subtle but intimate relationship with Stillwater’s guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup). In many occasions Penny is braless and wears a very thin top or blouse. When the band Stillwater travels to Cleveland, Penny Lane and Russell Hammond are flirting with each other and Penny only wears her panties. There is even short scene showing her breasts and her full naked back. Other girls, for example, Polexia (Anna Paquin) is one hundred percent a groupie who tried every time to make out with rock stars and even travels all the way from America to Europe to be with Deep Purple. When William Miller is writing his ideas for Rolling Stone magazine in a bathtub, Penny comes straight in to pee just in front of him. Later William is dragged out by three other young women into bedroom. They claim to ‘deflower Opie’ and ‘Opie should die’. Later we see the pace of imaged has been slowed down, the vibe on the screen becomes highly erotic when they start to undress William and themselves. In Anchorman there is only one woman who has been seriously portrayed – Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate). When she enters the Channel 4 News station for the first day, members from Channel 4 News Team try to seduce her and refuse to take her seriously as a journalist or a colleague. Veronica became the object of their sexual imagination when they talk about her good body inside the office. Later Ron tries to date her and succeeds at that night and has sex with her. When Ron talks about her life with Veronica in the future with his teammates, Veronica is only wearing a cook apron. The conversation is highly erotic too and Veronica in his imagination is a full-time housewife without any careerism. The image of women is degraded and the relationship between male and female protagonists becomes obvious. Women are portrayed as men’s most important and shiny ‘accessories’, however, to a certain extent, they are a threat to the career of the male prota gonists. The flight scene in Almost Famous exposes the promiscuous relationships between band members which cause a huge brawl between them. In Anchorman, Veronica, with her talent and hard work, makes Ron out of job and takes over as the Channel 4 New anchor. In both films, ‘women function as erotic objects both for the characters within the story and for the spectator, who identifies with the main male protagonist and derives a sense of omnipotence from this identification’ (Mulvey, 1975. p14). Talking about gender inequality, it is a different landscape between these two films. Women in the music industry are more likely to be themselves. They choose their favourite music, the bands they watch, the food they eat, the place they are and the life they want. Being a journalist in the Television industry, Veronica is not lucky enough to be like them and choose the things she likes to do. As she mentions ‘it is the same everywhere that men make jokes of women. To be the best journalist is the way to get respect’. The good thing is that Veronica achieved success and became the first female anchor in America. And later the configuration of having two anchors, one male and one female, report news is nowadays a fixed form. Females inside television industry are treated more seriously as ‘women’ in contrast to ‘sex objects’ in music industry. ‘Self-reflexivity is used to describe films or texts which self-consciously acknowledge or reflect upon their own status as fictional artefacts or the processes involved in their creation’ (Krenn, 2007. p36). Almost Famous exposes some of the ugliest facts about the rock music industry. Hypocrisy is the most severe problem within the industry and inside people. The first time William meets Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee), Jeff tries to glorify himself by stating ‘rock n’ roll is a way of thinking, a life style. Fame and money are not important but the chicks are great’. He sounds like a rascal who is desperately for staying the spotlight, a hobo who is desperately to be cool. When he says all these things, we can see that Russell is looking at him contemptuously which shows that he knows Jeff is pretending to be someone he is not. Russell, compared to Jeff, has a more honest attitude on music. He tells William what makes a song is actually those tiny mistakes. You need only one in the song, and it is what makes fans remember it. The production process in Anchorman seems not very professional. The film constantly shows the mistakes inside Channel 4 News Studio such as the mistakes on the teleprompter and Ron Burgundy’s grumpy character and his low IQ (e.g. He reads out anything he sees). The sense of responsibility is different in two films. Stillwater gives up a show half way and leaves the venue straight away. In television news industry however, when some emergencies happened, there is always a back-up plan to keep thing going. Mead (1934) and Cooley (1902) showed clearly that ‘reflexivity among human beings is rooted in the social process, particularly the process of taking the role of the other and of seeing the self from the others perspective’ (Rosenburg, M. 1990, p3). The Rolling Stone magazine which trashed Eric Clapton’s ‘Layla’ also ended the career of Stillwater. They hasted too much to be famous but lost themselves. William’s article wakes them up but it is already too late to re-establish a good public image. Ron Burgundy learnt from his failure and realised the hard work of Veronica, he finally got to know who he should be and together they made a huge progress for television news industry. The most hilarious sequence in Anchorman is the fight between five news teams. They fight each other near a factory which make people think of the typical gang fight scenes in other films. The fight is fierce and the casualties are heavy. The siren of the police ends this chaos. This is a satire of the vicious and sometimes illegal competitions for higher ratings inside the television news industry. ‘Intertextuality strongly linked with postmodernism, designates, in its narrow sense, the ways in which a film either explicitly or implicitly refers to others films (e.g. through allusion, imitation, parody or pastiche), or in its broader sense, the various relationships on (film) text may have with other texts’ (Nelmes, 2012. p191). Both films are based on historical events, so they are themselves inherently examples of ‘intertextuality’. Almost Famous is a drama in terms of genre. It vividly retells the stories of a band which failed to become a hit. It tells us a story about chasing dreams and making mistakes. Those pieces of fine music are an intertext of nostalgia for old good times. Anchorman is a parody and this decides it will not analyse events in a more serious fashion, but it shows a historic event of women being recognised in the television broadcasting industry. It is these use of techniques of intertextuality that add power of credibility to the films. Compare and contrast the representation of media in these two films, the media’s effect over audiences has been examined in both films. Almost Famous tends to analyse the audience’s reaction to media effect from the perspective of individuals. Most notably, it uses three characters, William, Anita and Penny, to show audiences’ active reaction to the medium they love and live on. Anchorman tends to present television news audiences as a passive whole group. The individual characteristics are diminished. Both films recognise the importance of females inside the society. Females in Almost Famous have more freedom to do what they like but failed to be taken seriously as ‘women’ by the society. In Anchorman, the gender inequality is a more prominent problem but females are justly treated as ‘women’ with dignity and characteristics. They both used ‘intertextuality’ to create the sense of reality, but one with a more serious tone as a drama and the other less critical as a parody. Bibliography: Cooley, C. H. (1902) Human Nature and Social Order. Charles Scribner’s Sons. Krenn, S. (2007) Oriental and Postmodern Elements in Moulin Rouge!. Università ¤t Stuttgart Deutschland Mead, G. H. (1934) Mind, Self and Society: From the Standpoint of s Social Behaviourist. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Mulvey L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. In: L. Braudy and Marshall Cohen (eds), Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp.6-18. Nelmes, J. (2012). Introduction to Film Studies. 5th Edition. London: Routledge. Rosenberg, M. (1990) ‘Reflexivity and Emotions’ in Social Quarterly, Vol. 53, No. 1. (Mar, 1990), pp 3-12. Fimography: Almost Famous (2000). [Film] Directed by Cameron CROWE. USA: Dreamworks. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). [Film] Directed by Andy MCKAY. USA: Dreamworks. 1

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Comparison Paragraph of Macbeth and Othello Essay

Shakespeare shows a high level of regret in both plays by raising the emotional turmoil sensed by Macbeth and Othello. The climax of this repentance highlights the mental state of distress of both of the main characters, and is followed by a dramatic conclusion. Shakespeare presents Macbeth as regretful by portraying his desire to be king as damaging from the start. This is evident in the play when Macbeth says: â€Å"will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?† This use of language is regretful. Many bad things then go on to happen to Macbeth, providing that he was wrong to murder the king and this was against the laws in Jacobean times. Macbeth’s reference to â€Å"Neptune† conveys a sense of prayer to the language and the question mark suggests doubt at his actions. Neptune is the God of the sea, and the Jacobean audience would have known this. However, as this was not the Christian God, the audience would have also viewed this with suspi cion. This also shows that Macbeth feels regretful because it suggests that this is something that will not go away easily; all the water in the ocean will not make his hands clean. Shakespeare makes Macbeth’s guilt and regret apparent with a direct link to the metaphor of having blood on your hands. This heightens Macbeth’s internal disturbance by the constant pressure laid on by Lady Macbeth. The metaphor is used throughout the whole play as Lady Macbeth sees a â€Å"spot† on her hand and, at the end of the play when Macbeth’s downfall is imminent, it is said that â€Å"His secret murders† are â€Å"sticking on his hands.† The outcome is inevitable because Macbeth will not wash his hands clean and the audience knows that this will end in his own death creating drama and tension. Before in the play, the murder of the king is not shown because in the Jacobean Era, murdering the king was against the law. Similarly, Shakespeare presents Othello as regretful. This is evident in the play when Othello says: â€Å"oh fool, fool, fool!† Othello calls himself a â€Å"fool† when he finds out the truth and knows that he was tricked by Iago and is regretful for killing his wife. The use of the word â€Å"fool† shows the audience that h e was not very clever as he was tricked quite easily. However, it was easy for Iago to deceive Othello due to his gullibility. This may have been due to the fact that as an outsider, he did not belong in the society. It also highlights the fact that Othello was easily confused because of Desdemona’s betrayal of her own father. Othello felt that Desdemona could betray Othello as well. The evidence in support of  this fatalistic belief was overwhelming. It had links to Othello being a Moor and Desdemona’s seemingly pernicious friendship with Cassio. The Jacobean audience was aware of this dramatic irony and possibly knew what was going to happen next.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

What You Should Do About College Comp Essay Samples Starting in the Next Seven Minutes

What You Should Do About College Comp Essay Samples Starting in the Next Seven Minutes The One Thing to Do for College Comp Essay Samples In the arrival of this recent experimentation, several have concluded that using it ought to be legalized for the advantage of the patients. It can be difficult sometimes, especially whenever you are having difficulty finding inspiration to write. The body is broken up into different paragraphs based on the should lay out all of the support for the primary point. There are a couple things I do feel I lack the confidence and skill to do, and that is precisely what I aspire to gain from participating in Capstone. New Questions About College Comp Essay Samples Do not become stuck with material possessions and what you've achieved in life. The coat hanger comes out of a dumpster. Explain the auto connection better. Where to Find College Comp Essay Samples For instance, if you are supplied a prompt asking you to write about the hardest thin g you've ever done, including moving to some other nation, write an explanation of your move. Unique things to various folks, since the situation demanded. A good deal of individuals are anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-gay marriage, and so forth. While in the Army, I had the amazing honor to serve with various women and men who, like me, fought to earn a difference on the planet. The Basic Facts of College Comp Essay Samples Writing a college essay can arrive in various forms and styles based on your taste. Last, the detail of real speech makes the scene pop. This wedding however wasn't supposed to be one of those forms of weddings. The very first wedding which I planned was in no way a conventional wedding. College Comp Essay Samples Writing skills in college isn't restricted to essays. Therefore, your son or daughter ought to take the college essay writing process seriously. The Appeal of College Comp Essay Samples Someone learns the value of punctuality each night. Bei ng in college might be a small struggle for some. You turn it in your teacher, a small nervous that she might suspect something, but hoping that you are able to scrape by. Ironically, even though the pumped-up version doesn't use the term wonder, the level of the wonder comes through so a lot more than in case the writer just stated they continued to wonder. For the initial one, you're going to be requested to draw on your own experience to spell out your position on a topic. Nevertheless, the 3 comparisons discussed within this post are a few of the absolute most important for your kid to remember. At times, the best method to learn and understand new information is by way of seeing and understanding work which is already completed. It's the details that truly make this little experience come alive. These seven sample essays respond to a range of thought-provoking questions. This section has two examples of superior college essays. You'll observe a similar structure in seve ral of the essays. The New Angle On College Comp Essay Samples Just Released Each lesson is self-paced, so you're able to finish the course on your own moment. The huge pothole on Elm Street that my mother was able to hit each and every day on the best way to school would be filled-in. Just make sure you answer the precise prompt. There are lots of solutions to your essay writing needs on the web but some are far better than others. It's very valuable to take writing apart so as to see just the way that it accomplishes its objectives. Write a list of three or more principal ideas which you will contain in your thesis and body paragraphs. Once you have the outline down, then you may begin populating it with a couple sentences per point. Folks have a tendency to decide on a range of themes of who they are and attempt to describe all of them. Words tell a lot more than a story. The author starts with a rather thorough story of an event or description of an individual or pl ace. College Comp Essay Samples - the Conspiracy You'll discover a written transcript for each lesson and a fast quiz you may utilize to check your comprehension of the materials. He simply said, I'd like to find out what you produce. I've learned how to compose a variety of styles of papers in various forms and distinct fields. In reality, I'd been born into such a situation. Eventually, you will wind up with the identical problem accusations of dishonesty and plagiarism. In essay two, you may use those sorts of evidence to create your case, but you have to also use both of the passages given in the question. I am scared to teach because I don't understand how to share my knowledge with others-students who might have no clue what I am discussing. Hearsay, Deception and College Comp Essay Samples Furthermore, admissions committees are going to learn about the terrific qualities your son or daughter will bring to their school. Nevertheless, when applying for college admissio ns, your son or daughter is going to be requested to submit a variety of personal essays. However, this doesn't isolate students by forcing them to work with only those people who follow their precise discipline. Consult your parents to spell out the rear row to you. The Basic Facts of College Comp Essay Samples College life includes writing essays and application letters whether you're in the industry of company or literature. Professor Mitchell obtained a grant to have a category of students to Belgium to be able to study the EU. Thus, State University isn't only the ideal location for me, it is the sole location for me. On top of its growing cultural and ethnic diversity, it is becoming a master at creating a niche for every student. Today I realize this experience greatly influenced my professional ambition together with my private identity. The chance to do that showed me that there are several ways that you can learn that are both enjoyable and educational. He repl ied right away and said he'd definitely suggest that, especially due to the terrific friendships he'd made. I think that friendship is just one of the main values in human life.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Acquisition Of Natwest By Royal Bank Of Scotland - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 13 Words: 3787 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Corporate strategy developers have in the past and today seen Mergers and Acquisitions as an effective tool to foster future growth and create sustainable value. As a norm, companies now aggressively seek and buy compatible businesses to gain from synergetic benefits and strengthen their core business operations, whether that is the Industry of Banking, Pharmaceutical, Information Technology, Construction or Retailing etc. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Expenditure on acquisitions in the UK by foreign companies increased from  £9.2 billion in quarter four 2007 to  £19.9 billion in quarter one 2008. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Acquisition Of Natwest By Royal Bank Of Scotland" essay for you Create order Expenditure on acquisitions abroad by UK companies decreased from  £25.8 billion in quarter four 2007 to  £15.5 billion in quarter one 2008. Expenditure on acquisitions in the UK by UK companies increased from  £3.2 billion in quarter four 2007 to  £3.6 billion in quarter one 2008. The number of transactions reported for acquisitions in the UK by UK companies at quarter one 2008 is the lowest reported since quarter one 2003à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Source: (https://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/ma0608.pdf- on 06-06-2008). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In March 2000, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) acquired NatWest Bank, a bank three times its size. Shareholders were told that the merger would realise  £1.1 billion in cost savings and income gains. The acquisition of NatWest by the Royal Bank of Scotland has created a larger group which combines scale and financial strength with an innovation and growth culture, and gives us strategic options to create additional value for shareholdersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Source:(https://www.rbs.com/media03.asp?id=MEDIA_CENTRE/PRESS_RELEASES/2001/MARCH/RESULTS2000- on 02-06-2008). The perceived motivation drives for this merger and acquisition activity are generally considered to be the acquiring banks desire to increase its return by expanding geographically. This perception is similar to Stewartà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s premises of merger motivation. According to the Stewart; the actual motivating forces behind merger should be ones that will: Increase financial performance (net operating profits). Financial benefits through borrowing against the Sellerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s unused debt capacity or against an increase in the consolidated debt capacity (lending capacity for banks). Tax benefits derived from expensing the stepped-up basis of assets acquired or from the use of otherwise forfeited tax deductions or creditsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Stewart, 1991, p 375). 2. BRIEF REVIEW OF LITERATURE This chapter aims to discuss various literatures on mergers and acquisitions in order to provide a background for subsequent analysis. The literature identifies several economic and financial theories that justify Merger and Acquisition activity. In this review, we provide an overview of the literature that we use to guide our empirical work. 2.1 DEFINITIONS The interdisciplinary nature of the MA discourse is reflected in the versatile definitions provided in the literature. Some definitions emphasize the organizational context of MA: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"mergerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ has two meanings in the context of combining organizations. Merger can refer to any form of combination of organizations, initiated by different kind of contracts. The more specific meaning that separates merger from acquisition is that merger is a combination of organizations which are similar in size and which create an organization where neither party can be seen as acquirerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Vaara, 2000, p 82). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The word merger refers to negotiations between friendly parties who arrive at a mutually agreeable decision to combine their companies. In general, mergers reflect various forms of combining companies through some mutuality in negotiationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Fred and Weaver, 2001, p 6). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The word merger is used to mean the combining of two business entities under the common ownershipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Arnold, 2005, p 1041). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In Acquisitions a company buying shares in another company to achieve a managerial influence. An acquisition may be of a minority or of a majority of the shares in the acquired company. An acquisition is recorded on the date of the economic decision (formally agreed) even if the legal issues have not been fully finalised. If subsequent disputes, legal issues or a lack of supervisory approval were to interfere with a completion of the acquisition, it is held not to have been recordedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Eurpean Central Bank, 2000, p 4). 2.2 TYPES OF MERGERS ACQUISITION From the point of view of an economist, there are four main groups of Merger and Acquisition. Horizontal ­Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ­: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In this one firm combines with another in the same line of business. In simple words, a horizontal merger occurs when two competitors combineà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Gaughan, 2007, p 13). Horizontal merger reduces the number of the competitors in the market. Vertical: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“A vertical merger is the combination of successive activities in a vertical chain under common coordination and control of a single firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Sudarsanam, 2003, p 140). In simple words, it is a merger between a supplier and the distributor company of the supplies. This is a cost saving merger as well. For example HSBC purchased JP Morganà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s dollar clearing business in 1996. Congeneric: This involves related enterprises but not producers of the same product (as in horizontal merger) or firms in producer supplier relationship (as in vertical merger). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“An example is when Lloyds Bank acquired Cheltenham and Gloucester in 1995 mostly to acquire its mortgage business, which is related to but different from retail bankingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Source: (https://www.lloydstsb.com/about_ltsb/lloyds_bank.asp à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 04-05-2008) Conglomerate: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“A conglomerate merger is the combining of two firms which operate in unrelated business areas. Some conglomerate mergers are motivated by risk reductions through diversification; some by the opportunity for cost reduction and improved efficiency, others have more complex driving motivationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Arnold, 2002, p 870). For example in 1996, Royal Bank of Scotland was expected to take control of Charles Church. 2.3 LITERATURE REVIEW- THEORIES OF MA There are might a number of motives that might play a role in merger activity, like efficiency, growth , synergy, financial and tax benefits, shareholders exploration, but two of the most often cited motives for mergers and acquisitions are faster growth and synergy. All these strategic motives shall be discussed in this part of the proposal for the better understanding of merger and acquisition. 2.3.1 Efficiency Theory à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The efficiency theory says that mergers occur because they improve the combined firms, operations, for example, by letting superior managers assume control, by exploiting cost reducing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“synergiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? or complementarities in the partnerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s operations, or by taking fuller advantage of scale of economies and risk spreading opportunities, among other things in securing capitalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Ravenscraft and Scherer, 1987, p 211). In simple words, efficiency is an improvement in the utilization of existing assets that enables the combined firm to achieve lower costs in producing a given quantity and quality of goods and services. 2.3.2 Managerial Motives or Managerial Perspectives Takeovers can also arise because of the agency problem that exists between shareholders and managers, whereby managers are more concerned with satisfying their own objectives than with increasing the wealth of shareholders. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The motive behind some acquisitions may be to increase managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ pay and power. Managers may also believe that the larger their organization, the less likely it is to be taken over by another company and hence the more secure their jobs will become. Take overs made on the grounds have no shareholder wealth justification since managers are likely to increase their own wealth at the expense of the shareholdersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Watson and Head, 2006, p 317). 2.3.3 Shareholders Expropriation The important motive behind the consolidation has been maximization of shareholderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s wealth. In the neo-classical prospective, this mean that the incremented cash flows from the decisions, where discounted at the appropriate discount rate should yield positive or zero net present value. Under uncertainty, the discount rate is the risk-adjusted rate with a market determined risk premium for risk. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Draper and Paudyal (1999) found that shareholders in the target businesses benefits substantially from takeover activity, particularly where they are given the option to receive either cash or shares in the bidder as the consolidation. It seems that the bidderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s shareholders do not suffer from merger. They also found that the benefits to target shareholders have declined in the recent past. Bruner (2004) argued that the approach taken by many of the studies based on US takeovers were flawed in that the research results were unduly influenced b y a relatively small number of failures that involved particularly large businesses. He claimed that all takeovers benefit target shareholders and the overwhelming majority benefit bidder shareholders as well.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (McLaney, 2005, p 395). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Shleifer and Summers suggest a number of other motives for mergers and acquisitions in which shareholders may gain at the expense of other stakeholders. For example, some target firms may seek acquirers to escape financial problems or to break unfavourable labour contracts. Other firms may seek leveraged purchases of their targets to increase the surviving firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s risk- return profile at the expense of existing debt holdersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Shlfeifer and Summer, 1988, p 33). 2.3.4 Financial and Tax Benefits Whether tax motives are an important determinant of MAs. Certain studies have concluded that acquisition may be an effective means to secure tax benefits. Gilson, Scholes and Wolfson have set forth the theoretical framework demonstrating the relationship between such gains and MAs. They assert that for a certain small fraction of merger, tax motives could have played a significant role. Moreover, whether the transaction can be structured as a tax-free exchange may be a prime determining factor in whether to go forward with a deal. Sellers sometimes require tax free status as a prerequisite of approving a deal. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In the U.K the rules are more strict for taxes; the losses incurred by the acquired firm before it becomes part of the group cannot be offset against the profit of another member of the group. The losses can only be set against the future profits of the acquired company. Also that company has to continue operating in the same line of businessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Arnold 2005, p 1052). 2.3.5 Growth / Market Power Theory One of the most fundamental motives for MAs is growth. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Companies seeking to expand are faced with a choice between internal or organic growth and growth through MAs. Internal growth may be a slow and uncertain process. Growth through MAs may be a much more rapid process. If a company seeks to expand within its own industry, they may conclude that internal growth is not an acceptable alternative, for example, if a company has a window of opportunity that will remain open for only a limited period of time, slow internal growth may not suffice. As the company grows slowly through internal expansion, competitors may respond quickly and take market share. The only solution may be to acquire another company that has a resource, such as established offices, and facilities, management and other resources, in placeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Gaughan, 2007, p 117). Some mergers may result in market power which redounds to the benefits of the merging firms. George Stigler argued that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“such an effect might have been a primary motivation for many of the mergers and acquisitions during the last quarter of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. He called the 1887-1904 merger wave à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“merger for monopolyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and the 1916- 1926 wave à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“merger for oligopolyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Stigler, 1968, p 23). 2.3.6 Synergy Theory This refers to the fact that the combined company can often reduce duplicate departments or operation, lowering the costs of the company relation to the same revenue stream, thus increasing profit. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The two main types of synergy are operating synergy and financial synergy. Operating synergy comes in two forms: revenue enhancement and cost reduction. These revenues enhancements and efficiency gains or operating economies may be derived in horizontal or vertical mergers. Financial synergy refers to the possibility that the cost of capital may be lowered by combining one or more companiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Gaughan, 2007, p 124). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Financial synergies result in lower cost of capital by lowering the systematic risk of a companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s investment portfolio through an investment in an unrelated businessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Trautwein, 1990, p 283). Below the list of reasons has been provided that are initiating consolidation in the form of merger and acquisitions in the U.K banking industry. Competition from building societies. New entrants into saving markets. New technology and the internet. Competition from the overseas banks. Government Policies. Economies of scale scope. Managing branch networks. 2.4 MERGER AND ACQUISITIONS: BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS Lumby and Jones identified four key benefits and five draw backs of mergers and acquisitions as follows: 2.4.1 BENEFITS 2.4.1.1 Speed: An acquisition allows the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s newly formed strategy to be implemented rapidly. Through organic growth it will take the company much longer to reach the same level of business activity. 2.4.1.2 Critical mass: The Company is able to immediately achieve the critical mass of assets and activity levels that might be needed to obtain the operating economies of scale that exist in the chosen business area. At the early stages of organic growth into a new business area, the operating economies enjoyed by large competitors will not be achievable; so putting the developed business activity at a significant competitive cost disadvantage, from which further progress may not be possible. 2.4.1.3 Own-paper financing: An acquisition can be made without impacting on the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s cash resources or on its liquidity, by financing it with an issue of new equity called the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"own-paperà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. In contrast, organic growth will require the expenditure of the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s cash and credit resources. 2.4.1.4 Intellectual assets: In addition to the tangible assets of the acquired company, an acquisition will also bring with it intellectual assets such as the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"know-howà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, and business contacts of the management team, the skills of the workforce and its trading reputation. With organic growth, these may have to be developed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"in-houseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ over time. In spite of the identified benefits, mergers and acquisitions have the following significant drawbacks as stated by Lumby and Jones: 2.4.2 DRAWBACKS 2.4.2.1 Risk: Mergers and acquisitions have a significant risk of high-cost failure attached. This is because an acquisition represents a single, very large investment, which if it turns out to be a mistake, then the business will have lost a substantial amount of its value. 2.4.2.2 Acquisition premium: Most acquisitions require the payment of an acquisition premium in order to persuade shareholders of the target company to sell their shares. This means that the acquiring company will be paying more than the economic worth of the company. 2.4.2.3 Steep learning curve: The acquiring company will have to rapidly learn how to manage an unfamiliar business and they may not necessarily be successful in doing so. In contrast, the slower pace of organic growth allows the management far more time in which to learn the range of new skills required to successfully manage the new business area. 2.4.2.4 Post-acquisition problems: Acquisitions could lead to a clash of management cultures between those of the acquired company and the acquiring company. This will often lead to key members of the acquired company leaving post-acquisition, resulting in the loss of vital intellectual capital. This may not be the case with organic growth. 2.4.2.5 Coinsurance effect: In an acquisition where either the predator company or/and the target company has debt financing, then there is the risk of a post-acquisition wealth transfer from the shareholders to the debt holders. (Lumby, 2003). 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This Proposal has been built upon the analysis of the mergers and acquisition of banks in the U.K, like the acquisition (takeover of NatWest by Royal Bank of Scotland) in 2000. In this research my effort is to attempt and cover all important issues related to Mergers and Acquisition, like what causes, and initiates a merger or an acquisition, the benefits accrue to the company, its employees and customers etc, and native aspects of MA. This research investigates into the roots and causes of ever increasing consolidation activity and tries to critically evaluate merger and acquisition. Another aim of the proposal is to study the expectations of the stakeholders of the banks in the U.K, and the effect a merger or an acquisition has on them. Three stakeholders, namely, shareholders, employees and customers shall be studied in detail with the help of the case study. As according to the Schweigher: MAs basically aim at enhancing the shareholders value or wealth, the results of several empirical studies reveal that on an average, MAs consistently benefit the target company shareholders but not the acquirer company shareholders. A majority of corporate mergers fail. Failure occurs on average, in every sense, acquiring firm stock prices likely to decrease when mergers are announced; many acquired companies sold off; and profitability of the acquired company is lower after the merger relative to comparable non-merged firms. Consulting firms have also estimated that from one half to two-thirds of MAs do not come up to the expectations of those transacting them, and many resulted in divestituresà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. (Schweiger, 2003, p 71). The conclusion from this case study support my hypothesis that, whether stakeholders benefit from the merger and acquisition, because on the one hand, sometimes the merger and acquisition is beneficial for shareholders of the merging /or acquiring bank. On the other hand, employees are left worse-off following job cuts and redundancies. 4. STATEMENT OF DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY In order for the aims and objectives of the research to be fulfilled, it is essential to expand an understanding of the reason for growing tendency amongst banks in United Kingdom to pool together and the advantages of this pooling. The design of this project shall follow the deductive approach, like questionnaire, and the inductive research or the internal research will focus on interviews with the Managers and staff and customers of Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest. In this regards, it is not an easy task to get an interview from the managers or the members of staff, but I shall try my best to do so. The external research will be carried out through the readings of books, journal and published data. Another difficult thing was access to annual reports, but I have already got the annual reports of both banks. The theory, annual reports and different analysistà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s reports on the concepts of mergers and acquisitions shall be critically reviewed and thereafter compared and contrasted with facts gathered from the case study to confirm or disprove existing knowledge. Finally, both qualitative and quantitative data shall be analysed to make desired recommendations and conclusion. (UWIC Guidelines, Red Book is read carefully). 5. SOURCES AND ACQUISITION OF DATA à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Research can be done through books, as everyone knows, as only some knows; it can be done by letters. It can also be performed through Conversationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Watson, 1999, p 52). Sources of data adopted for this project include both secondary and primary data. A secondary data source enables a better understanding and explanation of the research problem. The literature review is a type of the secondary data, it involves the review of earlier studies on and around the research topic. Other secondary data includes the books on Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Strategy, journals, annual reports, analysistà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s reports and different online resources like web pages of Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest bank, should be used. In addition to the secondary data stated above, primary data sources shall equally be utilised to gather data directly from the key players in the merger and acquisition process. This shall include the use of questionnaires and personal interviews with managers and members of staff of RBS and NatWest. The interviews must be focused on the research area and not delve into alternative areas. (UWIC Guidelines, Red Book is been studied thoroughly). METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS Data analysis is the most difficult part of the project. Data analysis is the process of applying statistical, systematic and logical techniques, comparing the data and managing it. During the project both the qualitative and quantitative data will require analysis. In order to determine how well a company has performed in delivering stakeholders value, we need to make a comparison with its past performance. The first annual figures for The Royal Bank of Scotland Group following the acquisition of NatWest show the enlarged Group made a profit before tax, goodwill amortisation and integration costs of  £4,401 million on a pro forma basis for the year to 31 December 2000, an increase of 31 per cent. The period analysed would be broken into following categories. 1999 The Pre-acquisition period. 2000 The Announcement and bidding period. 2001 The Post acquisition period. The analysis shall cover some expense ratios, profitability ratios and balance sheet ratios. The expense and profitability ratios shall be used to analyse efficiency and profitability during the pre- and post-acquisition periods, while the balance sheet ratio shall be used to analyse changes that may have occurred that might have affected efficiency or profitability. Timetable    Weeks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Problem Identification                               Review of Literature                         Research Design                      Choice of Methodology                      Data Sources                   Data Collection                      Data Analysis                         Draft Writing                   Editing                                  Final Documentation                            Binding Submission                                  REFERENCES Books: Arnold, G, 2005, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Corporate Financial Managementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, 3rd edition, England, Prentice Hall, p 1041 1052. Arnold, G, 2002, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Corporate Financial Managementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, 2nd edition, Great Britain, PrinticeHall, p 870. Fred W. J and Weaver S. C, 2001, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Merger and Acquisitionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, 1st edition, Los Angeles, McGraw-Hill Professional, p 6. Gaughan P. A, 2007, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Merger, Acquisition, and Corporate Restructuringsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, 4th edition, New Jersey, John Wiley Sons, Inc, p 13, 117 124. Gilson R, Scholes M. S and Wolfson M. A, 1988, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Taxation and Dynamics of Corporate Controlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, 1st edition, New York, Oxford uni press, p 273. McLaney, E, 2005, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Business Finance, Theory and Practiceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, 7th edition, U.K, Pearson Education, P 395. Ravenscraft D. J and Schere F. M, 1987, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Mergers, Sell-offs, Economic Efficiencyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, Washington D.C, Brookings Institution Press, p 211. Red Book, UWIC Guideline. Stewart, G.B, 1991, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Quest for Value, A guide for senior Managerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, New York, Harper Business, p 375-382. Sudarsanam, S, 2003, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Creating Values from Mergers and Acquisitions-The Challengesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, England, Pearson Education Limited, p 140. Watson, G, 1999, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Writing A Thesisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, 1st edition, New York, Pearson Education Ltd , P 52 Watson, D and Head, A, 2006, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Corporate Finance, Principles and practiceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, 4th edition, U.K, PrinticeHall, p 317. Journals: Stigler G, (1968) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Monopoly and Oligopoly by Mergerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, American economic Review (1968) by the organisation of industry, Vol 40, No 2, May, p 23-34. Trautwein F, (1990), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Merger Motives and Merger Prescriptionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, Strategic Management Journal (1986-1998), Vol 11, No 4, May/June, p 283, by John Wiley sons. Shleifer. A and Summer, L. H (1988), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Breach of Trust in Hostile Takeovers; from Corporate Take over: Causes and Consequences, P 33-67, The University of Chicago Press. Vaara, E, (2000), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Constructions of Cultural differences in post-merger change process: a sense making perspective on Finnish-Swedish casesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. [emailprotected]/* */@gement Vol 3, no3: p 82. Schweiger, D.M, (2003), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“MA Integration: A Framework for Executives and Managers,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Book Summary by Niranjan Swain, in The ICFAI Journal of Applied Finance, Vol 9, No 2, p 71-79. Articles (Electronic): European Central Bank, (2000), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Mergers and acquisitions involving the EU banking industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, Available from, (www.ecb.eu/pub/pdf/other/eubkmergersen.pdf -accessed on 12-05-2008. Powell, C, (2008), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Mergers and acquisitions involving UK companiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, First Release, P 1, Available from (https://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/ma0608.pdf, accessed on 06-06-2008). Websites: https://www.rbs.com/media03.asp?id=MEDIA_CENTRE/PRESS_RELEASES/2001/MARCH/RESULTS2000- accessed on 02-06-2008 https://www.lloydstsb.com/about_ltsb/lloyds_bank.asp- accessed on 04-05-2008.