Benefits of Running

Running is a great form of exercise that most people should do because it is a great way to keep fit, it is not boring and it is inexpensive. Running is one of the top sports to stay in shape. It is healthy and people burn many calories and it helps with weight loss. Running is also affordable. You do not need expensive equipment and it has no gym fees. Besides running can be really fun, they can ask a friend to join them and listen to music while exercising. Many people do not realize the benefits of running.Running reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure among many other things. Running also helps with weight loss, building leg muscle, and improves the mental well-being and boost the confidence of any person. Also studies have shown that people who run on a regular basis tend to live longer than those who do not. If they want to live longer and healthier lives, running is a great way to do so. In addition, running can be really fun. You just have to be a little creative and add changes to the routine.You can ask a couple of friends to join you and make it fun. If you are an independent person then you can run while listening to your favorite music. Likewise, you can also try a different route or try running a different course every day. Pick your city's favorite site and plan a course that runs towards or through it. Another benefit of running is that ii is inexpensive. You do not have to belong to a gym or own some expensive equipment to improve your health. Running can be easy and cheap. All you need is a very moderate amount of sport clothing to do it.The most they are going to spend on is a decent pair of running shoes. In conclusion running is an ideal way to get needed exercise. You can get fit and stay healthy. Running is not boring if you try to be a little creative. Running is inexpensive, they do not need expensive equipment, they just need some running shoes, and they are ready to go. They can also get some fresh air and enjoy being outside. References * www. MedicalNewsToday. com * www. AmericanCouncilonExercise. com * www. MayoClinic. com * www. Runningtimes. com

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Essay

At the beginning of the story Alice starts off being pressured into marring a man she doesn’t even love. Her sister tells her to go get married and live just happily ever after like her but her husband is cheating on her. I think Alice’s call was when she kept spotting the white rabbit in the bushes and began to follow him in the middle of getting purposed to. Also after she fell down the hole the rabbit was trying to explain to her who she is and how she’s supposed to be the champion for wonderland. Stage 2: Refusal of Call Alice starts to refuse when she begins telling them that she is not the right Alice their looking for. I didn’t think she would still be refusing even after they showed her the scroll of what happened. I kind of thought she was just saying no because she was afraid of what was ahead of her if she took on the challenge of becoming the champion. Throughout the beginning and middle of the movie she Lyric Perry 9/22/13 World Literature was trying to convince everyone that this was her dream and everything would be ok when she woke up. Stage 4: Crossing the first Threshold I thought during the whole story I think she crossed more than one threshold. The first one was when she fell down the hole and entered wonderland because the trees by the two holes were both twisted and looked very similar. Her coming out of the hole to Wonderland to me was like the crossing in a new unknown land. Another threshold was when she made it up in her mind that she was the hero and started believing in wonderland and the impossible. Stage 5: Belly of the Whale The belly of the whale is when a character is fully enclosed in the new world or adventure. I think she entered the belly of the whale when she began to accept the fact that it wasn’t a dream and wonderland is a real place. I think that Lyric Perry 9/22/13 World Literature the only way she was going to get out and go back to the real world was to complete her quest and slay the jabberwocky. Stage 6: Road of Trials Alice had lots of trials during her journey such as when the dog/polar bear thing started to chase her and cut her arm. At the tea party when the red queen’s knight, soldiers, and bloodhound came looking for Alice I felt it was a trial because if they were to have caught her she wouldn’t have been able to complete her goal. The road of trials is a very important stage because I think they help the character get ready for what they are about to embark on. Stage 11: The Ultimate Boon The ultimate boon to me was when she cut the head off of the jabberwocky. This was really important because the whole fate of wonderland was in her hands. I think the white queen was depending on her the most because she really wanted the crown and for the red queen to stop torturing Wonderland. Stage 15: Crossing the Return Threshold At the end of the story I saw two returning thresholds the first one when she climbed out of the hole and when she started standing up to everyone at the party back home. When she was climbing out of the hole she was crossing back over to the real world and her normal life. She started telling everyone the truth and saying what she really felt even things that sounded impossible. Stage 17: Freedom to Live I thought this happened for Alice at the very end of the movie because that’s when she really decided to live her own life and do what she wanted. Such as she told the man she wasn’t going to marry him she was going to find someone she loves. Alice starts talking to the man about his business and how he should move it china. Her falling down the hole to me was on purpose to get her to really follow her own bliss not everyone else’s.

Equal Opportunity in Education Essay

The whole object of education is†¦to develop the mind. (Sherwood Anderson) The United States of America has developed a system to educate its youth by a publicly funded system. It is the law and born civil right of each citizen to attend some form of education by a particular age. The public school system is set in place for those who choose not to send their offspring to private, religious, or charter schools. This is the present incarnation of the public school system. It is said to be equal in all manner throughout the country. That has not always been the case in this nation. That has brought forth numerous laws and enactments to grant those who find themselves on the lesser side of gaining knowledge more of an equal footing where education is concerned. In this land of opportunity, there is an expected level of availability that is expected. In a world of intense competition from within and outside of the country education one of the few ways of balancing the scales of the socially or monetarily disadvantaged is proportionate education. In this nation children have at one point or another in history been systematically held back for one reason or another. The reasons differ in the once beliefs that they were not able to learn or personal thought of not being worthy to be taught. In 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson granted the states the right to uphold the separate but equal doctrine that ruled the land. This was a great lost to all those that held a hope those later generations would do better than those who came before. Education began to become more balanced when separate but equal was pushed aside by the landmark case of Brown vs. The Board of Education. In 1954 The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Henry Billings Brown. This would begin the integration of public school which was the first step into equal opportunity for students nationwide. The Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was the next big step creating a system that would seek a fair learning experience for all. Its basic notion is that state and local funds for schools should be equitable before federal Title I funds are added to schools with large concentrations of low-income students. (americanprogress.org) The Title I funding has a slight problem in its workings that has been a detriment to the children who attend these schools. The amount of money allocated to the schools is based on the salaries of the teachers. That is a problem for schools with a high turnover ratio. Schools that have moderately younger staff that is relatively new to the task of educating young minds make less than the veterans of the better school districts. This translates into less money per teacher and that equals less money for the school and the children. It is unfortunate that less money ultimately means less of educational opportunities. The fact is that children in low income areas do not receive a fair share of money. The student need is not met by the standards laid out by the government. Money is the root of a proper education in this high end technological world. Without proper funds the simplest of supplies cannot be purchased. Computers, books, calculators, or simple printer ink is not available on a scale that is considered suitable. The eventual sharing of materials is a detriment to the students who are not allowed to have their own because of lack of equipment ready for use. The civil rights case would eventually open the door for other minorities. One that would take advantage of the Brown ruling was those with disabilities. In Brown the Court declared that it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. (web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu.) They would use this to rally their forces and demand equal opportunities for cognitively i mpaired children. Mills vs. the Board of Education of the District of Columbia and the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children vs. Pennsylvania were two cases that brought the plight of these students to the light of day. The law would be changed to give them the rights that they so richly deserved. The newest in leveling the field of education has come through the No Child Left Behind Act which was signed into being by former President George W. Bush in 2002. These reforms express my deep belief in our public schools and their mission to build the mind and character of every child, from every background, in every part of America. (George W. Bush, 2001) No Child Left Behind puts an emphasis on improving the quality of public education. It calls for increased accountability, more choices for parents and students, putting reading first, and a higher emphasis on standardized testing. However the standardized testing is one of the biggest problems of the act. The majority of teachers has a problem with the testing and calls it bias. They also put forth that the testing takes away from the true teaching of knowledge, rather they now teach to test. This makes the education of the nation less than competitive with other countries. To combat these problems in our ever changing world we must go back to the beginning. In that thought process society must rethink its past transgressions. The country must avoid the same mistakes of the past. Politicians are not the ones who should make the decisions to lead the future of United States of America. Educators should be in charge of educating the youth. Those who have spent their lives gaining knowledge to teach the children of their world should be tasked with the job of finding a way to educate equally. This task should be given to those who best fit the job description. The assignment should be outsourced if it is needed. Other countries excel in education and this nation could learn from those who educate on higher levels. Educating the masses on a more equal platform will only add to greatness. Reference Quotes on Education (n.d.) Retrieved May 20, 2011, from http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/eduquote.htm Ensuring Equal Opportunity in Public Education (n.d.) Retrieved May 20, 2011, from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/06/comparability.html Plessy v. Ferguson (n.d.) Retrieved May 20, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessy_v._Ferguson OVERVIEW Executive Summary (n.d.) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/execsumm.html The Need for Equal Opportunity and a Right to Quality Education (n.d.) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/detail? Equal Opportunity (n.d.) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer An American perspective on equal educational opportunities (2002) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

Article 4 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

4 - Article Example The second part mentions about a farm six miles away from the town of Decorah in Iowa. The farm is about 890-acre and contains a stretch of woods and rolling fields of Heritage crops. This particular farm is known of its practice of letting its crops grow to seeds. It has been named home to the Seed Savers Exchange and is one of the biggest non-governmental seed banks within the United States (Siebert, Charles 6). An account of Diane Ott Whealy is mentioned concerning the seedlings of Heirloom plant types. And this is dates back to the year 1975. It is because of their enthusiasm towards keeping that specific variety of seeds that they Diane and the husband Kent decide to build a store. Currently, that store is said to have a membership of about 13,000 people and preserves seeds of several varieties of heirloom. Considering the increasing food extinction in the world, in the US, 90% of its historic fruits and vegetable varieties have vanished. For instance, of the 7000apple varieties grown in the 1800s, less than a hundred remain today. The same case is happening in Philippines where thousands of types of rice once existed: now only less than a hundred are there. Countries like; China, Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen and Sudan are also not exempted. Some other dwindling food variety include beet, Cabbage, Cucumber, Tomato, Sweet corn, Radish, Pea, Squash, Lettuce and Muskmelon (Siebert, Charles 8). Another section of the article gives information relating to the present efforts to increasing food production in the developing continents like Africa. And this is a process that has been considered to bypass the green revolution and might only elevate the pace at which crop species and livestock breeds become extinct. Countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, are said to have sacrificed much of their crops to the mono-cropping of imported, high-yielding ones. In conclusion, therefore, this article gives ideas relating to why some of our crop varieties

Business law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 6

Business law - Essay Example by Chemie Grunenthal GmbH in the 1950s and it was an anti-convulsive drug that made users sleepy and relaxed and was seen as a substitute for tranquilisers (Kelsey, 2012). During the testing, there were no issues identified, it was tested on animals and it became apparent that the drug could be used as a means of expanding the portfolio of the company that developed it (Jacoby and Youngson, 2004). The drug eventually became available to the members of the public and it became popular with pregnant women. This is because it had the ability to suppress morning sickness during pregnancy. So more and more pregnant women used it during pregnancy. In May 1961, a baby was born in a hospital in Australia and the baby died shortly (Jacoby and Youngson, 2004). In a space of three weeks, two other babies were born in the hospital and they all died. The obstetrician managed to identify the commonality in the deaths was Thalidomide (Jacoby and Youngson, 2004). However, Nobel Laureate, Sir Ernest Chain stated that â€Å"of course, it was a tragedy... it could not be foreseen... no one was to blame... even if you do all these things (drug tests)... there is still a risk factor... you cannot guarantee safety in any case – safety is an illusion† (Kalter, 2003, p172). In the United States, the Thalidomide case formed the basis for the authorities to place a strict liability rule framework for the design, bystander and workforce risk issues (Stapleton, 1994). In English law though, the Law Commission report showed a strong support for placing a strict liability on companies and producers and this called for claimants burden of proving fault to be eliminated (Giesen, 2009). After much debate in the United Kingdom, the European Commission Council Directive 85/324/EEC was released to member states and they were required to introduce strict liability on manufacturers (Giesen, 2009). Based on this, the UK implemented Part 1 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (Roach, 2012). Prior

When I got my drivers licences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

When I got my drivers licences - Essay Example I sought the input of friends and relatives, people I could trust, who had been there before me. The advice was good – well, at least it made sense to me. â€Å"Be sure that the car you take the test in is clean and smells good,† my best friend offered, â€Å"Or it’ll really tick the tester off and they’ll knit-pick you to death until you fail the behind the wheel.† He swore that exact scenario happened to someone he personally knew. â€Å"Make sure that you take a vehicle that has good air conditioning,† (I was taking my test in July), â€Å"because if it’s hot and you don’t have air, forget about it. The tester is going to want to get through it really quick and you can bet you’ll have to go back and take the behind the wheel again,† was the advice of my older sister. This too made sense to me. The day arrived when I was finally ready to take my behind-the-wheel exam. I had convinced my dad to let me use his caddy, instead of mom’s Vovlo. At first my dad was reluctant to let me use the caddy, but by the time I promised to cut the grass, clean the garage, and take out the garbage on time for the rest of my life at home, he gave in and agreed to let me use it. It would be later that night when I would fully realize that I had committed to so much work around the house that I might never have time to drive even if I did pass my test. My mother drove me to the DMV and we parked in a space where I wouldn’t have any trouble backing out of it once the tester was in the car with me. My mother whispered as we were walked up to the building, â€Å"Now remember, for parallel parking, just aim for the curb and as soon as it looks like your back wheels are touching the curb, straighten it out and you’re home free.† Okay, I thought, that sounds good too; but why was she whispering. Was there a law about getting advice from your mother on test day? I hadn’t read anything about that in the manual. Once inside the building

Economics Extanded Essay, Coursework for the IB Essay

Economics Extanded , Coursework for the IB - Essay Example Irrespective of the product or service that is being studied; it is apparent that all of a sudden the information flow has become more rapid, regulatory structures more oriented to free market structures and the movement of capital and permission to access local markets freer. This has prompted national businesses to target global businesses and the global businesses to target national markets. However lumpiness in the control of market shares is seen as yet which has tended to be diluted monopoly or monopolistic controls of the past and the structures have tended to turn, in general, to oligopolistic structures. Banking industry is no exception. Main features of banking industry, irrespective of jurisdiction have been a long standing history of business, ready demands for its products and services (baring economic downturns) and specific protection enjoyed from the national governments It has experienced a more benign and structured capital adequacy regimes in the form of Basle I an d now Basle II apart from a host of other suggestive and market discipline based stipulations. Fact remains that banks enable target customers to do the essential functions of saving, investing and storing money or money equivalents and therefore banks tend to have a loyal and core segment of consumers on most jurisdictions where they have chosen to operate. Spanish banks are no exception. This has spurred market control strategies from the banks and these strategies coalesce to determine as to what exact form of market does the banking industry of a particular time looks like. Literature has often pointed out to the extent of competition in the banking industry: "Competition has become a recurrent topic in the banking literature. Specifically, during the last decade a great deal of empirical work has attempted to measure the level of competition prevailing in European banking markets. The beginning of the third stage of the Economic and Monetary Union, in January 1999, and the proj ected changeover to the Euro triggered the interest of researchers in this issue" (Rozas, 2007). This paper has the objective of examining the Spanish banking industry and to ascertain, if over the years, such an industry has come to acquire the market form of an oligopoly. This done through an in depth literature review where major arguments are sourced and analyzed and conclusion arrived ,on the basis of such an analysis, if the present day Spanish banking industry resembles a oligopolistic structure. Research Methodology Competition studies in banking industry of various jurisdictions is a very well thought out and researched topic and the literature in this area is rich with several aspects being already examined through deep empirical and theoretical research. Literature also has in store several models of depicting the shape and structure of the markets in which banking industry of a particular jurisdiction finds itself apart from listing and analysis of the various important factors that have caused the present

Tesco and Sainsburys Websites Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Tesco and Sainsburys Websites - Coursework Example Tesco and Sainsbury are two giants in the retail business. The head quarter of the two supermarkets is in United Kingdom. However, they have branches in Europe, and Asia. The two companies specialise in food retailing. Tesco is the largest food retailer in United Kingdom. Its head quarter is in Hertfordshire. It operates about 2,318 stores in entire Europe and Asia. The European countries in which Tesco has its operations include Ireland, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia (Plunkett, 2007:76). The company has 82 and 60 stores in Ireland and Hungary respectively. In Poland, Tesco manages 66 hypermarkets and supermarkets. The countries that Tesco has extended its services in the Asian comprise of South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan. Tesco offers both online and offline services. The services range from personal finance services to selling online. Tesco Personal Finance is a joint venture with the Royal Bank of Scotland (Zentes, et al, 2012:358). This service caters f or approximately 3.4 million customers for various financial services and products. The company has about 326,000 employees (Thomson, & Martin, 2010:549). This makes Tesco one of the biggest job creators in United Kingdom and all its branches of operation. In United Kingdom, Tesco operates under four banners. These banners comprise of Extra, Metro, Superstore, and express. Although the core business of Tesco is food retailing, it also sells non-food products such as clothing in its Superstores. The company also has runs petroleum products and it is in the list of one of the largest and independent petrol retailers. Tesco has registered an excellent performance in the recent years (Tesco, 2011:35). Sainsbury deals in retailing of foods and promotion of health eating. Sainsbury’s has been the largest leader in grocery retailing in United Kingdom. The goal of Sainsbury is to provide food to customers at fair prices. The company does not only stock foodstuffs but also clothing an d general merchandise (Hoover, 2004:176). Sainsbury operates under two banners. These include Jacksons Stores and JB Beaumont Hemming (Information Services, 2006:137). This paper looks at Tesco and Sainsbury’s websites. The paper will endeavour to identify the business model that each company employs and the target audiences. Tesco and Sainsbury’s websites are very crucial in order to understand retailing of food in United Kingdom. The two websites are Tesco.com and Sainsbury.co.uk (Davenport, 2007:212). The core businesses of the two companies is specialising on foodstuffs. However, Tesco and Sainsbury sell non-food commodities such as clothes and petroleum products. The two companies have invested many funds in the development of their website to connect with their consumers (Seth & Randall, 2011:26). The management of these two companies understands that dissemination of information is very crucial for success of business venture. With the unparalleled era of techno logy expansion, the companies embrace online methods of reaching their consumers. They have created a strong database that keeps all the information that is relevant to their customers. Online services are not a complement to the offline ones, but an essential tool in the prosperity of the two companies. Competitor Analysis The two companies are big competitors in the retailing of foodstuffs. Tesco has flourished and out-competed the Sainsbury Company over time. This has led Tesco to emerge as a market leader in the foodstuff industry. The principle reason to explain Sainsbury’s poor performance is the relatively low operating profit margins (J Sainsbury plc, 2011:4). Several factors contribute to the low profit margins. These include specialisation on products with low margin profits, inefficiencies in controlling costs, and lack of value added through the chain of suppliers. The low profit margin leads to relatively low return on invested capital and return on equity ratios . This is despite lack

Why did European states engage in a process of economic integration Essay

Why did European states engage in a process of economic integration Are the original reasons still valid today - Essay Example The competition was expected to increase in the integrated market was expected to result to productive allocation of the economic resources. Integration was aimed at providing the investors with incentives to invest in innovations improving the dynamic efficiency of the economy. The consumers in the market benefited from the integration as the prices were low and there was more variety of goods and services. The internal market has played an important role in promoting integration though the potential has not been exploited fully. This paper gives an outlook at the reasons why the states engage in market integration, the benefits and shortcomings. There has been a constant relation between the political system and the legislative system over the past few decades resulting to the implementation and formulation of internal programmes and policies that contribute to integration. Law and politics are seen to interact and this has led to the laying down of policies that lead to the strengthening of the regional integration through increased competition, regional policy and industrial policy as explained by Geradin (2004). This has led to drastic improvements in the agricultural sector, fisheries, social systems and the environment. The level of justice has improved leading to the overall changes in the home affairs of the member states. This has led to the adoption of a common currency and market liberalisation in the region. This is however a representative since in most sectors there is a portfolio of initiatives instead of having a single one encompassing many policies. The European Union was initiated in the 1980s with the publication of the White Paper that mainly dealt with the establishment of a common market. This was mainly to fight against the political, monetary and economic crisis experience in the past decades. The union helped in the restoring confidence in the European market and improving the performance of

Principles of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Principles of Management - Essay Example The writer expresses in anguished tone â€Å"Some of you think that seniority means you have power, a certain right to protest ... throw it in the faces of your supervisors every time you don’t want to do something.† He notes that seniors would complain over recognition and points which the juniors earn as deserved yet they occur not to realize that their performances have run the risk of being underrated due to the capacities exhibited by the newcomers who strive harder and are self-motivated to reach the top. Basically, business managers are confronted with the trouble of dealing with seniority once this concern becomes serious as it leads to the lack of cooperation and improper communication within a group. To address this, a manager or supervisor should make it a point to monitor organizational relationships on all levels and figure how employees, junior and senior alike, collectively fare as a team and try to detect if there are members who are left behind, experiencing unjust treatments. As much as possible, submission of reports in reference to daily or weekly accomplishments must be conducted by each worker across-the-board regardless of tenure and position. It would be worthwhile to consider a new policy pertaining to transparency of all acts and accountability for one another so as to discourage any thought or intent toward selfish interest via acts of power tripping caused by the pride of

Market Structure Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Market Structure - Research Paper Example any new firm can enter the market because of no restrictions such as high setup cost, legal barriers or any other. All the firms are earning normal profit as there is strong competition within the industry. Secondly, homogenous products are produced, i.e. all products are identical or standardized and are substitutes of each other, thus sharing the same price as well (â€Å"Dewett, 1983†). An imperfect competition is where there are not many producers in the market and there is less competition as buyers and sellers are not fully aware of the prices so different prices exist for same product in the market (â€Å"Dewett, 1983†). There are three forms of an imperfect market: Monopolistic Competition: Under this structure, there are few sellers as comparedwith perfect competition and the products produced are differentiated due to branding, which gives the producer a way to have his own pricing policy and thus can earn more than normal profits (â€Å"Dewett, 1983†). Oligopoly: there are a few suppliers in the market in this structure, and every supplier has a substantial control over the prices, and output produced because few suppliers control the entire supply in the market. There is strong rival consciousness because of the interdependence of suppliers. There is a possibility of product differentiation as well as substitute products, and the price-output policy of each supplier depends upon the degree of homogeneity or heterogeneity (â€Å"Dewett, 1983†). Monopoly: There is a single seller or producer who controls the entire market. As he controls the whole supply, he can fix the price and earn abnormal profits. There are high barriers to entry and exit from this industry, which prevents competitors from entering into it (â€Å"Dewett, 1983†). It’s a one firm industry in which there is no need for differentiation because no substitutes are available. There is a single product completely under the control of a monopolist who is the price maker(â€Å"Dewett, 1983†). 2. Identify one real-life example of a market structure in your local city and relate your example to each of the characteristics of the market. There are different industries or markets operating in a city, with each of them following a different market structure according to the nature of the business there. One such dominant industry is the women’s clothing, which is operating in the monopolistic competition market structure. It is a real-life example of this structure, and one can clearly categorize its features as those present in this market structure. There is a high number of sellers in the market with each producing a differentiated product and heavily advertising and promoting its brand name to create customer awareness. The aim of firms is to crate brand loyalty, which allows them to charge a higher price than their competitor, meaning that sellers have some control over price but not full control because of thei r interdependency. In long-run, firm with effective advertising and innovation will only earn normal profits because of the competition as it will not be able to charge too high a price. However, in short run, some firms can earn abnormal profits with their non-price competition, quality, design or attractive advertising, just like in women’s clothing. The products are produced almost same style except some variation in the designs, quality and a strong brand name associated with it. There is

Vaccination debate Essay Example for Free

Vaccination debate Essay People ought to have a right not to vaccinate their kids, even if refusal to do so puts one’s own kids at risk, along with other people’s children. Do you agree? Childhood immunisation must be one of the most significant public health advances in medical history. Thanks to vaccines, children and teens that have been immunised would not have to experience the abhorrent epidemics like polio, mumps, measles and smallpox the older generations did. While it is safe to assume vaccines are here to stay, critics have presented damning yet unverified accounts of the ineffectiveness and harmful side effects of vaccinations urging parents to second guess their choice to immunise their child. The act of immunisation itself is the process of equipping one’s immune system with an immunological memory by introducing a weakened foreign molecule to the body that orchestrates an immune response that the body later uses to protect itself against an attack by said foreign molecule. Immunisation has been under constant fire since its inception in the late 1700’s with the introduction of the smallpox vaccine. People believed that the smallpox vaccine could literally turn vaccinated people into cows because the vaccination for smallpox was inducted from cows (William and Gunn, 2004): There was a famous Gilray cartoon [of vaccinated people sprouting cow heads in] 1804, which I always interpreted as people just being concerned about the source or purity of the vaccine. But they weren’t. They were concerned that they or their children would actually turn into cows. (Melnick, 2011) This proves that people’s views in regards to the ineffectiveness of immunisa tion are not always logical thus bringing to light the question of whether or not parents should be allowed to decide to or not to vaccinate their children, bearing in mind parental and social responsibilities. Parents should have the right to be aware of all the risks and advantages involved and understand for themselves that the pros far exceed the cons. People tend to be misled, in the scurry to do the best for their children, by other parents and antivaccine activists who base their beliefs on unproven, board dismissed studies and theories. One such theory brought to life by a British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield who claimed to have discovered a strong co relationship between the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) Vaccine and autism: Wakefield based his conclusions on a case  study of a dozen children who’d been brought to his clinic at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Almost immediately, Wakefield’s research methods and his interpretations, which had been published in the medical journal The Lancet, came under fire. Wakefield’s response was to appeal to the public rather than to his colleagues: The medical establishment was so determined to discredit him, he said, because he threatened their hegemony by taking parents’ concerns seriously. The media took the bait, and despite Wakefield’s lack of proof and his track record of dubious assertions and unverified lab results, they began churning out stories about how a maverick doctor was trying to protect innocent children from corrupt politicians and a rapacious pharmaceutical industry. Within months, vaccination rates across Western Europe began to fall. (Mnookin, 2011) Wakefield’s research was based on a very minuscule percentage of the entire population thus rendering unreliable. Despite the G.M.C’s (General Medical Council) dismissal of his studies, Wakefield utilised the media to manipulate paranoid, confused, gullible parents into depriving their children of the MMR vaccine. As a result, incident rates for two out of the three diseases increased significantly in the UK rising from 56 confirmed cases in 1998 to 449 cases within the first five months of the year 2006 with the first death since 1992. (Asaria and MacMohan, 2006) Since the wake of Wakefield’s MMR-Autism theory, issues have been raised linking thimerosal (a preservative containing ethyl mercury) to the cause of autism. Mercury is a known neurological hazard but the quantity of mercury present in vaccines then were ‘around 50micrograms 0.5 per-ml dose’ (Biba, 2009) which was ‘far short of toxic.’ Although the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) publicly suggested the subtraction of a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal from childhood shots in 1999 (Mnookin, 2011), the CDC has found no relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism after conducting scientific studies. (CDC Factsheet, 2004) (Melnick, 2011)Unsatisfied with the provided information parents tend to overlook proven statistics and rather look to their inner circles or celebrities with no knowledge of the background science, that have been given inappropriate media attention and ‘who have no new or credible data, and for which their assumptions and hypotheses have  been discredited.’ (Poland, 2011) They risk contracting a vaccine preventable disease to avoid a different health issue they believe the vaccinations themselves will cause proving to be a dire lose-lose situation. ‘Such individuals are denialists at best and dangerous at worst.’ In addition to the autism scare, parents also worry about a concept known as ‘immuno- overload.’ This is when some believe, the injection of multiple immunogens (foreign agents) in one vaccine or even spread out, may overwhelm the immune system of a toddler/child. (Hilton, Petticrew and Hunt, 2006). This however isn’t accurate: Children are given vaccines at a young age because this is when they are most vulnerable to certain diseases. Newborn babies are immune to some diseases because they have antibodies given to them from their mothers. However, this immunity only lasts a few months. Further, most young children do not have maternal immunity to diphtheria, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, hepatitis B, or Hib. If a child is not vaccinated and is exposed to a disease, the childs body may not be strong enough to fight the disease. An infant’s immune system is more than ready to respond to the very small number of weakened and killed infectious agents (antige ns) in vaccines. (CDC FAQ) Parents are drawing their own conclusions of the importance of immunisation. They presume certain vaccines are no longer necessary because there is no longer a threat. This is absolutely bogus. It is because of the vaccines the diseases that once swept out children and adults alike in the millions, are now invisible. If even a few parents stop vaccinating their children these diseases could resurface. (Biba, 2009) This generation of the pre-Wakefield, dubious parents, who have mostly been immunised themselves, have not witnessed the true calamity of the diseases the vaccines they withhold from their children, prevent. They have a diminished sense of urgency for vaccination. (Hilton, Petticrew and Hunt, 2006) Instead they choose to believe ‘†¦anti-vaccine books claim that all shots are bad, the diseases arent really anything to fear, and as long as you live a natural and healthy lifestyle, you dont have to worry. I think this is a very irresponsible approach to the vaccine issue. Vaccines are beneficial in ridding our population of both serious and non-serious diseases.’(Sears, 2011) Parents ultimately have a duty towards their children, but also have a social responsibility as a citizen. They have a right to be conscientiously involved in their child’s health and welfare. But as most parents choose to ignore the unbiased scientific studies that have been conducted, consult the internet for vaccine information. Anybody who has access to a computer has the liberty to free float their own thesis’ ridiculous or not, which appease to the parents unsatisfied with factual evidence which has become a serious cause for concern. (Haase, 2012) Combined with the self-reinforcing nature of online communities and a content-starved, cash-poor journalistic culture that gravitates toward neat narratives at the expense of messy truths, this disdain for actualities has led to a world with increasingly porous boundaries between facts and beliefs, a world in which individualized notions of reality, no matter how bizarre or irrational, are repeatedly validated. (Mnookin , 2011) Obviously, the more kids who are vaccinated, the better our country is protected and the less likely it is that any child will die from a disease. Some parents, however, arent willing to risk the very rare side effects of vaccines, so they choose to skip the shots. Their children benefit from herd immunity (the protection of all the vaccinated kids around them) without risking the vaccines themselves. Is this selfish? Perhaps. But as parents you have to decide. (Sears, 2001) Parents may justify their decision to deny their child of immunisation over the illusion that it is for their own good, by riding on the herd immunity for protection. But with more and more parents succumbing to the bystander apathy, the levels of herd immunity thins resulting in ominous consequences. (John and Samuel, 2000) In reference to the question at hand, it is beneficial for the health of society that laws are passed to make compulsory the immunisation of children given the vaccinations are meticulously researched and tested for safety and effectiveness thus disagreeing with the statement provided. Vaccinations are a medical gift to the progressing world and should thus be taken advantage of. If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or you can inoculate. Choose science. (Sagan, 1997) Bibliography William, S., Gunn, A (2004) The Surgeon’s Word- Vaccination. World Journal of Surgery. DOI:0.1007/s00268-003-7346-4 Melnick, M. ( 2011, February) The Dangers of the Antivaccine Movement. (Conversation with Dr. Paul Offit, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the director of the Vaccine Education Centre at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.) Time Magazine Retrieved from: http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2053517,00.html Mnookin, S. (2011) The Panic Virus. New York, NY. Simon and Schuster. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=mxqVQQMZzFcCprintsec=frontcoverdq=The+Panic+Virushl=ensa=Xei=jV5FU5yJE8jVkgXogIHwAgved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=The%20Panic%20Virusf=false Asaria, P., MacMahon, E. (2006) Measles in the United Kingdom: Can we eradicate it by 2010? BMJ 333 (7574): 890-5. DOI:10.1136/bmj.38989.445845.7C Biba, E. (2009, October) How to Win an Argument About Vaccines. Wired Magazine Retrieved from: http://www.wired.com/2009/10/ff_waronscience_argument/#corrections CDC Fact Sheet. (2004) MMR vaccine and autism-CDC (measles, mumps, and rubella). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Retrieved from: http://www.in.gov/isdh/files/MMR_VaccineAutismFacts.pdf. Poland, G. A. (2011) MMR Vaccine and Autism: Vaccine Nihilism and Postmodern Science. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 86(9): 869–871. DOI: 10.4065/mcp.2011.0467 Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257990/?tool=pmcentrezreport=abstract Hilton, S., Petticrew, M., Hunt, K. (2006) ‘Combined Vaccines are like a sudden onslaught to the body’s immune system’: Parental concerns about vaccine ‘overload’ and ‘immune-vulnerability’. Elsevier. DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2006.03.003 CDC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/vaccines/multiplevaccines.html#6 Sears, R. (2011) The Vaccine Book: Making the Right decision for Your Child New York, N. Y, Little, Brown Haase, N., (2012) Parents Trust Other Parents: Lay Vaccination Narratives on the Web May Create Doubt about Vaccination Safety. Sage Publications. DOI: 10.1177/0272989X12445286 John, T. J., Samuel, R. (2000) Herd immunity and herd effect: New insights and definitions. Eur. J. Epidemiol. 16 (7): 604-6. DOI:10.1023/A:1007626510002 Sagan, C. (1997) The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Ballentine Books New York Scheibner, V. (1998) Vaccination: The Hidden Truth (Documentary Video). Taycare Private Limited Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqsT5EoIk8U#t=34

Describe The Strategic Alternatives Given Business Essay

Describe The Strategic Alternatives Given Business Essay We are shivering in our paints, as we grope against new competition from firms from USA and Korea. A very senior LT executive to the author at a Management Development Programme at IIM (Ahmedabad) in 1993 The competition we have faced till now is nothing is compared to what lies in store for us. Till now, the period (post-liberalisotion) was one of learning and assessment for the big global competitors Sudhakar Divokar Kulkarni, CEO. to the case author in April 1997. In 1997 Larsen and Tubro (LT), one of the largest engineering companies in India (and one of the top five private sector companies) posted yet again a growth rate of over 20 per cent. This happened for the fourth consecutive year despite acute liquidity crisis in the market, political instability, and uncertainty about execution of power projects of foreign companies (e.g. Enron), and so no. Since last few years, LT was becoming a lesson for companies worldwide in managing explosive growth and developing internal capabilities on a continuous basis. Simultaneously, it was setting new challenges for the academics in defining core competencies and core capabilities. An independent survey named LT to be one of the best managed companies in Asia and another by Business Toda, showed that the company was one of the most transparent and a leader on the issue of corporate governance. During 1995-96 and 1996-97, the company achieved an incredible growth in sales of nearly Rs. 1,000 crore per a nnum over the previous years, crossing the landmark turnover of Rs. 5,000 crore in the process. The Evolution L T was set up in 1938 as a partnership trading firm by two Danish engineers, Henning Holck Larsen and Soren kristian Toubro, who had quit their jobs. In 1946, it became a private limited company and by 1950 reached the status of a public limited company. Table 1 gives the evolutionary picture in brief. LT presently has a shareholder base of nearly 1 million and employee strength of over 24,000 As a company, this multi-dimensional engineering giant is actually the nucleus of a group of companies involved in building complexes, worksheets, offices and service outlets at different locations all over India and abroad. Over the years, LT has acquired a commendable reputation for capabilities for executing engineering related projects. Table 1 LT Business History: The Milestones 1938 Incorporation as a partnership firm 1946 Incorporation as a Private Ltd Co. I950 LT goes public Powai Works set up 1961 Audco India incorporated for manufacturing valves 1962 Retirement of Soren Toubro; EWAC Ltd. set up for manufacture of welding alloys 1963 TENGL founded to manufacture crawler undercarriage parts for caterpillars 1969 Agency business abolished, formation of LT Bottle Closure division 1971 LT McNeil set up for manufacturing Presses for tyre industry 1974 Management Organization Structure and Management Planning and Control System introduced LT Bangalore Works commences production of hydraulic excavators 1978 Larsen retires. LT Faridabad commences production of switchgear 1982 ECC merged with L&T; LT enters shipping business with two ships 1983 LT enters cement manufacturing with Awarpur plant commencing production 1987 LT enters computer hardware with floppy discs and printers; LT Gould for electronic test and measured instruments 1988 Cement capacity enhanced to 2.2 m tons per annum 1989 90 LT under DH Ambani (as chairman) 1990 93 Repeated takeover attempts by RIL 1993 95 Series of strategic alliances and tie-ups resulting in formation of LT-Niro. LT-Chiyoda, LT Sargent Lund9, LT Finance, and so on. The Takeover Attempt During 1991 93, as the country progressed towards liberalisation, the company just emerged from a not-so-welcome takeover threat from the powerful Ambanis of Reliance. The Ambanis were themselves embarking upon massive expansion in chemicals and petrochemicals business, and LT would have provided a real and logical synergy in terms of executing turnkey projects for construction, engineering, supplying machinery and of course, offering suppliers credit (to the tune of Rs. 1.000 crore). Through protracted investigation and litigation (in which the Reliance Industries Ltd. was found to have collected forged proxies), the company somehow remained in the hands of professionals. The big question mark as posed by an article in the Economic and Political weekly was Where does LT go from where it has reached now? However, it was obvious that a total new mindset and working culture would be required if LT was to grow and remain competitive. In 1993 94, the company started adopting the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) by becoming customer focused, reducing the costs and wastage, and adding value at all stages for maximising customer satisfaction. In 1994, Mr. S.D. Kulkarni took over as the CEO of LT and confidently promised that the company would reach its mission of being a Rs. 10,000 crore ($3 bn.) company by the end of the century. He also declared that the company would strive to maintain and develop leadership positions in all its businesses or else it will quit. Simultaneously, zero retrenchment was promised. The philosophy of TQM was embraced with added emphasis on customer delight, that is, delivering more value than expected by the customer. Vision, Core Values, and TQM Infrastructure being a key bottleneck for Indian industry was identified as the engine of Growth for the companys ambitious plans. But before that, the company needed an ambition statement, which every employee could own and share. A massive companywide exercise for finding out what the company stood for and what its core values were was embarked upon. The emergent statement though not sounding much different from several other organisations vision, however, came to be owned and understood by almost every employee because of the process of identifying the mission and peoples involvement. The key elements of LTs vision f focussed towards a world class company dedicated to: excellence and professionalism customer delight through service entrepreneurial leadership and creation of an organisation that is on the path of continuously learning by fostering teamwork, trust, and care Community service and environmental protection. Core Competencies According to a senior executive, today the core competence of LT lies in its ability to synthesise, integrate and harmonise its diverse world-class engineering, manufacturing, procurement, construction and fabrication skills around turnkey projects (in core economic sectors) and people. This is made possible through a world class vendor base and quality technological alliances, excellent IT infrastructure (CAD,/CAM systems, PMIS etc.) sophisticated fabrication facilities for plant and machinery in the core sector. Business Leadership LT holds a leadership position in India in most of the areas in which it operates. The first company to introduce hydraulic excavators in the country, it still maintains its leadership status in this and in the vibratory compactor segments. LTs switchgear products enjoy a dominant position in Indian as well as the international markets. It continues to be a leader in the manufacture of Z-Line petrol pumps and its cement is considered to be of high quality. LT has pioneered the manufacture and supply of critical nuclear reactors and space vehicles hardware in the country. It has to its credit many firsts in the Indian industry from the indigenously manufactured hydrocracker reactor, naptha run power plants, the worlds largest curing press, to the first vertical dairy in the country and so on. With the Project and Construction business in the country growing at a fast pace and expected to continue to do so with the country s emphasis on infrastructure, both LT ECC (Construction Group) and LT s Projects (EPC) businesses are being treated as thrust areas. The ECC construction group has been responsible for construction landmarks both in India and abroad, for instance, the Bahai house of worship in Delhi, an international airport terminal in Abu Dhabi, bridges in Malaysia, hotels in Uzbekistan, and so on. Its major projects have been building of cement plants for Grasim Industries, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, and ACC Ltd., construction of bridges and railway tunnels for the Konkan Railway project. In projects business, LT EPC group successfully executed orders from ONCC (for piping and oil platforms), Tata Chemicals {for captive co generation power plant) and Gandhinagar Dairy. In shipping and international business too, the company has made significant progress to become one of the leading players in their line of business. LT has a long and enviable record of high-tech fabrication. The workshops in Powai with CNC precision machines house large-size precision fabrication facilities. Its major heavy engineering complex at Hazira also caters to such needs. LTs units and its links with globally reputed organisations have contributed much in developing manufacturing excellence. Decision-making at LT Over the years, the company has implemented its vision through various approaches. Foremost is the emphasis on empowerment, teamwork, and continuous training of employees. In terms of structure, the company has decentralised decision-making, and according to Mr. Kulkarni, CEO, the concept of Strategic Business Units (SBUs) is being actively encouraged. The company is decentralised for all practical purposes. Budgets and allocations are made at the beginning of the year and SBUs undertake the responsibility for achieving the targets. Only in major decisions involving capacity augmentation, business divestment, diversification, and so on does the CEO personally involve himself. According to Mr. Kulkarni, only through empowerment and decentralised decision making can a highly diversified company like LT be managed. For example, though the decision to divest the Dot Matrix Printers (DMPs) business was first proposed by the concerned department, yet the decision was taken ai the MD/Board level as it agreed that product and technological obsolescence and synergy of DMPs with other businesses was indeed low. The Culture of TQM The TQM journey, initiated in 1993, has now taken firm roots in LT. The efforts put in training a large number of employees has resulted in the launch of many quality improvement initiatives. A large number of employees have participated in continuous improvement (Kaizen) and small group activities. Several cross-functional teams regularly function in the areas of manufacturing, design, marketing and services. LT has created an environment for increased empowerment to further improve customer services. The TQM Awareness Programmes have also been extended to the stockists and vendors to achieve improvement in the operations and customer service. LT strongly believe in the concept of internal customers. With TQM knowledge spreading widely inside the company, employees have realised that everybody in every department is a supplier to somebody in the organisation if not directly to an outside customer. One employee says, even though it is difficult to oblige everybody, I believe that we should go a step forward to understand the real requirements of the customer, which he himself may not be fully aware of, and delight the customer through total quality and service. Such an attitude should be our guiding force. A value strongly sought to be inculcated in the employees is that people can confront competition better by moving from a product-oriented philosophy to a customer-oriented philosophy. For this, employees are being trained in multi skills, including quality transactions and market engineering, besides product engineering. With people being regarded as the prime movers, a strong HRD culture pervades the organisations personnel policies, and HRD systems are designed to sustain motivation, encourage learning, and achieve higher levels of quality and productivity through job involvement. The embracing of TQM philosophy.and implementation of ISO 9000 systems by almost all divisions has led people to work towards common goals with a customer oriented approach. Social Commitments Corporate Citizenship The Mumbai Chamber presented the Good Corporate Citizen Award for the year 1994 -95 to Larsen and Toubro Limited for its contribution to Larsen and Toubro Limited for its contribution to the corporate world, but more importantly for its conspicuous achievements in improving the quality of life in the community. Award for most Outstanding Concrete Structure The ECC Division of LT received the ICI-Mc-Bauchemie Award presented by The Indian Concrete Institute for the most outstanding concrete structure for the year 1995 96 for Sree Kanteerava Indoor Sports Complex is Bangalore. The structure is considered to be an engineering marvel. The citation for the award reads Sree Lanteerava Indoor Sports Complex is designed in the shape of an ellipse using 120 V shaped precast folded plate elements. Each element is 43 m long and weighs 55. t. The thickness of the plate is just 40 mm, but strengthened by ribs throughout its length. Since the folded plate springs from the ring beam along the outer periphery and connected by the compression ring at the crown, the entire roof is self supporting, providing an unobstructed column-fee space of 119 m x 91 m with a playing arena of 65 m x 45 min the centre. Environment Upgradation LT has been showing its commitment towards corporate citizenship. As one goes around the works and offices of LT. one experiences a soothing and refreshing ambience because of the rich foliage and delightful floral blooms around these structures. LT has undertaken extensive tree plantation programme. Over three lakh trees were planted in and around the factory in 1993-94 under the programme Trees for Life. The villagers have been given grafted saplings of fruit-bearing trees and encouraged to plant them. The success of this ongoing effort led to LT being selected by the Government of Maharashtra for the prestigious Vanashree Award in 1990. Contribution to Academics LT set up LT Institute of Technology, a polytechnic in Mumbai. In a short period, it has come to be widely regarded as one of the best training institutions of its kind in the country, particularly for the full-fledged workshops and laboratories that provide a strong practical orientation to theoretical inputs. There is a good demand in engineering companies for the students passing out from this Institute. LT also contribute financially towards Upgradation of facilities in several polytechnics. It regularly interfaces with academic institutions to promote quality education and has established research chairs for faculty in several institutions including ai IIM, Ahmedabad. Within the company, one of the most invaluable and lasting investments made by LT is the establishment of a Management Development Programme Centre at Lonavala (near Mumbai). According to Mr. CM Srivastava, Joint General Manager (JGM) (HRD), the management development centre has been visua lized as a temple of learning where people would come with the sole purpose of enhancing knowledge, learning through experience, self-study, and introspection. The emphasis, therefore, is on providing an ambience for learning rather than training. The centre has modern learning facilities like computer-added packages, a library, and outdoor training facilities. Manufacturing Facilities Some important manufacturing facilities of LT are shown in Table 2. Table 2 Important Manufacturing Facilities of LT Location Product/Plants Powai, Madh (Maharashtra) Plant and heavy equipment switchgears, Petrol pumps, Bothell closures, control and automation, welding alloys, undercarriage components Thane (Maharashtra) Electronics and Inputs for undercarriage components Awarpur (Maharashtra) Cement Nashik (Maharashtra) Light-weight glass containers Faridabad (Haryana) switchgears Ankleshwar (Orissa) Welding Alloys Kansbajal (Orissa) Plant and equipment for steel paper and pulp, material handling and mineral processing industry Mysore (karnataka) Medical electronic equipment computer peripherals, telecommunications, test and measuring instruments Bangalore (Karnataka) Earth-moving and construction equipment, hydraulic equipment and diesel engines, Gen. Sets Hazira (MP) Heavy equipments Hirmi (MP) Cement manufacturing unit Chennai (TN) Valves, rubber and plastic processing machinery Kandla (Gujarat) Export oriented fabrication Pondicherry Transmission towers Kalol (Gujarat) Export footwear Jharsuguda (Orissa) Cement grinding unit The Future The financial results of LT far the year 1996 97 are not too encouraging as far as profits are concerned. The company has reported profits of Rs. 410 crore against the previous years profit of Rs. 390 crore, thereby achieving a slim growth of five percent. However, the turnover has recorded a sharp jump from Rs. 4249 dare to Rs. 5304 crore. From another perspective, the performance has been commendable considering the slump and intense competition in the cement industry and performance of other competitors during the period. LT is firmly consolidating itself in four major business areas engineering, construction cement, and equipment manufacture, Presently, cement accounts for 15 per cent of the total revenue. lt has embarked on a major expansion programme that will double the capacity to 12 m tons per annum, which will make it the largest cement manufacturer in India. A Euro-issue of $135 million has been planned to fund this expansion. Having defined EPC as a thrust business for t he future, it will be relevant to take a look into the competitive structure of the EPC business. In the domestic business, LT has a handful of competitors among whom BHEL. Punj and Lloyd, and RITES are the major ones. The peculiar nature of EPC business is that it is not a sector specific industry. The core infrastructure activities such as power, telecom, and roads will become key focus areas for the country. Most players in this industry have specific competencies which cater to specialised areas, LT is perhaps the only company which competes in almost every sector by virtue of its diversified technical competence and expertise. LTs EPC business takes the form of competitive bidding for executing projects from start to finish for third parties, part execution of projects as sub contractors to other bidders, and autonomous bidding for setting up its own projects in the core sectors. In the global EPC business, however the company faces stiff competition from the global construction and engineering giants like Hyundai, Saipern, Mcdermoft, Caterpiller, to name a few. In such a highly competitive environment with technology being a handicap (that most Indian companies suffer from), the logical step is to enter into strategic and technological alliances. Most Indian EPC players follow this route and LT is no exception. Some of its alliances are with its competitors, for instance, Caterpillar, Marubeni. Like most Indian EPC players going global, LT s overseas EPC operations are concentrated in the developing and developed countries of South-and Middle-East Asia such as Thailand and Malaysia, Vietnam, Burma, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Gulf countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia. Bahrain, Oman, and so on. Though LT has attained impressive achievements, the productivity of several businesses are alarmingly low on the international benchmark level. In an environment of high interest rates and tight liquidity position, the efficient management of working capital will form the key to future LT successes. Some of the areas of concern for LT in the short-term would be: the need to attain faster delivery standards, customer satisfaction, continuous cost reduction, productivity improvement and operating with low working capital, and aiming at least to be a regional player of repute and recognition. Questions: (a) Carry out a SWOT Analysis of LT. (b) Explain the Decision-making process at LT and how does it contribute to performance of the company. (c) What are the various strategies that you recommend for LTs EPC division in domestic and foreign markets? Paper-2 Section-A 1. Strategy includes the determination and evaluation of alternative paths to an already established mission or objective and eventually, choice of the alternatives to be adopted. Explain the statement underlining the process of strategy formulation. 2. Technological factors represent major opportunities and threats, which must be taken into account while formulating strategies. Discuss. How can a firm build a sustainable technology based competitive advantage? 3. The low-cost leadership strategy at times enables the firm to defend itself against each of five competitive forces. Explain. 4. Briefly explain the factors which contribute towards the success of a strategic alliance. Illustrate with a recent example of strategic alliance. 5. Explain any three methods/techniques used in strategic control systems, giving examples. SECTION B 6. Read the case carefully and answer the questions at the end. Rupbani Beverage Limited Rupbani Beverage Limited entered the Indian wine industry in 1975 by acquiring the Mastana Wine Company of Shimla and two other smaller wine companies at Kalka for Rs. 50 lakh. Despite hostility expressed by other wine makers and predictions that Rupbani would very soon fail as other outsiders such as Parminder Wine Company had, the entry succeeded. Rupbani Limited performed the unheard of feat of establishing a volume of 30 lakh cases within two years and taking the market share away from premium brands such as the National Wine Company of Bombay, Pearl Drink Limited of Pune and Syndicate Cola Limited of Madras. Rupbani advertised heavily and incurred Rs. 10 lakh in one year and standardised the taste of its wines with considerable success. It also invested Rs. 48 lakh in a large, new winery at Ahmedabad. A Rupbani Executive said, By 1995, consumption of wine in India will be a liter per capita, compared with half a liter today. The industry reacted to Rupbanis presence by doubling and tripling advertising expenditure. ABC and Company began a costly campaign to market premium and varied wines while reducing marketing emphasis on its cheap wines such as Nahan Drinks and the Gola Beverage. ABC maintained its 25 percent market share but had to resort to some heavy price discounting to do so. In 1982 Pearl Drinks formed a special wine unit to combine efforts for all its brands. Mr. Sailesh Kumar former Vice President of the National Wine Company had directed a project to coordinate Pearls world-wide wine business and develop a world wide strategy. The new unit was, in fact, a result of his work. In1983, wine consumption changed from growth at a rate of 5 per cent to no growth. The government also lifted the ban on imports of wine. This presented an even greater challenge because imported wines were cheaper as well as superior in quality. In1984 Mr. Ranganathan took over as Managing Director of Rupbani. He reviewed the recent performance of the company and its competitive position. He noted that the company was losing its hold over the market and it was not getting the return as expected. He also found that the companys performance in the syrup business was excellent. He, therefore, thought of selling out the wine business to Pearl Drinks, He convened an executive meeting and apprised the executives of his proposal. He also informed them that Pearl Drinks had offered the company to recapture its investment in the wine business which was about Rs. one crore. Mr. Arun Mehta, General Manager, observed that Rupbani was in and out in the past six years and has joined different organisations in trying the wine business. The finance Manager, M. Subhash Ghai said, The return on assets in the wine business is not the 30 to 35 per cent, which Rupbani is used to getting in the syrup business. Gaining share and trying to compete with ABC and Company left Rupbani with, eventually, the number two position in the wine industry with profits of Rs. 60 lakh on Rs. 220 lakh in sales. The stockholders wanted immediate return and hence, the company could not afford to make long-term investments necessary to popularise the brands. Had they stayed for five more years, they would have been a key leader in a large and profitable industry. Pearl Drinks immediately went from the sixth position in the industry to a strong second place with an 11 per cent market share. The Chairman of Pearl Drinks stated: We believe you can make money in this business in two ways remain a small boutique winery or become large and achieve economies of scale. Mr. Harish, Marketing Manager of Rupbani said, It is no use selling out our business to Pearl Drink and get back what we have invested. We can compete with our competitors successfully and improve our market share if we manufacture wines of varying qualities to suit the varied preferences and pockets of diverse sections of society. We should also offer price discounts to attract the consumers. There should be wide publicity of our brands throughout the country. Questions: (a) Perform SWOT analysis of Rupbani. (b) In the light of opportunities and threats of Rupbani Beverage and its strengths and weaknesses, what strategy should it formulate to improve its performance and strengthen its competitive position? (c) Should Rupbani spend on advertising in line with its competitors? Discuss. (d) What other strategies would you suggest for Rupbani for increasing their share of the market? Paper-3 Section-A 1. Explain the various steps involved in Strategic Management process in a single business firm. 2. Explain the following: (a) Types of resources (b) Strategic importance of resources 3. Discuss the importance of differentiation strategy in the present competitive environment. Explain taking into consideration its advantages and disadvantages. 4. Every strategic alliance incurs certain costs and comes with a set of risks. Explain any five costs/risks of entering into a strategic alliance. 5. Corporate culture plays an important role in the success of an organization. Explain giving suitable example. SECTION B NEECO LIMITED At the end of the recent five-year plan, it was estimated that there would be a considerable demand in the manufacturing capacity of power transformers in the country. It was further projected that the gap between demand and the manufacturing capacity would be even larger in the subsequent plans. Thus, anticipating the countrys demand in future, Neeco Limited decided to set up a new unit for manufacturing transformers. This was in addition to the manufacturing capacity already built up at one of the existing factories. Formal Planning Process Formal planning was introduced in the very first year of the commencement of activities at the new unit. The planning process at Neeco Limited included the setting up of broad objectives and the preparation of the three-year forecast. In a letter addressed to departmental heads, the General Manager, Mr. S.K. Patel said, The time has come to put down on paper the objectives and goals of our organisation and to develop a proper framework whereby we can take a more systematic look at the future we are heading for. This, I believe, can be achieved by involvement and cooperation of all the departmental heads in putting into practice a culture of planning. The responsibility for developing a three-year plan was entrusted to the planning cell, which reported directly to the General Manager. There was a separate controllers office, which looked after budget preparation and the subsequent monitoring of actual performance. Goal Setting Process Planning began each year in the month of April with the establishment of goals by the top management. The top management group consisted of the General Manager and his various functional heads. The goals were set both in qualitative as well as quantitative terms. The quantitative goals were in terms of growth in sales and profits. Commenting on the quantitative goals, Mr. Patel observed that: Profit is the primary goal. The planning cell, after collecting dl the information, consolidated and integrated the data and prepared operating results and cash flow projections for the three-year period. Exhibit-I NEECO LIMITED Date Steps in planning 1st Week of April Planning call sends relevant formats to departmental heads, with detailed explanations. 4th Week of April By the fourth week, the various departmental send the formats back to the planning cell, duly filled. 1st Week of May Planning officer compiles all the data and puts it in an integrated form. 2nd Week of May The first draft of the plan is discussed in a management group meeting, wherein several suggestions emerge and the draft is thoroughly revised by resolving the conflicting objectives of various departments. 1st Week of June The final draft of the plan is ready and is sent to corporate headquarters. (b) Responsibility for Plan Preparation Segment of the Plan Responsibility Sale Plan (Order Book Position) Manager Marketing Production Plan Manager (Production) Materials Plan Materials Manager Manpower Plan Personnel Manager Township Development Plan Manager (Projects) Plan and Final Plan Document Planning Officer Before finalising the plans as prepared by the various functional/department heads, a detailed discussion was held. During these discussion was held. During these discussions various departmental heads explained the basis of their respective plans. The final plan was arrived after resolving the conflicting objectives of various departments. The Planning-Budgeting Linkage Immediately after the plan was approved b9 the Management Group, the process of preparing a detailed budget for the next year was initiated. The three-year plan set out the broad objectives for the first year and projections for the next two years. A detailed exercise had already been conducted in preparing the broad objectives, which served as a basis for the preparation of a detailed budget for the ensuing year. Thus the first year of the plan document, with necessary modifications, became the budget for the next year. The three year plan document and the budget were, therefore, closely inter-related. It was said that the preparation of a three year plan was, in a way, a process of creating an organisational climate for a rigorous and time consuming process of budgeting. Reactions of Executives

Using Environmental Management For Businesses

Using Environmental Management For Businesses Human beings depend on nature for various purposes like food, water, clothing, shelter and even the air to breath. But, the unintended impacts of human actions are now creating a number of environmental issues like global warming, tropical deforestation, toxic waste disposal, ozone depletion and so on. These environmental issues, in turn, cause increased awareness of the importance of environmental ethics, pertaining to the moral relation between human beings and their natural environment (Stewart, p. 154), and increased awareness of the importance of minimizing the impacts on environment arising out of the activities of manufacturing industries, supply chains, transportation, government etc. Manufacturing industries and business organizations cause major environmental issues and therefore effective Environmental Management has recently been viewed as imperative for businesses. This piece of research paper is an attempt to address the need and importance of environmental management for businesses, and outline the benefits of using such management system for business organizations. Environmental Management As Barrow noted, environmental management, a significant part of environmental ethics, is a system of efforts that attempt to minimize the negative environmental impacts of the products and services that a business is related with (p. 33). When companies are manufacturing large volume of goods by using of various technologies, it causes major issues of waste disposal, toxic wastes, air, water and environmental pollution and so on that in turn ultimately cause major environmental issues of global warming, ozone depletion etc. the fundamental concept of environmental management is that negative impacts of organizational activities on its environment should be minimized, energy to be saved, waste to be disposed effectively or to be renewed and environmental pollution to be avoided. In a broader sense, environmental management system that a business implements not only saves human being life, but also, keeps sustainable environment for animals, species and all others living beings in the earth. Environmental management is essentially a significant part of business ethics and corporate social responsibility, because, the operation of the business should never be harmful to the environment and social life. Ryding emphasized that a business, when it is socially responsible and ethical, must have commitment to keep sustainable environment. He suggested that a good corporate citizen must be socially and ethically committed to conduct operations in order to avoid serious damage to the environment and social life (p. 536). Business organizations, regardless of small or large, nationals or multinationals, should set up a system approach, by taking a group of people to be involved in and by setting certain organizational goals and standards to be achieved by them in order to make the company more ethical, socially responsible and morally committed to its environment (Tinsley, p. 2). In recent days, green business concept, environmental management and ISO 14001 have gained significant attention among the corporate giants. ISO 14001 is a specific and systematic international standards for environmental management, providing a framework on how a business can implement environmental management at corporate levels. The environmental management in a business can be effectively implemented if there are well defined policies, good communication among its members, strong desire from the management and social and ethical commitment towards sustainable environment. Importance of using environmental management for businesses The environmental management at corporate levels would be a system approach aligned with strategies, actions and managerial activities that aim at eliminating the impacts of business operation and its products or services on the environment. There are large numbers of electronic machines, plastic products, household goods, food items and chemicals that cause major pollution to the environment or dispose toxic and dangerous wastes or even cause major health issues to the humans. By effectively implementing the environmental management system or ISO 14001, these pollution and environmental issues can be eliminated up to a greater extent and can do justice to the occupants of the earth, including humans, animals and all other living beings. It shows that environmental management at business level can obviously help enhance environmental ethics. Businesses today face rigorous competition from counterparts that causing them to put any potential efforts that can help them achieve competitive advantages. Businesses require environmental management as an effective tool for achieving its competitive advantages because customers that they face are increasingly aware of environment and products and services that are environment-friendly. To be more specific, a business that fails to meet specific requirements of its customers pertaining to providing goods and services that are conforming to the environmental ethics, will lose its market. In contrast, a business with effective environmental management will eventually be socially responsible, ethical and thus to be able to achieve competitive advantages too. It also can be perceived that environmental management is helpful for businesses to create customer loyalty and reputation through satisfying their needs. Secondly, environmental management helps maintain healthy communication among the members of the organization, because people or workforce of the business are more likely to like working environment that are goods for their health and work and this in turn motivate them to perform in their works. Thirdly, by implementing effective environmental management system and by conforming its standards to that of ISO 14001, it can be certified as ISO 14001 that gives greater values in international relations. Waste minimization, energy saving and effective waste disposal are some of the positive aspects of implementing environmental management for businesses. Waste minimization and effective waste disposal can help the business become socially more responsible, especially among the people who live nearby the business. These both result cost saving to the business as well, because, by minimizing wastes and through better disposal methods, the company will be able to cut its costs down. Environmental management encourages energy saving, that not only helps reduce pollution to the nature, but also cut down expenses of the business. Evaluative Conclusion Ethics is perhaps one of the hot buzzwords of today. Ethics relates to both business and environment. This piece of research work integrated environmental ethics and business ethics, detailing how environmental ethics can be enhanced by businesses through an effective environmental management system. This research paper has highlighted key benefits of implementing environmental management for the businesses.

creative short stories Essay examples -- essays research papers

MacBeth’s Transformation from "Brave Macbeth to "This dead Butcher" William Shakespeare's play "MacBeth" tells the story of Macbeth change from a brave general, to a vicious murderer. At the start of the play Macbeth is acknowledge by the king as a brave and honourable general, after he heard of Macbeth's great victory in the battlefield. He promotes Macbeth to Thane of Cawdor, which was still unknown by both Macbeth and Banquo when they came across the three weird sisters. "All Hail Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Cawdor" (I:III:51) "All Hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter" (I:III:53) Macbeth was sceptical about these prophecies, however developed faith in them when Ross, following the king's orders titles him Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth does not let on to anyone about his ever-increasing desire to become king. "If chance will have me king, why chance will crown me." (I:III:154) Macbeth tells his lady about the prophecies and she is instantly enthusiastic about the prospect of Macbeth becoming king. "Great Glamis, Worthy Cawdor! Greater than both by the all-hail hereafter! Thy letters have transported me beyond this ignorant present and I feel now the future is an instant." (I:V:58) Macbeth's desire turns to an obsession and with...

The Existance Of God :: essays research papers

The Existance Of God Either God exists or He doesn't. There is no middle ground, and any attempt to remain neutral in relation to God's existence is automatically synonymous with unbelief. It is far from a "moot" question, because if God does exist, then nothing else really matters; if He does not exist, then nothing really matters at all. This is kind of unfortunate for someone like myself, because I've always lived on that nonexistent middle ground. Until now I've never been put in a position where it was questioned. The last couple of years I've referred to myself as a recovering Catholic, but never redefined my religion (or lack thereof) since then. When I found out I had to take a stand in this paper one way or another, yes or no, black or white, it was unsettling. At that point it became more than a term paper. Can I, with a clear conscience, write a 15 page paper denouncing the existence of God? I kind of cringed as I imagined being struck down Indiana Jones style, and in that, I had my answer. So without further adieu, the next 15 pages is me, making my case (I think) for the existence of God. What better place to start, than Pascal's Wager. Pascal's Wager takes this angle: You must wager. There is no choice, he says, you are already committed. I liked the example he used of the toss of the coin, he wants us to see this choice as the gamble that it is. Before you put your money on either, examine the odds, says Pascal: One on side of the coin, heads: God exists and there is an eternal heaven to be gained and an eternal Hell to be avoided. On the flip-side of the coin: God does not exist, no heaven and hell to look forward to or fear, no rewards and no wrath. Choose God, says Pascal, If you win you win everything if you lose you lose nothing, though the odds are even, the rewards are not. Choose heads and win, and in the words of Willy Wonka, you win the "grand and glorious jackpot." Is this true? Is it wrong for me to take a theist's approach to this paper, and yet still disagree with Pascal's logic? Pascal says there is a full and happy life to be won, but isn't there also a full and happy life to be lost, depending on your ideas of full and happy?

Pacemakers Allow Millions to Live Life to the Fullest :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Pacemakers Allow Millions to Live Life to the Fullest I always thought that pacemakers were for old people or people that had really serious heart conditions. My opinion of that drastically changed last summer after my then eighteen year old friend had to have one implanted. I never new how pacemakers worked or what they did, I just knew that you could not ride roller coasters if you have one. My fascination with pacemakers all started last summer. It was right after graduation and my friends and I were all enjoying the summer. Then during the early hours of June 4th I received the scariest call ever. My friend Mike called and said that Brian's heart stopped beating and he was being rushed to the hospital. I immediately threw on some shoes and headed out the door. The whole way to the hospital I kept thinking, what happened? Brian was one of the healthiest people that I know. He worked out a lot and always ate right. He was in perfect shape. When I reached the hospital I met up with Brian's family and our friends. No one knew what happened and even the doctors still weren't sure what caused Brian's heart to stop. We spent the whole night praying and waiting for a miracle. I remember the day like it was yesterday, we just had prom and graduation and then here Brian was lying in a hospital bed unconscious. I just couldn't understand, the doctors speculated that it might have been from alcohol or drugs but Brian would never do that. Then they thought that maybe he had a seizure caused by a brain aneurysm, but that still wasn't right. To this day we still do not know what caused his heart to stop. Anyways, the doctors thought that Brian should have a pacemaker/defibrillator implanted so if this scary event reoccurred again his heart would start automatically. I did not understand what a pacemaker was but I was for anything that would help prolong my best friend's life. The pacemaker was implanted a few days before Brian was supposed to leave the hospital and he returned home after just two days recovery. After that he took it easy for a few months, and then was back to his normal old self. I did not know what a pacemaker did until about a month ago when we had to choose a research topic. Pacemakers Allow Millions to Live Life to the Fullest :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers Pacemakers Allow Millions to Live Life to the Fullest I always thought that pacemakers were for old people or people that had really serious heart conditions. My opinion of that drastically changed last summer after my then eighteen year old friend had to have one implanted. I never new how pacemakers worked or what they did, I just knew that you could not ride roller coasters if you have one. My fascination with pacemakers all started last summer. It was right after graduation and my friends and I were all enjoying the summer. Then during the early hours of June 4th I received the scariest call ever. My friend Mike called and said that Brian's heart stopped beating and he was being rushed to the hospital. I immediately threw on some shoes and headed out the door. The whole way to the hospital I kept thinking, what happened? Brian was one of the healthiest people that I know. He worked out a lot and always ate right. He was in perfect shape. When I reached the hospital I met up with Brian's family and our friends. No one knew what happened and even the doctors still weren't sure what caused Brian's heart to stop. We spent the whole night praying and waiting for a miracle. I remember the day like it was yesterday, we just had prom and graduation and then here Brian was lying in a hospital bed unconscious. I just couldn't understand, the doctors speculated that it might have been from alcohol or drugs but Brian would never do that. Then they thought that maybe he had a seizure caused by a brain aneurysm, but that still wasn't right. To this day we still do not know what caused his heart to stop. Anyways, the doctors thought that Brian should have a pacemaker/defibrillator implanted so if this scary event reoccurred again his heart would start automatically. I did not understand what a pacemaker was but I was for anything that would help prolong my best friend's life. The pacemaker was implanted a few days before Brian was supposed to leave the hospital and he returned home after just two days recovery. After that he took it easy for a few months, and then was back to his normal old self. I did not know what a pacemaker did until about a month ago when we had to choose a research topic.

Frostbite Chapter 23

Twenty-three THE WEATHER WARMED UP ON the day of my molnija ceremony. In fact, it was so warm that a lot of the snow on campus began melting, running down the sides of the Academy's stone buildings in slim, silvery streams. Winter was far from being over, so I knew everything would just freeze up again in a few days. For now, though, it felt as though the entire world was weeping. I had walked away from the Spokane incident with minor bruises and cuts. The burns from the melting flex-cuffs were the worst of my injuries. But I was still having a hard time dealing with the death I'd caused and the death I'd seen. I'd wanted little more than to go curl up in a ball somewhere and not talk to anyone, except maybe Lissa. But on my fourth day back at the Academy, my mother had found me and told me it was time to receive my marks. It had taken me several moments to grasp what she was talking about. Then it occurred to me that in decapitating two Strigoi, I'd earned two molnija tattoos. My first ones. The realization had stunned me. All my life, in considering my future career as a guardian, I'd looked forward to the marks. I'd seen them as badges of honor. But now? Mainly they were going to be reminders of something I wanted to forget. The ceremony took place in the guardians' building, in a large room they used for meetings and banquets. It was nothing at all like the great dining room at the resort. It was efficient and practical, like the guardians were. The carpet was a bluish gray shade, low and tightly woven. The bare white walls held framed black-and-white photos of St. Vladimir's through the years. There were no other decorations or fanfare, yet the solemnity and power of the moment were palpable. All the guardians on campus- but no novices- attended. They milled around in the building's main meeting room, hanging out in clusters but not talking. When the ceremony started, they fell into orderly ranks without being told and watched me. I sat on a stool in the corner of the room, leaning forward with my hair hanging over the front of my face. Behind me, a guardian named Lionel held a tattooist's needle to the back of my neck. I'd known him the whole time I'd been at the Academy, but I'd never realized he was trained to draw molnija marks. Before he started, he had a murmured conversation with my mother and Alberta. â€Å"She won't have a promise mark,† he said. â€Å"She hasn't graduated.† â€Å"It happens,† said Alberta. â€Å"She made the kills. Do the molnijas, and she'll get the promise mark later.† Considering the pain I regularly put myself through, I didn't expect the tattoos to hurt as much as they did. But I bit my lip and stayed silent as Lionel made the marks. The process seemed to go on forever. When he finished, he produced a couple of mirrors, and with some maneuvering, I was able to see the back of my neck. Two tiny black marks sat there, side by side, against my reddened and sensitive skin. Molnija meant â€Å"lightning† in Russian, and that's what the jagged shape was meant to symbolize. Two marks. One for Isaiah, one for Elena. Once I'd seen them, he bandaged them up and gave me some instructions about caring for them while they healed. Most of it I missed, but I figured I could ask again later. I was still kind of shocked by it all. After that, all the gathered guardians came up to me one by one. They each gave me some sort of sign of affection- a hug, a kiss on the cheek- and kind words. â€Å"Welcome to the ranks,† said Alberta, her weathered face gentle as she pulled me into a tight embrace. Dimitri didn't say anything when his turn came, but as always, his eyes spoke legions. Pride and tenderness filled his expression, and I swallowed back tears. He rested one hand gently on my cheek, nodded, and walked away. When Stan- the instructor I'd fought with the most since my first day- hugged me and said, â€Å"Now you're one of us. I always knew you'd be one of the best,† I thought I'd pass out. And then when my mother came up to me, I couldn't help the tear that ran down my cheek. She wiped it away and then brushed her fingers against the back of my neck. â€Å"Don't ever forget,† she told me. Nobody said, â€Å"Congratulations,† and I was glad. Death wasn't anything to get excited about. When that was done, drinks and food were served. I walked to the buffet table and made a plate for myself of miniature feta quiches and a slice of mango cheesecake. I ate without really tasting the food and answered questions from others without even knowing what I said half the time. It was like I was a Rose robot, going through the motions of what was expected. On the back of my neck, my skin stung from the tattoos, and in my mind, I kept seeing Mason's blue eyes and Isaiah's red ones. I felt guilty for not enjoying my big day more, but I was relieved when the group finally started dispersing. My mother walked up to me as others murmured their goodbyes. Aside from her words here at the ceremony, we hadn't talked much since my breakdown on the plane. I still felt a little funny about that- and a little embarrassed as well. She'd never mentioned it, but something very small had shifted in the nature of our relationship. We weren't anywhere near being friends†¦but we weren't exactly enemies anymore either. â€Å"Lord Szelsky is leaving soon,† she told me as we stood near the building's doorway, not far from where I'd yelled for her on that first day we'd talked. â€Å"I'll be going with him.† â€Å"I know,† I said. There was no question she'd leave. That was how it was. Guardians followed Moroi. They came first. She regarded me for a few moments, her brown eyes thoughtful. For the first time in a long time, I felt like we were actually looking eye to eye, as opposed to her looking down on me. It was about time, too, seeing as I had half a foot of height on her. â€Å"You did well,† she said at last. â€Å"Considering the circumstances.† It was only half a compliment, but I deserved no more. I understood now the mistakes and lapses of judgment that had led to the events at Isaiah's house. Some had been my fault; some hadn't. I wished I could have changed some of my actions, but I knew she was right. I'd done the best I could in the end with the mess before me. â€Å"Killing Strigoi wasn't as glamorous as I thought it'd be,† I told her. She gave me a sad smile. â€Å"No. It never is.† I thought then about all the marks on her neck, all the kills. I shuddered. â€Å"Oh, hey.† Eager to change the subject, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the little blue eye pendant she'd given me. â€Å"This thing you gave me. It's a n-nazari† I stumbled over the word. She looked surprised. â€Å"Yes. How'd you know?† I didn't want to explain my dreams with Adrian. â€Å"Someone told me. It's a protection thing, right?† A pensive look crossed her face, and then she exhaled and nodded. â€Å"Yes. It comes from an old superstition in the Middle East†¦Some people believe that those who want to hurt you can curse you or give you ‘the evil eye.' The nazar is meant to counteract the evil eye †¦ and just bring protection in general to those who wear it.† I ran my fingers over the piece of glass. â€Å"Middle East†¦so, places sort of like, um, Turkey?† My mother's lips quirked. â€Å"Places exactly like Turkey.† She hesitated. â€Å"It was †¦ a gift. A gift I received a long time ago †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her gaze turned inward, lost in memory. â€Å"I got a lot of †¦ attention from men when I was your age. Attention that seemed flattering at first but wasn't in the end. It's hard to tell the difference sometimes, between what's real affection and what's someone wanting to take advantage of you. But when you feel the real thing†¦well, you'll know.† I understood then why she was so overprotective about my reputation- she'd endangered her own when she was younger. Maybe more than that had been damaged. I also knew why she'd given the nazar to me. My father had given it to her. I didn't think she wanted to talk anymore about it, so I didn't ask. It was enough to know that maybe, just maybe, their relationship hadn't been all about business and genes after all. We said goodbye, and I returned to my classes. Everyone knew where I'd been that morning, and my fellow novices wanted to see my molnija marks. I didn't blame them. If our roles had been reversed, I would have been harassing me too. â€Å"Come on, Rose,† begged Shane Reyes. We were walking out of our morning practice, and he kept swatting my ponytail. I made a mental note to wear my hair down tomorrow. Several others followed us and echoed his requests. â€Å"Yeah, come on. Let's see what you got for your swordsmanship!† Their eyes shone with eagerness and excitement. I was a hero, their classmate who'd dispatched the leaders of the roving band of Strigoi that had so terrorized us over the holidays. But I met the eyes of someone standing at the back of the group, someone who looked neither eager nor excited. Eddie. Meeting my gaze, he gave me a small, sad smile. He understood. â€Å"Sorry, guys,† I said, turning back to the others. â€Å"They have to stay bandaged. Doctor's orders.† This was met with grumbles that soon turned into questions about how I'd actually killed the Strigoi. Decapitation was one of the hardest and rarest ways to kill a vampire; it wasn't like carrying a sword was convenient. So I did my best to tell my friends what had happened, making sure to stick to the facts and not glorify the killings. The school day couldn't end a moment too soon, and Lissa walked with me back to my dorm. She and I hadn't had the chance to talk much since everything had gone down in Spokane. I'd undergone a lot of questioning, and then there'd been Mason's funeral. Lissa had also been caught up in her own distractions with the royals leaving campus, so she'd had no more free time than me. Being near her made me feel better. Even though I could be in her head at any time, it just wasn't the same as actually being physically around another living person who cared about you. When we got to the door of my room, I saw a bouquet of freesias sitting on the floor near it. Sighing, I picked up the fragrant flowers without even looking at the attached card. â€Å"What are those?† asked Lissa while I unlocked the door. â€Å"They're from Adrian,† I told her. We walked inside, and I pointed to my desk, where a few other bouquets sat. I put the freesias down beside them. â€Å"I'll be glad when he leaves campus. I don't think I can take much more of this.† She turned to me in surprise. â€Å"Oh. Um, you don't know.† I got that warning twinge through the bond that told me I wouldn't like what was about to come. â€Å"Know what?† â€Å"Uh, he isn't leaving. He's going to stay here for a while.† â€Å"He has to leave,† I argued. To my knowledge, the only reason he'd come back at all was because of Mason's funeral, and I still wasn't sure why he'd done that, since he barely knew Mason. Maybe Adrian had just done it for show. Or maybe to keep stalking Lissa and me. â€Å"He's in college. Or maybe reform school. I don't know, but he does something.† â€Å"He's taking the semester off.† I stared. Smiling at my shock, she nodded. â€Å"He's going to stay and work with me†¦ and Ms. Carmack. All this time, he never even knew what spirit was. He just knew he hadn't specialized but that he had these weird abilities. He just kept them to himself, except for when he occasionally found another spirit user. But they didn't know any more than he did.† â€Å"I should have figured it out sooner,† I mused. â€Å"There was something about being around him. †¦ I always wanted to talk to him, you know? He just has this †¦ charisma. Like you do. I guess it's all tied into spirit and compulsion or whatever. It makes me like him †¦ even though I don't like him.† â€Å"Don't you?† she teased. â€Å"No,† I replied adamantly. â€Å"And I don't like that dream thing, either.† Her jade eyes went wide with wonder. â€Å"That is cool,† she said. â€Å"You've always been able to tell what's going on with me, but I've never been able to communicate with you the other way. I'm glad you guys got away when you did†¦but I wish I could have figured out the dream thing and helped find you.† â€Å"Not me,† I said. â€Å"I'm glad Adrian didn't get you to go off your meds.† I hadn't found that out until a few days after being in Spokane. Lissa had apparently rejected Adrian's initial suggestion that stopping the pills would let her learn more about spirit. She had admitted to me later, however, that if Christian and I had stayed missing much longer, she might have cracked. â€Å"How are you feeling lately?† I asked, recalling her concerns about the medication. â€Å"You still feel like the pills aren't working?† â€Å"Mmm†¦well, it's hard to explain. I still feel closer to the magic, like maybe they aren't blocking me so much anymore. But I'm not feeling any of the other mental side effects†¦not upset or anything.† â€Å"Wow, that's great.† A beautiful smile lit her face. â€Å"I know. It makes me think there might be hope for me to learn to work the magic after all someday.† Seeing her so happy made me smile back. I hadn't liked seeing those dark feelings starting to return and was glad they'd vanished. I didn't understand the how or the why, but as long as she felt okay- Everyone has light around them, except for you. You have shadows. You take them from Lissa. Adrian's words slammed into my mind. Uneasily, I thought about my behavior these last couple of weeks. Some of the angry outbursts. My rebelliousness- unusual even for me. My own black coil of emotion, stirring in my chest†¦ No, I decided. There were no similarities. Lissa's dark feelings were magic-based. Mine were stress-based. Besides, I felt fine right now. Seeing her watching me, I tried to remember where we'd left off in the conversation. â€Å"Maybe you'll eventually find a way to make it work. I mean, if Adrian could find a way to use spirit and doesn't need meds †¦Ã¢â‚¬  She suddenly laughed. â€Å"You don't know, do you?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"That Adrian does medicate himself.† â€Å"He does? But he said- † I groaned. â€Å"Of course he does. The cigarettes. The drinking. God only knows what else.† She nodded. â€Å"Yup. He's almost always got something in his system.† â€Å"But probably not at night†¦which is why he can poke his head into my dreams.† â€Å"Man, I wish I could do that,† she sighed. â€Å"Maybe you'll learn someday. Just don't become an alcoholic in the process.† â€Å"I won't,† she assured me. â€Å"But I will learn. None of the other spirit users could do it, Rose- well, aside from St. Vladimir. I'll learn like he did. I'm going to learn to use it- and I won't let it hurt me.† I smiled and touched her hand. I had absolute faith in her. â€Å"I know.† We talked for most of the evening. When the time came for my usual practice with Dimitri, I parted ways with her. As I walked away, I pondered something that had been bothering me. Although the attacking groups of Strigoi had had many more members, the guardians felt confident Isaiah had been their leader. That didn't mean there wouldn't be other threats in the future, but they felt it'd be a while before his followers regrouped. But I couldn't help thinking about the list I'd seen in the tunnel in Spokane, the one that had listed royal families by size. And Isaiah had mentioned the Dragomirs by name. He knew they were almost gone, and he'd sounded keen on being the one to finish them. Sure, he was dead now†¦but were there other Strigoi out there with the same idea? I shook my head. I couldn't worry about that. Not today. I still needed to recover from everything else. Soon, though. Soon I'd have to deal with this. I didn't even know if our practice was still on but went to the locker room anyway. After changing into practice clothes, I headed down into the gym and found Dimitri in a supply room, reading one of the Western novels he loved. He looked up at my entrance. I'd seen little of him in these last few days and had figured he was busy with Tasha. â€Å"I thought you might come by,† he said, putting a bookmark between the pages. â€Å"It's time for practice.† He shook his head. â€Å"No. No practice today. You still need to recover.† â€Å"I've got a clean bill of health. I'm good to go.† I pushed as much patented Rose Hathaway bravado into my words as I could. Dimitri wasn't falling for any of it. He gestured to the chair beside him. â€Å"Sit down, Rose.† I hesitated only a moment before complying. He moved his own chair close to mine so that we sat directly across from each other. My heart fluttered as I looked into those gorgeous dark eyes. â€Å"No one gets over their first kill†¦kills†¦easily. Even with Strigoi†¦well, it's still technically taking a life. That's hard to come to terms with. And after everything else you went through †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He sighed, then reached out and caught my hand in his. His fingers were exactly like I remembered, long and powerful, calloused with years of training. â€Å"When I saw your face†¦when we found you in that house†¦you can't imagine how I felt.† I swallowed. â€Å"How †¦ how did you feel?† â€Å"Devastated †¦ grief-stricken. You were alive, but the way you looked †¦ I didn't think you'd ever recover. And it tore me apart to think of that happening to you so young.† He squeezed my hand. â€Å"You will recover- I know that now, and I'm glad. But you aren't there. Not yet. Losing someone you care about is never easy.† My eyes dropped from his and studied the floor. â€Å"It's my fault,† I said in a small voice. â€Å"Hmm?† â€Å"Mason. Getting killed.† I didn't have to see Dimitri's face to know compassion was filling it. â€Å"Oh, Roza. No. You made some bad decisions†¦you should have told others when you knew he was gone†¦but you can't blame yourself. You didn't kill him.† Tears brimmed in my eyes as I looked back up. â€Å"I might as well have. The whole reason he went there- it was my fault. We had a fight†¦and I told him about the Spokane thing, even though you asked me not to†¦.† One tear leaked out of the corner of my eye. Really, I needed to learn to stop that. Just as my mother had, Dimitri delicately wiped the tear off my cheek. â€Å"You can't blame yourself for that,† he told me. â€Å"You can regret your decisions and wish you'd done things differently, but in the end, Mason made his decisions too. That was what he chose to do. It was his decision in the end, no matter your original role.† When Mason had come back for me, I realized, he'd let his feelings for me get in the way. It was what Dimitri had always feared, that if he and I had any sort of relationship, it would put us- and any Moroi we protected- in danger. â€Å"I just wish I'd been able to †¦ I don't know, do anything†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Swallowing back further tears, I pulled my hands from Dimitri's and stood up before I could say something stupid. â€Å"I should go,† I said thickly. â€Å"Let me know when you want to start practice again. And thanks for †¦ talking.† I started to turn; then I heard him say abruptly, â€Å"No.† I glanced back. â€Å"What?† He held my gaze, and something warm and wonderful and powerful shot between us. â€Å"No,† he repeated. â€Å"I told her no. Tasha.† â€Å"I †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I shut my mouth before my jaw hit the floor. â€Å"But†¦why? That was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. You could have had a baby. And she †¦ she was, you know, into you†¦.† The ghost of a smile flickered on his face. â€Å"Yes, she was. Is. And that's why I had to say no. I couldn't return that†¦couldn't give her what she wanted. Not when†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He took a few steps toward me. â€Å"Not when my heart is somewhere else.† I almost started crying again. â€Å"But you seemed so into her. And you kept going on about how young I acted.† â€Å"You act young,† he said, â€Å"because you are young. But you know things, Roza. Things people older than you don't even know. That day †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I knew instantly which day he referred to. The one up against the wall. â€Å"You were right, about how I fight to stay in control. No one else has ever figured that out- and it scared me. You scare me.† â€Å"Why? Don't you want anyone to know?† He shrugged. â€Å"Whether they know that fact or not doesn't matter. What matters is that someone- that you- know me that well. When a person can see into your soul, it's hard. It forces you to be open. Vulnerable. It's much easier being with someone who's just more of a casual friend.† â€Å"Like Tasha.† â€Å"Tasha Ozera is an amazing woman. She's beautiful and she's brave. But she doesn't- â€Å" â€Å"She doesn't get you,† I finished. He nodded. â€Å"I knew that. But I still wanted the relationship. I knew it would be easy and that she could take me away from you. I thought she could make me forget you.† I'd thought the same thing about Mason. â€Å"But she couldn't.† â€Å"Yes. And, so †¦ that's a problem.† â€Å"Because it's wrong for us to be together.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Because of the age difference.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"But more importantly because we're going to be Lissa's guardians and need to focus on her- not each other.† â€Å"Yes.† I thought about this for a moment and then looked straight into his eyes. â€Å"Well,† I said at last, â€Å"the way I see it, we aren't Lissa's guardians yet.† I steeled myself for the next response. I knew it was going to be one of the Zen life lessons. Something about inner strength and perseverance, about how the choices we made today were templates for the future or some other nonsense. Instead he kissed me. Time stopped as he reached out and cupped my face between his hands. He brought his mouth down and brushed it against my lips. It was barely a kiss at first but soon increased, becoming heady and deep. When he finally pulled away, it was to kiss my forehead. He left his lips there for several seconds as his arms held me close. I wished the kiss could have gone on forever. Breaking the embrace, he ran a few fingers through my hair and down my cheek. He stepped back toward the door. â€Å"I'll see you later, Roza.† â€Å"At our next practice?† I asked. â€Å"We are starting those up again, right? I mean, you still have things to teach me.† Standing in the doorway, he looked over at me and smiled. â€Å"Yes. Lots of things.†