A New Way to Read and Study the Bible in Michael Joseph...

Michael Joseph Brown, unveils new ways to read and examine the Bible in his book, titled â€Å"What They Don’t Tell You: A Survivor’s Guide to Biblical Studies†. Although quite technical, the guide, not book, really goes into depth on the process of studying the Bible and its documents. Brown has a new and refreshing way of giving the reader this information that is necessary in a small group, or for a Biblical scholar. This guide is not meant solely for the biblical scholar and talks in detail about the difference between these two, because some may link the two together. Published by the Westminster John Knox Press, WJK for short, this book gives straight forward answers on the best way to thoroughly understand Biblical text. As you read on†¦show more content†¦Though they both may be considered educational settings, Brown explains that one’s best first approach to Biblical Scholarship is to approach it with the same mind frame that one might possess when in any other scholarly class. Brown also mentions the many different methods of interpreting the Bible. In addition to the â€Å"foundation of modern biblical Scholarship†, the historical-critical method, readers will discover several other methods. Readers will get the opportunity to read up on the process of each method and compare both the advantages and disadvantages. Brown then, strategically, works into a sub-chapter titled â€Å"A Primer on Biblical basics† which includes topics such as the creation of the Bible itself, the languages of the Bible and chapter and verse divisions. Brown even includes the significance of the use of italics. Finally, Brown concludes the first chapter with a sub-chapter titled â€Å"How Can I Prepare for the Process of Academic Biblical Study?† A very basic question that packs quite a punch as this question is a foundation for enduring Biblical Scholarship. Brown dictates to readers the fact that they should be pr epared to give up the mind frame that always asks how something applies to their personal life. He later talks about the fact that the words† what I believe† will only further one from being a real benefactor of Biblical Study. All in all, Brown suggests that one entering the world of Biblical

Essay on Enders Game Book Report - 857 Words

Ender’s Game Ender’s Game is a science fiction novel which was written by Orson Scott Card. This novel is about a brilliant military strategist, Ender Wiggin, whose story takes place in the future where there is a constant threat of an invasion from aliens who have been given the slanderous nickname, Bugger. Ender’s childhood is not an easy one considering he gets teased at school for being a â€Å"third† only to come home to an abusive brother who is always harassing Ender and his sister Valentine and he has the weight of the world on his shoulders because they believe that he is the last hope for mankind to fight off the Buggers. After many years of monitoring Ender the International Fleet decides they want to recruit Ender into Battle†¦show more content†¦Ender’s brother and sister had a very big influence on Ender, if it weren’t for them being so smart the International Fleet wouldn’t have authorized Ender’s birth and if it weren’t for Peter he wouldn’t have known how to cry silently and Valentine helped h im cope with Peter while also teaching him how to love and helping him when he visits Earth right before going to Command School. The story has many settings. The first of which takes place sometime in the future somewhere on Earth where there is a constant threat of a bugger invasion and having a third child is considered bad which made life a lot harder for Ender which was one of many reasons why he left to Battle School. The setting then moves to the spaceship which Battle School is on which doesn’t really need to be on a spaceship unless Orson Scott Card wanted the spaceship to help with the feeling of isolation. As the story progresses the setting moves to the planet Eros which is where he will be fighting the Buggers thinking he is just in a simulation but he is really fighting the Buggers. One theme that I noticed throughout the novel is how something small can represent something so big like the game that they played in Battle School was a simple game but it was every thing they had so it meant so much to them. Another example of this theme is when Ender was in Command School working on the â€Å"simulator† and Ender viewed the game as child’s play when in realityShow MoreRelatedEssay Enders Game Book Report979 Words   |  4 PagesBorn To Lead In the novel Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, the main character Ender is put up against one of the toughest challenges on his life. He becomes aware of his challenge when he becomes a little older, yet before that, little did he know that he will have to save the world. Ender in Enders Game is portrayed as a natural leader and fighter who is a killer at heart and can use his understanding of the enemy and natural skill to kill to destroy them. However, once he understands his enemy

Logistics Free Essays

Case Study report of DHL Abstract The rapid development of global commerce has drove logistics to reduce products lifecycles, increase response and action efficiency and optimize investments of inventory for current businesses. Therefore, logistics plays a pivotal role in nowadays commerce. The objective of the report is to discuss and evaluate the existing logistics theories. We will write a custom essay sample on Logistics or any similar topic only for you Order Now Whereas, DHL will be selected as a case study so as to get a further understanding on logistics according to the analysis result. Introduction As with the growing complexity of transporting goods and supplying materials for a business in world’s supply chain, expertise that developed to deal with this kind of problem is imperative so logistics. The concept of logistics is not specific, the world’s formal definition is ‘Logistics is the management science of supply chain and the art of controlling and managing any kinds of resources flow like products, information, petrol and even people between the origin point and the consumption terminal so as to satisfy clients’ demand’. Logistics is in relation to the process of moving the right products and services at the right quality to the right place at the right time with right prices. It is said to be the essential part of any marketing or manufacturing activities. Logistics involves Literature Review Since the value of time becomes more and more important in today’s global commerce, transportation speed and delivery reliability are necessary for companies to compete emulously in business operations which drives logistics industry to improve service standard. In 1996, Kostecki pointed that conscientious in accordance with service determine logistics companies’ emulously advantage and success. To that content, an important part to be integrated into time management for logistics industry is operating business with clients effectively and innovating more efficiency operation skills with clients. This is important because any inefficiencies and irregularities in operating with customers that happened in different regions can affect the commerce environment significantly for logistics companies argued by Ahanori and Nachum in the year 2000. They said that the current development trend in logistics industry is just in time supply, e-commerce and growing globalization management. In 1998, Altabet predicted that logistics theory would be updated into supply chain management. The impact of effective forecast in the process of supply chain management on a company is significant. Kiely states that it will result in inventory investment reduction, customer satisfactory improvement and product distribution efficiency enhancement. Generally speaking, forecasting eliminates companies’ worry about excess inventory investment so as to increase the efficiency when operates with customers. Another important managerial skill for commerce is the cost management theory. Degraeve and Roodhooft point that over half of entire costs is accounted from external goods and services parchment. In order to hold a competitive position in the logistics market, companies should develop a more dependable and lower cost supply chain while assure high service quality for customers. Some suggests that company can increase the cost management reliability via computer technology. With the increasing importance of globalization transaction, contracts act essential role in international trade. On account of companies always being confronted with the situation of accomplishing orders with deadline and quotas, some suggest a management approach of Vendor management inventory to handle the problem (Waller, 1999). The management project help companies distribute the requirement materials more flexible and offer the possibility of cost reduction and efficiency improvement at the same time. Objectives With the purpose of understanding logistics theory in accordance with practical application and to see how enterprises apply logistics theory to enhance efficiency and reduce cost . tc. DHL, the global leading logistics player is selected for a case study about its logistics operations in this report. Logistics operation of DHL DHL is the leader of global express, international transportation and air freight. It is the world’s NO. 1 shipping contract logistics provider. DHL offers customers a full range of logistics solutions from documents to supply chain management. As the global biggest logistics expert, DHL is a strong logistics partner for its clients that can offer any kind of freight transportation via water, railway, road and air. It can supply either pecial or shared operations of warehousing and distribution to any kind of industry sectors. On account of DHL is entirely service oriented, it involves no material movement itself but that for clients both consigner and consignee and the intermediaries as well. It just includes physical distribution and procurement. While, procurement involves in packaging materials like paper, plastic and boxes etc. the process is as follows. The first step is to weight and check for condition of the products and materials that collected from the consigners and then pack them according to their various characteristics. After that, products or services will be sent along to their destinations. DHL facilitate service performance via effective forecasting. It means the estimation of time required for both collecting wares from the consigner and that arriving to the final client. The crucial point of DHL’s entire business is timely delivery. The delivery documentation and process will be coordinated based on the approachability and distance to the final consignee. DHL can measure the time that it will cost for the goods to arrive to its end-point precisely. DHL provides customers Web Shipping services that allocate a certain user name and password for each client which allows goods sender and receiver to track goods status via online information center. DHL has won the reputation for its continuous development on supply chain solutions innovation that improves control. It supplies for customers reverse logistics management solutions that enable client design, accomplish and conduct materials flow and regulate corresponding information, support of the supply chain to resize values and guarantee safe-handling of products. It involves receiving, ordering, controlling and conducting returned goods. In addition, DHL offers service for manufactures of service and replacement. It enable customer receive and send manufactures’ replacement parts in terms of pre-designed service such as with a certain deadline. What’s more, DHL offers some services other than physical logistics services such as order management, global inventory management, freight solutions, and customs solutions. The following three figures show the flow process of DHL. Figure [ 1 ] Process Map of DHL Figure [ 2 ] internal process map of DHL Figure [ 3 ] external process map of DHL Five objectives analysis of DHL’s operation Quality DHL has a process of performance measurement so as to supervise the daily working process and understand customers’ voice. The company applies DePict project management approach to track every project in order to ensure their service quality. Furthermore, most units in the management system of DHL are in accordance with the system ISO 9000 which is the global quality controlling standard. Hence, DHL always keeps a high level service quality. Speed DHL provides its client’s specialized solutions so as to ensure a faster response speed to the changing marketplace. For its different kind of customers such as automotive, retail and fashion, DHL offers each of them unique logistics solutions so as to enable a lower response time to the market. Dependability DHL is a leading player in many fields of the logistics market; it operates business in about 220 countries and employs more than 31000 people. In addition, it has the world’s largest aircraft fleet and a huge number of ships and vehicles. Moreover, it conducts business with advanced management methodologies and performance measurement. All of these resources ensure DHL an unrivalled ability to accomplish any kinds of logistics services perfectly. Flexibility DHL involves in many parts of logistics market and has strong enough ability in each field. It can offer many kinds of logistics service via different routes. Otherwise, DHL can provide customizing logistics or supply chain solutions to meet their specific demand. Cost As a leader in many of logistics market, the bargaining power of DHL is much higher than most of its competitors which therefore will bring some advantages for DHL. However, for there are lots of companies that can provide similar service or products it may lose the price advantage in some egment market. SWOT analysis of DHL’s operation Strength The biggest strength for DHL is its leader position in logistics field. It is the dominator in the area of freight transportation through air and ocean. DHL’s business covers a larger area of the world; it provides services for over 220 countries. The leading position enable DHL enhance its economy scale and the power of setting price. Secondly, DHLâ⠂¬â„¢s diversified business model enable the company to reduce the risks in business activities and discover new opportunities in emerging and existing marketplaces. DHL devotes itself to the division of mail, supply chain, freight transportation and express. In addition, DHL has the highest employee productivity based on the data from Datamonitor. What’s more, the DHL owns a large airplane fleet that can provide great transportation ability and a long-term emission reduction GOGREEN program which makes DHL as the first mover in this area. Weakness According to the data collected by Datamonitor, DHL has encountered a problem of decline in its cash flow which results from low efficient cost management. This will reduce its resources availability when it is in pursuit of growing plans. Another problem is due to its huge airplane fleet. As with the rapid climate changing, enterprises are required to undertake their social responsibility for the environment. Large number of aircraft implies lots of emission. Although DHL is trying to apply approaches to reduce aircraft emission such as using higher quality fuel and optimal flight line, reductions on emissions will be still minimal due to the limitations in nowadays aeromechanics implies that airplane efficiency cannot be improve a lot in this aspect. What’s more, as a forerunner in the area of making effort to reduce emission, DHL will also get the advantage in compliance with new environmental regulations in the future. Opportunities As with the rapid development of e-commerce, online shopping nowadays grows with a steady high speed year by year. Most of consumers will move their shopping habitat from retail to online. Thus deliveries will increase significantly with the step of online sales which will promote the growth of DHL’s business. Moreover, consumers nowadays require more environmental friendly products and services which result in a growing demand from enterprises to get greener logistics services, higher efficiency transportation and low carbon offerings. The GOGREEN policy of DHL will meet the demand of such companies and the continuation development of this kind of services will help DHL get a good hand in competence with others. Threats DHL currently is in the situation of facing fierce competition in logistics business. The scattered global logistics market brings intense competition to DHL. These may result in negative effects on the company that potentially will decrease its growth and profits. What’s more, it is said that logistics industry produces a big percent of global emission which lead to governments from all over world aim to reduce the pollution contribution from this market. As a multi-national enterprise DHL always faces the pressure across from governments and NGOs as well. It may affects DHL’s reputation since people nowadays consider more and more about a company’s social responsibility. Conclusions and Recommendations To conclude, logistics is very important for nowadays global intense competitive marketplace. As is known to all, logistics is an essential part of any companies function. A good logistical operation can enable a company cut the production cost and enhance the efficiency. In this report, DHL was selected as a case study to help analysis logistics theory. DHL owns the biggest logistics network all over the world. It provides any kind of freight transportation via multiple approaches. DHL conducts its great range of logistics activities and solutions for clients across almost 220 countries. It is dedicated to provide customers better performance and low-cost service in today’s highly competitively market. In order to get the victory in the competition, DHL should set a reasonable price, provide a faster and larger amount of scheduled service, improve the function of tracking goods, enlarge the business geographic area, enhance its dependability and innovate new service for customers. In addition, DHL should make more efforts on emission reduction. The performance management and GOGREEN program may help DHL to accomplish this target. In a word, the art of logistics is essential to every organization while DHL has shown its great management and operations to enable a leading position in the world’s market. References 1. Ahanori, Y Nachum, L 2000,  Globalization of Services: Some Implications for Theory and  Routledg: London 2. Degraeve, Z Roodhooft, F 1999, â€Å"Effectively selecting suppliers using total Cost of Ownership†,  The Journal of Supply Chain Management, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 5-10. 3. Kiely, D 1999, â€Å"Synchronizing supply chain operations with consumer demand Using customer data†,  The Journal of Business Forecasting Methods Systems, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 3-9. 4. Kostecki, M 1996, â€Å"Waiting Line as a Marketing Issues†,  European Management Journal, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 295-303. How to cite Logistics, Papers Logistics Free Essays Logistics process Definition of logistics Logistics is a function that is flexible and changes according to the various constraints and demands imposed upon it. Logistics is – Supply + Materials Management + Distribution and logistics is basically the overall management of distributions and supply. There are many different transport methods including- * Air- This is used to deliver goods fast and also internationally. We will write a custom essay sample on Logistics or any similar topic only for you Order Now * Water- This can be used to transport goods slower. Sometimes unreliable. * Road- This is to be used nationally, and used by the most ranges of business. This is the most popular way of transportation. Rail- This is the quicker way of transporting goods. Royal Mail use rail to transport goods to their regional offices. * Container- Containers are used to deliver goods simply because they don’t need as much security and also cost less in transport, meaning more profits. When we compare different retailers, we have to take into consideration: * The amount of stores that the retailer has. * Where the location of the stores are * The supply chain. For example: Tesco has over 7500 stores in the UK, which includes a mixture of high street, out of town and local stores. They have a wide supply chain which stretches globally as they try to source the cheapest products to sell in their supermarkets. Independent stores may have only a few stores at the most (for example Merrie England). The location of the stores are on the high street and in town centres and the supply chain will only reach nationally. Small retailer – Small retailers usually use wagons to transport from manufacturer to retailers, and mostly use wholesalers. These are more likely to have less suppliers to work with then larger retailers because of the size of the stores. Multinational retailer: the retailer buys it direct from the multinational manufacturers and then supplies to the customers, normally using wagons from the distribution centres. Relationship with suppliers All retailers, whether they are small or large, have to have a relationship with their suppliers. This is so they can get the best products at the best price and can also introduce new products. By having a good relationship with the suppliers, they know if they are getting the best deal and can also have a good payment plan, whilst also having good interactions by using electronics. Product search * Logistics * Electronic data interchange * Supply chain integration * Ordering and payment * Invoice orders The supply chain for a large and small business is more or less the same- especially the logistics and distribution stage. However, larger businesses have to have warehousing to store all of their surplus stock, or to store and to distribute to all of their stores. Examples of this can be supermarket warehouses, which take all of the bulk stock and then separate them into store deliveries, then use their wagons for store deliveries. This not only saves the business time but is also cost effective as the larger the order, the cheaper the product should be for the supermarket. This means that the stock that supermarkets and other larger businesses take will be cheaper than smaller businesses. Stock Management By having management on how much stock needs distributing to independent stores, they can reduce waste, and overall, saves the business time and money by putting them into the correct stores. It also keeps customers happy, because if the stock is to hand, then customers won’t complain and/or go to other competitors. Warehousing/Stock Rooms Larger Retailers will have lots of different warehouses to meet the customer needs and to also deliver to different stores across the country. By warehousing and storing the products in a safe, cool and dry place, it will keep the products fresh (if they are food/drink items), or safe and without the risk of overheating/getting water damage to the products. By keeping the products in these conditions, they will be stay in perfect condition until you need them. Internationally Small Independents won’t need to distribute internationally, so won’t need to use rail or air transportation methods to deliver their stocks. Also, because of how small they are, they are also less likely to need to source their items from abroad aswell, unless they are a business that relies on international sourcing. However, larger retailers have to rely on sourcing from other countries, especially supermarkets that have to get their fresh foods (including fruit and vegetables) from other countries. This means that they have to rely on air travel to bring in their items. They also have to rely on fast transport methods, such as containers and wagons to deliver their items to the distribution centres before delivering it to local independent stores. Use of Electronics Smaller Independent shops won’t need to rely on electronics as much as the larger retailers, because of how big their stores are and how they get their stock. Small independent stores will normally get their stock from cash and carry’s so will normally use man power to get their items. However, larger stores will have to constantly source their items from different retailers, and have to rely on electronics to order items from the distribution areas. This means that if any problems occur with the electronics surrounding the business, they could have problems with orders and could therefore run out of products. How to cite Logistics, Papers

Strategic Management Concept Perspective

Question: Discuss about the Strategic Management Concept Perspective and Evaluates. Answer: Identification of the Issue (Sudden Requirement Changes in Project) A project is very important for undertaking the systematic operations of a business organization (Burke 2013). Some projects are infrastructural in nature and focuses on the construction and building for better opportunities. The development projects focus on evaluating the current condition of any service or good and develop a better functioning goods or service for gaining market opportunities. Our project operations consists of a number of operations and functions such as planning, scheduling, functioning, evaluating, and closure. However, there are many issues in the strategic project management operations such as budget over-exceeding, delays in operations, unsatisfied customers, flaws in operations, and change in requirements (McNiff 2016). All these issues had resulted in hindering the functioning of our project operations. Among the above stated issues, the change in the requirement holds an integral part for formulation of strategic management operations. The change in requirement can result in formation of catastrophic errors and hindrance for the smooth operations of project (Gray, Cooper and Grinnall 2014). It resulted in delay for the completion of project and decreasing the quality of production/outcome from the project. We had scheduled the project and in accordance with the initial requirements of the project. Hence, the changes of the requirements have resulted in forming confusion and slower operations for the project. Our DN 107 project was to complete the site investigation and survey in the time scheduled by completing all the operations like analysis of safety measures, risk assessment, construction operations, survey questioning, and making of final report. The use of strategic management tools like change management, stakeholders map analysis, and risk mitigation management would help i n incorporating and dealing with the issues of change management for the DN 107 project. Significance of the Issue The sudden changes in the requirement have a very crucial impact on the operations of the project (Stadelmann et al. 2015). We had deployed the operations of our project as per the initial project instructions and requirements. The operations of the project were working smoothly and the project was expected to be complete in scheduled time. The affects of the issue was: Increased work load- The changes in the requirement of the project have resulted in increasing the work load for our team. Decreased project quality-The process of incorporating the changes took several days and it did not resulted in retaining the expected quality of the result from the project. Exhaustion of extra efforts- We had to deploy extra efforts and time for completing the project. Delay in project completion- We were not able to complete the project in scheduled time as we had to analyze the requirements from the scratch. Observation Perspective I was the project manager and it was my duty for making sure that the operations of the project are completed efficiently. However, the changes in requirements had many negative impacts on the project. The change in the project requirements had resulted in decreasing the profit margin, quality, and enthusiasm of the project team. The changes in the requirement could have been incorporated if proper strategic management tools (like stakeholder map, change management framework, and risk assessments) were used (McNamara 2013). Unit Concepts Change Management The strategic management tools for deploying change management include Change Management Methodology, Principles for change incorporation, and Systematic Framework (Goetsch and Davis 2014). These have been explained below, Change Management Methodology: The use of strategic management has founded some ways for dealing with the changes in requirements by the customers (Rigby and Bilodeau 2015). The change management has been very helpful to me for adjusting the changes in project requirements and deploying a system with integrated change operations. The change management method can be used not only in projects but also in daily life for dealing with sudden changes of the events in human life. The change management is a process which provides the scope for incorporating the changes systematically (Hayes 2014). The use of change management provided us the scope for incorporating the changes in the project. The change management process consists of four steps namely: Identification and submission of change request- In this step, the request for the change in requirements is identified and submitted for processing. Review of change request- In this step, the change request is evaluated and reviewed for scrutinizing the validation of the changes in project requirements. Approval of change request- The different stakeholders like managers, CEO, and other investors approve the changes in the project requirements after analyzing them in terms of feasibility of the project operations. Implementation of change management- In this step, the changes in project management is applied and the closure of the project is requested. Figure 1: Change Management Process (Source: Hornstein 2015, pp-297) Principles for change incorporation: I realized the importance of following project management principles for easily incorporation the changes in the project requirements. The principles used for incorporating the changes in the project requirements are market transparency, labor mobility, scaling, magnitude, duration, and strategic importance (Fullan 2013). These principles are explained below: Market Transparency- It is very important for performing the market transparency analysis before incorporating the changes in the project requirements. The analysis would be helpful for getting an idea of the market services and processes. Labor mobility- The labor mobility is another important feature that is helpful in incorporating the changes of project requirements. It analyzes the function for the mobility of the project team for incorporating the changes of project. Scaling- The scaling shows the level of changes that can be altered (increased or decreased) while incorporation of project requirement changes. Magnitude- The magnitude is an analysis of degree of changes that could be applied and incorporated without affecting the operations of the project. Duration- The duration is an analysis of expected time that would be required for incorporating the changes in the project operations. Systematic Framework: The systematic framework for the process of change management can be implied for incorporating the changes in the project requirements. The systematic framework for the change management includes systematic addressing, managing the hierarchy of process, involving every layer, communication of message, and preparation for unexpected (Hargreaves et al. 2014). The framework has been described below, Systematic Addressing- The change management process can be incorporated by addressing the changes systematically for easing the process of reviewing the changes. The process of change management should be integrated completely with the operations of the project. Hierarchy process- The process of making the project team aware of the required changed must be done hierarchically. The CEO and project managers should be made aware to the change requirement first as they would provide the support and instruction for the change management. Involvement of each layer- There are number of operations in a project. The changes in project requirement must be incorporated for all the operations of the project. The changes affect different levels of organization. Communication of message- The communication among project members is very important as it would help in conveying the requirements at every level of organization and among all the project team. Preparation for unexpected- The project operation does not go as planned always. The team should have to be prepared for unexpected issues while incorporating the changes in project operations. Hence, the team should form a provision for adopting the changes. The strengths of strategic management concepts and principles are that they not only helps in dealing with the financial issues of the project operations but also assist in dealing with the non financial issues (Dobbin and Baum 2014). The strategic management concepts and principles are helpful for assisting the organization to gain more profits and successful service deliverance to the customers. The strategic management concepts and principles of change management methodology, principles for change incorporation, and systematic framework have the following strengths- Core management capabilities and skills included Cross examination ability for project operations Sufficient knowledge for implementing change Systematic flow of operations Leniency of modifications Stakeholder Management: Stakeholder management is one of the most important factors of the overall project management. A project has several stakeholders who need to be well aware about all the details of the project work. Before the engagement of the stakeholders, it is very important to understand the messages need to be sent to the stakeholders and the desired responses from the stakeholders. Consulting early and often with the stakeholders is also an important component of the stakeholder management activity in the project work. In order to gain the support from the stakeholders, they need to be informed at the right time and then providing value to the advices and their feelings. Proper awareness about the human feelings and personal agendas are important. It should be accepted that human do not always behave in a reasonable, consistent, rational or predictable way. Careful planning and proper investment of time is required for a successful project work and stakeholder management. As per Hargreaves et al. (2014), good relationship with the stakeholders is the key to get success in the project management. Engage, interact and listen are three main pillars of the successful stakeholder management in the area of the project management. The stakeholders can also be treated as a category of risk and opportunities that may affect the project management work majorly. In a project it should be examined that the how much value is holding by the stakeholders in the particular project.The success criteria need to be understood by questing. Seek to clarify expectations - perception of success is influenced by the who, what and how? Figure 2: Stakeholder map for construction project (Source: McNamara 2013, pp-398) Risk Management: Each and every type of project has some risks that may affect the project negatively, the duty of the project manager is to identify and manage the risk properly to get the desired level of success in the project work. The risk management work has four steps: Risk Identification: In this step, the project manager should analyze the whole project activities and identify the different risk factors in the area of the project management. In this context, the major risk factors are the budget risks, time risk and the resource allocation risk. Risk Prioritization: After identification of the risk factors, the responsibility of the project manager is to set priority to the risk factors depending on the impact of the risk factors on the project. Some risk factors may have little impact which can be neglected while some may have highly significant impacts on the project (Karimidorabati, Haas and Gray 2013). Mitigation Planning: Depending on the risk priority set to the risk factors, the mitigation plan should be developed. Some of the risk factors can be mitigate while some may not be fully mitigate, then the risk factors should be minimized to the lowest level. Action: Based on he developed plan, the risk mitigation action plan is executed in the last stage of the risk management plan. The core strengths of the management tools and principles like change management methodology, principles for change incorporation, and systematic framework include the core strengths of core management capabilities and skills included, cross examination ability for project operations, sufficient knowledge for implementing change, systematic flow of operations, and leniency of modifications. These strengths would help our project by implementing the change requirements during the project progress. These concepts and principles are very helpful for implementing the operations of the change management in project processes. The benefits of management tools and principles are financial stability, ease of operation, abiding the project management concepts for project operations, and successful change management. Figure 3: Project star model for risk mitigation (Source: Zhao et al. 2017, pp-112) Reflective assessment: Insights and Idea Linking Theoretical and Practical Knowledge Theoretical approach to change management: The strategic management tools for deploying change management include change management methodology, stakeholder analysis, and risk assessment analysis. I have realized the importance of following project management principles and concepts for easing the incorporation of changes in the project requirements of DN107. We can use strategic management for adjusting the changes in project requirements and deploying a system with integrated change operations along with risk management strategies. It would incorporate the stakeholders requirements by complying with the market transparency, labor mobility, scaling, magnitude, duration, and strategic importance. Practical implementation of the theory: The step by step implication of change management, risk assessment, and stakeholder analysis would be helpful for coordinating the process of implementing changes in the project of DN 107. The practical implementation of the strategic management operations are mostly done for construction and software development process (Grol et al. 2013). The software development projects have to face errors and flaws during the testing period. The software developers would have to deal with the issues and find a solution to the respective problem in designing and coding. They use the change management concept for modifying their system design and coding process. Applying change management, risk assessment, and stakeholder analysis in project We can use the change management for adjusting the changes in project requirements and it provides the scope for incorporating the changes systematically. The process involved for applying the change management, risk assessment, and stakeholder analysis have been explained below, Change management- The first phase of implication of change management includes the process of preparing for the changes (including the development of operational model and modification in team management) in the project operations (Chang 2016). The preparation of change in management team would incorporate the changes in the team members. Risk assessment- The risk assessment and management consists of four phases (Cameron and Green 2015). The flow of risk assessment is identification of the different risk factors (such as budget risks, time risk and the resource allocation risk), prioritization of the risk factors depending on their impact on the DN 107 project, planning mitigation strategies should be developed, and development of action plan for execution. Stakeholder analysis- Stakeholder analysis is a strategic management tool that is used for management of several stakeholders involved in the project (Chang 2016). The use of Stakeholder map would be helpful for dividing the stakeholders into internal and external stakeholders and allocating the DN 107 projects resources to them. New Insights on the work situation The change management has been helpful for providing the benefits of management tools and principles are financial stability with risk assessment, ease of operations, abiding the project management concepts of stakeholder analysis for project operations, and successful change management (Booth 2015). I can employ the change management, risk management, and stakeholders analysis with its structural framework for completing our project along with integration of the systematic framework with the project plan and operations. The strategic management provides the scope for project operation development and we can use the tools as per our requirements. Being a project manager, I have to make sure that all the team members have understood the concept of project management. Hence, it is crucial for employing the change management for the project operations. I would get the following benefits for my role in project DN107 with the incorporation of change management in the project operations- Ease of implication of the change management methodology Incorporation of changes in the project operations as per new requirements along with risk assessment Completion of project along with changes in the estimated time and budget Maintaining the desired quality of outcome from the project with the help of stakeholders analysis Key learning points and actions I have proposed the idea for following change management concepts, framework and methodology for implementing the changes in the project operations of project DN107. It would help our team to successfully incorporate the required changes in the project operations. According to Leach (2014), the lack of change management, risk assessment and stakeholders analysis in our project resulted in increased work load, decreased project quality, exhaustion of extra efforts, and delay in project completion for the process of change implication in the project. The changes required in the project for implementing the change management include implying the systematic framework for project DN107. The stakeholders analysis for the change management includes systematic addressing and managing the hierarchy of process for analyzing the requirements and expectations of each of the stakeholders (Batista et al. 2015). Risk assessment would help us for forming a flexible project operation plan that can adjust and adopt the risk factors in operations and minimize their affect on the project. We have to deploy the project risk assessment plan and integrate it with change management methodology for making sure that the operations of project are unaffected. The strategic management methodology includes the actions of identification and submission of change request, review of change request, approval of change request, and implementation of change management (Gollenia 2016). These actions included in the implication of change management and risk assessments are helpful for managing the changes in project operations. The successful completion of the change management, risk assessment and stakeholder analysis would help for successful implementation of the changes in the project (Bradley 2016). The events that would be helpful for knowing the successful implementation of these strategic management tools in the project operations are: Integration of the change management and stakeholders analysis Ease of implication of the risk assessment methodology Incorporation of changes in the project operations as per stakeholders analysis Completion of project along with changes in the estimated time and budget Maintaining the desired quality of outcome from the project Critical Reflection on Assignment process Being a project manager, I have started to follow the systematic framework for deploying change management, risk assessment and stakeholder analysis in all the operations of the project. It would assist us to simplify our operations for change adaptation and making sure that the operations are completed. Hence, it can be said that the strategic management concepts and principles are very important for the project operations and change management. I have learnt about the importance of strategic management concept and methods for incorporating the changes in project operations. The lack of knowledge about the change management, risk assessment and stakeholder analysis was the main reason behind the failure of our project in the first place. If we would have used the process of change management in our project, it would have helped us in adjusting the changes in our project without hindering the progress of our project. Being a project manager, I have to make sure that all the team members have understood the concept of project management. The primary issue of the change management, risk assessment and stakeholder analysis is the problem of time consuming and extra effort used for understanding them. Hence, their use might results in exhausting some extra resources and human effort for successful completion of project. References Batista, J.E., Klbl, H., Herschorn, S., Rechberger, T., Cambronero, J., Halaska, M., Coppell, A., Kaper, M., Huang, M., Siddiqui, E. and BEYOND study group, 2015. The efficacy and safety of mirabegron compared with solifenacin in overactive bladder patients dissatisfied with previous antimuscarinic treatment due to lack of efficacy: results of a noninferiority, randomized, phase IIIb trial.Therapeutic advances in urology, p.1756287215589250. Booth, S.A., 2015.Crisis management strategy: Competition and change in modern enterprises. Routledge. Bradley, G., 2016.Benefit Realisation Management: A practical guide to achieving benefits through change. CRC Press. Burke, R., 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques.New Jersey, USA. Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2015.Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers. Chang, J.F., 2016.Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. CRC Press. Dobbin, F. and Baum, J.A., 2014. Introduction: Economics meets sociology in strategic management.Advances in strategic management,17. Duffield, S., 2015. Application of a Systemic Lessons Learned Knowledge model for organisational learning through projects. InAustralian Institute of Project Management National 2015 Conference, AIPM, Hobart(pp. 56-69). Fullan, M., 2013.Stratosphere: Integrating technology, pedagogy, and change knowledge. Pearson Canada. Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014.Quality management for organizational excellence. pearson. Gollenia, L.A., 2016.Business Transformation Management Methodology. Routledge. Gray, D., Cooper, K. and Grinnall, A., 2014. Social transport collaborative solutions: developing a social/community transport infrastructure for change funded projects and associated activity around reshaping care for older people (RCOP). Grol, R., Wensing, M., Bosch, M., Hulscher, M. and Eccles, M., 2013. Theories on implementation of change in healthcare.Improving Patient Care: The Implementation of Change in Health Care, Second Edition, pp.18-39. Hargreaves, A., Lieberman, A., Fullan, M. and Hopkins, D.W. eds., 2014.International Handbook of Educational Change: Part Two(Vol. 5). Springer. Hayes, J., 2014.The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan. Hornstein, H.A., 2015. The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity.International Journal of Project Management,33(2), pp.291-298. Karimidorabati, S., Haas, C. and Gray, J., 2013.A model for implementing and continuously improving the automated change management process for construction megaprojects(Doctoral dissertation). Leach, L.P., 2014.Critical chain project management. Artech House. McNamara, K.E., 2013. Taking stock of community?based climate?change adaptation projects in the Pacific.Asia Pacific Viewpoint,54(3), pp.398-405. McNiff, J., 2016.You and your action research project. Routledge. Rigby, D. and Bilodeau, B., 2015. Management tools trends 2015.London, Bain Company. Stadelmann, M., Michaelowa, A., Butzengeiger-Geyer, S. and Khler, M., 2015. Universal metrics to compare the effectiveness of climate change adaptation projects.Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation, pp.2143-2160. Zhao, E.Y., Fisher, G., Lounsbury, M. and Miller, D., 2017. Optimal distinctiveness: Broadening the interface between institutional theory and strategic management.Strategic Management Journal,38(1), pp.93-113.

Candide II Essays - Picaresque Novels, Candide, Operas, Pangloss

Candide II Voltaire's Candide is the story of an innocent man's experiences in a mad and evil world, his struggle to survive in that world, and his need to ultimately come to terms with it. All people experience the turmoil of life and must overcome obstacles, both natural and man-made, in order to eventually achieve happiness. In life, "man must find a medium between what Martin (scholar and companion to Candide) calls the "convulsions of anxiety" and the "lethargy of boredom"" (Richter 137). After a long and difficult struggle in which Candide is forced to overcome misfortune to find happiness, he concludes that all is not well (as he has previously been taught by his tutor, Dr. Pangloss), and that he must work in order to find even a small amount of pleasure in life. Candide grows up in the Castle of Westphalia and is taught by the learned philosopher, Dr. Pangloss. Candide is abruptly exiled from the castle when found kissing the Baron's daughter, Cunegonde. Devastated by the separation from Cunegonde, his true love, Candide sets out to different places in the hope of finding her and achieving total happiness. On his journey, he faces a number of misfortunes, among them being tortured during army training, yet he continues to believe that there is a "cause and effect" for everything. Candide is reunited with Cunegonde, and regains a life of prosperity, but soon all is taken away, including his beloved Cunegonde. He travels on, and years later he finds her again, but she is now fat and ugly. His wealth is all gone and so is his love for the Baron's daughter. Throughout Candide, we see how accepting situations and not trying to change or overcome obstacles can be damaging. Life is full of struggles, but it would be nonproductive if people passively accepted whatever fate had in store for them, shrugging off their personal responsibility. Voltaire believes that people should not allow themselves to be victims. He sneers at naive, accepting types, informing us that people must work to reach their utopia (Bottiglia 93). In Candide, reality and "the real world " are portrayed as being disappointing. Within the Baron's castle, Candide is able to lead a Utopian life. After his banishment, though, he recognizes the evil of the world, seeing man's sufferings. The only thing that keeps Candide alive is his hope that things will get better. Even though the world is filled with disaster, Candide has an optimistic attitude that he adopted from Dr. Pangloss' teachings. In spite of his many trials, Candide believes that all is well and everything is for the best. Only once, in frustration, does he admit that he sometimes feels that optimism is "the mania of maintaining that all is well when we are miserable" (Voltaire 41). Candide's enthusiastic view of life is contrasted with, and challenged by the suffering which he endures throughout the book. Voltaire wrote this book in a mocking and satirical manner in order to express his opinion that passive optimism is foolish (Richter 134). Candide eventually learns how to achieve happiness in the face of misadventure. He learns that in order to attain a state of contentment, one must be part of society where there is collective effort and work. Labor, Candide learns, eliminates the three curses of mankind: want, boredom, and vice. In order to create such a society, man must do the following: love his fellow man, be just, be vigilant, know how to make the best of a bad situation and keep from theorizing. Martin expresses this last requirement for such a society succinctly when he says, "Let's work without speculating; it's the only way of rendering life bearable" (Voltaire 77). One of the last people that Candide meets in his travels is an old, poor Turkish farmer who teaches Candide a lesson which allows him to come to terms with the world and to settle down happily. The revelation occurs when Candide and his friends hear of the killing of two intimate advisors of the sultan, and they ask the Turkish farmer if he could give them more details about the situation. "I know nothing of i t, said the good man, and I have never cared

Neighborhood Paper

Neighborhood Paper Neighborhood Paper More to It than Just Ballwin From Ballshow to Ballwin, this city has always prospered in Missouri. Known as one the safest and most family oriented cities, Ballwin is more than just a nice place to live. It is home to many events, parks, and events to provide entertainment for the residents who live there and all those visiting. Even John Ball knew that it would be a great city, changing the name from Ballshow to Ballwin, as he saw it was most likely to â€Å"‘win out† in reputation and growth over its older and more prominent neighbor [Manchester]† (City of Ballwin). Off the radar to many in St. Louis, Ballwin is in fact a remarkable city for entertainment and events for those of all ages. Most people searching for entertainment would not think of Ballwin first, when in actuality Ballwin is a great source of amusement for all. For the younger children, many parents are hoping to keep them busy over the summers when they are at home more often and have less to do. Ballwin hosts many summer camps for kids of all ages. There are many different types for all interests including: Aqua Camp, Harry Potter Camp, Country Club Camp, Science Detective's Camp, Drama Camp, Jam Camp, and many more (City of Ballwin). The kids at these camps are kept busy and safe as they explore their talents and interests in a fun and safe environment with their friends. Many of the parishes in Ballwin also host a Vacation Bible School day camp over the summer for those who would like their child to have a more religious yet fun experience. No matter which summer camp a child goes to, they are bound to have fun. For the teenagers, who deem themselves too old and â€Å"cool† to go to summer camps, there are other things for them to do. West County Lanes, off of Manchester Road, provides a great bowling experience complete with an arcade and Cosmic Bowling (bowling with neon and strobe lights in the evening). Many shops and restaurants are also open on Manchester Road and Big Bend Road (the two main streets in Ballwin) for the younger residents to enjoy. For children and teens of all ages, there are many swimming pools in Ballwin, the two largest being The Pointe and The North Pointe, which are indoor and outdoor recreational facilities with swimming pools and water parks. Also many neighborhoods have residential pools for those that live there. So, as can be seen, there are also many areas of entertainment for the older children and teenagers in Ballwin. Entertainment for adults is also very well sought out. The shops on Manchester and Big Bend are quite popular among adults, along with many restaurants and bars. There are also a few golf courses native to the city, such as Ballwin Golf Course. Each of the golf courses found in the city has a beautiful course with its own clubhouse to rest and relax in after a grueling game. For those that enjoy being outdoors more than others, deer hunting is also a common past time in not only Ballwin but all of St. Louis. St. Louis in 2012 had a population of about 24,500 deer, which was an 18% rise from 2011 (Flinn Sumners Hanson 8). The deer population is steadily growing, despite the many hunters in Missouri. As the deer population grows, so does the number of permitted hunters. In 2012, 517,618 permits were issued for deer hunting alone in Missouri (Flinn Sumners Hanson 19). Although deer hunting is available for all ages, it is mostly adults 40 and over (64% of all permits are issued for this age group). Along with deer hunting, other activities such as regular bingo nights and auctions at many schools and parishes are held for all residents of Ballwin. Everyone is welcome to these events and they are always sure to be fun for all. Being rated as one of the best places to live in 2005, 2011, and 2013 by CNNMoney Magazine, Ballwin continues to be a safe and friendly environment for families to enjoy themselves. Along with all the activities for all different age groups, there are also many

The use of foul language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The use of foul language - Essay Example Tracing the origin of the rise of foul language is a very easy task since a quick click of the remote control will you lead you to a world where the utterances of defamatory, explicit, foul language is as natural as breathing. Foul language has already invaded our living rooms and learning it will take only a few minutes. Hence, it is imperative that the government puts into practice laws to control public use of bad language. The first step that our law enforcers should do is to discuss with the students and school authorities ways which could prevent students from using bad language to each other. As the students and the young people are the ones who spend the most time watching TV, they are also the ones who use foul language the most. What's worse is that, many students use defamatory and abusive expressions to each other which sometimes cause deeper problems such as fighting and bullying. School authorities, enforcers and students should make agreements to set up the rules with regards the avoidance of abusive language within the school premises.

Use the internet to research Apple Corporation, its current Paper - 1

Use the internet to Apple Corporation, its current position,and reputation regarding ethical and social responsibility, and the strategies that it currently employs to market its product - Research Paper Example In other words, in contemporary world issues of reputation and strategy arise as crucial elements of corporate success. Therefore, the given essay presents the analysis of attitude demonstrated by Apple Corporation towards its ethical obligations for the society while possessing its marketing strategy nowadays. In this context, it is evident that corporation needs to ensure its corporate social responsibility conduct to Asian outsourcing companies and accumulate already gained innovative potential in its marketing strategy. Within its inner structure, Apple Inc. is a unique example of vertically integrated four-in-one company; in particular, it presents a complex conglomerate of hardware workers, software specialists, services equipment creators, and retail representatives (Vergara, 2012, p. 78). In this context, Apple is an unusual enterprise in its sector, as it is â€Å"opposed to other computer, tablet or smartphone companies that only design or make the hardware, and rely on other suppliers to supple the operating system and related applications (or apps), and to sell the product† (Vergara, 2012, p. 78). In other words, the comprehensive internal structure of Apple fully satisfies all its needs connected with innovations, production, and sales. In addition, it enlarges the number of personnel. At the same time, it means the greater responsibility and obligations of corporative management. Even though â€Å"Apple is not a manufacturing firm† and â€Å"it outsources its production to other electronic firms† (Vergara, 2012, p. 78), this fact does not change the essential obligation this company has for their employees. In Urakami’s (2012) opinion, â€Å"any company who places an order with a supplier must remember that this is a part of corporate responsibilities to make sure that outsourced business can be completed though due process of business ethics† (p. 3).

Literature review Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Literature review - Dissertation Example Youth gangs is not a new phenomenon in the society as it dates back in 17th century where they were characterized with wearing of distinct colors for their identification and arose mainly from social and economic vacuum in their neighborhoods and their contemporary societies (Wiener 2005). The distinguished emerging larger gangs do have a powerful and resourceful organization, access to powerful and dangerous weapons, and resourceful media which they use to recruit young children into these gangs (Jankowski 2003). Based on this, it can be argued that youth gangs are considered a threat to the peaceful coexistence in the society at large. The origin of youth gangs is greatly attributed to the economically and socially disadvantaged background (Howell 2005). These youth gangs in most societies and neighborhoods are perceived by its members to fill several needs that range from psychological and physical needs to economic and social needs (Howell 2005). Based on these researches, it is notable that these underlying needs are associated with the failure of the family to fill the arising gaps from this. Gangs notable intents is focused on provision of friendship, sense of identity, searching for wealth and finally for the purpose of security (Hastings, Dunbar, & Bania 2011). Nature and organization of youth gangs Youth join gangs mainly due to increasing trusting relationship within the gang family (Brantingham 2006). This is attributed to negligence as well as incompetence on the parents, clergy and teachers in performing their traditional roles of counseling and guiding the youth in the society. In the examination of youth gangs in general, it is notable that gang members have developed trusting solid relationships with their mentors who is considered the gang leader (Brantingham 2006). This relationship of the mentor and the mentee comes along with patience and the willingness and commitment of the mentor in pursuing of a strong relationship (Campbell 2011). It c an be argued that the concept of being real comes in place which is a key attribute of any youth gang leader (Wanberg 2004). This involves the gang leader relating genuine concerns on behalf of the gang members. Therefore the mentor needs not to condemn the mentee for their actions or their immorality but the real attribute ensures that the gang leader listens, understands and help the group members (Campbell 2011). In regard to communication approach, the youth gang leader ensures that it is effective and this can be perceived that this consolidates the youth gang productive relationship and trust (Wanberg 2004). Based on this study, it can be ascribed that it is effective youth gangs have intensive and extensive knowledge and understanding in regard to the gang social norms and rules (Campbell 2011). Categories of Youth Gangs There are three main categories of youth gangs. The first category of youth gangs are corporate gangs in which its main focus is making money and thus consid ered profit making (Sanchez-Jankowski 2003). These categories are considered to be organized attributed by its clearly defined division of labor, high level of gang coordination and a well-entrenched hierarchy. This gang leadership structure has limited its exposure to the criminal and law enforcers thus members of the gang tend not to easily quit the gang (Sanchez-Jankowski 2003). Based on this study, it is evident that this kind of the gang is highly mobile and

The International Strategy Of Coca Cola Company Marketing Essay

The International Strategy Of Coca Cola Company Marketing Essay In this essay we are going to study about the international strategy of Coca-Cola Company using the IR framework for the Indian market. Coca-Cola Company is world known organisation. The growing market around the world mostly depends upon the technologies, knowledge and integration of market, it clearly demonstrates the flow of knowledge, services, goods and capital through different nations and in which creating the competition on a world-wide basis creating an integrated global space is called globalization (Porter, 1986; Albrow, 1997; Friedman, 1999; Gupta et al, 1999). Its a very challenging task for any organisation to move from domestic market or home market to international market, especially for those organisations which are facing saturated market in their home country (Yip, 2003). The process of globalization is interdependence and integration of countries exchanging different trade, culture, outsourcing, capital investment and the growth of the nations relationship. Busine ss systems, knowledge and unification of culture have led to globalization (Daniels and Krug, 2007). Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by Dr. John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia (Palazzini, 1989). The main reasons for the global venture are cheap labour, distribution and transportation, communication and information technology, cultural convergence, increasing disposable of the global middle class, extension of IP rights, reduced trade barriers, privatization programs and development of international standards (Stonehouse et al., 2000;Denton and Al-Shamali, 2000). India was rated the top international investment opportunity among 30 emerging markets for mass merchant and food retailers looking to expand globally (Business Credit, 2006).. After losing the Indian market previously the company re-entered in the Indian market in 1993 and now have 7000 distributors and more than 1.3 million retailers in Indian market. Today the Coca-Cola Company is the leading non-alcoholic beverage company with ten different products. Coca-Cola Company is now the largest distributor, manufacturer, mar keter of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrup which operate in around 200 countries (coca-cola, 2010). If its international venture is successful then the brand name and the brand value increases for the company. Literature review: A Company operating internationally faces two forces of pressure of local responsiveness and pressure of global integration (Daniels et al, 2009). In 1987 Prahlad and Doz came with a IR framework on internationalization, their IR framework created a big platform for the study on global business which helps to form an international strategy that has multi dimensional contextual setting. IR framework has limitations for the global industrial competition specified only for the first stage, vagueness in the concept that defines the bond between industry forces and finally lack of proof for supporting the framework (Rugman et al, 2006). Bartlett and Ghoshal (2008) further studied and came with some additions in IR framework and came up with 4 strategies that are international, global, transitional and multi-domestic approaches to the foreign market. The Global Strategy adopted by Coca-Cola can be critically analyzed using the IR (Integration/ Responsive) framework proposed by Bartlett, Gh oshal and Beamish (2008) and Hill(2009). Figure 1: IR- Framework ` The global standardization products and services focus on huge profit, but they compromise on their products price. The marketing research, production and research are done in precise regions with some certain standard and it is sold globally. So those type of products face a huge pressure in reducing the price according to the place where it is sold for example Intel, a chip company (Hill, 2009). According to Bartlett and Ghoshal (2002), a solution for the cross border business is Transnational, which is considered as the important approach for the international market. The transnational strategy gives a lot of pressure to the company for cost reduction and local responsiveness. This could be achieved by transferring the precise skills and expectations of the company from the home country to the needs of the foreign country, where they compete with the local market with reduced price for example Caterpillar (Hill, 2009). Entry Modes: Every organisation looks for the opportunity to expand their business across borders, and finding the appropriate entry mode is an intricate task for international business. Different organisation chose different entry modes, to control foreign operation with strategic decision making and which are compatible with the laws of government and culture of the country. There are various modes for entering in the international market like exporting, licensing, franchising, joint ventures with the host country firm, acquisition, and wholly owned new subsidiary in the foreign Country (Hill, 2009). Joint Venture: it is one of the method of entering and sharing of ownership between two or more firms. The percentage of the ownership varies according to the organisations. The firms holding majority of share will have a tight control on the strategy (Hill, 2009). International joint venture benefits the firm from the use of local market knowledge of the host country, culture, competitiveness, legal and political system and development. From International Joint Venture the risk can also be shared with the local partner. Joint Venture has disadvantages also when a firm enters into a joint venture it risk giving control of the technology to its partners. Another disadvantage is if the share of joint venture is not that high or 50-50% then it does not give a firm the tight control over subsidiaries that it might need to realize experience curve or location economies (Hill, 2009). Used by PepsiCo to enter in the Indian Market. Acquisition: it is another method of entering into the international market by acquiring or buying and combination of different companies that can aid, finance, or help a company in a given industry without creating a new business entity (Hill. 2009). Used by Coca-Cola to enter Indian market. It is important for the organisation to consider factors such as the nations long run profit potential, the economic benefits of that country, the market size, and purchasing power of consumers and customers which is linked to the economic growth rate when entering in the market (Hill, 2009). Global Strategy of COCA-COLA: (Zhang, 2010) Indian market is one of the major developing economies in the world. The Indian economy is one of the worlds fastest growing, with gross domestic product (GDP) expanding at an average annual rate of about 7.5 percent for the past three years (Choi, 2006; The Economist, 2006) and the retail market expanding 10 percent on average (Business Credit, 2006) (anon). The Indian retail market, an estimated $250 billion annually, is the worlds eighth largest market and is projected to grow by more than 7 percent annually (Embassy of India, 2007-Cited in Halepete, 2008). The Coca-Cola Company is mentioned as a global company with global products and global activities. In 1980 the company was moving towards centralised control. At that time the motive of the company are to be global in order to expand geographical wise into many of the countries in which the company does business today. In 1990 the world began to start smaller and smaller as a town for the global companies. Globalisation forced changes to appear so fast that many countries could hardly manage the new global environment. As a result, the very forces that were making the world more connected and homogeneous were simultaneously triggering and preservation of unique culture identity. The world is demanding greater flexibility, responsiveness, local sensitivity, nimbleness, speed, transparency and local sensitivity had become essential to success (Draft, 2000). Coca-Cola Company sees itself not as a global organization, but as a multi-local enterprise (Svensson, 2001). Coca-Cola Company historical strength came from operating as a multi-local business that for a very long time relies mostly on the insight of local bottling partners. Thats why the global strategy of coca-cola allows its business in more than 200 countries to act according for local laws, local culture, and local needs and so on. Coca-Cola pursues an assumed global strategy, allowing for differences in packaging, distribution, and media that are important to a particular country or geographical area. Hence, the global strategy is localized through a specific geographic marketing plan. Instead of applying a global strategy, it is likely to be a strategy of thinking globally, but acting locally. The global success of Coca-Cola is the direct result of people drinking it one bottle at the time in their own local communities. So we are placing responsibility and accountability in the hands of our colleagues who are closest to those billions of individual sales (Draft, 2000). This signifie s that if their local colleagues develop an idea or a strategy that is the right thing to do locally, and it fits within fundamental values, policies, and standards of integrity and quality of the Coca-Cola Company, then they have the authority and responsibility to do so. At the same time, they will be accountable for the outcomes of the idea or strategy. It is apparent that a company such as the Coca-Cola Company has realized the weaknesses and the deficiencies of applying a genuine or true global strategy approach in their worldwide business activities. To be in high favour of local ultimate consumer adaptations is emphasized as crucial for their business activities to be prosperous. Therefore, their multi-local strategy approach is still going strong and adequately for the companys worldwide business activities. In addition Gould (1995) states that coca-cola has become a part of peoples daily meal, a price at which anyone can buy and it is available to people in any part of the world. The IR framework has been used to critically analyse the global strategy of Coca-Cola. COCA-COLA COMPANY saw that there is an opportunity in Asian market and their home market situation is saturated. COCA-COLA COMPANY decided to re-enter in the Indian market in 1993. Indian government plays a major role in every international company and had a law that any international company have to become a partner in Indian market with an Indian company. To overcome this problem COCA-COLA COMPANY acquisition of local Indian popular brands including the THUMS UP (the most trusted brand in India), Mazza, Gold Sport, Citra and Limca providing a good base not only in bottling, manufacturing and di stribution assets but also very good strong consumer preference(Kaul, 2003). From this acquisition the leading Indian brands join the family of global brand and its products like coca-cola, diet coke and others. From this acquisition Coca-Cola enables to exploit the benefits global branding and global trends in taste while also tapping in other domestic markets (Lane, 1998). Coca-Cola adopted the standardisation strategy to produce and sell its standardised products globally (Rodrigues, 2009). Coca-Cola Company do franchise with the local manufacturing bottling companies through which they have a local response and local touch. In India COCA-COLA COMPANY have 46 bottling plants from which 22 are company own and rest are the franchise operated plant (Coca-Cola, 2010). After re-entering the Indian market in 1993 the COCA-COLA COMPANY operations grown rapidly through a model that supports local business which includes over 1.3 million retailers and over 7000 distributors across the country. Coca-cola has been successful in the global market as well as Indian market because it follows the local strategies and is able to deliver as per the needs of the local people by manufacturing and distribution by the local company (Hill, 2009). In manufacturing the product the water which is used is local from which the customers get the local taste. The company have an approach where in, their business does not get influenced by the area of sales. Rodrigues (2009), states that Coca-Cola pursues the global strategy of producing diverse products as per the local culture. For instance in India people prefer sweeter coke. Also Coca-Cola launched Georgia, a canned coffee specially intended for Indian market which captured 40% of the market soon after its launch (Hill, 2009). According to Cokecce.com (2007), Coca-Cola trains their managers in their management school, to make them aware of the global perspective of their operations. Figure 2: IR-Framework Adapted from (Bartlett, Ghoshal and Beamish (2008) and Hill(2009)) Manufacturing Distribution Process: This picture is to explain the process from the production and manufacturing to the consumers. Marketing is one of the back bones of any global industry in any country. As to stay in the market ahead from the competitors, marketing plays the major role in Indian market for soft drinks. The post- liberalization period in India saw the comeback of Cola but Pepsi(one of the major competitor India) had already beaten Coca-Cola to the punch, creatively entering the market in the 1980s in advance of the liberalization by the way of joint venture. Coca-Cola Company benefited from Pepsi creating demand and developing the market for soft drinks. (Kaul, 2004) Coca-Cola Company marketing strategy is based on 3 As that are Availability, Affordability and Acceptability. The first A is for availability of the product to the customers. The second A is for affordability is for pricing and the third A is for acceptability which stands convincing the customer to buy the product. In 2001 Coca-Cola CEO Douglas Daft set the new direction for next generation of success for global brand with a Think global, act local mantra. Recognizing that a single global strategy or single global campaign wouldnt work, locally relevant executions became an increasingly important element of supporting Cokes global brand strategy. Coca-Cola Company re-examined its approach in an attempt to gain leadership in the Indian market and capitalize on significant growth potential in the rural markets. The foundation the new strategy grounded brand positioning and marketing communications in consumer insight, acknowledging that urban versus rural India were two distinct markets on a variety of important dimensions. (Kaul, 2004) In rural market, where both the soft drink category and individual brands were undeveloped, the task was to broaden the brand positioning while in urban markets, with higher category and brand development, the task was to broaden the brand positioning while in urb an markets, with higher category and brand development, the task to narrow the brand positioning focusing on differentiation through offering unique and compelling value. (Kaul, 2004) Coca-Cola used two different marketing strategies for each urban and rural market. The first marketing life ho to aisi means life as it should be for urban market and the other was thanda matlab coca cola which means cool or cold is coca cola which hit the rural target very highly and gain the market very efficiently because the 96% of the population are in rural and developing cities. Coca-Cola Company reduced its rate for the rural market by providing 200ml bottle so that those customers and consumers whose wages are not so high can also have it. (Kaul, 2004) At the same time, Coke invested in distribution infrastructure to effectively serve a disbursed population and doubled the number of retail outlets in rural areas from 80,000 in 2001 to 160,000 in 2003, increasing market penetration from 13 to 25%. As a result of the marketing campaign, Coca-Cola won Advertiser of the year and Campaign of the year 2003. (Kaul, 2004) Swot analysis of Coca-Cola Company: Strengths: The brand image of coca-cola is very strong around the world and have a strong brand portfolio. Cola-cola brand value was increased by 2% from 2007 to 2008 and it is $66,667 million. Coca-Cola owned top five brands of soft drinks market around the world. Strong brand image allows the company to introduce new flavours in the market like vanilla coke, cherry coke and coke with lemon. The companys strong brand image facilitates customers recall and allows company to penetrate new markets while holding the old ones. Coca-cola Company offers more than 3000 products across the world. Coca-cola Company is running business in more than 200 countries in the world which provide it a strong global image. Due to the strong business model across the world company is able to generate significant cash flows up to $50 million a day. (Data Monitors, 2009) Weakness: Pension assets effect the company liquidity position of the company due to financial market volatility. Coca-cola Company is very mature having significantly more pensioners than active participating members. (Data Monitors, 2009) Opportunity: Globally the non alcoholic ready to drink market is increasing by 6% every year for the next 12 years. (Data monitors, 2009). This project growth is due to the increase in middle-class consumers and fast growing urban societies expected to form in the future. The company can capture this growth with innovative new products with old products. (Data Monitors, 2009) Threats: Coca-Cola Company is largely dependent on the bottling partners across the world. Approximately 78% of its worldwide production was produced and distributed by its bolting partners in 2008. Due to independent bottling partner companies make their own business decision that may not always align with Cola-Cola Company interest. Many of its bottling partners have a right to manufacture or distribute certain products of other beverage companies. In soft drink market there is intense competition and one of the major global competitors of Coca-Cola Company is PepsiCo. Competitive factors impacting companys business include advertising, product innovation, sales promotion programs, brand and trademark development and pricing. Decline in the market share of the home country which means the consumers have started to look for greater variety in their drinks and are becoming health conscious. Other major threat for the soft drink companies is reducing level of water for which the government and WHO is forcing the companies to reduce the level of water used in manufacturing the products. (Data Monitors, 2009) Competitor Analysis: The one of the major competitor in India and in global market is Pepsi. Pepsi entered in the India market in 1980s through joint venture. As early as 1985, Pepsi tried to gain entry into India and finally succeeded with Pepsi foods limited project in 1988 as a joint venture of PepsiCo, Punjab government owned Punjab agro industrial corporation (PAIC) and Voltas India limited (Singh, 1997). Pepsi was marketed and sold to Lehar Pepsi until 1991 when the use of foreign brands was allowed under the new economic policy and Pepsi ultimately bought out its partners becoming a fully owned subsidiary and ending the joint venture relationship in 1994. While the joint venture was only marginally successful in its own right, it allowed Pepsi to gain precious early experience with the Indian market and also served as an introduction of the Pepsi brand to the Indian market and also served as an introduction of the Pepsi brand to the Indian consumer such that it was well poised to reap the benefits when liberalization came (Kaul, 2004). SWOT analysis of PEPSICO: Strengths: The PepsiCo brand is figured at the 27th position in the top 100 global brand rankings of Business Week. The brand value of PepsiCo is $13,249 million in 2008. PepsiCo owns 18 mega brands which are recognise globally and generate annual sales of $1 billion each. In some countries PepsiCo is allowed to manufacture, sell and distribute soft drink products other than PepsiCo, including Dr Pepper and Squirt. PepsiCo have a strong manufacturing and distribution channel having 591 facilities till the end of 2008 and half of it is in USA and Canada. (Data Monitors, 2008) Weakness: The company operates 74.4% of its revenue from its home country USA and the USA market for soft drinks is decreasing. The net profit margin of the company is reduced by 3.9% as compare for the last year. The weak operational growth of the company will affect its future growth plan and can affect the investor confidence. (Data Monitors, 2008) Opportunities: Bottled water is one the fastest growing market globally. PepsiCo has the leading manufacturer and distributor in this market and can capture more market by developing new brands and making better the existing ones. PepsiCo made significant acquisition including two of the other Pepsi bottlers in which one is the eight largest Pepsi bottler in the Pepsi Bottling Group from which they are reducing the partners power slowly. (Data Monitors, 2008) Threats: PepsiCo is facing problem in the home country from where the company is generating the maximum revenue. The consumers are becoming more health conscious. The company is facing intense competition from its competitors mainly the Coca-Cola Company which is one of the major competitors globally. Competitive factors impacting companys business include advertising, product innovation, sales promotion programs, brand and trademark development and pricing. There are new laws from government and World Health Organisation(WHO) to reduce the usage for water in the manufacturing and for labelling, employment, and recycling and product safety. Conclusion: By using the IR framework tool it is evident that Coca-Cola is a global company and doing business in more than 200 countries with a global strategy and a local response. It entered in Indian market due to saturation in the home country market and the growing economies of India. Coca-Cola Company entered the Indian market by acquisition entry method by acquiring Local soft drinks brand like Thumsup, Limca from which gain knowledge about the country soft drink market. The company captured the Indian market majorly through marketing and targeting the rural market which contains the 96% of the population. The company use three A strategy to be to gain more market share. In Indian market Coca-Cola have 46 bottling plants some of them is owned and others are in partnership from which they share the risk, 1.3 million retailers and over 7000 distributors which gives the company a strong base. Business Credit (2006), India tops annual list of most attractive countries for international retail expansion, Business Credit, Vol. 107 No. 7, p. 72. Choi, A. (2006), Eyeing Indias riches: as barriers come down, luxury brands go slow, WWD, March 13. Broken commitments: The case of Pepsi in India. Kavaljit Singh, PIRG Update, May 1997. Interview with Nymph Kaul, 9/20/04 Halepete, J., Iyer, S., and Park, C., S., 2008. Wal-Mart in India: a success or failure: International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 36(9), pp.701-713 Zhang, M., 2010, International Business Management, Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University Kaul, Nymph. Rai University, Coca-Cola India. Keller, Kevin Lane. Strategic Brand Management. Prentice Hall, 1998 Svensson, G., 2001 Glocalization of business activities: a glocal strategy management decision 39/1 pp. 6-18. Kaul, Nymph. Interview of Sanjiv Gupta, President and CEO of Coca-Cola India, June 2004. Gupta, A. K., Govindarajan, V., Malhotra, A. (1999). FEEDBACK-SEEKING BEHAVIOR WITHIN MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS. Strategic Management Journal , 205-222. Rugman, A. M., Collinson, S and Hodgetts, R. M. (2006). International Business. Financial Times Management; 4th Revised edition edition Bartlett, C., S. Ghoshal, and P. Beamish. 2008. Transnational Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Free Terrorism Essays: We Must Oppose Peaceniks :: September 11 Terrorism Essays

We Must Oppose Peaceniks There is a certain segment of the population on any contemporary college campus that is never satisfied unless it is dissatisfied. So addicted is this small minority to the rush one receives from righteous indignation that, after centuries of moral progress in what is by now a relatively just society, their lives are reduced to a desperate search for sufficiently eye-catching evils to combat. Sweatshops one year, the low wages of University workers the next - while collegiate activism addicts often find themselves fighting real and continuing injustices, their brief battles are mere momentary fads, reduced to being the political equivalent of bellbottoms or boy bands. In the middle of the 2001 fall fashion season, however - a season which was supposed to bring with it both shorter hemlines and renewed opposition to the IMF - Americans witnessed evil in its purest and most dramatic form. Here, finally, was a genuine need for immediate action. Habitual activists thus joined their fellow students in giving blood and helping to organize aid for the victims of the tragedy, and I applaud them for their good work. Horrified at for once being part of a moral majority, however, this coterie soon found that the relief effort was insufficient to satisfy its old addiction. A real jolt of righteous indignation, it seems, comes only from a stance directly opposed to that of the American mainstream, or, as they like to call it, the capitalist hegemony. The movementarians needed to find a new, less popular movement for themselves, and sure enough one was to be found with relative ease - a late '60s classic that never goes out of style, one by the name of "peace." Generally speaking, I too am in favor of peace. (For the record, I'm generally well to the left of Joe Lieberman.) Not only would I take a state of peace over a state of war any day, I am also opposed to such military tactics as the invasion of randomly selected developing nations or the wholesale slaughter of their innocent civilians. Except for those with a religiously grounded commitment to absolute pacifism, however, we can all agree that there are times when certain acts of war are both appropriate and just. The vast majority of the American people believe that now is one of those times, and they are right to do so.

Succubus Shadows Chapter 9

â€Å"She couldn't have!† I exclaimed. â€Å"He was with me all night.† â€Å"Not after the concert ended,† pointed out Roman. â€Å"You know, I think that band might really be going somewhere.† Whatever trace of sentiment he'd shown earlier with me had vanished in Carter's presence. â€Å"Simone was hanging out in that twenty-four-hour coffee shop,† Carter said. â€Å"Seth went there to work after – what was it you said? You were at a concert?† â€Å"Yeah,† I said. â€Å"Blue Satin Bra.† The angel gave Roman a nod of agreement. â€Å"Those guys are great.† â€Å"Hey, can we stick to the issue here?† I gave both of them glares. â€Å"What happened with Seth and Simone?† Carter shrugged. â€Å"Same as usual. He came in and noticed her first, though. She had her head in a book – didn't even look up until he walked over.† â€Å"Well played,† I said. â€Å"Forces him into the aggressive role.† â€Å"I don't think Seth's ever really in an aggressive role,† mused Carter. â€Å"It just put him in a position to make the first move, if he wanted to be polite.† During our brief affair, Seth and I had made love so tenderly and so sweetly that poets would have wept at its beauty. Other times, things had been downright dirty, and I think Carter might have reconsidered his comment about Seth being aggressive, had the angel known. â€Å"Then what?† I demanded. â€Å"Like I said, the same. They talked about different things – a lot of topics interesting to Seth, really. I think she might have done some research on him.† â€Å"Fucking lovely.† I collapsed onto the couch, and then I promptly shot back up. â€Å"I'm going over there – â€Å" â€Å"Gone,† interrupted Carter. â€Å"They went separate ways, and then she bagged some guy, and I decided it was time for me to fly away.† â€Å"Lucky bastard,† grumbled Roman. â€Å"You have no idea what kind of shit I had to sit through.† The hint of a smile flickered on Carter's face before he turned back to me. I sighed and sat back down. â€Å"Confronting her's no good anyway. You already did it, and nothing came of it. I'm guessing this would just be a repeat.† Probably a good point. Being in a conflict with a succubus kind of sucked. I could punch Hugh or the vampires, and even with immortal healing, they'd still sport a black eye for a few hours – longer if I was really good. But with a succubus? I could smack her around, and she'd shape-shift the damage. And as for verbal fighting? Well, seeing as I had no real leverage, I'd probably just fuel her further and provide more cat fight entertainment for my friends. â€Å"Well,† I said to Roman. â€Å"I think I'm pissed off enough now that you don't have to go to bed with me.† Carter's eyebrow rose again. â€Å"I mean, he doesn't have to watch me sleep,† I explained. â€Å"I was kind of glum earlier, and we were worried my mystery†¦thing†¦might show up again.† â€Å"Why glum?† asked Carter. He attempted innocence, but I wasn't fooled. Even without being at the concert, he could easily figure out what had me down. â€Å"Long story.† Those silvery gray eyes bored into me, and I shifted and looked away. I hated when he did that. It was like he could see into my soul. That was a place I didn't even want to look at – let alone have others do it. I attempted a change in subject. â€Å"You know, I was thinking about this thing that's going on†¦this force or siren song or whatever. It's not like what happened with Nyx, but there's still a dreamlike quality to it, you know? I mean, it certainly seems like I'm sleepwalking. Do you think she could be back?† â€Å"Nope,† said Carter. â€Å"She's definitely still locked up. I checked myself.† â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Really.† I didn't follow up with the obvious question. Had Carter done it for me? I mean, checking up on Nyx probably wasn't too hard for him. He probably just asked some angel buddy who asked another angel†¦etc. It still made me wonder about Carter's endgame. Why go to such trouble for me? Why look into this? Why track Simone? His expression made me think he guessed my thoughts, something I hated. â€Å"Thanks,† I said. â€Å"But I think I'm heading to bed now.† â€Å"And I,† said Carter, â€Å"am going to get a drink.† â€Å"Done with Simone for good?† asked Roman. Carter made a dismissive gesture. â€Å"At least for tonight. I'll find her in the morning.† â€Å"You're kind of a slacker spy,† I pointed out, though I definitely understood his reasons for avoiding the other succubus' liaisons. His only response was another smile before he vanished. â€Å"Now what?† I wondered aloud. â€Å"Now,† said Roman, â€Å"you get your beauty sleep so that I can have another captivating day of listening to you give recommendations for people who enjoyed The Da Vinci Code.† â€Å"You know you love it,† I said, walking off toward my bedroom. â€Å"Sure you don't want company?† I glanced back at him and studied his face, the lovely lines of it and blue-green eyes like the Mediterranean of my youth. His expression was speculative, wry humor twisting his lips. I couldn't entirely tell if he was joking. Or what his exact meaning was. â€Å"Positive.† My words were a little bolder than I felt, but the night passed uneventfully, again furthering the idea that my blue moods were the target. Consequently, this put me in a good mood when I went to work the next day. I even wore yellow in an attempt at further cheeriness and greeted my coworkers with such enthusiasm that Doug wanted to know what drugs I was taking – and if he could have some. All of that changed when, while headed for the science fiction section, I felt something totally unwelcome: an immortal signature. A succubus immortal signature. And I knew exactly which succubus it belonged to. I did a 180, took a few steps, and tried to pinpoint its direction. Fiction. I headed straight over there, and sure enough, there was Simone – with Seth. She wore that guise I'd heard reports of, the bookish – yet sexy – brunette. They were standing by Seth's section, and she was holding up one of his paperbacks, Idiosyncraso. I knew she could feel my signature as I approached, but her eyes stayed on Seth, her conversation not missing a beat. â€Å"You really wrote this in college?† â€Å"Yup,† he said. â€Å"It wasn't the first I had published, though. I shelved it for years before digging it out and revising it.† â€Å"Cool,† she said, flipping through the pages. â€Å"I can't wait to read it. It'll give me something to do before your next one.† â€Å"Well, don't get your – oh, hey.† Seth had spotted me. I came to a stop beside them, and Simone turned toward me politely. â€Å"How's it going?† I asked, voice harsher than I intended. Seth, always sensitive to me, looked a little surprised at my tone but didn't acknowledge it. â€Å"Fine. Georgina, this is Kelly. Kelly, Georgina. Georgina's the manager here.† â€Å"Hi, Kelly.† I shook her hand with a hardness she matched, and we both continued grinning at each other like Stepford Wives. â€Å"I met Kelly at a coffee shop,† said Seth mildly, not aware he was in succubus crossfire. â€Å"Told her she should see the store sometime.† â€Å"It's great,† said Simone, all adorable innocence. â€Å"I'm a big reader. I love all things books. And meeting one of my favorite authors has given me great insight.† â€Å"Well,† said Seth, a little embarrassed at the attention. â€Å"I don't know how much insight I'm really offering.† Simone laughed. â€Å"Lots. I feel like I'm getting something from you each time I see you.† â€Å"Have you seen each other a lot?† I asked. â€Å"Kelly moved to Queen Anne,† said Seth. â€Å"So we keep running into each other.† â€Å"It's a great area,† I said. â€Å"Where do you live?† Simone faltered. â€Å"Um, on Queen Anne.† â€Å"Street, Avenue, or Drive?† Seth seemed surprised at the interrogative style of the question. Simone turned nervous. â€Å"Eh, Avenue.† Damn. Lucky guess. Queen Anne Street didn't exist. â€Å"Nice place.† Turning my back on her, I looked at Seth. â€Å"I came over because I heard someone say Maddie was looking for you.† That wasn't true at all. Maddie wasn't even in for another hour. I gave Simone a casual glance. â€Å"Maddie's his fianc? ¦e.† â€Å"I didn't think she was in yet,† said Seth. Why, of all days, would his memory be up and running today? â€Å"Maybe I misheard,† I said with a shrug. â€Å"But I figured you'd want to check.† â€Å"I will,† he said, still a little puzzled. â€Å"I need to show Kelly one more book.† She shot me a triumphant look, but I knew she'd accomplished nothing with Seth. He had that expression he got when he was so focused on something – in this case, the history of books – that he was distracted from the world. â€Å"Kelly† was a pleasant coincidence. Simone was too overconfident to notice. Seth turned back to the shelves, and me staying would have seemed awkward. With his attention elsewhere, I shot Simone a warning look. â€Å"Well, I'm sure I'll see you around.† â€Å"Oh,† she said with a serene smile, â€Å"you will.† When I got home later that day, I was ready to break some furniture. â€Å"Did you see – â€Å" â€Å"Yes, yes, I saw,† said Roman, materializing beside me. â€Å"Calm down.† I let out a small cry of frustration, something primal with no real form. â€Å"I can't believe that bitch! Can't believe she'd actually do it right in front of me! She did it on purpose. She did it on purpose to taunt me.† Roman was the picture of tranquility as he leaned against the wall, a far cry from my frazzled, pacing state. â€Å"Of course she did. It's like mobsters who threaten their victims in a crowd – there's absolutely no way you could have fought back, not with that many witnesses.† â€Å"Nice analogy,† I muttered. â€Å"Maybe there'll be a horse head in my bed next.† â€Å"I could leave one in hers, if it would help,† he offered. That almost made me smile. Almost. Except I wasn't entirely sure he was joking. â€Å"The really comical part is that Seth brought it about, you know? He was trying to stay away from me and walked right into this.† â€Å"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.† I didn't dignify that with an answer. â€Å"Look,† he said in all seriousness, taking a few steps toward me. â€Å"It sucks that she's doing this, and we can definitely rule out coincidence. But if Seth's with Maddie while she's there, you know nothing's going to happen. And Carter will report back to us. No point in getting worked up over it.† â€Å"Easier said than done. Nothing's going to distract me from this.† He moved closer still and rested his hands on my upper arms. â€Å"Oh? When was the last time you went dancing?† I blinked in surprise. The last time I'd been dancing? It had been a salsa lesson at the bookstore earlier this year, after which Seth and I had ripped each other's clothes off in my office. â€Å"A while ago,† I said evasively, thrown off by both the question and his fingertips on my skin. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Let's go out,† he said. â€Å"There are a million places we can go. Any kind of dance you want. If memory serves, you're an okay dancer.† I narrowed my eyes. â€Å"I'm an excellent dancer, and you know it.† He leaned his face closer. â€Å"Then prove it.† â€Å"Irrelevant. I don't feel like going out.† Roman sighed and stepped away. I found I was a little disappointed to have him let go. â€Å"Man,† he said. â€Å"I remember when you used to be fun. I'm glad I left town when I did.† He walked over to my entertainment center and knelt down. â€Å"Well, if Muhammed won't come to the mountain†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Good grief. You're a wealth of religious proverbs tonight, aren't you?† â€Å"Hey, just trying to – Jesus Christ. CDs? You do know the Dark Ages ended a long time ago.† He pointed at my collection with disdain. â€Å"Everyone's gone digital now. You know, those little magical devices that store music? Or do you consider them some kind of witchcraft?† â€Å"Technology changes every year. Jump on a fad, and you're obsolete before you know it.† â€Å"Honestly, it's a wonder you aren't cooking over a fire in the middle of your living room.† â€Å"You forget – I don't cook.† â€Å"I live here. I haven't forgotten.† By then, he'd put one of my â€Å"archaic† CDs in the player. I laughed. â€Å"You're one to talk about ancient history. This is old school.† â€Å"Nah.† He rose and offered me his hands. â€Å"This is classic. Never goes out of style.† â€Å"Yeah,† I said, as the music began playing. â€Å"All the kids are doing foxtrot nowadays. Geez, it's even the slow style.† But I still let him take hold of my hands. â€Å"Hey, you're the one who owns that CD.† We both fell into the steps effortlessly, gliding around the living room and managing to dodge the furniture with some grace. Roman had a long list of flaws, but one of his better traits was that he was almost as good a dancer as me. â€Å"Why do you dance so well?† I asked, stepping over Aubrey. She didn't seem concerned at all about getting squashed and had shown no signs of moving when we began to dance. â€Å"What kind of a question is that? Why do you dance so well?† â€Å"Natural instinct, I guess. That's what I'm wondering. Was it something you were born with? Or is it something you can't help but perfect over the years? I mean, you've been around for a while. I suppose if you put your mind to something that long, you can't help but master it.† He laughed. â€Å"To tell you the truth, I don't know. Maybe it's in the blood.† â€Å"Oh, come on. I cannot picture Jerome out on the dance floor.† â€Å"Not him. My mother. She was a dancer. A slave girl for this king a long, long time ago†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Roman's gaze turned inward. He didn't seem angry, so much as nostalgic. â€Å"Of course, he was pretty pissed off when she got pregnant. That kind of thing tends to ruin the chorus line.† â€Å"What happened to her?† I hadn't been around that long ago, but certain things stayed the same through time. Slaves who angered their masters got beaten or sold to someone else. Or worse. â€Å"I don't know. Jerome took her away, off to some village where she could be a free woman.† I frowned. I still had trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of my boss falling – romantically and divinely – for a mortal. â€Å"Did he stay with her? He would have been a demon by then†¦.† â€Å"He never came back. First time I saw him was last year. My mother didn't hold a grudge, though. She would talk about him all the time†¦said he was beautiful. I don't know if she meant as an angel or a demon, though. Probably he looked the same, seeing as they're the same beings, really.† â€Å"I'm guessing he didn't look like John Cusack though.† â€Å"No.† This made Roman laugh again. â€Å"Probably not. My mother took on mundane jobs whenever we moved villages – washing woman, field worker. But at least she was free. And she still danced sometimes. I saw her once, when I was really young†¦just before she was killed. There was a festival, and I remember her dancing in front of the fire, wearing this red dress.† All mirth disappeared from him. â€Å"That image is burned into my mind. I can see how an angel would have fallen for her.† I didn't ask any questions about how she was killed. In those days, it could have been as simple as a raid or attack. They were commonplace. Or, more likely, she'd been killed in an attempt on Roman and his sister. He'd once mentioned that they were always on the run from angels and demons. â€Å"So maybe you learned to dance as a subconscious tribute to her,† I said, shifting to something lighter. That half-smile returned. â€Å"Or maybe I just inherited my father's attraction to graceful, sensual women.† The song ended, and we stood there, frozen in time with our hands still entwined. Foxtrot was hardly the bumping and grinding seen in modern clubs, but our bodies were close, and I felt like I could sense the heat from his. Whether it was real or imagined, I couldn't say. But I did know there was something very seductive about dancing, about mirroring another's body, and somehow, I wasn't surprised when he leaned down and kissed me. I was a little surprised that I kissed him back. But not for long. Because as our lips met, I realized how much I'd come to regard Roman as a comforting fixture in my life. We'd grown from adversaries to friends to†¦what? I didn't entirely know. I did know that I liked having him around and that I'd never really shaken the attraction that had drawn me to him long ago. I also knew that I was lonely for the touch of someone I liked and that I had an automatic instinct to respond to this sort of thing. His mouth pressed harder against mine, as hot and demanding as I recalled. His hands quickly moved from the formal orientation of foxtrot to something more intimate and eager, sliding down to my hips and somehow managing to push me against the wall while also shoving my shirt up. My own hands were around his neck, my lower body pressing against his as I felt all my nerves set on fire and lust coursing through me. He managed to break away enough to pull my shirt off, and then his hands moved to my breasts, which were wrapped in a white lace bra. He glanced down and made a face as he pulled from our kiss. â€Å"Can't you make it a front hook?† A small bit of shape-shifting made the bra disappear altogether. â€Å"Don't trouble yourself,† I said. He smiled and moved his lips to my neck while his hands cupped the curves of my breasts. It made it impossible for me to take his shirt off, but I slid my hands under it, loving the feel of his warm skin and taut muscles. I tipped my head back, letting him taste me and increase the intensity of his kissing. And through it all, there were no voices in my head. I heard none of his thoughts, sensed none of his feelings. I was alone – alone with my own reactions, simply enjoying the way my body felt with no other interruptions. It was glorious. I at last managed a break that let me pull his shirt off, and then my hands moved to his pants, putting us in a brief deadlock as he tried to move his lips to my nipples. I won and watched his pants fall to the floor. With that concession, he pulled me down as well and continued his efforts to kiss my breasts, almost kneeling before me as he did so. I ran my hands through his hair, gripping his head while his mouth sucked and teased. As he did, his eyes glanced up and met mine. I saw the desire in them and – something more. Something I hadn't expected to see. There was†¦what? Love? Adoration? Affection? I couldn't quite pin it down, but I recognized the general category. It was a slap to the face. I hadn't anticipated it. Lust, I'd expected. A primitive instinct to throw me down and fuck me, in order to relieve his body's need. For so long, I'd operated on the assumption that he kind of liked me and kind of wanted to hate me. Yet, now, I realized those nice moments we'd had recently weren't coincidence. His sharp attitude had been a facade, meant to hide his feelings. Roman still loved me. I identified it for what it was. He wasn't doing this just because he wanted my body. He wanted me. This was more than just fulfilling a physical instinct for him, and suddenly†¦suddenly, I didn't know what to do. Because I realized then, I didn't know why I was doing this. There was a fair amount of lust on my part, and I'd grown closer to him since his return to Seattle. But the rest†¦? I wasn't sure. There was so much going on right now: Maddie, Simone, Seth†¦Always Seth. Seth, who even now made my heart ache while I was wrapped in the arms of another man. My emotions were a tangle of confusion and hurt and desperation. I was with Roman as some sort of reaction, some attempt to fill the hole in my heart and seek false comfort. My feelings didn't match his. I couldn't do this with him. I didn't deserve to do this with him. I pushed him away and jumped to my feet, backing off toward the hallway. â€Å"No†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I said. â€Å"I can't†¦I can't. I'm sorry.† He stared up at me, understandably confused and a little hurt after the ardor I'd displayed seconds ago. â€Å"What are you talking about? What's wrong?† I didn't know how to explain it, didn't know how I could even begin to articulate what I felt inside of me. I just shook my head and continued backing. â€Å"I'm sorry†¦I'm so sorry†¦I'm just not ready.† Roman sprang to his feet in one graceful motion. He took a step toward me. â€Å"Georgina†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But I was already moving away, off to the safety of my bedroom. I slammed the door behind me – not from anger, but from a desperate need to stay away from him. From the hall, I heard him call my name and feared he'd come in anyway, despite my refusal to answer. I had no lock, and even if I did, it wouldn't stop him. He said my name a few more times, and then silence fell. I think he returned to the living room, backing off and giving me my space. I flung myself onto the bed, gripping the sheets tightly and trying not to cry. That horrible despair that plagued me so often filled me now. It was an old friend, one that I would never be able to leave. All my relationships – friends and lovers – were a mess. I was either hurting them, or they were hurting me. There was no peace for me. There never would be, not for this servant of Hell. And then, through that horrible, clenching pain inside me, I felt the lightest of touches. A whisper. A breath of music, of color, of light. I lifted my head up from where I'd buried it in my pillow and stared around. There was nothing tangible, not exactly, but I could sense it all around me: that warm, comforting siren song. It had no words, yet in my despair, I could hear it perfectly. It was telling me I was wrong, that I could have peace. And not just that – I could have comfort and love and so much more. It was like arms beckoning to me, a mother welcoming home a long-lost child. I slowly rose from my bed, moving toward that which had no form. Come, come. Outside my door, I heard Roman shout my name, but the tone was different from before. This wasn't confusion or pleading. It was frantic and concerned. The sound was grating to my ears as I stepped closer to that beautiful warmth. It was home. It was an invitation. All I had to do was accept. â€Å"Georgina!† The door blew apart, and Roman stood there, blazing with power. â€Å"Georgina, stop – â€Å" But it was too late. I had accepted. All that joy and protection wrapped around me, taking me into its arms. The world dissolved.