Industrial Relations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Industrial Relations - Assignment Example omprehensively covered and provided for at the federal level under the Fair Work Act 2009, which provided for the formation of the Fair Work Commission as the body regulating labor in Australia (Cooper & Ellem, 2009:287). The legislation aimed at replacing numerous state labor laws that were established by different states individually, which did not balance or provide for the requirements of the workers equitably. Nevertheless, this legislation did not take over all the labor responsibilities from the territorial and the state authorities. It only took the responsibility of regulating some of the labor functions nationwide, while leaving some of the labor functions such as safety and health of the workers, workers compensation and workers leave being regulated at both the territorial and the state levels (FWC, 2014:n.p.). However, it is important to understand that the provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 as regulated at the federal level overrides all the other provisions of different laws enacted both at the territorial and the state levels. This is because this legislation seeks to have the control of the whole labor force field in general (Sheldon, 2008:236). Despite this law being the primary labor law in Australia, there are certain aspects of the labor that are exempted from the coverage of the law. In this respect, the roles of the Australian Fair Work Commission as provided under the Fair Work Act 2009 include: Under the function of the creating fair work places, the role of the Australian Fair Work Commission is to set the minimum wages and minimum work conditions that must be met by the employers (Australia gov.au., 2014:n.p.). In doing this, the Fair Work Commission serves to create a safety net where the employees are protected in terms of the remuneration they receive from the employers, by ensuring that all employers are providing wages that are in line with the set minimum wage requirement. This way, the Australian Fair Work Commission makes

What can the human resource management department contribute to the Assignment

What can the human resource management department contribute to the development of successful leadership within an organization - Assignment Example Man creates or overlooks opportunities and scenarios. Hence, people power is considered the most significant and dominant factor of all the resources available to an organization. In this regard, the essay aims to determine what the human resource management department can contribute to the development of successful leadership within an organization. The discourse would initially define relevant terms that would be used in the paper including human resources management, leadership, competencies, and the difference between behavioral and functional approaches to job performance. Definition of Terms Martires (2004) defined human resources management as â€Å"the art and science of acquiring, motivating, maintaining, and developing people in their jobs in light of their personal, professional, and technical knowledge, skills, potentials, needs and values and in synchronization with the achievement of individual, organization and society’s goals† (p. 6). Human resources dep artments in some organizations are subsumed in another department or it may be a separate department itself. As one of the primary functions of human resources management (HRM), development of human resources require the registration, tracing, and insuring of all personnel’s progress through continued job proficiency, career growth and guidance. Competencies are upgraded and expertise is developed in this broadening phase of people management. By competencies, the definition provided by Boyatzis (1982) is most appropriate: â€Å"an underlying characteristic of an employee (i.e., a motive, trait, skill, aspects of one’s selfimage, social role, or a body of knowledge) which results in effective and/or superior performance† (Cited in USOPM, 1999, p. 7). Likewise, leadership has been defined as the process of influencing people to work or act towards the attainment of specifically defined goals (Martires & Fule, 2000, p. 569). On the other hand, that Ken Valenzuela, the Chief Editor for BeALeader.Net collected various definitions of leadership: â€Å"Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal† (Northouse, 2004). His own definition is hereby presented as â€Å"the ability of developing and communicating a vision to a group of people that will make that vision true† (Kenneth Valenzuela, 2007). Authors Lussier & Achua (2004) define leadership as â€Å"the influencing process of leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through changes† (Lussier & Achua, 2004). There are different types of leaders depending on the personality of the leader and subordinates and the situation. Different leadership theories stipulate diverse leadership styles, such as: the behavioral approach (autocratic, democratic and laissez faire leaders); there is the task-oriented versus people-oriented leaders; and contemporary theories present the emergence of transformational leaders and servant leadership styles. Leadership and Management Development The article published by the US OPM revealed trends in HRM that focus on the rise of competencies where leadership and management development begin to assume more challenging roles in light of the changing forces affecting HRM in contemporary organizations. The trends that were revealed are hereby summed as â€Å"

The Muslim World Essay Example for Free

The Muslim World Essay World is divided into different divisions depending upon the economic conditions, race, culture and most importantly religion. The division of world is more evident after the September 11 attacks into Muslim world and anti-Muslim world. The political ideology and attitudes were now deeply rooted among the individuals also. â€Å"The anti-Muslim attitudes of West united the Muslim world â€Å"is a blanket statement and have strong relevance to the present day. Western attitude: The conflict between in not a new one, it is continuing from 14 centuries some of the conflicts of the history are Ottoman Turkish empire expansion, quasi-colonial regimes by Britain and France, Britain occupation of Iran etc. The first and most important issue is the stand of United States in the ‘Israeli-Palestinian’ Conflict. The need to explain the policies of it on the issue were undermined and unheard. The role of the Western media which is publishing derogatory statements is also a cause of concern. US media used the terms such as Muslim fundamentalist, Shia extremist, Wahhabi zealots, Islamic Jihad, Islamic suicide bomber, Arab killer etc (Ali Khalid, 2008). The Muslim world is victimized more than the situation. Many allegations made by the West on different Muslim countries without any proofs. West failed in providing the evidence of the allegations after the war against the Iraq and its shift in the reasons for war, Muslim prisoners were tortured even after the wars, prolonged occupation etc are also serving as anti-American resentment (Duiker Spielvogel, 2009). Strong factors that united Muslim World: The anti-Muslim attitude united the Muslim world and started to have a common perception as a whole on West. The main reasons for this is unfavorable images where the Muslims are unfairly portrayed in media, Western Military presence in middle east making them U. S long term military base brining insecurity in the region, The containment policy toward Iraq with economic and military sanctions on it, the strong U. S policy towards the Arab-Israeli conflict, Support of the West to unpopular regimes etc. All these factors are allowing the Muslim world to rethink on their status ( Prados, 2001). From the Western perspective the main reasons for the anti-American resentment in the Muslim world is due to education, media and Anti-Americanism (Gentzkow, Shapiro, 2004). West counters: Even West is taking some of the measures to overcome this anti-American negative approach such as implementing the trade and aid programs to decrease economic inequalities, to change the unfavorable image, seeking support on U. S policy on Iraq, planning to developing new strategy on Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, influence positive open political systems etc. Conclusion: U. S is successful in brining gap between the Muslim world to an extent where it divided it into US allies, US enemies and Neutral countries basing on its relations. As a whole West is using all its strategies to change its image and forcing the Muslim world to react to against terrorism, the Muslim world persecution is different. But carefully watching Muslim world is aware of the West motives and started to have a common agenda and this will be fruitful in coming days. The statement â€Å"The anti-Muslim attitudes of West united the Muslim world† is justified by looking at the anti-Muslim factors causing the unification of Muslim world. Even though the West and U. S in particular are taking the measure to have a better image in the Muslim World, the Muslim community is expecting more and concrete steps at ground level rather than confining to the media statements. Annotated Bibliography: Ali, S Khalid (2008). Mass Media and Muslim World: Portrayal of Muslim by â€Å"News Week† and â€Å"Time† (1991-2001). European Journal of Scientific Research, 21, 554-580. This is a research article which examines the representation and coverage of 12 Muslim countries. This investigation was done by the Time Magazine and the New Week during 1991-2001. This article has presented content analysis of 218 articles which belongs to 12 Muslim countries. Duiker, W. J Spielvogel, J. J. (2009). World History, Volume 2. 6th ed. MA: Cengage Learning. This book provides an overview of world history which discovers experiences and challenges to recognize global patterns. This book covers each and every aspect like political, economical, religious, social, cultural, intellectual and military history. It takes a global approach by comparing cultures throughout world history. This book helped to know the Muslim World perception on the U. S and also how U. S intervened in the internal aspects of Middle East. Prados, A. B. (2001). Middle East: Attitudes toward the United States. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from: http://fpc. state. gov/documents/organization/7858. pdf This report discusses the attitude of Muslims and Arabs of Middle East against United Nations. It explained the factors which have created hatred towards the United States and the methods to deal with this position. Gentzkow, M. A. Shapiro, J. M. (2004). Media, Education and Anti-Americanism In the Muslim World. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 18, 117–133. This paper is based on the media, education and anti-Americanism in the Muslim world by taking a survey of 10,000 people from nine Muslim countries. It examines how media use and education relate to the positivity towards United States and their belief.

The Fall Of The Flying Bank Management Essay

The Fall Of The Flying Bank Management Essay Schweizerische Luftverkehrs AG, also known as Swissair or SAir Group was founded on March 26, 1931 in Switzerland. Since the very beginning of its era, Swissair has been very successful in managing and implementing its strategies, and also winning the best airline award for decades. The company had a period of growth (Appendix 1) and grew rapidly till the mid 90s, after which there was an executive board members restructuring which caused a major turn of events in the companys history. Switzerland being an expensive destination for a business venture with rising costs and a population of only 7 million people, Swissair was aware of its limited growth potential in the domestic home market. Therefore during the period of mid 90s, Swissair adopted an equity based alliance strategy, also referred as the hunter strategy. The main aim of Swissair was to create an alliance with Europes other non-dominant airline firms and become efficient enough to compete with other stronger alliances. Thi s alliance was called Qualiflier. To make the alliance successful, Swissair bought small stakes in Air Littoral, Air Europe, Volare Group, LTU, AOM Minerve, LOT, South African Airways, TAP and Air Liberte, operating in Austria, Hungary, Finland, Ireland, Africa and many more. The biggest and worst investment decision made by Swissair in that period was buying equity in a Belgium carrier called Sabena. Sabena had posted a profit only twice in the entire companys history. These were bad investment decisions as all the firms except LOT and South African airlines posted a loss in the year of their acquisition, nor were they dominant players in their home markets. In this report, these failed strategic alliances are analyzed using Lasserres (2007) framework and theoretical models. Recommendations are made based on these findings, to illustrate how Swiss Air could have avoided bankruptcy. Contents Introduction The concept of two or more companies collaborating for mutual benefits through the formation of a strategic alliance has become more lucrative over the years and several airline companies have adopted this expansion strategy to gain a competitive advantage in a highly saturated market (Evans, 2001). Swiss Air was one of the companies that fell prey to the perils of risk laden strategic alliances. In the mid 1990s the European Aviation market was deregulated and various airlines began entering into strategic alliances so that they could facilitate growth by sharing their resources (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). Around the same time, a majority of the Swiss population voted against Switzerlands accession to the EEA (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). This hindered the companies objective to expand and grow in the European market, and led to the formation of an equity based alliance strategy, also dubbed as the Hunter Strategy (Suen, 2002). Swiss Air had always been a company that was averse to risky st rategic choices, however in the course of diversifying their risk, the company made some questionable strategic decisions that increased their risk and made them more vulnerable to their investments financial performance (Suen, 2002). In this report Swiss Airs failed strategic alliances are analyzed and the key factors for the cause of failure are identified. These factors are highlighted by financial and performance data that helps us understand the major cause of Swiss Airs downfall. Various management issues coupled with bad investment decisions led to the failure of companies strategic alliances, however there were a few external factors that catalyzed the collapse of the Flying Bank (Evans, 2001). Based on the faults and errors committed by Swiss Air, few recommendations are listed in the report to underline what kind of strategic approach could have aided the company to successfully form a Global Reach Alliance (Lasserre, 2007). Problem Identification During the period of deregulation of the airline industry in Europe, major airlines were looking to form strategic alliances with various airlines in order to share their resources and capabilities, in the process gaining a competitive edge in the market. Swiss Air was one of the airlines that boasted the healthiest bank balance and was renowned for its safety and reliability (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). On December 1992 Swiss Air received an unexpected blow as 50.3 percent of the Swiss population voted against the inclusion of Switzerland in the European Economic Union (Chang and Williams, 2002). Due to the comparatively small population of Switzerland and low scope for growth, Swiss Air shifted its focus to Europe, with a strategic aim of holding 20 percent market share (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). This objective was to be achieved by using the Hunter Strategy, an equity based strategy developed by McKinsey (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). This would allow Swiss Air to purchase equity stakes in sm aller and less known carriers and create an independent alliance with these companies. This would help the company compete with some of the larger alliances dominant in the European market. The three generic strategies for airlines are growth, focus and low cost strategy (Kleymann and Seristo, 2004). According to strategic context and value potential this new growth strategy was not incorrect, however the implementation of the strategy was flawed (Suen, 2002). Using Philippe Lasserres (2007) framework for analysis we can identify the stage at which Swiss Air faced a roadblock and had to declare bankruptcy. After the failure of its early alliances, European Quality, Global Excellence and Atlantic Excellence, Swiss Air learnt from its mistakes and decided that deeper integration along with ownerships and control would provide them with natural exit barriers (Suen, 2002). The Hunter Strategy led to the creation of Qualiflyer, a European based alliance consisting of carriers like Austrian, Sabena, AOM France, Crossair, Lauda Air, TAP Portugal, and THY Turkish Airlines (Appendix 3) (Suen, 2002). Qualiflyer would provide Swiss Air the global reach and transnational flexibility that a global carrier required to remain competitive in the market (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989). The competitive forces and prevalent factors in the industry pressurized Swiss Air to form a group alliance with these carriers. Swiss Airs major flaw in the implementation of this strategy was their failure to assess the strategic value of these equity-based alliances (Lasserre, 2007). The failure to create and capture value through an alliance is illustrated in Swiss Airs purchase of 49.5 percent equity stake in the Belgian airline Sabena, which was later increased to 85 percent. This equity-based investment was done knowing that they were breaching European laws that stated that a non-EU-based investor couldnt acquire more than 49.5 per cent share in a EU-based airline. Not only did they breach the law, they also agreed to compensate the Belgian Government for any damages they incur (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). This equity-based alliance was the worst as Sabena had always been a loss-incurring airline and it proved to be a major liability to Swiss Air. Qualiflyer operated on a hub-and-spoke system, which meant that there were no bilateral agreements in the alliance and all members were required to contract any of their services to a Swiss Air, owned subsidiary. This in turn greatly increased the cost of an exit strategy as Swiss Air needed to inject large sums of capital into its financially weak partners in order to ensure Qualiflyer could create value (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). Apart from the implementation of the Hunter Strategy, there were a few fundamental flaws that led to the termination of Qualiflyer. This alliance damaged the companys brand image by primarily choosing second and third-rate carriers as partners. These carriers had previously been avoided by the other large alliances due to their inability to turn a profit (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). The September 2001 attack in USA was the nail in the coffin for Swiss Air as it marked a period of hardship for all airlines, leading to great losses in revenue. Swiss Airs unsuccessful alliance strategy was the main cause for the companys downfall, however there were certain external factors that made survival for the company extremely difficult (Suen, 2002). The Swiss vote against joining the EEA was the factor that led to the formulation of the hunter strategy. Strategic Recommendations Swiss Airs catastrophic downfall tarnished the image of their brand, led to the loss of thousands of jobs; stranded hundreds of people at airport and most importantly hurt the pride of the Swiss People (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). A string of bad business decisions coupled with external factors in the airline industry caused Swiss Air to lose their cash flow. In order to determine how such a crisis could have been avoided, Lasserres (2007) framework for analysis of strategic alliances will be applied. After identifying the companys strategic and operational issues, it can be determined that they went wrong on most stages of the framework. The Hunters Strategy would have succeeded in the strategic context if they had assessed the value potential of this alliance (Hayes, 1996). The Qualiflyer Alliance was fundamentally a coalition alliance, where Swiss Air would get a more global reach in the industry by combining the members resources and capabilities. Swiss Air strived to create a certain standard of service for its passengers that would inculcate their values of punctuality, safety and luxury (Lasserre, 2007). However this was not possible, as they had chosen second and third-grade carriers, which in turn affected their own brand image. They should have carefully chosen their partners, using certain tools to ensure success. This is discussed in detail later in the report. Subsequently, they failed to challenge any of the larger alliances in Europe at that point in time. This takes us to the second factor in the framework, which deals with partners fit (Lasserre, 2007). This stage in the framework evaluates the viability of the strategic alliance. As stated earlier in the report, Sabena was a loss-making airline in the start and by choosing to purchase 49 .5 percent equity in the company Swiss Air made one of their worst financial investments. Year after year, Sabena kept incurring a loss, which drained a lot of capital from Swiss Air (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). It can be determined that Sabena was not a good strategic fit for Swiss Air and proves that they should have conducted an effective partner analysis (Lasserre, 2007). Swiss Air chose to enter into equity-based alliances with several carriers so they had a certain degree of control (Hermann and Rammal, 2010). In order to distribute and diversify their risk, they ventured into several other fields such as hotels, catering and aircraft maintenance (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). All in all they had around 252 subsidiaries (Appendix 2) under their companys name (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). The various subsidiaries and financially weak partners drained a lot of their capital reserves, which eventually led to a strain on their cash flow. A much leaner organizational structure would have assisted the effective management of resources and capital. The final factor in Lasseres (2007) framework deals with the implementation of the strategy. This is where the company faltered the most and part of the blame can be put on their current board members managerial decisions at that time (Hermann and Rammal, 2010). A lot of their bad investment decisions could have been avoided if the board consisted of members who were well versed with the intricate workings of the airline industry (Hermann and Rammal, 2010). Their Hunter Strategy was devised with the consultancy services provided by McKinsey Co, a US based company, which did not have the adequate knowledge of the European Airline industry (Hermann and Rammal, 2010). There was a restructuring of the board and all members who recognized the threats to Swiss Air were removed (Hermann and Rammal, 2010). The shortcomings and mistakes made by the board can be analyzed by the Resource Dependence theory, which illustrates how the external resources in the industry affected their decisions (Casciaro and Piskorski, 2005). The Resource Dependence theory and Group Conformity theory explain how the board pulled out of a potential alliance with a large European carrier due to their hesitance over the degree of control they would have (Hermann and Rammal, 2010). This illustrates the inexperience and lack of knowledge within the newly structured board, especially how the members allowed the Hunter Strategy to be implemented because they did not want any di sruptive behavior within the board (Hermann and Rammal, 2010). Swiss Air should have strictly followed the critical success factors for a successful strategic alliance so that they could focus on all aspects of the alliance instead of focusing on their scope of control (Hermann and Rammal, 2010). The best solution to prevent such problems from recurring would be to alter the laws and regulations within the EFTA to ensure no other company follows in the footsteps on Swiss Air. Legislative changes to corporate governance requirements should be made to ensure that the members of the board of an airline are experienced and have adequate knowledge of the dynamics of the industry (Hermann and Rammal, 2010). Risk management is an important ability that is required in a company that has huge global exposure such as Swiss air, the ability to foresee and evaluate contingencies are required when it comes to alliances that were formed by Swiss Air. Swiss air could have given higher emphasis to risk management and contingency planning in order to be more efficient and competitive in the market (Lasserre, 2007). As stated above, major reasons of the bankruptcy were external factors, relating to macro-economic issues and an economic slowdown, Successful Contingency planning and evaluation of the economic risks could have averted these issues related to the economic deregulation (Lasserre, 2007). Conclusion Through the years the aviation industry has proven to be volatile and drastically changing, the aviation companies globally have had to adapt to the changes to help them fortify or maintain their position in a market. In the early 1990s the formation of the EEA was a pivotal factor for the liberalization of the laws in several countries within the European region, this proved to be an asset for countries within the region but Switzerland opted not to join the EEA (Knorr and Arndt, 2004). This decision negatively affected its national airline Swiss Air, who then attempted to maintain its position in the market by forming equity based strategic alliances. The company formed these alliances on the basis of the Hunter Strategy, the strategy theoretically poised to give optimistic results but the implementation is always crucial for the success, this is where Swiss Air faltered. The reason for the poor implementation would be largely due to inefficiency of the management team of the compa ny, the management chose scope of control as a priority which led to the negligence of prioritizing the other factors that lead to a successful strategic alliance (Hermann and Rammal, 2010). The company made grave errors and faced the consequences accordingly; to ensure that success is achieved for the company it must include people with experience and knowledge within the management. The company should also consider the possibility of circumstances where contingency planning would be required as there could be many unforeseen risks in the aviation industry. A strategy is only effective if implemented correctly, Swiss Air made crucial mistakes in their decision making process, there was lack of contingency planning and several wrong investments. All these factors contributed largely to the downfall of the once reputed and respected Flying Bank.

The Sun Also Rises :: essays research papers

The Sun Also Rises [I cannot express to you how glad I am that I am taking this class. I am thoroughly enjoying Hemingway. The Sun Also Rises is one of the best books I've read in quite a long time. For a while there, I was, for God knows what reason, taking Physics and Chemistry and Biology. It is really an adventure to be back with books and words and reading. I am also amazed that I never could read more of Him when it wasn't an assignment. And how is it that when I am told to write "a 3-5 page essay" I can only come through with two-and-a-half, but a "one-page response" always wants to be twenty pages long?] I finished reading SAR around ten o'clock tonight. I could have taken it all in one big gulp when I began a week ago, but I couldn't do that. It wanted me to bring it out slowly, so I often found myself reading five or ten pages and laying it aside to absorb without engulfing. A man gets used to reading Star Wars and pulp fiction and New York Times Bestsellers and forgets what literature is until it slaps him in the face. This book was written, not churned out or word-processed. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I never noticed it until it was brought up in class, maybe because it wasn't a point for me in In Our Time, but He doesn't often enough credit quotations with, ",he said," or, ",said Brett," or, ",Bill replied." In SAR it stood and called attention to itself. I wasn't particularly bothered by His not telling me who said what, but it was very...pointed. I first noticed around the hundredth page or so. Then I realized I couldn't keep track of who was speaking. By not dwelling on it, though, sort of (hate to say this) accepting it, I managed to assign speech to whomever I felt was speaking. Gradually I came to enjoy it, in another plane of reading, figuring out from whom words were originating. To not notice it, as if it were one of those annoying 3-D posters that you can't see until you make a concerted effort not to try and see, became simple - much like those 3-D pictures are once you know what not to look for. (I abhor ending sentences with prepositions...) His not telling was heightening to the story. It made things come even more alive. As a conversation that you're hearing at a nearby table in a restaurant, the exchanges flowed, with me as a more passive reader than in a story written to be read

Civil War Poetry Essay -- Pablo Neruda Poets Literature Essays

Civil War Poetry The American Civil War and the Spanish Civil War were primarily wars of principle. The conflicts represented a critical point for each respective nation, a time of either death or continuation for the countries. Both Whitman and Neruda exibit a key shared element in the poets' works of the concept of a cosmic rebirth illustrated in their poetry through a celebration of the perpetual cycle of life and death fostering optimism. This mutual philosophy is manifested in Neruda and Whitman's poetry in several interesting ways. One of the most striking biographical parallels between the two poets originates from their direct involvement in civil war. Whitman served as a nurse in war hospitals during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and his poem Drum Taps, published just after the war ended, chronicles his war experience and serves as a record of the conflict. Nearly seventy years later, Pablo Neruda found himself entangled in a different intra-national conflict, the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Neruda served as Chilean consul to Spain in the Republican capital city of Madrid during its bombardment by Federalist forces and later rallied for the Republican cause after being removed from his position. Neruda's poem Spain in the Heart: Hymn to the Glories of the People at War, published as the war still raged in 1937, follows in the tradition of Whitman's Drum Taps, offering an intimate eye witness account of civil war. Through the volumes of Drum Taps and Spain in the Heart, Whitman and Neruda offer poetic responses to their profound experiences during civil war, depicting the potential rebirth of society out of the destruction of war through the victory of democracy. Within thes... ...ope emerging from their tragic but crucial deaths. Neruda represented Whitman's men so intimately tied to the land in the metaphor for renewal out of destruction. The poets in "Eighteen Sixty-One" and "Arrival in Madrid of the International Brigade" assume the role of the voice and interpretive validator of the men using the image of the gathering troops as a vehicle for validating the cause of the conflicts while lamenting the heroic loss of such good men. By intimately connecting with the soldiers through solidarity, the recognition of their sacrifice assumes a more profound significance. The portrait of the soldiers presents these men as heroes who will be able to bring order out of the chaos. The philosophy of cosmic rebirth that Neruda and Whitman share unites the work of the men as it is expressed through their common experience of civil war.

European television Essay

Reality TV is a huge success to the television industry in the 1990s. As a genre description, reality TV is widening its usage from ‘news magazine programmes based round emergency service activities’ to ‘talk shows, docusoaps’ and a variety of ‘first-person’ programmes (Creeber, 2001: 135). ‘Reality TV’ with extensive meaning becomes popular to describe ‘any factual programme based on an aesthetic style of apparent â€Å"zero-degree realism† – in other words a direct, unmediated account of events, often associated with the use of video and surveillance-imaging technologies’ (Creeber, 2001: 135). While Barnfield has criticized ‘the loose usage of the term, suggesting that over the last decade such a wide range of productions have been categorized as â€Å"Reality TV† that one wonders if the term is too general to be helpful'(Holmes and Jermyn, 2004: 3). It is true that ‘reality TV’ is not explicit enough in meaning. However, it is the best word applicable to all situations and never unilateral. It gives producers more space to innovate new programmes as to prosper this genre. Reality TV evolves with the development of new technologies. New sub-genres emerged as the hybrids of established genres. It challenges traditional documentary and changes the serious content to more entertainment elements. Every format is close to everyday life to convince the audience as ‘real’ programming. In the short history of only two decades, reality TV has evolved into various formats. I will focus on five main forms which have either had a remarkable effect on television history or unprecedented audience ratings with reference to relevant representative programmes of British television. Contested Generic Identification: Definition of Reality TV It seems difficult to issue a particular definition of ‘reality TV’ to attest to debates over it. As Su Holmes and Deborah Jermyn point out: Producing a particular definition of Reality TV is nevertheless complex. This is partly because of the fundamentally hybrid nature of the forms in question. Yet it is also because of the range of programming to which the term ‘Reality TV’ has been applied, as well as the extent to which this has shifted over time with the emergence of further permutations in ‘reality-based’ texts. (Holmes and Jermyn, 2004: 2). Jon Dovey characterised this genre by ‘reference to the dominant and original forms of Reality TV that feature police and emergency service work’ (Dovey, 2000: 80). In his opinion, as form and construction, reality TV should be: i camcorder, surveillance or observational ‘actuality footage’; i first-person participant or eye-witness testimony; i reconstructions that rely upon narrative fiction styles; i studio or to-camera links and commentary from ‘authoritative’ presenters; i expert statements from emergency services personnel or psychologists. (Dovey, 2000: 80) These elements are helpful in interpreting the origins of reality programmes and in understanding its sub-genres and new development. Only by bearing these elements in mind can we make reference to relevant programmes when we trace back history to discuss the evolution of reality TV. Is it American Innovation? : Historical Precedent of Reality TV There is no consensus about the first reality programme. Jon Dovey thought that ‘Reality TV is generally historically located as beginning in the US with NBC’s Unsolved Mysteries in 1987’ (Dovey, 2000: 81). While Bradley D. Clissold considered that ‘during the years that it aired, Candid Camera (US, 1948- ), arguably the first ‘Reality TV’ programme, proved itself to be one of US TV’s most memorable, enduring and popular shows’ (Holmes and Jermyn, 2004: 33). There is a consensus that the earliest reality programme came out in America. In addition to these mentioned above, other commentators like Richard Kilborn, Chad Raphael and Gareth Palmer all agreed with this conclusion (Kilborn, 2003: 55; Palmer, 2003: 21). In the commercial environment in America, technologies like cable, satellite and digital prospered reality programmes in television market. However, reality TV as a television genre has evolved into ‘a very strong Eurpoean form with regional variations in each country’ (Dovey). In mid-1980s, when surveillance technology such as CCTV (closed-circuit television) became accessible, Britain produced its own reality programmes, which revealed real accidents, crimes and emergencies. By using CCTV footage, these reality programmes departed from traditional documentary and were quickly accepted by the curious audience because of their witness techniques. They were real shows without actors and noted for low-cost which was attractive to most programme-makers. Among these early reality programmes, Crimewatch (BBC, 1984- ) was most influential. Jon Dovey said it ‘has been seen as central to the development of the form, particularly in respect of debates around criminology and the media’ (Creeber, 2001: 135). Deborah Jermyn, who is experienced in studying television crime appeal, commented on Crimewatch: Promoting the growth of crime-appeal programming in Britain – with a format where serious unsolved crimes are reconstructed, police and victims’ families interviewed, images of suspects publicized and the public encouraged to phone in and volunteer information – by this time the series had comfortably established itself as Britain’s foremost crime-appeal programme. (Holmes and Jermyn, 2004: 71) The effectiveness of Crimewatch as a detergent to crimes has been under much debate. It entertained the audience, but it was weak as a warning to the criminals. As Jermyn commented: ‘indeed some criminals have claimed that the poor-quality CCTV footage they witnessed on Crimewatch actually gave them an incentive to commit crime’ (Holmes and Jermyn, 2004: 82). ‘The use of CCTV conspicuously enhances the programme’s claims to authenticity and underlines its sense of a privileged relationship with real crime and actuality, qualities which programme-makers evidently believe to be ratings winners’ (Holmes and Jermyn, 2004: 83). In this case it is exciting for the audience to see the ‘raw’ footage without caring much about its effect of crime appeal. These early reality programmes about crime appeal, accidents and emergencies formed a new documentary format, which was the precedent of a new genre-reality TV. Later popular factual entertainment programmes are based on these elements to innovate. Their effect is remarkable in a long term. ‘Fly-Off-the-Wall’: Video Diaries Known as Access TV The 1990s was a golden era for the prevalence of reality TV. Jon Dovey points out: ‘it seems that â€Å"ordinary people†, non-professional broadcasters, have never been more present on our screens’ (Dowmunt, 1993: 163). Camera is no longer simply ‘fly-on-the-wall’ to observe and record, but closes to the object to become active ‘fly-off-the-wall’. For a long time, access TV, as new reality television, has been in a great demand. According to Jon Dovey, ‘there are some fundamental principles that identify access programming; they centre around control and power over the programme-making process’, especially ‘the authors should have control over the whole process of representation’ (Dowmunt, 1993: 165). Camcorder and video technology opened up expansive space for access TV. ‘Non-professional broadcasters’ became a leading role in making these programmes. As Patricia Holland commented on this innovative style: The video diary style, in which programmes are made with domestic video equipment by members of the public rather than by television professionals, has introduced a new way of making programmes. Low-tech, with a less polished appearance, they seem to bring the audience even closer to the realities they show. (Holland, 1997: 158) Video Diaries, produced by the BBC Community Programme Unit from 1990-1999, was a representative of access TV. From these series of programmes, Jon Dovey noted: the Unit solicits and researches ideas from potential diarists with a compelling story to tell. Once chosen, the diarist is trained in the use of an S-VHS camera and packed off to shoot their story, with support from the Unit should it be needed. In this way the diarists are given not only editorial control but also control over the means of production. They return with anything up to 200 hours of material and attend all the edit sessions, from an initial assembly which is viewed and discussed at length to the offline and online edit processes. (Dowmunt, 1993: 167) The format of Video Diaries is a development of documentary. Gareth Palmer has explained that it ‘imported the authorizing and legitimizing discourse of documentary into the personal, and in doing so it imported also documentary’s ordering principle into individual lives’ (Palmer, 2003:168). It was popular to the audience and also gained acclaim from the critics because of its flexibility in recording reality. Nevertheless there were debates that the producers had already controlled the programme by selecting the diarists, and there were also problems of quality and legality. New Observational Documentary: Emergence of Docusoap Docusoap is one form of the new observational documentary and one sub-genre of reality TV. It is a hybrid of documentary and soap-opera. It improves from serious documentary to emphasize on entertainment, especially everyday lives. ‘Developed in the UK in the mid-1990s, the docusoap enjoyed unprecedented success for roughly a four-year period (1996-2000)’ (Kilborn, 2003: 87). Docusoap combines documentary and drama. There are elements of narration, interviews and background music, and similar sequences as soap-opera. Each episode has a certain title and focuses on character, personalities, plot or situation. Technological advances promote the development of new observational documentary. New technologies like lightweight cameras, ‘portable sound equipment’ and ‘non-linear editing system’ accelerate editing process with better quality and effect. Besides, financial benefits also attract producers to choose new technologies. ‘As Paul Hamann has commented, docusoaps already cost on average only a third of the price of the equivalent in light entertainment or sitcoms’ (Bruzzi, 2000: 77). The entertainment factor of docusoap makes it popular with audience. Driving School ‘peaked at 12. 45 million’ viewers (Bruzzi, 2000: 86). It ‘focused on the trials and tribulations of people preparing for their driving test’ (Kilborn, 2003: 96). Compared to the core character of reality TV, docusoap is blamed to be less factual with aesthetic reconstruction. According to Bruzzi: The sequence most frequently cited is that in which Maureen Rees, on the eve of another attempt at her theory exam, wakes in the middle of the night and asks her husband Dave to test her on the Highway Code. The sequence is a reconstruction, and Jeremy Gibson (head of BBC Television Features, Bristol) and others have gone on record exonerating themselves from blame, commenting that, having gleaned that Maureen did get up at night ghrough panic, it was perfectly legitimate to recreate such a sequence without the film crew having to camp out in her bedroom for an entire night. (Bruzzi, 2000: 87) The producers’ intervention revealed obvious dramatic skills, which aimed at telling a complete story. In any case, under these circumstances one can never expect a totally natural performance from the character with the presence of camera.