How a particular organisation can take advantage of IT developments Essay Example

How a particular organisation can take advantage of IT developments Essay Example How a particular organisation can take advantage of IT developments Essay How a particular organisation can take advantage of IT developments Essay I am going to make a report about a particular organisation (Golita Plumbing and Heating Supplies) can take advantages of IT developments in their organisation to improve it overall. This will basically include: start selling online, using or bringing computers in to the shop to do work on it and as well as how they can monitor their progress by using computers. The organisation The organisation (Golita Plumbing and Heating Supplies) sells a lot of products such as plumbing, heating, paints, electrical and garden products. It is situated locally here in Blackburn. Why recommend IT for the organisation (Golita)?As you already know, Golita sells a lot of products thus they can create a professionally made website where they can sell some of their items/products online as well as locally. This will benefit the organisation immensely. It will give Golita Plumbing and Heating Supplies more customers as they will get customers from outside of town such as Bolton, Preston and other local towns. By having an official website can give the organisation lots of benefits. Consumers will be able to see what kind of items they sell and whether they sell the right product for the right price that the customers are after.Other benefits are that it will also allow the other customers that are not local i. e. people from Liverpool or London etc, to see if they sell a particular product in their shop instead of driving to the actual shop and then finding out that they dont actually sell that particular product/item. This will basically save the customers petrol money and especially time. Customers would not take that risk. So if the organisation doesnt have a website and customers from out of town or customers that live a fair distance away from the organisation will face trouble.If for example a particular customer goes there to shop and finds out that they dont have the item/product that the customer is looking for or if he is a regular customer and the organisation does not have that specific item/product in stock, the organisation will lose a significant amount of customers. Thus, creating a website would be the best for both, the organisation and the customers. This will give the customers the opportunity to see if a particular product is in stock or not or see when the item will be available again and even check the price for any items/products available.Another benefit for the customers is the fact that the customers will be able to view the actual item/product online i. e. see the colours and sizes of the items/products. Also if the companys website becomes widespread, people from different countries will be able to order products from the organisation. This will allow the customers to place orders on the products online and get them sent directly to their home addresses. Prices vary from country to country so the customers ordering from abroad might find it beneficial and cheap on certain product which is a good thing.Golita Plumbing and Heating Supplies could implement secure payment systems on their website such as paypal. com or pppay. com for instant payments from the buyers. Another advantage would be that the customers could register so that when the customers need to buy anything they can just click on the buy button and the invoice will be sent directly to customers email and the product/item will be sent from the organisation (Golita). The credit card details would only have to be inputted once and thereafter the customers will not have to input it again.As for software, Golita Plumbing and Heating Supplies could implement spreadsheets or databases to keep a record of the amount of products/items sold. By using spreadsheet such as Microsoft Office Excel for example, formulas could be used to find out the total amount of money made for each day, week or year. This would save Golita a significant amount of time due the fact that otherwise they would have to do it using a calculator and/or by hand. Another advantage or benefit of spreadsheet would be that Golita would not have to waste papers and time on writing or making a note of the item name or serial numbers.By spreadsheet they will not need to keep typing up the item number and item name that has been sold. This will save Golita a lot of time as when every time someone buys a product, it will be recorded in the spreadsheet, therefore Golita will have a consistent record of the sold products. Golita could also implement a machine and/or a program that detect the item number which will also save a lot of time due to the fact that the employees within the organisation would not have to write down the item numbers for each items/products. Another software that could benefit Golita immensely is the Custom software also known as Bespoke software.This can help Golita for budget or project managing. Microsoft Word could be implemented as well to keep track of things such as: which item has been posted and what day and time as well as tracking number in case a buyer claims that they did not receive the item/product. Golita can also use the email system to send emails to the customers and keep customers up-to-date on products such as when an item gets back in stock and give offers or discounts to customers who shop regular such as a voucher to spend in stores when they go to the actual shop.Computers will help Golita store information about every customer so when they for example need to post items they just need to print out the details for that particular customers instead of writing the details over and over again for the same customer who orders products/items regularly. Another advantage for Golita is that they do not have to worry about shopping for items/products themselves. They can simple use the internet to place an order for particular items and get it sent directly to the company.

Northern Renaissance of European Art

Northern Renaissance of European Art When we talk about the Northern Renaissance, what we mean is Renaissance happenings that occurred within Europe, but outside of Italy. Because the most innovative art was created in France, the Netherlands, and Germany during this time, and because all of these places are north of Italy, the Northern tag has stuck. Geography aside, there were some significant differences between the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance. For one thing, the north held on to Gothic (or Middle Ages) art and architecture with a tighter, longer grip than did Italy. (Architecture, in particular, remained Gothic until well into the 16th century) This isnt to say that art wasnt changing in the north - in many instances, it kept apace with Italian doings. The Northern Renaissance artists, however, were scattered about and few initially (very unlike their Italian counterparts). The north had fewer centers of free commerce than did Italy. Italy, as we saw, had numerous Duchies and Republics which gave rise to a wealthy merchant class that often spent considerable funds on art. This wasnt the case in the north. The only notable similarity between northern Europe and, say, a place like Florence, lay in the Duchy of Burgundy. Burgundys Role in the Renaissance Burgundy, until 1477, encompassed a territory from present-day middle France northward (in an arc) to the sea, and included Flanders (in modern Belgium) and parts of the current Netherlands. It was the only individual entity standing between France and the enormous Holy Roman Empire. Its Dukes, during the last 100 years it existed, were given monikers of the Good, the Fearless and the Bold. Although apparently, the last Bold Duke wasnt quite bold enough, as Burgundy was absorbed by both France and the Holy Roman Empire at the end of his reign. The Burgundian Dukes were excellent patrons of the arts, but the art they sponsored was different from that of their Italian counterparts. Their interests were along the lines of illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, and furnishings. Things were different in Italy, where patrons were more keen on paintings, sculpture, and architecture. In the broader scheme of things, the social changes in Italy were inspired, as weve seen, by Humanism. Italian artists, writers, and philosophers were driven to study Classical antiquity and explore mans supposed capacity for rational choice. They believed that Humanism led to more dignified and worthy humans. In the north, possibly in part because the north did not have works of antiquity from which to learn, the change was brought about by a different rationale. Thinking minds in the north were more concerned with religious reform, feeling that Rome, from whom they were physically distanced, had strayed too far from Christian values. In fact, as northern Europe became more openly rebellious over the authority of the Church, art took a decidedly secular turn. Additionally, Renaissance artists in the north took a different approach to composition than did Italian artists. Where an Italian artist was apt to consider scientific principles behind composition (i.e., proportion, anatomy, perspective) during the Renaissance, northern artists were more concerned with what their art looked like. Color was of key importance, above and beyond form. And the more detail a northern artist could cram into a piece, the happier he was. Close inspection of Northern Renaissance paintings will show the viewer numerous instances where individual hairs have been carefully rendered, along with every single object in the room including the artist himself, distantly inverted in a background mirror. Different Materials Used by Different Artists Finally, its important to note that northern Europe enjoyed different geophysical conditions than did most of Italy. For example, there are lots of stained glass windows in northern Europe partly for the practical reason that people living there have more need for barriers against the elements. Italy, during the Renaissance, produced some fabulous egg tempera paintings and frescoes, along with glorious marble statuary. Theres an excellent reason the north isnt known for its frescoes: The climate isnt conducive to curing them. Italy produced marble sculptures because it has marble quarries. Youll note that Northern Renaissance sculpture is, by and large, worked in wood.   Similarities Between the Northern and Italian Renaissances Until 1517, when Martin Luther lit the wildfire of Reformation, both places shared a common faith. Its interesting to note that what we now think of as Europe didnt think of  itself  as Europe, back during  Renaissance  days. If you had had the opportunity, at the time, to ask a European traveler in the Middle East or Africa where he hailed from, he likely would have answered Christendom regardless of whether he was from Florence or Flanders. Beyond providing a unifying presence, the Church supplied all artists of the period with a common subject matter. The earliest beginnings of northern Renaissance art are eerily similar to the Italian  Proto-Renaissance, in that each chose Christian religious stories and figures as the predominant artistic theme. The Importance of Guilds Another common factor that Italy and the rest of Europe shared during the Renaissance was the Guild system. Arising during the Middle Ages, Guilds were the best paths a man could take to learning a craft, be it painting, sculpture or making saddles. Training in any specialty was long, rigorous and comprised of sequential steps. Even after one completed a masterpiece, and gained acceptance into a Guild, the Guild continued to keep tabs on standards and practices amongst its members. Thanks to this self-policing policy, most of the money exchanging hands, when works of art were commissioned and paid for, went to Guild members. (As you might imagine, it was to an artists financial benefit to belong to a Guild.) If possible, the Guild system was even more entrenched in northern Europe than it was in Italy. After 1450, both Italy and northern Europe had access to printed materials. Though subject matter might vary from region to region, often it was the same, or similar enough to establish commonality of thought. Finally, one significant similarity that Italy and the North shared was that each had a  definite artistic center during the 15th century. In Italy, as previously mentioned, artists looked to the Republic of Florence for innovation and inspiration. In the North, the artistic hub was Flanders. Flanders was a part, back then, of the Duchy of Burgundy. It had a thriving commercial city, Bruges, which (like Florence) made its money in banking and wool. Bruges had cash aplenty to spend on luxuries like art. And (again like Florence) Burgundy, on the whole, was governed by patronage-minded rulers. Where Florence had the Medici, Burgundy had Dukes. At least until the last quarter of the 15th century, that is. Chronology of the Northern Renaissance In Burgundy, the Northern Renaissance got its start primarily in the graphic arts. Beginning in the 14th-century, an artist could make a good living if he was proficient in producing  illuminated manuscripts.   The late 14th and early 15th centuries saw illumination take off and,  in some cases, take  over  entire pages. Instead of relatively sedate red capital letters, we now saw whole paintings crowding manuscript pages right out to the borders. The French Royals, in particular, were avid collectors of these manuscripts, which became so popular that text was rendered largely unimportant. The Northern Renaissance artist who is largely credited with developing oil techniques was Jan van Eyck, court painter to the Duke of Burgundy. Its not that he discovered oil paints, but he did figure out how to layer them, in glazes, to create light and depth of color in his paintings. The Flemish van Eyck, his brother Hubert, and their Netherlandish predecessor Robert Campin (also known as the Master of Flà ©malle) were all painters who created altarpieces in the first half of the fifteenth century. Three other key Netherlandish artists were the painters Rogier van der Weyden and Hans Memling, and the sculptor Claus Sluter. Van der Weyden, who was the town painter of Brussels, was best known for introducing accurate human emotions and gestures into his work, which was primarily of a religious nature. One other early Northern Renaissance artist that created a lasting stir was the enigmatic Hieronymus Bosch. No one can say what his motivation was, but he certainly created some darkly imaginative and highly unique paintings. Something that all of these painters had in common was their use of naturalistic objects within compositions. Sometimes these objects had symbolic meanings, while at other times they were just there to illustrate aspects of daily life. In taking in the 15th century, its important to note that Flanders was the center of  the Northern Renaissance. Just as with Florence, at this same time, Flanders was the place that northern artists looked to for cutting edge artistic techniques and technology. This situation persisted until 1477 when the last Burgundian Duke was defeated in battle, and Burgundy ceased to exist.