The Strategic Priorities Of Glaxosmithkline Plc Economics Essay

The Strategic Priorities Of Glaxosmithkline Plc Economics Essay Part I Pharmaceutical Business Model The business model of companies in pharmaceutical industry for almost two decades is blockbuster model. The blockbusters (drugs that have sales over $ 1 billion per year) have turned out to be a significant factor that driven the pharmaceutical industry from 1990s. There were 65 blockbusters in 2002 increased from only 7 blockbusters in 1990 (Deutsche Bank, 2003 cited in Froud et al, 2006: 169) but, by 2006, the number was raised to 114 (La Merie Business Intelligence, 2007). Exhibit 1 shown that the sales of top ten blockbuster companies from blockbuster drugs alone were accounted larger than one-fourth of world pharmaceutical market in 2006. This blockbuster model was adopted in order to maximize revenue because it was seemed to be possible approach to satisfy high growth expectation of financial community (Business Insight 2003: 10). To conclude, the blockbuster business model was underpinned big pharmaceutical companies success over the past decade. This model is embedded in phar maceutical industry. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 1 Top 10 Blockbuster companies, 2006 Company Sales of Blockbuster US$ billion Number of Blockbuster As % of World Pharmaceutical Market Pfizer 28.8 9 4.48 GlaxoSmithKline 24.3 12 3.78 AstraZeneca 21.1 11 3.28 Sanofi-Aventis 19.9 9 3.09 Johnson Johnson 17.5 8 2.72 Roche 16.1 7 2.50 Amgen 13.4 5 2.08 Merck Co. 12.7 4 1.98 Wyeth 10.0 5 1.56 Eli Lilly 9.4 5 1.46 Total 173.2 75 26.94 Source: La Merie Business Intelligence, 2007 Challenges of Big Pharmaceutical model To begin with, the big pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and GSK are over-reliance on the sales of blockbuster drugs. In other words, the companies are generated their main revenue from small number of drugs from their product lines. For example, in 2006, Pfizer had 9 blockbuster drugs which generated almost 60 % of total sales. GSK had 12 blockbuster drugs that contributed 56 % of total sales. Another example, in 2007, we can see that 12 blockbuster drugs of GSK accounted for almost 60 percent of companys total drug sales (see Exhibit 2). Therefore, companies are exposed to high insecurity if they cannot find replacement of products which have equivalent financial size. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 2 GSKs contribution of blockbuster to total drugs sales, 2007 Products Sales US$ million As % of total drugs sales Seretide/Advair 7,001 18.26 Flixotide/Flovent 1,243 3.24 Valtrex 1,869 4.87 Lamictal 2,195 5.72 Imigran/Imitrex 1,371 3.57 Seroxat/Paxil 1,107 2.89 Wellbutrin 1,059 2.76 Coreg 1,175 3.06 Avandia products 2,439 6.36 Augmentin 1,061 2.77 Hepatitis 1,059 2.76 Infanrix/Pediarix 1,087 2.83 Total 22,663 59.1 Source: Company annual report, 2008 Next, the less productive of RD pipeline and increasing cost of RD. There is a downward trend of the number of New Molecular Entities (NMEs) and Biologics License Applications (BLAs). In 1996, there are almost 40 approvals of NMEs and BLAs but, by 2007, the figure was decreased to 18 (Riley 2008). In addition, the cost to develop a drug is ten-fold increase from $138 million in 1975 to $ 1.318 billion in 2006 (PhRMA 2009) (see Exhibit 3). Hence, from the opposite direction of RD cost and RD productivity, we can conclude that the overall efficiency of RD in industry is lower than in the past. Finally, the expiry of patent and the impact of generics. For example, the best selling drug of GSK Seretide/Advair which generated US$ 7,653 million or 17 % of total turnover in 2008 will be expired in 2010 in the US and in 2013 in the EU. In this case, there is a possibility that GSKs turnover might drop sharply after the expiry of Seretide if the company cannot develop product or new source of income to make up for the loss of Seretide/Advair sales. In addition, the increasing in number of patent expiries of blockbusters has a positive impact to the growth in generic market. As exhibit 4 shows, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the global generic market was 16.4% during 2004 to 2007. In contrast, growth rate of overall pharmaceutical industry was at a CAGR of 8.3% in the same span. Another factor driven the growth of generic drugs is the greater attentiveness of payors as a result of current economic recession such as tightened healthcare budget of governments or private p ayors. It is likely that the price of drugs will be pushed down by the greater bargaining power. For instance, Japan had cut the price of drugs on the National Health Insurance (NHI) in 2008 by average 5.2% (Business Insight 2008). All in all, economic and stakeholders in the demanding side of the industry are now shaping the new form of the pharmaceutical market. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 3 Cost of developing new drug, 1975 2006 Source: PhRMA, 2009 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 4 Global Generics Market, 2004 2007 Source: Business Insight, 2008 The Strategic priorities of GlaxoSmithKline PLC In 2008, Andrew Witty was selected to be a CEO of GSK. After two months of being a CEO, he announced new strategy to steer GSK in global pharmaceutical market. There are three new strategic priorities; grow a diversified global business, deliver more products of value and simplify the operating model. This section will discuss how these new strategic a response to problem pharmaceutical business model problem. Grow a Diversified Global Business In this strategic, the company is trying to lessen its risk by widening and balancing its products across all geographic boundaries. In other words, company tries to reduce reliance on blockbuster drugs for companys growth as Witty said The biggest thing Im trying to change is to go from saying its okay to have a blockbuster once every five years to a situation where we are delivering several new products every year (Goodman 2008). As a recession in the USA, it had a huge impact in the US sales which is a main market for company that accounted for 40% of total revenue in 2008. The sales in the US decreased by 4.2% in 2008 compare to 2007 while Europe market and rest of the world market sales were increased by 16.3% and 16.6% respectively (GlaxoSmithKline 2009). Therefore, at this moment, the US market is saturated; company is now focusing on the market which has high growth such as Africa, China and India but also not ignore the US market. It shows that company is adapted to the curr ent market situation. There are many actions that have been taken by the company that response to the business model problems. First, company is focusing on vaccine, biopharma and consumer healthcare which have high potential growth which in turn might create revenue to make up the loss of sales from expired patent blockbusters. Second, fulfill the potential of emerging markets and Japan market. Japan, alone, accounted for 10% of global pharmaceutical market (Medicines Australia 2009) which is the second largest from the US. It is a big market and a high growth market with market value of US$ 68.6 billion in 2008 and sales growth of 17.2% over 2007 (Business Insight 2009). In emerging markets, particularly, the seven pharmerging market including China, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, India, Turkey and Russia seem to be the major driven of growth in the global pharmaceutical industry (see Exhibit 5). Better approach to generic is driven this growth. It is likely that GSK is now more con centrated on generic drugs, for example, company acquired branded generics from both Bristol-Myers Squibb and UCB as well as formed alliance with South Africas Aspen Pharmacare and Dr Reddys of India (Hirsler, 2009). To conclude, this strategic priority seems to be positive reaction of the company regarding the over-reliance on blockbusters, market decline in the US and the impact of generics as Johnson et al. (2008) suggested that diversification is suitable when current markets saturated while need for more rapid growth. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 5 Sales in 7MM and pharmerging markets ($m), 2003 2007 Markets 2007 CAGR 2003-07 7MM 466,145 5.62% Pharmerging markets 58,652 15.79% 7MM = USA, Japan, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, UK Pharmerging markets = China, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, India, Turkey and Russia Source: Riley, 2008 Deliver More Products of Value GSK is lack of therapy area diversification and technology concentration. We can see that there are only 6% of biopharma in GSKs pipeline. Moreover, oncology area represented only 1% of GSKs Sales in 2007 while this area had global market growth of 3%. In order to maintain growth in the long term, GSK need to adjust its RD issues (Riley 2008). Therefore, company announced plan as follow. First, company will focused on eight areas of therapy. Second, externalize RD as its take a long time to create and develop by in-house. Third, GSK will create new biopharma and oncology RD unit in China that have lower cost than established in developed countries which in turn help company to control RD budget. Finally, divided RD units into small group and financed dependent upon its performance which in turn will stimulate innovation. To conclude, GSK redefined its RD pipeline and structure is reacted directly to the problems of RD as mentioned previously as well as problem of over-reliance on blo ckbusters. Simplify the Operating Model GSK is trying to reduce cost in running business. First, develop commercial model; for example, integrate the back office finance system into one system across organization. Second, reduce cost in manufacturing. Company has a plan to cut two-third waste in production by 2015 (Jack, 2009a). As a result, company will be able to redeploy the money from cost reduction into investment. Overall, this strategy is not related directly to the problems of business model, however, the amount of reduction in working capital can be put to RD or other investments which might turn to be in form of company growth (Bender and Ward 2009). In conclusion, it is obvious that new strategy of Andrew Witty is reflected directly to the problems of business model which are heavily reliant on blockbusters, RD problem and impact of generic drugs. However, company is likely to put their focus on small molecules which is the core heritage of the company and the existing products as well as diversify its portfolios and adapted itself into recent market environment. Part II Will new strategy succeed? The new strategy of GSK is likely to lead the company to succeed in the future as it is reflected straightforwardly to the problems of business model. Additionally, it is not simple to point out or evaluate the firms performance as Rosenzweig (2007) argued that the success or performance is not totally forced by internal factors; in contrast, it is relative to a company itself and environment as a whole. Therefore, successful of strategy in this paper will be defined as if company can increase its shareholder values in the long term. In addition, how will company succeed will evaluate by if the new strategy will increase value of its shareholder. Rappaport (1998) pointed out that shareholder value can be driven by seven factors; raise sales growth, boost operating profit margin, lessen cash tax rate, reduce incremental investment in capital spending, reduce investment in working capital, increase time period of competitive advantage, and reduce cost of capital. Regarding companys diversified global business strategy; there are many significant improvements as a result of applying this strategy. First, there is sales growth compared with quarter in previous year in every quarter from third quarter of 2008, after announcement of new strategy, in British pound term. Furthermore, GSK had an increasing in third quarter 2009 of sales 19% in Japan, 25% in emerging market, and 8% in consumer products (Jack, 2009b). In first quarter of 2009, company experienced decline in US market by 22% company Overall, this strategy reflects directly with sales volume which leads to growth in sales. Therefore, company increases its shareholder value as it can raise its sales growth. Deliver more products of value; from this strategy, company should be able to create more revenue from its value added activities. From the company financial data comparing nine month of 2008 and 2009, we can see that GSK had an increasing in gross profit and operating profit 16% and 8% respectively (see Exhibit 6). However, gross margin and operating margin were decreased slightly by 0.4% and 2.39% to 74.05% and 29.48% respectively. Therefore, company unable to raise its shareholder value by this strategy as it was failed to increase operating margin. Moreover, company has less efficiency as its return on capital employed (ROCE) was dropped (see Exhibit 6 and 7) from 22.18% in three quarter of 2008 to 19.71% in three quarter of 2009. There is a probability that company is unable to deliver more values from money that put it investment. However, value added activities of this industry is more likely as RD process. It takes long time to get outcome from money that invested today. For example, to evaluate the RD performance, we should not consider only the approval of new drugs only, as it takes 10 15 years to develop a new drug which mentioned in part I but also we need to take in account the drug development in the early phase, this drugs which are in process cannot generate profit for company today. Overall, we can see that in this strategy. The company is unable to enhance in shareholder value as it cannot increase it operating margin. This is mean that at this period of time a company is inefficiency to control their selling, administration and RD expense. The third strategy, simplify the operating model. There is one mission in this strategy that related directly to increase shareholder value which is reducing working capital. As in September 2008, company was able to reduce its working capital by 500 Million GBP, therefore, shareholder value is increasing as money from working capital can be return to shareholder in form of dividend or can reinvest in company at low cost of capital. This strategy should able a company to lower cost of operation, in contrast, exhibit 6 shows that selling and administration expense was increasing by 24% while turnover increased only 16%. It seems that company cannot succeed its goal by this strategy. If we take a look at stock price of company, we can see that price is hit the highest in 52 weeks in December 2009 (see exhibit 8). This can indicate that market gains confidence about the company performance. However, P/E ratio 13.79% of the company as 14 December 2009 is still lower than competitors; Pfizer at 15.19% and Novartis at 16.1%. This can be interpreted that price low of GSK is low than competitors. All in all, despite the confidence of the market about GSK, in my opinion, up to the present moment the new strategy is not successful in term of maximizing its shareholder value. As we can see from the numbers such as ROCE and operating margin that company cannot build up or even maintain these ratios. However, it needs to be seen it long run whether strategy will succeed since only internal factors cannot make company to succeed. (2420 Words) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 6 GSK; Nine Month ended Income Statement, 2008 and 2009 Source: GSK Press Release, 28 October 2009 Available at : www.gsk.com [accessed 13 December 2009] à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 7 GSK; Nine Month ended Balance Sheet, 2008 and 2009 Source: GSK Press Release, 28 October 2009 Available at : www.gsk.com [accessed 13 December 2009] à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exhibit 8 Stock Price of GSK, London Stock Exchange, 2years ended 14 December 2009 Source: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com

Bakery Business Plan Essay

We want to open a bakery likes 85 degrees C in the Songjiang University Town around our school. First, we will introduce 85 degrees C.It is Taiwan-style catering company, mainly engaged in supplying coffee and dessert. Its name means that â€Å"coffee tastes best at the temperature of 85 degree centigrade † , and it’s set up on the basic of five-star chef and banquet’s specified top-level coffee .This shop is a new form of creative, it makes shop more bright with elegant lamplight , and suits with brand image, so that it can bring the consumer different feeling in the bright open space, at the same time the consumer can enjoy the sense of beauty and temptation from the delicious dessert, which will makes your sight〠smelling and tasting feel brand new. 85 degrees C is created in 2004, and at present, 85 degrees C has became a chain of enterprise, and has more than 340 stores in Taiwan, annual operating income is more than RMB 1.5 billion, has exceed more than 200 Starbucks in Taiwan area. Over the years, it is becoming more and more popular among consumers, especially among the young. There are a large number of students in the Songjiang University Town, it can meet the demands of the students’ need. So if we open a store like 85 degrees C, it will have a big market. We aim to offer our high quality products at a competitive price to meet the demands of the university students. Our bakery managed by our four partners. There are Peach, Helen, __ and I. Each of us has a different responsibility. Peach is in charge of the sales, marketing and supply chain, and I am in charge of the administration and finance. Helen is interested in bakery, so she is in charge of the quality of our products and purchase. And ** is in charge of the customer service. Our bakery also intends to hire two full-time pastry bakers whose duty is making bread and we also have two part-time staff to handle customer service and day to day operations. Products and service We offer a broad range of milk, tea, coffee in high quality, and also provide freshly prepared bakery and pastry products at all time. We cater to all the students’ demands by providing each student high quality products. And make our products suit the customer’s taste, down to the smallest detail. Our bakery provides freshly prepared bakery and pastry products at all times during business operations. Moderate batches of bakery and pastry products are prepared during the day to assure fresh baked goods are always available. Especially in the morning, we will provide the fresh, healthy, delicious bread and milk for all the students to let them have a better breakfast. We provide a comfortable place for students to have rest. We also provide free WIFI, you can come and have fun in surfing the Internet if you take your PC or mobile phone which WIFI allow. Competitor Analysis From the research we can see that there are several bakery shops around us, such as Lillian Cake Shop〠Christine bread house, but we can find some problems with them. On the one hand, it has a very high cost. On the other hand, the environment there is too crowded. The most important reason is that there is no special bakery near our school, so we can open a bakery around. Main Competitions We may meet the following risks. First, the threat of potential entrants. Second, competition in this industry. Third, the threat of alternative products. Fourth, the buyer’s bargaining power is very strong. Keys to Success and Promotion 〠market penetration Keys to success for our bakery will include: 1. Providing the highest quality products with personal customer service. 2. Competitive pricing. 3. Features of our products. 4. Advertisements and colorful activities. 5. Atmosphere Because we think that our student is not only like delicious food but also looking for high quality and fresh products in a relaxing atmosphere where they can chat with their friends, relax themselves, read some books and review their homework. We also provide free WIFI, you can come and have fun in surfing the Internet . Our promotion and market penetration Promotion strategies will include three parts. Including Advance publicity〠Later publicity and activities. Advance publicity will be large-scale, high strength and invest more. Later publicity will pay more attention to the customer relationship management. In addition to these, we will hold some specific activities planning and organization, such as sponsor the school party, in order to promote our bakery, at the same time we can also remind customer’s awareness through the activities. For the holidays, we will carry out targeted promotion strategies such as send leaflets and give some discounts to the customer. Market Segmentation Our bakery wants to establish a large regular customer base, and we will therefore concentrate our business and marketing on Songjiang university students, which will be the dominant target market. This will establish a healthy, consistent revenue base to ensure stability of the business. Market analysis The dominant target market for our bakery is university students. Personal and expedient customer service at a competitive price is the key to maintaining the local market share of this target market. Because the students in Songjiang University Town have a higher demand on food, they always like fresh and good-tasted food and they also want a comfortable place to have rest. We provide fresh baked bread. You can always see our Baker in the continuous production of bread. We also provide delicious mike tea and coffee all days, especially on the breakfast time and dinner time. And the comfortable place for you and your friends is always available. Financial Considerations Our bakery shop expects to borrow about $500,000 from you. Mainly used for the purchase of raw materials, the loan, staff training, market promotion. We anticipates sales of about $614,000 in the first year, and $814,000 in the second year, of the plan. We should break even by the fourth month of its operation as it steadily increases its sales. So the company does not anticipate any cash flow problems.

Why Nobody Is Discussing How to Write a Essay about Yourself

Why Nobody Is Discussing How to Write a Essay about Yourself To begin with, it is going to assist you with content writing. If you wish to write a decent non-fictional essay, it should be chock-full of vivid particulars and specific images and senses. Something amusing is a superb procedure to start the essay. So it is necessary to organize your ideas and content. It's possible to either choose to support the arguments or ideas in the movie, or concentrate on disputing them. You have to come up with an idea based on the way the documentary touched you. No matter the mission of the essay, make certain you're interested in your topic. The launch of an essay can appear daunting. You'll probably wind up writing longer essays. An argumentative essay requires you to choose a topic and have a position on it. When you adhere to the aforementioned suggestions about how to compose a narrative essay about yourself, you're going to be in a position to turn your real life into a lovely essay. Learn the fundamentals and you'll be bragging to make your own personal writing stick out. Sour you get started writing your own personal essay, thank a very good relationship of an essay about yourself. If you discover that the writer did not provide precisely what you expected, request a revision, and we'll make the corrections. In a lengthy essay, the thesis ought to be in the very first or second paragraph. The Hidden Gem of How to Write a Essay about Yourself Sooner or later, however, remember that fantastic writing doesn't happen by accident. For instance, in college, you might be requested to compose a paper from the opposing viewpoint. Try to remember, a poor title does not absolutely kill an essay, but a good one may be delicious cherry on top. The name should not merely promote your essay in a few words but additionally offer a notion about the most critical point that you're likely to make through the guide. Therefore, if you learn how to think, through writing, then you are going to develop a well-organized, efficient mind and one which is well-founded and certain. So whenever you are writing an essay, you're harnessing the complete might of culture to your life. Irrespective of your plans after, being a very good writer and crystal clear thinker will offer you a leg up your competition. There are lots of people who have lots of personal influences. Because of this from using our services, you will get a custom-written paper it's possible to use for your own purposes. Try to remember, all sort of activities you're speaking about in the essay must be associated with the scholarship program. In what things to write in the debut of a research paper component of your private finance, you need to find the main. Other essay services might be more efficient when it comes to their operations but they're not quite as effective as us. As the last paragraph is represents your very last opportunity to produce your case and, being such, should adhere to an extremely rigid format. By obeying the above five tips, you can polish up an essay in a couple of minutes and truly feel great when now is the time to click print. As a consequence, you will get a well-structured paper, free from errors and problematic places, which will certainly improve your likelihood to get a better grade. If you need a job, you've got to earn a case for yourself. Facts to back sentences have to steer clear of second individual. For that reason, it's always recommended that you watch the documentary more often than once to be able to properly digest it and know what it is about. Even you may write your very own biographical sketch, and your personal biographical sketch may be an ongoing project that you could build upon until you're ready to share it together with other individuals. Writing a Biographical Sketch Here are a number of idea s to help you compile and format all the information that's needed.

Psychoanalytic Theory Masculinity - Psychology Dissertations - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 11 Words: 3443 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? The late 60s saw a rapidly materialising concern about the status of masculinity. Before the 60s it seemed that the idea of masculinity was safe males could be useful within modern capitalist societies, providing for their families and gaining a sense of satisfaction from their place in society. But society began to change, economically, socially and especially in relation to the position of women. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Psychoanalytic Theory Masculinity Psychology Dissertations" essay for you Create order The rise of feminism was changing womens attitudes about the way in which they were (and are) treated. In turn this was starting to affect how men viewed themselves. Carroll (2004) explains how in American society the breadwinner ideal was being eroded with support from professional groups including psychologists and cardiologists working all the hours and a constant striving for material wealth might not be good for you. How, asked men, do we define ourselves now? This essay will examine the crisis in masculinity from the point of view of psychoanalysis through the Oedipal complex and the castration complex and then move onto evidence from social and cultural theories. To examine how masculinity might be in crisis, it is first necessary to examine how psychoanalytical theories posit that boys gain their masculine identity or in other words how they become men. Modern psychoanalytical theory, as did Freud himself, places a great emphasis on the early relationships of the young boy with his parents or caregivers. It is the vicissitudes of these relationships that will have important consequences for development. In Freudian terms, this early relationship is overshadowed by the Oedipal conflict. The mother shows a great interest in the child and the boy realises that his father represents his main rival to this relationship. The boy desires the mother, but the father stands in the way. Attempting to maintain these conflicting influences at some kind of equilibrium is the central drama of development from a psychoanalytical viewpoint. What, then, are the most important processes that occur in early life that influence the construction (or otherwise) of the male identity out of the Oedipal crisis? Greenson (1968) explains that psychoanalytic theory concentrates on the idea of disidentification, this is divided into two processes: firstly a boy must sever the emotional ties he has with the primary caregiver usually the mother and secondly he needs to identify with a male role-model usually the father. The identification with the father should allow the boy to have a way of communicating with the outside world, to tempt the boy away from psychological closeness with the mother and provide the support needed to avoid the boys return to a symbiotic relationship with his mother. The relationship with the mother, then, is seen by Klein (1975) as a delicate balancing act. It provides a prototype for later relationships with women and so needs to be warm and loving, but it is difficult for a man to have relationships with women if he is too close to his mother. Horrocks (1994) argues that, in fact, the male child is surrounded by femininity throughout his early childhood, and it is important for him to break away and discover a world of men for here lie the roots of the male identity. The central paradox, though, is that the man wishes to escape this cocoon of womanhood but there is also the desire to become close to a woman. One danger in this dynamic is that the early influence of the mother is too great and not sufficiently counter-acted by the father this leads to an inability to separate himself from the mother (Horrocks, 1994). The role of the father in the masculine identity is seen as crucial by psychoanalysts. Horrocks (1994) sees the role of fathering as an introduction to manhood, the introduction to a role that has previously been shrouded in mystery. While there are some initiation rights and ceremonies in some cultures, overall, and especially in western societies, it is not particularly strong. There has actually been a disconnect between the son and his father, now the father heads out to work everyday and no longer has a chance to bond with his son. Horrocks (1994) sees one of the most important functions of the father as to show the young boy that it is possible to live with the mother, to have conflict, fear and guilt, but still to live together. It is through the father-son relationship that the boy can learn that it is possible to live a civilised existence without continual recourse to violence and satiation of primitive longings. The damaged modern male, the male in crisis, is seen by Horro cks (1994) as unfathered. Women are viewed as dangerous to have a relationship is to have a battle and the man must draw himself away from women from time to time to maintain his safety. By never really making a strong connection, the modern man in crisis feels damaged and abused and uses the methods of abuse and damage to relate to others because he knows no other way. This analysis of the Oedipal complex and its effects, as well as the possibility of transcendence, actually describes a rather prototypical interaction between the young boy and his caregiver. Blazina (2004) describes how some criticisms and refinements of this model have been made by subsequent theorists. Bergman (1995), for example, has argued that it is not necessarily with the mother the boy should be disidentifying. There are many situations where the father is actually the provider of the most emotional nurturance. In this case it is better to see the individuation as occurring with the primary caregiver rather than the mother. Blazina (2004) also maintains that there should not be such emphasis on the cutting off of the other identity. Where the other identity is feminine, there is now greater acceptability of feminine qualities in men so these can be integrated into male identity without compromising maleness. For the crisis in masculinity, Freuds conception of the castration complex is of great interest. Freud (1925) theorised that the castration complex had the following stages. Firstly a boy guesses from the evidence of his own anatomy that everyone has a penis. Secondly he finds out that women do not have penises and assumes that they have been mutilated in some way. Thirdly when he begins to masturbate, he is told that he will be castrated. Fourthly, finding that the breast has already been removed, summarises that the penis will be next. Finally, the Oedipus complex is destroyed by this threat of castration. According to Horrocks (1994), Freud saw this sequence of events as concrete, whereas many psychoanalysts now see this in more allegorical terms, as mediated by culture and society. Through gender, both men as well as women are denied a whole world of being, the world of the other gender. After the process of partitioning men and women both feel a sense of loss at the things that they will not be able to experience. In men this castration complex expresses itself in a variety of different ways. Men have a desire for love, a fear of their own sexuality, and, in particular, a fear of their own anger. Horrocks (1994) describes how, as a psychotherapist, many men talk about their fear that their anger will be exposed to the world. To stop this, they have to bottle it up and repress the emotion. As a result, in heterosexual men, this is recognised by the women with whom they have relationships and they are rendered impotent and asexual. A man who acts in this way behaves passive aggressive ly he is motivated to manipulate those around him by his anger. This prohibits a direct connection with other people because his relationships are based on manipulation. The result of this is that feelings are kept inside and denied. A similar problem is seen, in Horrocks experience, in macho men. The castration of the macho man leaves him profoundly afraid of expressing his own feelings. This denies him the possibility of acting emotionally in any situation as this will simply reveal his weakness as he sees it. It is the emotional parts of himself that this man hates and wants to hide away the feminine parts of him are an embarrassment. By being cut-off from his own feelings, the psychologically castrated man experiences an emptiness within himself that he attempts to fill with methods that will never work. The emptiness inside is often experienced as a dead feeling, almost of death itself. It is precisely this almost death from which, Horrocks argues, many men in the crisis of masculinity are suffering. Without the connection with his own emotions, or those of anyone else, he is only half a man, not able to experience himself or others properly, safely cocooned within an empty world. Within Freuds writings, woman were theorised to suffer from envy of the male penis, but Freud did not acknowledge the possibility of men being envious of the female breast. The male-centred idea that penis envy is fundamental to psychoanalysis is attacked by the introduction of the idea of breast envy. Klein (1975), for example, has pointed out that both male and female children have very strong feelings towards the breast both are attracted to it and both want to destroy it. Instead of defining both sexes in terms of the penis one having and the other jealous a reciprocal envy provides balance that acknowledges the lacuna in mens lives as well. The breast does, after all provide, not only nourishment, but also love to the child, and so a womans breast is a symbol of these qualities. Horrocks (1994) argues that men have a strong desire to return to the breast, to return to the originator of life and at the same time men attack the breast and want to destroy it. Melanie Klein posited that the idea of womb envy was also an important component in the male psyche. Minsky (1995) describes how the Kleinian viewpoint sees the development of male power as being rooted in the fear of the womb. Like the young boys envy of his mothers breasts, he also becomes envious of her womb and the power it has to create new life. To make up for this envy, men are forced to concentrate their efforts on cultural and creative efforts and to suppress womens forays into the same field. Minsky (1995) explains that it is the phallus that then saves men and provides a distraction from the envy of the womb. Lacan has a different take on the Oedipus complex. He sees the father not as a real father but as a representation or a metaphor for culture (Lacan, 2004). It is through the young boys experience of cultural factors such as language that he is pulled away from the mother. The mother represents desire for Lacan and so culture, through the representation of the father, pulls the boy from what he desires. This cutting off is like a castration and the child then attempts to substitute this with a search for truth (Minsky, 1995). Many of these psychoanalytical ideas about the roots of a crisis in masculinity are analysed in social theories in terms of a conflict in gender roles. ONeil, Helms, Gable, David, Wrightsman (1986) have defined gender role conflict as where socialised gender roles have an adverse psychological effect which causes a restrictive effect on the self through barriers created around personal creativities and freedom. ONeil et al. (1986) identify four different types of role conflict. There is a restriction in the range of internal emotionality; similarly, there is a restriction in the types of emotional behaviour that are possible towards other men this results in an inability to communicate feelings. Personal achievement and constant comparison to what others have creates a constant sense of fear and worry. There is a conflict between the requirements of work and those of the family which results in stress and health problems, and a simple lack of time to relax. Evidence to support these ideas of role conflicts has come, for example, from Sharpe Heppner (1991) who found a connection between role conflict and problems with intimate relationships. Watts Borders (2005) point out, though, that many of these studies have not been carried out in younger, adolescent boys. In rectifying this hole in the research, Watts Borders (2005) investigated role conflict in adolescent boys. Their findings were in line with the theories put forward by ONeil et al. (1986). The boys in their study said they found there was a societal pressure to restrict their emotionality, both internally and between themselves and other boys. Further they theorised that many of the boys had only been exposed to a very limited range of emotions from male role models indeed many denied experiencing any emotions other than anger. Cultural theories, which intersect with Lacans ideas, are also important in how the crisis in masculinity has been studied. Whitehead (2002) considers arguments that have been played out in the public domain. Firstly he considers the publication of Stiffed: The Betrayal of Modern Man (Faludi, 2000). The thesis of this book is that it is now the male who finds himself objectified and the subject of much sexist consumer culture. In addition the mans secure attachments and relationships with the world of work are no longer as strong and exclusive as they once were. Men seem also, in Faludis view, to be failing to fight back against the new culture, failing to take on this creeping emasculation. Now that feminism has attacked the patriarchal systems of power and control, masculinity has been left undermined and unsure. The rise of feminism has surely encouraged many men to question how they view women and then apparently left them confused. Faludi (2000) places the blame for this crisis in masculinity at the door of culture and encourages them to work together to combat it. While the argument has some elements of truth, quite how men and women are supposed to step outside of culture is not clear. Without men and women, there is no culture people are intimately bound up with it and part of it. The second set of arguments centre around research carried out by Professor Richard Scase as part of the European Commissions Futures Programme (Scase, 1999). This research found that many women are choosing to live alone as their opportunities in the workplace increase and especially as the roles they can adopt widen. It is hypothesised that this is having a knock-on effect on men who find it difficult to cope with this new situation. Evidence for this is in the rising rates of suicide between 1991 and 1997 they have increased by 60%. Social research finds that men are choosing to remain living at home rather than move out on their own (Office of National Statistics, 2000). Whitehead (2002) sees this as evidence that men are failing to cope with the new challenges they are facing. Further cultural and social evidence that men are in crisis is provided by Beynon (2001). Relying heavily on role theory, Beynon (2001) points to the changes in work patterns particularly the fact that less than half the men over 55 are in work. There is also a sense in which these men are caught between attempting to maintain the old-style macho posturing and the new-man type behaviour requiring a man to be in touch with his feelings. Beynon (2001) claims that generally men are less likely to tackle any psychological or physical illness which faces them. In marital breakdown, Beynon (2002) argues, the man is normally most responsible, with women starting 75% of divorces. Similarly nine out of ten men move out of the marital home after the breakdown of a marriage. This reason, however, is probably more of an artefact of the legal system and simple practicality than an indictment on men. Apart from anything else, men generally die younger and are much more likely to suffer from heart disease. The worrying facts and figures continue through both crime and education and other major areas of life. Violent crimes are mostly committed by men, indeed it is men who are mostly the victims of violent crime, and so it is violence that is seen as an important component of masculinity. Whitehead (2002) sees this violence discourse as having a powerful effect on peoples attitudes to men. Men are seen as being unable to cope with the demands of modern life, especially those men on the social and economic fringes, and so the resort to violence is only natural. Within education, in the schools, male performance is significantly lower then female. Despite much theoretical attention as well as some evidence from research on role theories and other areas, there has been a fair degree of criticism of the idea of a crisis in masculinity. Writers have asked whether the crisis of gender is anything new. Mangan (1997) (as cited in Whitehead, 2002) argues that masculinity, like femininity is constantly in crisis, constantly changing and adapting to new circumstances. Indeed, some of the fundamental ideas from psychoanalysis support the idea that masculinity is always a matter of crisis men will always have to cope with breast envy, womb envy and a castration complex. This question aside though, some commentators have asked if there is really anything to explain at all with the rise of feminism, men have suffered a loss of power relative to women and are trying to cope with that loss, some less successfully than others. Whitehead (2002) suggests that the crisis in masculinity is, in reality, an illusion confined to academic journals and has no meaning for people in the real world. Heartfield (2002), in arguing against a crisis of masculinity, talks of the fetishising of sexual difference, an exaggeration of the differences between men and women. Heartfield (2002) suggests that it is instead the working classes that are in crisis, not men in general. These ideas are far removed from those that come from psychoanalysis where many of the roots of future struggle are born in that difference. In conclusion, psychoanalytical ideas about the crisis in masculinity are grounded in the biological differences between the sexes and how these are dealt with psychologically. Other psychoanalysts and Lacanian ideas have taken these literal conflicts and, to some extent, moved them away from a focus on biological difference and introduced more cultural and social ideas. Social and cultural theories provide a wide variety of, and some reasons for, a possible crisis in masculinity. In particular, the use of role theory has provided an important analysis. Despite using the language of role conflict, the male preoccupations and problems described by role theory have many things in common with those arrived at by psychoanalytical means. Nevertheless, many authors have questioned whether this crisis in masculinity really exists and whether it is anything new. References Bergman, S.J. (1995) Mens psychological development: A relational perspective In R.F. Levant W.S Pollack (Eds.), A new psychology of men (pp. 33-67). New York: Basic Books. Beynon, J. (2001) Masculinities and culture. Buckingham: Open University Blazina, C. (2004) Gender Role Conflict and the Disidentification Process: Two Case Studies on Fragile Masculine Self. The Journal of Mens Studies, 12, 2, 151-161. Carroll, B. E. (2004) American Masculinities: A Historical Encyclopedia. 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