Cultural Issues in Middle School Essay

Middle school is one of the most difficult situations of transition. Middle schoolers are awkward, hard to deal with and confused. They aren’t children but certainly not adults. They are egocentric to say the least and have little concern for the consequences of their actions. Yet, they are also one of the best ages to work with, if one is willing to try to understand their difficult lives. The culture in middle school can be broken down as such: sexuality, intellect, and social status. Sexually, these students have to deal with their changing bodies and feelings. They also have to try to understand how these feelings and changes fit in appropriately within the community. This is the area they are most sensitive toward. Intellectually, students have to decide if being â€Å"smart† is something they are willing to do. In some environments, being smart is cool, so those students who are gifted have no trouble fitting in. In other schools, these students are outcasts. When it is not cool to be smart, many students have a hard decision to make. If they show their gifts, they may sacrifice social standing. When it is cool, the struggling students feel even more left out and troubled. At times, these students may even act dumber to try to hide how much they truly struggle. Social status varies with each school environment. Wealth, possessions, address, family legacy and athletic ability are all indicators of success. Middle school is a contest and students are constantly scrutinizing each other to see who will win, popularity being the prize, of course. There are leaders and followers; the status symbols then change as the leaders themselves change. Whether it is the newest clothing label, shoe or track star, the culture of middle school is dominated by judgment. Evaluation The Illuminative Model of Evaluation rests its assessment on process. It appraises based on qualitative analysis of a situation in order to understand its initiation as clearly as its conclusion. Thus, in order to evaluate a situation, one must observe the effects of the process not simply look at data. The following tools of assessment are based upon that model and are applied to the curriculum overall. Several lessons will be used that typify the learning environment created within the classroom. Evaluation One: How does this lesson provide skills that work outside the testing environment? To evaluate this lesson, the calendar of lessons was assessed. Questions were asked such as, how do the lessons flow and what overall messages are the students receiving? Can they define, find and apply the concepts discussed in class? Upon reviewing the lessons, they seem to present isolated concepts. The entire unit is research process and narrative writing techniques which are two genres and should be taught separately. These lessons are trying to do way too much too fast. Middle school students are more successful when you break the process down and connect it to real world reasons for completing the work. If they would’ve started with day five, â€Å"reading the memoir,† then they could use the text to help define and find the language. Once they can do that, then they can apply the concepts such as writing dialogue, good word choice and using sensory language. The lesson plans as they are, present interesting skill sets but they aren’t connected to the question of, how do I apply this to reading and writing outside school. These skills might help them pass a test, but if you ask them to write dialogue, they will not know how. The non-fiction author board is a great idea but is not developed. They are completing tasks that have a function. This project should be enhanced by having students read Georgia authors and doing actual research and a research project on their author. This schedule needs to be totally revamped in order to serve the real world needs of the students. Evaluation Two: Does this lesson connect to a home environment? As is, there is no connection with the home environment. This will lessen the importance of the work and disconnect the families from what the students are learning. To enhance the process, when having the students write narratives, why not have them collect narratives from family members? This validates the home environment while creating an interest in the school environment at home. For the research section, they could research their family tree or conduct a survey at home regarding their family’s favorite authors. The greater the involvement from the home, the greater opportunity to work with the family for the student’s well being. Evaluation Three: What purpose does technology serve? This also needs improvement. There is no use of technology which works against evaluative point number one. In the larger society, students must be technologically literate. Students should research using the internet, present their projects via power point, and utilize online oral history collections to hear memoirs. Computers should not only be used to type in language arts but should be used as a tool for diversification of learning styles and presentation methods. Conclusion Overall, the learning process in this curriculum model needs to be improved. The questions of evaluation, based on the Illuminative Model, show that the process is flawed. Although there are many interesting lessons, they don’t flow together to teach an entire concept that can be applied to a real world learning situation. The terms need to be taught as part of an entire concept. Students can then define, find and apply what they have learned rather than simply be occupied for a 45 minute block of time. According to this model, students are more successful when the process is improved. The product should be the last point of evaluation rather than the first.

Leading Change

â€Å"The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back† is the 2nd law in The Laws of the Fifth Discipline.   These laws are the core of a process called systems thinking and the concept is that it’s â€Å"best to manage the system, not just the individual processes.†Ã‚   (West & Cianfrani, 2004, p. 69)   Corporations have a tendency to look at the â€Å"direct linear cause and effect relationships,† rather than looking at â€Å"interactions.†Ã‚   (West & Cianfrani, 2004, p. 69)   Peter Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline identified 10 laws that defined systems thinking. The 2nd law in The Laws of the Fifth Discipline can be interpreted as â€Å"Compensating feedback.†Ã‚   Senge defines this as â€Å"when well-intentioned interventions call forth responses from the system that offset the benefits of the intervention.†Ã‚   (Senge, 1990, p. 58) In other words, the more effort exerted to change or improve the current organizational processes, the more effort it requires. Organizations have experienced this process when, for example, a product or brand suddenly begins to lose its popularity within the market.   When organizations begin to push new marketing strategies aggressively it often turns out that more revenue is spent on the marketing efforts with only a temporary pay back.   This process is not only limited to the business market, it can also be illustrated in personal experiences.   Senge uses the smoker as an example – if a person who is a regular smoker suddenly quits he or she might begin to gain weight, become frustrated with personal appearance and then suddenly begin smoking again.   (Senge, 1990, p. 59) As humans it is natural for us to get drawn into the process of compensating feedback.   We push harder and it’s exhausting and we often â€Å"glorify the suffering that ensues.†Ã‚   (Senge, 1990, p. 59)   When our efforts to produce change fail initially, we push harder and often have the belief that our hard work and effort will overcome all of the obstacles in front of us. However, compensating feedback is a process where we become blind to the fact that our efforts are actually contributing to the current obstacles we are facing as well as creating others we must overcome. (Senge, 1990, p. 59-60) Over the past two decades information and communication technology has continuously evolved and has empowered small businesses and large corporations with new emerging markets and tools.   The Internet has become the information highway and has impacted both social and economic relationships in various sectors such as education, health, government, trade and tourism.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. vii) In order to maintain its impact on society the information technology must continuously evolve to compensate for future needs for both local and global societies.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. VI)   Focusing on one idea or concept that does not elicit long-term success consumes time and effort that is imperative to online success. The consistent evolution of technology and the platforms provided are numerous and are impacting our society regularly.   These newly emerging technologies affect the way we do business, communicate with others, daily entertainment, study and do research.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. VI)   Ecommerce is the largest growing platform of the World Wide Web and it has provided a â€Å"new momentum of doing business in the digital economy.†Ã‚   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. VI) In order to compensate and adjust to the constant change through the internet environment we must be able to identify the implications. At the end of 2004 it was estimated that 750 million users represented the Internet community worldwide.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. VI) The e-marketplaces consist of various products and services that market their products both from Business to Business and Business to consumer.   These products and services provide value for both buyers and sellers. In order to create a successful ecommerce venture processes must be transformed from the traditional ways of doing business to modern Internet transactions that are efficient to both the buyer and the seller.   The biggest challenge for internet businesses is adapting to the virtual environment and integrating their current business processes into the e-marketplace. (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. 97) The Internet environment has its benefits as well as disadvantages, or threats.   On a local business level it immediately provides â€Å"easy and fast entrance to new markets,† 24/7 business hours, less physical structure maintenance, and the possibility of sales increasing.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. 99) For buyers this offers more selection of products and services, 24/7 business access and easy comparison between the various seller’s offers.     (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. 99) Threats for businesses as a whole are the loss of direct customer face to face relationships, increased competition and the extra funds required for consistent upgrading of products and platforms.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. 99)   For buyers there is the same lack of direct face to face relationships, the unknown reliability of the seller and lack of trust in products and services.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. 99) E-commerce is about â€Å"rediscovering the individuality of the customers and their needs, and the creation of frictionless modes of commercial interaction with them.†Ã‚  Ã‚   (May, 2000, p. 4)   Businesses must approach change in an internet environment carefully, as in the traditional business model the direct interaction allows the consumer to feel important.   Ecommerce does not provide the close interaction; therefore it is imperative that the online business practices allow the consumer to feel like a person, not a type.   (May, 2000, p. 5) A great example of ecommerce success is Amazon.com.   This company has proven its ability to implement change and business growth without affecting its customer base or falling behind the competition.   The vision of the â€Å"Earth’s biggest bookstore† (May, 2000, p. 52) was to offer a range and large quantity of products that would dominate traditional booksellers and to â€Å"achieve market ubiquity without acquiring retail real estate.†Ã‚   (May, 2000, p. 52) Jeff Bezos identified books as an ideal product for selling online because the number of books the traditional bookseller could offer was limited; therefore, if these products were offered online the number available would be unlimited.   In a sense the book trade has always been â€Å"virtual† – any customer can enter a traditional bookstore and order any book in print. Amazon.com brought a new online concept to the book trade and improved the efficiency of a traditional process.   However, though this insight was extraordinary introducing the concept into the ecommerce marketplace meant that consistent change was necessary and that customers must receive the same attention and personal relationships currently experienced in the traditional environment.   (May, 2000, p. 53-54) In order to change the ecommerce impersonal environment Amazon.com had to introduce a new strategy into maintaining and increasing its customer base.   Changing the internet environment is not a simple display creation or the addition of a personable salesperson to physically approach customers.   Amazon.com had to approach this change with a technology based solution that offered a personal approach to its customers.   The applications Amazon implemented offered their customers a positive experience. Customers are now able to access their portfolios at any time and without interaction with a sales representative.   These portfolios are personalized and address customers on a first name basis, provide purchase history and even suggest similar titles that might be of interest to the customers.   This change provided a personal touch, saved Amazon on staff time and clearly benefits the customer.   (May, 2000, p. 54) Rick Berry, CEO of ICGCommerce.com, an Internet-Based procurement business, describes leading an e-commerce business as â€Å"driving a Ferrari with a cinderblock on the accelerator.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004)   This fast-paced environment requires consistent change, as â€Å"E-Procurement is a $10 trillion market worldwide.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004) Berry states that building a procurement business in the traditional sense would take at least 10 years to become successful; however within the internet environment they are making an attempt to establish credibility within six months.   Their goal is â€Å"to grab a chunk of that market before the competition moves in.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004) Berry believes that talent is what businesses require to provide effective leadership and the ability to change quickly within Internet based businesses.   Leadership must have the ability to â€Å"attract teams of talented risk-takers.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004)  Ã‚   The speed of the working environment in an e-commerce structure means that very little time is available to train staff; therefore leaders of e-commerce ventures â€Å"must strive to create a specific type of work culture† that is high-energy and results-oriented.   (Pandya, 2004) Because little time is allowed for training and communication in an internet environment is more direct than others, changing the actions of others as well as effectively communicating the vision of change is difficult.   â€Å"You communicate directly, and you must build a team that can cope with that.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004) If an internet company is to be successful it must begin with establishing a visionary culture with the ability to attract and retain talented staff.   Talented staff members have the ability to effectively introduce change within the internet environment effectively and without disrupting business flow. David Perry, founder of Chemdex says that creating a successful business with the ability to adapt to the constant change of the internet environment is â€Å"raising money, so you can hire good people, so you can make and sell good products, so you can raise more money.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004)   These staff members must be â€Å"enthusiastic, passionate and share the organization’s values.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004) In his article titled The True Value of Change Management, George Spafford quotes â€Å"The only constant is change.†Ã‚   (Spafford, 2005)   He believes that many IT organizations â€Å"lack a fundamental understanding of the need to manage change† and that these organizations feel that change management stops at budgetary planning. When introducing change into the internet environment organizations must understand that this process has huge impacts on business operations – the more complex the change is within the system the â€Å"effective change management processes† increase.   (Spafford, 2005)   As most change within the internet environment is technology based, it’s imperative to know that 80% of security breaches have been caused by human error. (Spafford, 2005) Potential solutions in technology have three parts â€Å"people, technology and process.†Ã‚   (Spafford, 2005)   Most organizations have processes in place where change requests are â€Å"submitted, reviewed, planned tested, scheduled and then implemented.† (Spafford, 2005)   The procedures are put into place to ensure that proper thought and planning have been applied and the implications assessed before introducing it within the business structure. Spafford believes that many organizations lack the resources to implement change and that many simply give up once the implications have surfaced with unsuccessful results.   He believes that companies must learn from their mistakes and work continuously to improve and implement future successes.   Developing one simple model of change in an internet environment can also be devastating.   â€Å"The point is to be flexible, keep costs down and remain responsive, adopting multiple change models.†Ã‚   (Spafford, 2005) The ability to manage change within the internet environment will always be a challenge for organizations.   Effective leadership is the key to any organization’s success as well as leadership’s ability to attract talented staff members who are constantly looking to the future, rather than traditional one-sided ideas. Technology is constantly evolving and introducing new competitive strategies into the ecommerce marketplace and little time is available to adapt to the competition.   Looking back at The Laws of the Fifth Discipline, â€Å"The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back† we see that it’s imperative to remain open-minded and constantly looking to the future where new concepts and ideas will introduce positive changes to the Internet environment. References May, P. (2000). The Business of Ecommerce: From Corporate Strategy to Technology. New York, New York: Cambridge University. Pandya, M. (2004). Center for Leadership and Change Management:   Leadership in E-Commerce:   What does it Take to Lead an E-Commerce Venture? Retrieved from http://leadership.wharton.upenn.edu/ecommerce/articles/Wharton_ECommerce_Forum.shtml Senge, P. M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline. New York, New York: Doubleday Dell Publishing Group. Spafford, G. (2005, August 15). Datamation:   The True Value of Change Management. Retrieved from http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/service/article.php/3527471 Waddell, D., & Singh, M. (2003). E-Business Innovation and Change Management. London: Idea Group Inc (IGI). West, J., & Cianfrani, C. A. (2004). Unlocking the Power of Your Qms: Keys to Business Performance Improvement. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: American Society for.          Leading Change Introduction Intense global competition, rapid technological change, and international capital markets are creating more demand for change leadership than at perhaps any other time in history. These forces, combined with the complexity of new and more global organizational forms that span nations and unite organizations through alliances, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions, make the job of leadership increasingly difficult. No wonder it is popular to suggest that leadership is in short supply in most organizations. Moreover, we have a limited understanding of the role that leaders should play in making effective change a reality. This is the motivation for this essay. In the pages that follow, I discuss how leaders can help organizations change to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.Body of the Essay It is one thing to argue that organizations need to reinvent themselves and develop new, more effective approaches to organizing, and quite another to accomplish it . Large-scale organizational transformation is, at best, a developing art that has yet to produce any clear formulas for success, but more and more attention is being turned to executives as the principle agents of change and adaptation. It is increasingly common to assume that leadership plays the crucial role in an organization's successful adaptation to a changing world. Companies are paying record compensation to attract the best and brightest executive talent to lead them safely through today's turbulent business environment. Many boards and executive recruiters assume that there exists an elite corps of individuals who possess leadership skills that have almost universal application.The subject of leadership and organization change is embedded deeply in the lexicon and discourse of business executives, management consultants, and organizational scholars. Business periodicals, the trade press, and academic publications are brimming with information and knowledge about leading o rganization change. Widespread attention to leading change is largely a reflection of the times. Fueled by unprecedented changes in technologies, markets, and economies, organizations are experiencing rapidly changing environments and enormous competitive pressures. Responses to these challenges are resulting in a virtual revolution in new organizational forms and systems. Organizations are increasingly seeking to transform themselves to become more adaptable and competitive, with leaner, more flexible structures, more empowered and committed employees, and more performance-driven human resource practices. (Lawler et al., 1995)As organizations strive to implement these innovations, they discover that change is incredibly arduous, requiring a great deal of expertise, resources, and luck. The sheer difficulty of transforming organizations is evident in their enormous inertial qualities as well as the scope and magnitude of the required changes. Organization transformation typically in volves radical changes in strategy and structure, in work practices and methods, and in members' perceptions, norms, and work behaviors. As many observers have pointed out, because transformational change involves the total organization including strategic relationships with the competitive environment, top leaders or CEOs need to lead the change process and are essential to its success. (Tichy & Devanna, 1986; Greiner & Bhambri, 1989; Nadler, 1997)â€Å"The Harder You Push, The Harder The System Pushes Back† Any organization has its own corporate culture and the employees in all hierarchies are accustomed to that particular culture. Bringing about any change at any level is bound to shake the status quo and bring in an element of disturbance within the smooth functioning of the organization. Keeping that in mind, the change leader has to be extremely careful in doing the job and allowing ample space and time for the employees and other variables to adjust to the change being brought about. If the change process is accelerated too much and transformation is imposed hard on the people and the system as a whole, it will result in increased resistance from the system and mounting difficulties in the process of change.â€Å"Change involves moving from the known to the unknown (Cummins/Worley, 1993). Because the future is uncertain and may adversely affect people’s competencies, worth, and coping abilities, organizational members generally do not support change, unless compelling reasons convince them to do so. Similarly, organizations tend to be heavily invested in the status quo, and they resist changing it in the face of uncertain future benefits. Consequently, a key issue in planning for action is how to motivate commitment to organizational change, such as Business Reengineering. This requires management attention to two related tasks: creating readiness for change and overcoming resistance to change.† http://www.prosci.com/w_4.htmPeople c an be made ready to accept and contribute towards change once they themselves get to feel the need for change. This means making people so discontented with the status quo that they are provoked to try new ways of performing. Generating such discontent can be to a certain extent difficult. People who have been functioning and behaving in ways that have become norms for them now, may find it difficult to the level of hurt, prior to their undertaking the change seriously. In a situation as sensitive as such, the change has to be led very cautiously providing room for delay. The many issues related to change leadership could be structured around multiple themes. They include leader behaviors for effective change, sources of change, different change strategies, whether leadership really matters, and the development of change leaders.Most leadership scholars emphasize the importance of developing a vision or direction as the first step in leading change. This direction is critical in mak ing sure that everyone is moving in the same direction. It is, however, an open question whether a vision is really necessary for leading change. A key issue, particularly in the literature on charismatic leadership, is how to create a sense of empowerment and ownership for employees.One argument is that this requires giving employees the autonomy to determine appropriate means for implementing the vision. (Conger, 1989) Prior research has shown that employees are most motivated when they have the freedom to determine what works best given their talents and skills. (Spreitzer et al., 1997) However, in order for such autonomy to work employees must have access to the resources necessary for implementation and to information about the competition and the financial situation of their organization; without these they are likely to feel helpless in bringing about change. Also, rewards may be particularly helpful in building a sense of ownership. (Lawler, 1986)Leaders in crisis organizati ons facing a revitalization challenge must devote considerable effort at the front end of their transformation to the creation of resources. Individuals' resistance to change builds in direct proportion to the magnitude of the gap they perceive between the level of effort expected of them as part of the transformation process and the resources available to get the job done. Often this initial resource-generating step involves closing and consolidating peripheral or under-performing operations, trimming employee payrolls, reducing corporate staff overhead expenses, and suspending or deferring programs so that current operations can generate more cash to be redeployed to the launch of the corporate transformation process. Leaders attempting to revitalize their organizations also need to seek new external resources as they launch their transformation process.For example, at General Electric during the early 1980s under Jack Welch, the creation of slack resources was not so much a probl em as was the reallocation of existing resources to the corporate transformation effort. So the initial transformation issue was less one of resource creation than one of resource reallocation. Businesses that did not fit the vision had to fix, sell, or close themselves, and resources that would otherwise be consumed by these ill-fitting businesses were reallocated to enhance productivity and automation initiatives and to fuel capital investments in businesses that offered greater promise for achieving Welch's lofty vision of being first or second in their chosen global markets. (Aguilar et al., 1985)It might be argued that the key role for the leader is setting context; he or she must create a culture that embraces the importance of change. The leader then needs to create an organization structure that will support the new vision. This might, for example, involve a team-based design to reduce centralization, hierarchy, and bureaucratization. The leader must select and hire top-notc h people who have the skills necessary to bring the new vision to actuality. If the vision involves globalization, for example, this might involve hiring or promoting people who have international experience. The leader must also create a reward system that encourages behaviors appropriate for the new vision. For example, if the vision requires more focus on the customer, then employees must be rewarded for actions that improve customer satisfaction. In other words, the leader's most important role may be to devise an organization that sustains the vision.Implications For Change In An Internet Environment Sebastian  and Samuel  (2004) â€Å"explore the challenge that technology will deliver to management at both the tactical and strategic level. Changes in communication, content of communication, globalization of communication, are critical to these changes. The environment will support a greater degree of discontinuities in planning which is brought about by the globalization of management activities. Successful management must encompass the management of these discontinuities but use information in an artificial intelligence environment. The integration of these data and the actions that come from that integration must be understood within a moral framework.† (Sebastian  & Samuel, 2004)In the present era of technological innovation and globalization, when the world’s business is coming closer to work as a network, when the logistics are being designed in a way that encompass the ever so easy access of technology, communication and information, when a single business is catering to the markets around the globe, the changes within the organization become more important than those ever were. It is the international culture that the employees have to work in, the greater than ever expansion plans and newer and faster service demands that they have to attend to. All these developments and enhancements come as part and result of the Internet en vironment in which virtually all businesses are operating these days.ConclusionLeading change in such circumstances become an even more demanding and challenging of a task for the managers or leaders. As the trade of goods and services around the world is getting faster and easier, the need for as fast a change continues. However as mentioned in the preceding pages that such changes cannot be brought overnight, nor can those be imposed or pushed hard on the individuals. The system pushes back even harder and poses even more resistance to the change. Instead, the vision once established has to be communicated to the people properly, make them ready for the change by suitably establishing the loopholes of the current state and furnish the future expectations of being technologically sound and equipped.ReferencesAguilar, F. J., Hamermesh, R. G., and Brainard, C. General Electric, 1984. (1985) Boston: Harvard Business School Press (9–385–315, Rev. Mar. 24, 1993).Conger, J. A. (1989) â€Å"The Charismatic Leader† San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Greiner, L., and Bhambri, A. (1989) â€Å"New CEO Intervention and Dynamics of Deliberate Strategic Change.† Strategic Management Journal, 10, 67–86.Lawler, E. E. (1986) â€Å"High-Involvement Management† San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1986.Lawler, E., Mohrman, S., and Ledford, G. (1995) â€Å"Creating High Performance Organizations: Practices and Results of Employee Involvement and Total Quality Management in Fortune 1000 Companies† San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Nadler, D., (1997) â€Å"Champions of Change† San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Spreitzer, G. M., Kizilos, M., and Nason, S. (1997) â€Å"A Dimensional Analysis of the Relationship Between Psychological Empowerment and Effectiveness, Satisfaction, and Strain.† Journal of Management, 23 (5), 679–704.Tichy, N., and Devanna, M. (1986) â€Å"The Transformation Leader† New York: Wiley.Wolf D. Schumacher â€Å"Ma naging Barriers To Re-engineering Success.† http://www.prosci.com/w_4.htm Accessed January 31, 2007.

The Vampire Diaries: The Fury Chapter Five

Dr. Feinberg, Elena thought wildly, trying to twist around to look and simultaneously press herself into the shadows. But it wasn't the small, hawk-nosed visage of the doctor that met her eyes. It was a face with features as fine as those on a Roman coin or medallion, and haunted green eyes. Time caught for a moment, and then Elena was in his arms. â€Å"Oh, Stefan. Stefan†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She felt his body go still with shock. He was holding her mechanically, lightly, as if she were a stranger who'd mistaken him for someone else. â€Å"Stefan,† she said desperately, burrowing her face into his shoulder, trying to get some response. She couldn't bear it if he rejected her; if he hated her now she would die†¦ With a moan, she tried to get even closer to him, wanting to merge with him completely, to disappear inside him. Oh, please, she thought, oh, please, oh, please †¦ â€Å"Elena. Elena, it's all right; I've got you.† He went on talking to her, repeating silly nonsense meant to soothe, stroking her hair. And she could feel the change as his arms tightened around her. He knew who he was holding now. For the first time since she'd awakened that day, she felt safe. Still, it was a long while before she could relax her grip on him even slightly. She wasn't crying; she was gasping in panic. At last she felt the world start to settle into place around her. She didn't let go, though, not yet. She simply stood for endless minutes with her head on his shoulder, drinking in the comfort and security of his nearness. Then she raised her head to look into his eyes. When she'd thought of Stefan earlier that day, she'd thought of how he might help her. She'd meant to ask him, to beg him, to save her from this nightmare, to make her the way she had been before. But now, as she looked at him, she felt a strange despairing resignation flow through her. â€Å"There's nothing to be done about it, is there?† she said very softly. He didn't pretend to misunderstand. â€Å"No,† he said, equally soft. Elena felt as if she had taken some final step over an invisible line and that there was no returning. When she could speak again, she said, â€Å"I'm sorry for the way I acted toward you in the woods. I don't know why I did those things. I remember doing them, but I can't remember why.† â€Å"You're sorry?† His voice shook. â€Å"Elena, after all I've done to you, all that's happened to you because of me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He couldn't finish, and they clung to each other. â€Å"Very touching,† said a voice from the stairway. â€Å"Do you want me to imitate a violin?† â€Å"How did you get here?† said Stefan. â€Å"The same way you did, I presume. Attracted by the blazing beacon of the fair Elena's distress.† Damon was really angry; Elena could tell. Not just annoyed or discommoded but in a white heat of rage and hostility. But he'd been decent to her when she'd been confused and irrational. He'd taken her to shelter; he'd kept her safe. And he hadn't kissed her while she'd been in that horrifyingly vulnerable state. He'd been†¦ kind to her. â€Å"Incidentally, there's something going on down there,† Damon said. â€Å"I know; it's Bonnie again,† said Elena, releasing Stefan and moving back. â€Å"That's not what I meant. This is outside.† Startled, Elena followed him down to the first bend in the stairs, where there was a window overlooking the parking lot. She felt Stefan behind her as she looked down at the scene below. A crowd of people had come out of the church, but they were standing in a solid phalanx at the edge of the lot, not going any farther. Opposite them, in the parking lot itself, was an equally large assembly of dogs. It looked like two armies facing each other. What was eerie, though, was that both groups were absolutely motionless. The people seemed to be paralyzed by uneasiness, and the dogs seemed to be waiting for something. Elena saw the dogs first as different breeds. There were small dogs like sharp-faced corgis and brown-and-black silky terriers and a Lhasa apso with long golden hair. There were medium-sized dogs like springer spaniels and Airedales and one beautiful snow white Samoyed. And there were the big dogs: a barrel-chested rottweiler with a cropped tail, a panting gray wolfhound, and a giant schnauzer, pure black. Then Elena began to recognize individuals. â€Å"That's Mr. Grunbaum's boxer and the Sullivans' German shepherd. But what's going on with them?† The people, originally uneasy, now looked frightened. They stood shoulder to shoulder, no one wanting to break out of the front line and move any closer to the animals. And yet the dogs weren't doing anything, just sitting or standing, some with their tongues lolling gently out. Strange, though, how still they were, Elena thought. Every tiny motion, such as the slightest twitch of tail or ears, seemed vastly exaggerated. And there were no wagging tails, no signs of friendliness. Just†¦ waiting. Robert was toward the back of the crowd. Elena was surprised at seeing him, but for a moment she couldn't think of why. Then she realized it was because he hadn't been in the church. As she watched, he drew farther apart from the group, disappearing under the overhang below Elena. Someone had moved out of the front line at last. It was Douglas Carson, Elena realized, Sue Carson's married older brother. He'd stepped into the no-man's-land between the dogs and the people, one hand slightly extended. A springer spaniel with long ears like brown satin turned her head. Her white stump of a tail quivered slightly, questioningly, and her brown-and-white muzzle lifted. But she didn't come to the young man. Doug Carson took another step. â€Å"Chelsea†¦ good girl. Come here, Chelsea. Come!† He snapped his fingers. â€Å"What do you sense from those dogs down there?† Damon murmured. Stefan shook his head without looking away from the window. â€Å"Nothing,† he said shortly. â€Å"Neither do I.† Damon's eyes were narrowed, his head tilted back appraisingly, but his slightly bared teeth reminded Elena of the wolfhound. â€Å"But we should be able to, you know. They ought to have some emotions we can pick up on. Instead, every time I try to probe them it's like running into a blank white wall.† Elena wished she knew what they were talking about. â€Å"What do you mean ‘probe them'?† she said. â€Å"They're animals.† â€Å"Appearances can be deceiving,† Damon said ironically, and Elena thought about the rainbow lights in the feathers of the crow that had followed her since the first day of school. If she looked closely, she could see those same rainbow lights in Damon's silky hair. â€Å"But animals have emotions, in any case. If your Powers are strong enough, you can examine their minds.† And my Powers aren't, thought Elena. She was startled by the twinge of envy that went through her. Just a few minutes ago she'd been clinging to Stefan, frantic to get rid of any Powers she had, to change herself back. And now, she wished she were stronger. Damon always had an odd effect on her. â€Å"I may not be able to probe Chelsea, but I don't think Doug should go any closer,† she said aloud. Stefan had been staring fixedly out the window, his eyebrows drawn together. Now he nodded fractionally, but with a sudden sense of urgency. â€Å"I don't either,† he said. â€Å"C'mon, Chelsea, be a good girl. Come here.† Doug Carson had almost reached the first row of dogs. All eyes, human and canine, were fixed on him, and even such tiny movements as twitches had stopped. If Elena hadn't seen the sides of one or two dogs hollow and fill with their breathing, she might have thought the whole group was some giant museum display. Doug had come to a halt. Chelsea was watching him from behind the corgi and the Samoyed. Doug clucked his tongue. He stretched out his hand, hesitated, and then stretched it out farther. â€Å"Yes.† She could see his gaze unfocus with concentration; then, he shook his head, exhaling like a person who's tried to lift some-thing too heavy. â€Å"It's no good; I'm burnt out. I can't do it from here.† Below, Chelsea's lips skinned back from her teeth. The red-gold Airedale rose to her feet in one beautifully smooth movement, as if pulled by strings. The hindquarters of the rottweiler bunched. And then they sprang. Elena couldn't see which of the dogs was the first; they seemed to move together like a great wave. Half a dozen hit Doug Carson with enough force to knock him backward, and he disappeared under their massed bodies. The air was full of hellish noise, from a metallic baying that set the church rafters ringing and gave Elena an instant headache, to a deep-throated continuous growl that she felt rather than heard. Dogs were tearing at clothing, snarling, lunging, while the crowd scattered and screamed. Elena caught sight of Alaric Saltzman at the edge of the parking lot, the only one who wasn't running. He was standing stiffly, and she thought she could see his lips moving, and his hands. Everywhere else was pandemonium. Someone had gotten a hose and was turning it into the thick of the pack, but it was having no effect. The dogs seemed to have gone mad. When Chelsea raised her brown-and-white muzzle from her master's body, it was tinged with red. Elena's heart was pounding so that she could barely breathe. â€Å"They need help!† she said, just as Stefan broke away from the window and went down the stairs, taking them two and three at a time. Elena was halfway down the stairs herself when she realized two things: Damon wasn't following her, and she couldn't let herself be seen. She couldn't. The hysteria it would cause, the questions, the fear and hatred once the questions were answered. Something that ran deeper than compassion or sympathy or the need to help wrenched her back, flattening her against the wall. In the dim, cool interior of the church, she glimpsed a boiling pocket of activity. People were dashing back and forth, shouting. Dr. Feinberg, Mr. McCullough, Reverend Bethea. The still point of the circle was Bonnie lying on a pew with Meredith and Aunt Judith and Mrs. McCullough bent over her. â€Å"Something evil,† she was moaning, and then Aunt Judith's head came up, turning in Elena's direction. Elena scuttled up the stairs as quickly as she could, praying Aunt Judith hadn't seen her. Damon was at the window. â€Å"I can't go down there. They think I'm dead!† â€Å"Oh, you've remembered that. Good for you.† â€Å"He'll think you're an interesting specimen, all right.† â€Å"Then I can't go. But you can. Why don't you do something?† Damon continued to look out the window, eyebrows hiking up. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Why?† Elena's alarm and overexcitement reached flash point and she almost slapped him. â€Å"Because they need help! Because you can help. Don't you care about anything besides yourself?† Damon was wearing his most impenetrable mask, the expression of polite inquiry he'd worn when he invited himself to her house for dinner. But she knew that beneath it he was angry, angry at finding her and Stefan together. He was baiting her on purpose and with savage enjoyment. And she couldn't help her reaction, her frustrated, impotent rage. She started for him, and he caught her wrists and held her off, his eyes boring into hers. She was startled to hear the sound that came from her lips then; it was a hiss that sounded more feline than human. She realized her fingers were hooked into claws. What am I doing? Attacking him because he won't defend people against the dogs that are attacking them? What kind of sense does that make? Breathing hard, she relaxed her hands and wet her lips. She stepped back and he let her. There was a long moment while they stared at each other. â€Å"I'm going down,† Elena said quietly and turned. â€Å"No.† â€Å"They need help.† â€Å"All right, then, damn you.† She'd never heard Damon's voice so low, or so furious. â€Å"I'll-† he broke off and Elena, turning back quickly, saw him slam a fist into the window-sill, rattling the glass. But his attention was outside and his voice perfectly composed again when he said dryly, â€Å"Help has arrived.† It was the fire department. Their hoses were much more powerful than the garden hose, and the jet streams of water drove the lunging dogs off with sheer force. Elena saw a sheriff with a gun and bit the inside of her cheek as he aimed and sighted. There was a crack, and the giant schnauzer went down. The sheriff aimed again. It ended quickly after that. Several dogs were already running from the barrage of water, and with the second crack of the pistol more broke from the pack and headed for the edges of the parking lot. It was as if the purpose that had driven them had released them all at once. Elena felt a rush of relief as she saw Stefan standing unharmed in the middle of the rout, shoving a dazed-looking golden retriever away from Doug Carson's form. Chelsea took a skulking step toward her master and looked into his face, head and tail drooping. â€Å"It's all over,† Damon said. He sounded only mildly interested, but Elena glanced at him sharply. All right then, damn you, I'll what? she thought. What had he been about to say? He wasn't in any mood to tell her, but she was in a mood to push. â€Å"It's all over,† Damon said. He sounded only mildly interested, but Elena glanced at him sharply. All right then, damn you, I'll what? she thought. What had he been about to say? He wasn't in any mood to tell her, but she was in a mood to push. He stiffened, then turned. â€Å"Well?† For a second they stood looking at each other, and then there was a step on the stair. Stefan had returned. â€Å"Stefan†¦ you're hurt,† she said, blinking, suddenly disoriented. â€Å"I'm all right.† He wiped blood off his cheek with a tattered sleeve. â€Å"What about Doug?† Elena asked, swallowing. â€Å"I don't know. He is hurt. A lot of people are. That was the strangest thing I've ever seen.† Elena moved away from Damon, up the stairs into the choir loft. She felt that she had to think, but her head was pounding. The strangest thing Stefan had ever seen†¦ that was saying a lot. Something strange in Fell's Church. She reached the wall behind the last row of seats and put a hand against it, sliding down to sit on the floor. Things seemed at once confused and frighteningly clear. Something strange in Fell's Church. The day of the founders' celebration she would have sworn she didn't care anything about Fell's Church or the people in it. But now she knew differently. Looking down on the memorial service, she had begun to think perhaps she did care. And then, when the dogs had attacked outside, she'd known it. She felt somehow responsible for the town, in a way she had never felt before. Her earlier sense of desolation and loneliness had been pushed aside for the moment. There was something more important than her own problems now. And she clung to that something, because the truth was that she really couldn't deal with her own situation, no, she really, really couldn't†¦ She heard the gasping half sob she gave then and looked up to see both Stefan and Damon in the choir loft, looking at her. She shook her head slightly, putting a hand to it, feeling as if she were coming out of a dream. â€Å"Elena†¦ ?† It was Stefan who spoke, but Elena addressed herself to the other one. â€Å"Damon,† she said shakily, â€Å"if I ask you something, will you tell me the truth? I know you didn't chase me off Wickery Bridge. I could feel whatever it was, and it was different. But I want to ask you this: was it you who dumped Stefan in the old Francher well a month ago?† â€Å"In a well?† Damon leaned back against the opposite wall, arms crossed over his chest. He looked politely incredulous. â€Å"On Halloween night, the night Mr. Tanner was killed. After you showed yourself for the first time to Stefan in the woods. He told me he left you in the clearing and started to walk to his car but that someone attacked him before he reached it. When he woke up, he was trapped in the well, and he would have died there if Bonnie hadn't led us to him. I always assumed you were the one who attacked him. He always assumed you were the one. But were you?† â€Å"As a matter of fact, no,† he said. Elena let out her breath. â€Å"You can't believe that!† Stefan exploded. â€Å"You can't believe anything he says.† â€Å"Why should I lie?† Damon returned, clearly enjoying Stefan's loss of control. â€Å"I admit freely to killing Tanner. I drank his blood until he shriveled like a prune. And I wouldn't mind doing the same thing to you, brother. But a well? It's hardly my style.† â€Å"I believe you,† Elena said. Her mind was rushing ahead. She turned to Stefan. â€Å"Don't you feel it? There's something else here in Fell's Church, something that may not even be human-may never have been human, I mean. Something that chased me, forced my car off the bridge. Something that made those dogs attack people. Some terrible force that's here, something evil†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her voice trailed off, and she looked over toward the interior of the church where she had seen Bonnie lying. â€Å"Something evil†¦Ã¢â‚¬  she repeated softly. A cold wind seemed to blow inside her, and she huddled into herself, feeling vulnerable and alone. â€Å"If you're looking for evil,† Stefan said harshly, â€Å"you don't have to look far.† â€Å"Don't be any more stupid than you can help,† said Damon. â€Å"I told you four days ago that someone else had killed Elena. And I said that I was going to find that someone and deal with him. And I am.† He uncrossed his arms and straightened up. â€Å"You two can continue that private conversation you were having when I interrupted.† â€Å"Damon, wait.† Elena hadn't been able to help the shudder that tore through her when he said killed. I can't have been killed; I'm still here, she thought wildly, feeling panic swell up in her again. But now she pushed the panic aside to speak to Damon. â€Å"Whatever this thing is, it's strong,† she said. â€Å"I felt it when it was after me, and it seemed to fill the whole sky. I don't think any of us would stand a chance against it alone.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"So†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena hadn't had time to gather her thoughts this far. She was running purely on instinct, on intuition. And intuition told her not to let Damon go. â€Å"So†¦ I think we three ought to stick together. I think we have a much better chance of finding it and dealing with it together than separately. And maybe we can stop it before it hurts or-or kills-anyone else.† Elena stared at him. Of course it wasn't her choice, if he meant romantically. She was wearing the ring Stefan had given her; she and Stefan belonged together. But then she remembered something else, just a flash: looking up at Damon's face in the woods and feeling such-such excitement, such affinity with him. As if he understood the flame that burned inside her as nobody else ever could. As if together they could do anything they liked, conquer the world or destroy it; as if they were better than anyone else who had ever lived. I was out of my mind, irrational, she told herself, but that little flash of memory wouldn't go away. And then she remembered something else: how Damon had acted later that night, how he'd kept her safe, even been gentle with her. Stefan was looking at her, and his expression had changed from belligerence to bitter anger and fear. Part of her wanted to reassure him completely, to throw her arms around him and tell him that she was his and always would be and that nothing else mattered. Not the town, not Damon, not anything. But she wasn't doing it. Because another part of her was saying that the town did matter. And because still another part was just terribly, terribly confused. So confused†¦ She felt a trembling begin deep inside her, and then she found she couldn't make it stop. Emotional overload, she thought, and put her head in her hands.

Carbohydrate Loading Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Carbohydrate Loading - Assignment Example Under normal circumstances the energy requirement of the body is met by carbohydrate and fats however, for athletes undergoing strenuous training the main source of energy is carbohydrates which help in the working out of muscles. An athlete is at the peak of his performance as long as his body has enough carbohydrate to supply to his muscles in use. Once this storage of carbohydrates depletes and is completely exhausted, the body starts to use up the fats to provide energy. Therefore, it is crucial for athletes, especially those who are engaged in strenuous sports like marathon, to have enough carbohydrate storage during the entire run and this is where carbohydrate loading comes in. Glycogen Supercompensation is the scientific terminology for Carbohydrate Loading. It is the process through which the glycogen level in the muscles maybe increased by 60% through proper training and diet. Thus, the increased levels of glycogen reserves in the muscles mean that the athlete can now perform his best for a longer period of time without fatiguing his muscles and performing poorly. All carbohydrate loading methods have two stages- Carbohydrate depletion stage and Carbohydrate replenishment stage. I have selected the second method of carbohydrate loading and I shall provide a day-to-day guide. This method stretches over a week and must be started 1 week before the sports event. Like all other methods, this method also has two stages, i.e. the depletion of carbohydrates during which glycogen synthesizing enzymes are stimulated and the increasing of glycogen in particular muscles. It must be remembered that carbohydrate foods with low glycemic index must be taken because they stimulate the enzyme-glycogen synthetase, which is responsible for glycogen storage. Hydrating the body is important because for each gram of stored glycogen there must be 3-4grams of stored water. Two

Export strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Export strategy - Essay Example However, Jasmine rice has no immediate substitutes and it would not be possible also to create any substitute for it in foreseeable future. But that does not automatically guarantee success as there must be in place proper and rational product strategy, business process strategy, operations strategy and financial strategy to augment the unique selling point of Jasmine rice. This paper deals at length on these strategies and how they should be formulated such that success is assured. Further, this paper also tends to look into the future and try to forecast whether United Kingdom would still remain as attractive an export market it is now a decade later. After making a substantive analysis of British economy the paper concludes that though other varieties of rice produced by Siam Rice Co. might face strong competition from indigenous substitutes, Jasmine rice would still retain it unassailable position in British markets. Export Strategy Export is not the same as selling in a domestic market as it involves not only foreign currency but negotiating a foreign market, foreign tastes and preferences, foreign customs and of course foreign rules and regulations. Thus, export can only be successful if a proper export strategy is in place and is executed efficiently. It should begin with the chances of success a product might have in an export market. The thumb rule for gauging the possibilities of success is whether the product is successful in the domestic market. If a product is successful in domestic market then there is fair chance that it would be a success in foreign markets too. But care must be taken to factor in the customs, tastes and preferences prevalent in foreign markets before blindly assuming that domestic success is failsafe proof of the product being successful in foreign markets also. As for example beef from Chicago is famous for its taste across the world but if a beef exporter feels that they would be able to storm the non-vegetarian markets in In dia they would be in for a rude shock as beef is a taboo for Hindus who form nearly eighty five percent of Indian population. Similarly while pork is an all time favorite in China it does not have any market in Muslim countries where it is a forbidden food. So, an exporter needs to do elaborate market research for accurately gauging the market potential for the product they would like to export (Credit Research Foundation 2007). But before the decision to export is to be made the company must determine in no uncertain terms what it stands to gain from exporting and whether it has sufficient resources at its command to undertake the additional production quantities that would have to be done in order to service both domestic and export markets. The other issue that needs to be clarified is whether the costs related to export are less than the benefits that the company expects to garner from export activity. Only if all these three issues provide a positive answer should a company und ertake exporting activities. Else, it would be better off transacting in domestic markets only (World Export Development Forum 2007). Product Strategy As already discussed, the first test of whether a product can be exported is whether it has a stable market within the country. But, as already been

Polish Immigration and the U.K Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9500 words

Polish Immigration and the U.K - Dissertation Example In May 2011, Polish immigration was back on the rise again with some 545,000 Polish passport holders currently (2011) living in the United Kingdom. Back in 2003, only 75,000 were living in the U.K., the year before Poland joined the European Union in hopes of finding ways to jump-start its own economy (Pidd 2011). Nearly 43,000 Poles immigrated over from September 2009 to September 2010 whereas, before that, there had been a drop of 12,000 Poles who had moved back to Poland. Yet, it would appear that Poland, as a country,   had not lived up to expectations in job development and economic growth. So, back to England they went, not because England was having any sort of economic boom but that even poorly paid jobs in the U.K. were better than anything they were finding back home. Most of the immigrant Poles were from the eastern part of Poland which is typically poorer than the rest of the country (Pidd 2011).In a more general population overview, immigrants to the U.K. tend to be mo re working age people such as students and those looking for jobs and, as these people flow in, an increase in aggregate demand also occurs, increasing spending which impacts GDP (Pettinger 2012). During the middle of the last decade, more Eastern Europeans, such as the Polish, immigrated to the U.K. because of demand for builders and plumbers. The U.K. population is also aging and this meant that with younger immigrants coming in to pick up such jobs, they would be paying income taxes but not so likely to be claiming benefits. Additionally, with nearly 428,225 international students studying in the U.K. in 2010 to 2011, this influx contributed ?2.5 billion to the educational sector and helped finance domestic students’ education as well (Pettinger 2012). Yet, there is the problem of overcrowding, particularly in cities and limited areas for building more residential areas because of the desire to maintain a certain amount of green area. The European Union (EU), overall, was hit hard during the economic crisis and government budgets and employment outcomes were not what had been hoped for, even from a few years back. The aggregate government budget for the EU went from less than

Co-Branding in the Fashion Industry Dissertation

Co-Branding in the Fashion Industry - Dissertation Example This study sought to investigate this assumption and in so doing, identify the determinants of successful versus unsuccessful co-branding ventures in the fashion industry. The question cited in the above was explored through a critical review of the literature and a survey of consumer opinion. The literature review, spread over two chapters, found that co-branding has the potential to significantly contribute to increased revenues for both of the partner firms and can enhance their respective market presence and visibility. On the downside, however, the findings of the literature review suggested that the greater majority of co-branding ventures failed and negatively reflected upon both of the partner brands. Within the context of the stated, the study focused on the identification of the reasons for failure. The literature review identified several causal factors, the most important of which was partner reputation. A company's market reputation determined consumer perceptions of it and, thus, its market performance. Brands which were identified as untrustworthy and unreliable were not likely to perform well on the market and were further found to nega tively impact upon partners within the context of a co-branding venture. The primary data supported the findings of the literature review. The study adopted a quasi experimental approach in which the factor of partner reputation was manipulated. The consumer survey showed that brands with a positive reputation were likely to suffer were they to ally themselves with a brand with a negative reputation, while that with the negative reputation was likely to benefit from partnership with a brand with a positive reputation. Total Words: 11,440 Table of Contents ii Declaration i Acknowledgements iii Abstract v Table... The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the impact of alliances among private organizations on people's perceptions of the impact of the pairings on attitudes toward the organizations. There is a marketing emphasis in this research that seeks to understand how people's perceptions of an organization are affected when it partners with another organization to pursue joint goals. The theoretical basis of this study draws upon the concept of brand alliances, or co-branding. A significant part of the dissertation will be devoted to a comprehensive review of the literature and to the process of precisely conceptualizing brand alliances in private organizations. This study is aimed at introducing brand alliances and examining their positive features, and also at identifying risks that organizations take in choosing other organizations with which to partner. Limited research is available on consumer perceptions of brand alliances in the private sector. Consequently, this dissertation research is exploratory in nature, seeking to identify issues that may arise and make suggestions regarding how they can be addressed. Organizations survive in part upon their reputations, embodied in the public perception of them. A business organization that sells a product- relies on the public perception of the quality of its product for sales. This includes visions of the quality of management, the reliability of its service guarantees, and the perception that the company stands behind its product.

Business Combination Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Combination - Research Paper Example Thus they manufacture petroleum products to a market which is characterized by few firms. Valero experiences a net growth of by 53.21 percent with net revenue $125987 while Marathon Corporation on the other hand has a growth rate of approximately 25.86 percent with a revenue of $78709. As per the financial data, it clearly shows that Valero’s revenue almost doubles the marathon and of the same amount by growth rate. With a $ 15 million in the good will for the CEO to make investments, the company can acquire the services of the marathon to increase their productivity in the market (Hove, 2006). The company should acquire a firm which is in similar line of production as it would be easy to integrate it with ease in the system as the employees can be retained or the existing workers will perform the tasks without difficulty saving the management a lot of cash. This represents a form of diversification in the related fields. Diversification in the unrelated is usually complicated as the organization will have to expand every unit in the system so as to accommodate the new venture. Labor will have to be increased, new units brought and the company missing out on the opportunity to use the economies of scale provided by the existing employees. This would increase the cost of production of the outputs which may result in the high prices making the corporation make losses since prices are determined by the market as the industry is quite competitive. Hence it would be only rational if the management invests in the same line of production since there would be minimum risks involve d. By acquiring marathon corporations, there would various synergies that would help the firms to maximize the profits. The two companies will have a reduced cost of production as there would be sharing of costs. This would make the organization to manufacture at relatively lower costs which will increase the units of output for the market. This will

To improve outage times, the company needs to let vendors be able to Research Proposal

To improve outage times, the company needs to let vendors be able to connect to their equipment by the internet - Research Proposal Example As a result, sustaining competition, addressing consumer needs, and remaining relevant in the dynamic market and business environment requires strategic information technology procedures and strategies. Technology in its basic terms has evolved to be the avenue and platform upon which modern businesses possess the ability to succeed or fail (Anonymous, 2006). Therefore, this research project will investigate and evaluate how internet connectivity, specifically with regard to vendor equipment results into improvements and reduction of outage time. Research Questions In order to have clear and well defined research strategy, research questions always act to provide guidance and limits in which the research can be carried out. Therefore, research questions for this project include: What is the importance of internet connectivity in a company? Why is it necessary to integrate and connect vendor equipment to the internet in the organization? What are challenges to this process? How can th e challenges be addressed? Significance of Research It is observed that in order to improve the functionability of companies systems, there is great need to integrate vendor equipment in the entire system of the organization. Such integration calls for internet connectivity of vendor equipment. ... Therefore, in undertaking this research, the aim is to identify and explain how integration of vendor equipment to internet connectivity is necessary and how well the company can benefit from the entire venture. Relevant Literature Internet today is seen to be a necessity, a broad shift from the recent past where internet was seen as an option. For companies and other organizations to navigate through the dynamic business environment, there is religious need to embrace information technology that will connect the companies to the outside world. At the same time, internet connectivity in an organization should not just be in one area or department but it has to incorporate different departments in the organization and also employees should be part of this connectivity (InfoWorld, 2001). Today, communication in most organization is drastically changing where the old forms and tools of communication are being replaced by new communication tools such as e-mails and websites (Silverstein, 2001). In this way, presence of internet and proper internet connectivity provides opportunity for the company to integrate its business activities and processes which in turn enable the company to carry out its functions in the most effective and efficient way. Some benefits of the internet make its usage anywhere regardless of the company, to motivate numerous people and organizations to have desire to adopt it. For example, with internet exchange of e-mails with different people who are stakeholders to the business become easy and at faster rate (Silverstein, 2001). At the same time, company’s employees and other stakeholders can be able to remain in contact with the

Frustrations Essay Example for Free

Frustrations Essay Bo Bennett once said that, â€Å"Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success. † Yes, indeed frustration is painful and essential. In the growing stage as teens, it is inevitable that they face frustrations. What are some of these frustrations faced by teens? I think that the meeting of people’s expectations and peer pressure are some of the many frustrations the teens will face in their growing stage. One of the frustrations a teen has is the meeting of people’s expectations, especially their parents’ expectations. Research has indicated that the majority of parents expect their children to graduate from high school and complete some post secondary education. 92% of parents in 2010 believe that their child would go to university with 23% having children who did not succeed in getting into a university. 92% is an extremely big percentage. This shows that in 10 parents, 9 expect and hope that their child would go to university. This implies that majority of the teens face expectations from their parents. 7% of the teens make the cut and are able to make it to university. This means that about 4 in 5 teens have more expectations to meet. Therefore, in the society, many teens face expectations from their parents. One of the many other frustrations teens undergo is peer pressure. Teens are constantly worried about their peers’ opinions of them, hence in order to try and fit in, they may do things that make them feel uncomfortable. This may cause them to feel the frustrated and stressed while doing these actions to fit in. They are impressionable and jump the bandwagon. They may do what everyone else are doing but not actually knowing the ultimate reason of doing so. Results show that 75% of youth, tested in a survey done on teenagers, are influenced by peer pressure. From this results, we can see that majority of the teenagers are susceptible to peer pressure. In order to be popular, the 3 in 4 teens will be pressured to do what their peers’ tell them to do instead of doing what they think is right.

Chinese Medicine

Chinese Medicine Introduction For over 2000 years, traditional Chinese medicine was the only medical therapy consisting of various forms of  herbal medicine,acupuncture,massage,exercise, and dietary therapy for treatment illnesses. With the arrival of the missionaries from the west, a new form of medical therapy which based on treatment using chemicals and surgery was introduced to China in the 19th century. This not only provided an alternative medical treatment for Chinese, it also brought in scientific, social and political upheavals to China in the 19th and 20th century. Medical Services in 19th Century China The first western medical service was introduced to Macau, a Portuguese’s colony at the time, by Rev Robert Morrison1 (1782-1834) in 1820. Interestingly, one of his objectives of his effort was to find out whether Chinese traditional herbal medicine would offer no additional healing for the Westerners. In 1828, a Christian surgeon, Dr Thomas Colledge2 (1796 – 1879) opened a hospital in Guangzhou with his belief of Christians had a duty to treat the sick people of China. By 1835, Dr Colledge cooperated with Dr Peter Parker (1804 1888), a Protestant medical missionary and foreign Christian residents in Guangzhou formed the Medical Missionary Society of China. The new hospital appealed to the locals despite their suspicious altitude towards foreigners’ intention. By 1840, the hospital had provided over 9,000 treatments to the local patients. By 1892, over 60 hospitals and 40 dispensaries were established by the missionaries. There were over 120 male and female western medical personnel plus a corps of trained native assistants to provide services for these facilities. The hospital annual report of 1895 stated that over half a million patients were treated and over 70,000 operations were performed. Before the Opium War, the hospital provided access of the missionary opportunity to contact locals who otherwise were not permitted to preach in public and are restricted to reside at the â€Å"Thirteen Hong† at Guangzhou. Some patients considered allowing foreign doctors to treatment gave a favour them, some did not accept the religion of their doctors, however, many patients converted to Christianity. The introduction of western medicine also raised the Chinese women social status. It was Chinese social custom to restrict men and women contact at the time. Hence, female patients were reluctant to be treated by male doctors. The missionaries therefore had to bring in female doctors from the west to provide treatment to female patients. Dr Mary H. Fulton (1854 – 1927), a female missionary doctor was sent by the Foreign Missions Board of the Presbyterian Church to found the first medical college foe woman, Hackett Medical College for Women in Guangzhou in 1902. By 1915, the college had 60 students; all became Christians at the influence of Dr Fulton. The college achieved its aim to spread Christianity and western medicine, as well as women social status in the Chinese society. Medical Services in Hong Kong In Hong Kong, a British colony at the time, Tung Wah Hospital3 was established in 1870 which was the first hospital in China providing Chinese medicine services in western hospital mode. By 1887, the first teaching institution, the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (the predecessor of the Faculty of medicine of theUniversity of Hong Kong)was established by the London Missionary Society. The new institution not only introduced breakthrough in the research and development of western medicine in China, it also brought the first graduate, Dr SUN Yat-sen4 (1866 1925), a Christian himself who led the Chinese Revolution and toppled the Qing Dynasty, to establish the Republic of China in 1911, profoundly changes the history of China. The Opium War The introduction of western medicine in China also changed the history of China. Opium5 which was found to be a good remedy for nervous disorders and its sedative and tranquilizing properties was also introduced into China by western surgeons. However, opium was also used by the British Government to balance their trade deficit with China. They grew opium in British India and sold it to China for exchange of silver. When the Emperor Daoguang of Qing Dynasty banned the smoking and trading of opium in 1838, the British began the First Opium War with the beginning of annexation of Hong Kong, opened up of ports and a series of unfair treaties with the subsequent turmoil in China for over 100 years. Recognising the additive and social destructive nature of the opium smoking, the missionaries raised against the trading of opium both in their home countries and in China6. They also set up clinic to provide medical service to opium smokers to kick off their addiction, hence providing more op portunity for them to preach Christianity. Conclusion Western medicine went hands in hand with missionaries from the west to preach and convert local into Christians. By doing so, it also changed the history of China, opened up the horizons of Chinese people, turned imperial China into a republic and profoundly affect the world, with its effect still felt today. References Starr J Barton â€Å"The Legacy of Robert Morrison†, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, April 1998 Fu L, â€Å"The protestant medical missions to China: Dr Thomas Richardson Colledge (1796-1879) and the founding of the Macao Ophthalmic Hospital†, Journal of Medical Biography 3Tung Wah Hospital website http://www.tungwah.org.hk/?content=314 4Britannica http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/573697/Sun-Yat-sen 5Allingham V. Philip, â€Å"England and China: The Opium Wars, 1839-60†, Victorian Web, Lakehead University 6Kathleen L. Lodwick, â€Å"Crusaders against Opium: Protestant Missionaries in China, 1874-1917†,Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1996 SECTION B Question1 Introduction There were several outbreaks of plague in the history which include the 1984 plague outbreak in Hong Kong and the pneumonic plague outbreak in Manchuria in 1910 – 1911. The 1984 plague was also known as the â€Å"black death† due to the black coloring of whole body before or after death, which is later being identified as the bubonic plague. The pneumonic plague is unique in which it was exclusively pneumonic (infection of the lungs). Patients who are infected with the pneumonic plague will present with coughing, often with hemoptysis (coughing up blood), headache, weakness etc. Although both diseases caused outbreak, different control and measures were done by the local government at that period. Control and measures in Hong Kong in 1894 The plague outbreak in Hong Kong was mainly associated with the poor sanitation and dense population of Hong Kong at that period. In order to cope with the outbreak of plague the British government did several measures in order to prevent the spread of the disease and to prevent new cases from emerging. This included forced disinfection of affected houses, rapid disposal of corpses, building of the Blake Garden to reduce population density and house to house searches for infected people. The infected will then be isolated on the hospital ship – Hygeia. But due to the non-reluctant response of the Chinese population, patients were later transferred to Kennedy Town glassworks which was converted for use as a temporary hospital. The government later built a Bacteriology institute with the recruitment of a bacteriologist, Dr. William Hunter to Hong Kong for the investigation of the cause of outbreak. Control and measures in Manchuria in 1910 – 1911 During the pneumonic plague outbreak, the cause of the disease could not be identified. So it was agreed that no cure for the pneumonic plague was available by that time1: the mortality was proved to be one hundred percent. Without antibiotic at that period, the only way to prevent the spread of the disease was quarantine and isolation. The Chinese were isolated into train cars for several days. They were not let out until no one displaying any sign or symptoms of pneumonic plague. If one plague case was identified, others in the car would be considered to have a poor prognosis. Because the location of outbreak was close to Japan and Russia, there was collaboration between countries for the control of disease2. In need of medical help from Russia and Japan, the Chinese government at that period sought help by calling for an international plague conference. While the etiology of the pneumonic plague was still being investigated, isolation was used as an effective method to prevent the spread of the disease. Autopsy was also done to investigate the cause of the disease3. In later stage, new bacteriological techniques such as culturing helped identifying the cause of the epidemic. Similarities and differences There are several similarities between the battle against pneumonic plague and the measures to control the plague in Hong Kong in 1894. Firstly, in both cases public health was introduced to the affected areas. In western medicine public health focuses on the surveillance and the prevention of disease. Isolation was used in both cases in order to prevent the spread and the deterioration of the disease. Different measures such as sanitation and rapid disposal of corpses in the 1894 plague in Hong Kong all refers to public health measures for the disease. This is important because by that time there was no way of treating both diseases, so public health became the only way to prevent the spread of the diseases and to control the epidemic. The treatment for plague(antibiotics) was not discovered in 1940s, about 30 years after the pneumonic plague. In addition, modern western medicine played a large role in coping with the outbreaks in both cases. In both cases a lot of modern western advanced sciences were used to investigate the diseases. For example, bacteriology culture and autopsy were used to investigate the cause of pneumonic plague whereas dissection of rats and bacteriology study were used in the 1894 plague. In comparison traditional Chinese medicine did not play a large role in either the prevention of the disease or the treatment of the disease. Moreover, investigations of the diseases were both done simultaneously with the measures and controls of the outbreaks. In other words, controls and measures like isolation were done before the identification of the cause of the disease in order to prevent the spread of the disease. One major difference of the control and measures between the two cases is the involvement of other countries in pneumonic plague. The coping of the pneumonic plague involved collaborations on the international level whereas the 1984 plague only involved isolated research without collaborations. This can be explained by the location of outbreak. As the outbreak of pneumonic plague may endanger the resident population in Russia and Japan, the two countries took part in the plague control. Whereas the 1894 plague happened in Hong Kong which will not affect other countries based on its location. Conclusion In conclusion the measures and control of the pneumonic plague and the 1894 plague outbreak in Hong Kong are similar in many ways. Both cases are very important as they show us the introduction of science and theory of western medicine such as public health into China at that period when the population knew little about western medicine. The idea of public health also helped saving a lot of people’s life at that period by preventing the spread of the disease. References: Richard Pearson Strong and the .urnal es:hat period by preventing the spread of the disease. of western medicine into China Hong Kong are similar in many wayManchurian Epidemic of Pneumonic Plague 1910 1911, Eli Chernin Oxford Journal, Mark Gamsa, The epidemic of pneumonic plague in Manchuria 1910-1911 3 Contagions The Great Pneumonic Plague of1910-1911: https://contagions.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/the-great-pneumonic-plague-of-1910-1911/