The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 30

Matt watched Mrs. Flowers go over Sheriff Mossberg's badge, holding it lightly in one hand and running her fingers over it with the other. The badge came from Rebecca, Sheriff Mossberg's niece. It had seemed entirely a coincidence when Matt had almost run into her earlier that day. Then he'd noticed that she was wearing a man's shirt as a dress. The shirt had been familiar – a Ridgemont sheriff's shirt. Then he had seen the badge still attached to it. You could say a lot of things about Sheriff Mossberg, but you couldn't imagine him losing his badge. Matt had forgotten all sense of gallantry and snatched at the little metal shield before Rebecca could stop him. He'd had a sick feeling in his stomach then, and it had only gotten worse since. Mrs. Flowers's expression was doing nothing to comfort him. â€Å"It wasn't in direct contact with his skin,† she said softly, â€Å"so the images I get are hazy. But oh, my dear Matt† – she lifted shadowed eyes to his – â€Å"I am afraid.† She shivered, sitting at her kitchen table chair, where two mugs of hot spiced milk sat untouched. Matt had to clear his throat and touch the scalding milk to his lips. â€Å"You think we need to go out to look.† â€Å"We must,† said Mrs. Flowers. She shook her head, with its soft, wispy white curls, sadly. â€Å"Dear Ma ma is most insistent, and I can feel it too; a great disturbance in this artifact.† Matt felt the faintest shade of pride tingeing his fear for having secured the â€Å"artifact† – and then he thought, yeah, robbing badges from the shirts of twelve-year-old girls is really something to be proud of. Mrs. Flowers's voice came from the kitchen. â€Å"You'd best put on several shirts and sweaters as well as a pair of these.† She emerged sideways through the kitchen door, holding several long coats, apparently from the closet in front of the kitchen door, and several pairs of gardening gloves. Matt jumped up to help her with the armfuls of coats and then went into a coughing fit as the smell of mothballs and of – something else, something spicy – surrounded him. â€Å"Why do – I feel – like Christmas?† he said, forced to cough between each few words. â€Å"Oh, now that would be Great-Aunt Morwen's clove preservation recipe,† Mrs. Flowers replied. â€Å"Some of these coats are from Mother's time.† Matt believed her. â€Å"But it's still warm out. Why should we wear coats at all?† â€Å"For protection, dear Matt, for protection! These clothes have spells woven into the material to safeguard us from evil.† â€Å"Even the gardening gloves?† Matt asked doubtfully. â€Å"Even the gloves,† Mrs. Flowers said firmly. She paused and then said in a quiet voice, â€Å"And we'd better gather some flashlights, Matt dear, because this is something we're going to have to do in the darkness.† â€Å"You're kidding!† â€Å"No, sadly, I am not. And we should get some rope to tie ourselves together. Under no circumstances must we enter the thicket of the Old Wood tonight.† An hour later, Matt was still thinking. He hadn't had any appetite for Mrs. Flowers's hearty Braised Eggplant au Fromage dinner, and the wheels in his brain just wouldn't stop turning. I wonder if this is how Elena feels, he thought, when she's putting together Plans A, B, and C. I wonder if she ever feels this stupid doing it. He felt a tightening around his heart, and for the three-hundred-thousandth time since he'd left her and Damon, he wondered if he'd done the right thing. It had to be right, he told himself. It hurt the worst, and that's the proof of it. Things that really, really hurt are the right thing to do. But I just wanted to say good-bye to her†¦. But if you'd said good-bye, you'd never have left. Face it, moron, as far as Elena goes you're the world's biggest loser. Ever since she found a boyfriend she liked better than you, you've been working like you were Meredith and Bonnie to help her keep him and keep away The Bad Guy. Maybe you should get you all little matching T-shirts saying: I am a dog. I serve the Princess Ele – SMACK! Matt leaped up, and landed crouching, which was more painful than it looked in movies. Rattle-Smick! It was the loose shutter on the other side of the room. That first bang had really been a slam, though. The exterior of the boardinghouse was in pretty bad shape, and the wooden shutters there sometimes suddenly came free of their wintertime nails. But was it really just a coincidence? Matt thought, as soon as his heart had stopped galloping. In this boardinghouse where Stefan had spent so much time? Maybe somehow there were still remnants of his spirit around, tuned to what people thought within these halls. If so, Matt had just been given a solid whack to the solar plexus, from the way he felt. Sorry, bud, he thought, almost saying it out loud. I didn't mean to trash your girl. She's under a lot of pressure. Trash his girl? Trash Elena? Hell, he'd be the first person to knock out anybody who trashed Elena. Provided Stefan didn't use vampire tricks to get in front of him! And what was it Elena always said? You can't be too prepared. You can't have too many subplans because, just as sure as God made a pesky shell around a peanut, your major plan was going to have some flaws. That was why Elena also worked with as many people as possible. So what if C and D workers never needed to get involved. They were there if they were needed. Thinking this, and with his head feeling a lot clearer than it had since he had sold the Prius and given Stefan's money to Bonnie and Meredith for plane fare plus, Matt went to work. â€Å"And then we took a walk around the estate, and saw the apple orchard, and the orange orchard, and the cherry orchard,† Bonnie told Elena, who was lying down, looking small and defenseless, in her four-poster bed, which had been hung with dusty-gold sheer panels, right now held back by heavy tassels in various shades of gold. Bonnie was sitting comfortably in a gold upholstered chair that had been drawn to the bed. She had her small bare feet up on the sheets. Elena was not being a good patient. She wanted to get up, she insisted. She wanted to be able to walk around. That would do her more good than all the oatmeal and steak and milk and five-times-a-day visits from Dr. Meggar, who had come to live at the estate. She knew what they were all really afraid of, though. Bonnie had blurted it all out in one long sobbing, keening wail one night when the little redhead had been on duty beside her. â€Å"Y-you screamed and all the v-vampires heard it, and Sage just picked up Meredith and me like two kittens, one under each arm, and he ran to where the screaming was. But b-by then so many people had gotten to you first! You were unconscious but so was Damon, and somebody said, ‘They-they've been attacked and I th-think they're dead!' And every-b-body was s-saying, ‘Call the G-Guardians!' And I fainted, a little.† â€Å"Shhh,† Elena had said kindly – and cannily. â€Å"Have some Black Magic to make it feel better.† Bonnie had had some. And some more. And then she'd gone on with the story. â€Å"But Sage must've known something because he said, ‘Here, I'm a doctor, and I'm going to examine them.' And you would really believe him, the way he said it!† â€Å"And then he looked at both of you, and I guess he knew right away what happened, because he said, ‘Fetch a carriage! I need to take them t-to Dr. Meggar, my colleague.' And the Lady Fazina herself came and said that they could have one of her carriages, and just send it back wh-whenever. She's sooooo rich! And then, we got you two out the back way because there were – were some bastards who said, let them die. They were real demons, white like snow, called Snow Women. And then, then, we were just in the carriage and, oh my God! Elena! Elena, you died! You stopped breathing twice! And Sage and Meredith just kept doing CPR on you. And I – I prayed so h-h-hard.† Elena, fully into the story by now, had cuddled her, but Bonnie's tears kept coming back. â€Å"And we knocked at Dr. Meggar's as if we were going to burst the door in – and – and someone told him – and he examined her and said, ‘She needs a transfusion.' And I said, ‘Take my blood.' Because remember in school when we both gave blood to Jody Wright and we were practically the only ones who could do it because we were the same kind? And then Dr. Meggar got two tables ready like that† – Bonnie had snapped her fingers – â€Å"and I was so scared I could hardly hold still for the needle, but I did. I did, somehow! And they gave you some of my blood. And, meanwhile, you know what Meredith did? She let Damon bite her. She really did. And Dr. Meggar sent the carriage back to the house to ask for servants who ‘wanted a bonus' because th-that's what it's called here – and the carriage came back full. And I don't know how many Damon bit, but it was a lot! Dr. Meggar said it was the best medicine. And Meredith and D amon and all of us talked and we convinced Dr. Meggar to come here, I mean to live, and Lady Ulma is going to turn that whole building he was living in into a hospital for the poor people. And ever after that we've just been trying to get you well. Damon was fine the next morning. And Lady Ulma and Lucen and he – I mean it was their idea but he did it, sent this pearl to Lady Fazina – it was one that her father had never found a client rich enough to buy, because it's so big, like a good handful in size but irregular, that means with twists and turns, and a sheen like silver. They put it on a thick chain and sent it to her.† Bonnie's eyes had filled again. â€Å"Because she saved both you and Damon. Her carriage saved your lives.† Bonnie had leaned forward to whisper, â€Å"And Meredith told me – it's a secret, but not from you – that being bitten isn't that bad. There!† And Bonnie, like the kitten she was, had yawned and stretched. â€Å"I would have been bitten next,† she'd said almost wistfully, and quickly added, â€Å"but you needed my blood. Human blood, but mine especially. I guess they know all about blood types here because they can taste and smell the differences.† Then she gave a little jump and said, â€Å"Do you want to look at the fox key half? We were so sure it was all over and we'd never ever find it, but when Meredith went in the bedroom to get bitten – and I promise that was all they did – Damon gave it to her and asked her to keep it. So she did and she took good care of it and it's in a little chest Lucen made out of something that looks like plastic but it's not.† Elena had admired the little crescent, but other than that there was nothing to do in bed but talk and read classical books or encyclopedias from Earth. They wouldn't even let her and Damon rest in the same room. Elena knew why. They were afraid she wouldn't just talk to Damon. They were afraid that she would get near to him and smell his exotic familiar smell, made up of Italian bergamot, mandarin, and cardamom, and that she would look up into his black eyes that could hold universes inside the pupils, and that her knees would go weak and she'd wake up a vampire. They didn't know anything! She and Damon had been safely exchanging blood for weeks before the crisis. If there was nothing to drive him out of sanity again, the way the pain had before, he would conduct himself like a perfect gentleman. â€Å"Hm,† Bonnie said, upon hearing this protest, pushing a tiny throw pillow around with toenails that had been painted silver. â€Å"I maybe wouldn't tell them that you've been exchanging blood so many times from the beginning. It might make them go ‘Aha!' or something. You know, read something into it.† â€Å"There's nothing to read into. I'm here to collect my beloved Damon and Stefan is just helping me.† Bonnie looked at her with her brows knitted and her mouth pursed, but didn't venture a word. â€Å"Bonnie?† â€Å"Um-hm?† â€Å"Did I just say what I thought I said?† â€Å"Um-hm.† Elena, with one motion, gathered an armful of pillows and deposited them on her face. â€Å"Could you please tell chef that I want another steak and a big glass of milk?† she requested in a muffled voice from under the pillows. â€Å"I'm not well.† Matt had a new junk car. He was always able to get his hands on one when he really needed it. And now he was driving, in fits and starts, to Obaasan's house. Mrs. Saitou's house, he corrected himself hastily. He didn't want to tread on unfamiliar cultural customs, not when he was asking for a favor. The door at the Saitous' was opened by a woman Matt had never seen before. She was an attractive woman, dressed very dramatically in a wide scarlet skirt – or maybe in very wide scarlet pants – she stood with her feet so far apart that it was hard to tell. She wore a white blouse. Her face was striking: two swaths of straight black hair and a smaller, neater swath of bangs that came to her eyebrows. But the most striking thing of all about her was that she was holding a long curved sword, pointed directly at Matt. â€Å"H-hi,† Matt said, when the door swung open to reveal this apparition. â€Å"This is a good house,† the woman replied. â€Å"This is not a house of evil spirits.† â€Å"I never thought it was,† Matt said, retreating as the woman advanced. â€Å"Honest.† The woman shut her eyes, seemed to be searching for something in her own mind. Then, abruptly, she lowered the sword. â€Å"You speak the truth. You mean no harm. Please come in.† â€Å"Thank you,† Matt said. He'd never been so happy to have an older woman accept him. â€Å"Orime,† came a thin, feeble voice from upstairs. â€Å"Is that one of the children?† â€Å"Yes, Hahawe,† called the woman that Matt couldn't help thinking of as â€Å"the woman with the sword.† â€Å"Send him up, why don't you?† â€Å"Of course, Hahawe.† â€Å"Ha ha – I mean ‘Hahawe'?† Matt said, turning a nervous laugh into a desperate sentence as the sword swung by his midriff again. â€Å"Not Obaasan?† The sword-woman smiled for the first time. â€Å"Obaasan means grandmother. Hahawe is one of the ways to say mother. But mother won't mind at all if you call her Obaasan; it's a friendly greeting for a woman of her age.† â€Å"Okay,† Matt said, trying his best to seem like an all-around friendly guy. Mrs. Saitou gestured him up the stairs and he peeped into several rooms before he found one with a large futon in the exact middle of a completely bare floor, and in it a woman who seemed so tiny and doll-like as not to be real. Her hair was just as soft and black as the sword-woman's downstairs. It was put up or arranged somehow so that it lay around her like a halo as she lay on the bed. But the dark lashes on the pale cheeks were shut and Matt wondered if she had fallen into one of the sudden slumbers of the elderly. But then quite abruptly, the doll-like lady opened her eyes and smiled. â€Å"Why, it's Masato-chan!† she said, looking at Matt. Bad beginning. If she didn't even recognize that a blond guy wasn't her Japanese friend from about sixty years ago†¦ But then she was laughing, with her small hands in front of her mouth. â€Å"I know, I know,† she said. â€Å"You're not Masato. He became a banker, very rich. Very thick. Especially in the head and the stomach.† She smiled at him again. â€Å"Sit down, please. You can call me Obaasan if you want, or Orime. My daughter was named for me. But life has been hard for her, as it was for me. Being a shrine maiden – and a samurai†¦it takes discipline and much work. And my Orime did so well†¦until we came here. We were looking for a town that would be peaceful and quiet. Instead, Isobel found†¦Jim. And Jim was†¦untrue.† Matt's throat swelled with the desire to defend his friend, but what defense could there be? Jim had spent one night with Caroline – at Caroline's pressing invitation. And he had become possessed and had brought that possession to his girlfriend Isobel, who had pierced her body grotesquely – among other things. â€Å"We've got to get them,† Matt found himself saying earnestly. â€Å"The kitsune who started it all – who started it with Caroline. Shinichi and his sister Misao.† â€Å"Kitsune.† Obaasan was nodding her head. â€Å"Yes, I said there would be one involved from the very beginning. Let me see; I blessed some charms and amulets for your friends†¦.† â€Å"And some bullets. I just sort of filled my pockets,† Matt said, embarrassed, as he spilled out a jumble of different calibers on the edge of her futon cover. â€Å"I even found some prayers on the Web about getting rid of them.† â€Å"Yes, you've been very thorough. Good.† Obaasan looked at the hard copies he'd printed of the prayers. Matt squirmed, knowing that he had only been running down Meredith's To-Do list, and that the credit really belonged to her. â€Å"I'll bless the bullets first and then I'll write out more amulets,† she said. â€Å"Put the amulets wherever you need protection most. And, well, I suppose you know what to do with the bullets.† â€Å"Yes, ma'am!† Matt fumbled in his pockets for the last few, put them into Obaasan's outstretched hands. Then she chanted a long, elaborate prayer holding her tiny hands out over the bullets. Matt didn't find the incantation frightening, but he knew that as a psychic he was a dud, and that Bonnie had probably seen and heard things he couldn't. â€Å"Should I aim for any particular part of them?† Matt asked, watching the old woman and trying to follow along on his own copy of the prayers. â€Å"No, any part of the body or head will do. If you take out a tail, you'll make it weaker, but you'll enrage it, as well.† Obaasan paused and coughed, a small dry old-lady cough. Before Matt could offer to run downstairs and get her a drink, Mrs. Saitou entered the room with a tray and three cups of tea in little bowls. â€Å"Thank you for waiting,† she said politely as she knelt fluidly to serve them. Matt found with the first sip that the steaming green tea was much better than he'd expected from his few experiences at restaurants. And then there was silence. Mrs. Saitou sat looking at the teacup, Obaasan lay looking white and shrunken under the futon cover, and Matt felt a storm of words building up in his own throat. Finally, even though good sense was counseling him not to speak, he burst out, â€Å"God, I'm so sorry about Isobel, Mrs. Saitou! She doesn't deserve any of this! I just wanted you to know that I – I'm just so sorry, and I'm going to get the kitsune who's at the bottom of it. I promise you, I'll get him!† â€Å"Kitsune?† Mrs. Saitou said sharply, staring at him as if he'd gone mad. Obaasan looked on in pity from her pillow. Then, without waiting to gather up the tea things, Mrs. Saitou jumped up and ran out of the room. Matt was left speechless. â€Å"I – I – â€Å" Obaasan spoke from her pillow. â€Å"Don't be too distressed, young man. My daughter, although a priestess, is very modern in her outlook. She would probably tell you that kitsune don't even exist.† â€Å"Even after – I mean how does she think Isobel – ?† â€Å"She thinks that there are evil influences in this town, but of the ‘ordinary, human' kind. She thinks Isobel did what she did because of the stress she was under, trying to be a good student, a good priestess, a good samurai.† â€Å"You mean, like, Mrs. Saitou feels guilty?† â€Å"She blames Isobel's father for much of it. He is a ‘salaryman' back in Japan.† Obaasan paused. â€Å"I don't know why I have told you all this.† â€Å"I'm sorry,† Matt said hastily. â€Å"I wasn't trying to snoop.† â€Å"No, but you care about other people. I wish Isobel had had a boy like you instead of her daughter.† Matt thought of the pitiful figure he'd seen at the hospital. Most of Isobel's scars would end up invisible under her clothes – presuming she learned to speak again. Bravely, he said, â€Å"Well, I'm still up for grabs.† Obaasan smiled faintly at him, then put her head back down on the pillow – no, it was a wooden headrest, Matt realized. It didn't look very comfortable. â€Å"It's a great pity when there has to be strife between a human family and the kitsune,† she said. â€Å"Because there are rumors that one of our ancestors took a kitsune wife.† â€Å"Say what?† Obaasan laughed, again behind concealing fists. â€Å"Mukashi-mukashi, or as you say, long ago in the times of legend, a great Shogun became angy at all the kitsune on his estate for the mischief they made. For many long years they were up to all sorts of pranks, but when he suspected them of ruining the crops in the fields, that was it. He roused every man and woman in his household, and told them to take sticks and arrows and rocks and hoes and brooms and flush out all the foxes that had dens on his estate, even the ones between the attic and the roof. He was going to have every single fox killed without mercy. But the night before he did this, he had a dream in which a beautiful woman came and said she was responsible for all the foxes on the estate. ‘And,' she said, ‘while it is true that we make mischief, we repay you by eating the rats and mice and insects that really spoil the crops. Won't you agree to take your anger out just on me and execute me alone instead of all the foxes? I will come at dawn to hear your answer.' â€Å"And she kept her word, this most beautiful of kitsune, arriving at dawn with twelve beautiful maidens as attendants, but she outshone all of them just as the moon outshines a star. The Shogun could not bring himself to kill her, and in fact asked for her hand in marriage, and married her twelve attendants to his twelve most loyal retainers as well. And it is said that she was always a faithful wife, and bore him many children as fierce as Amaterasu the sun goddess, and as beautiful as the moon, and that this continued until one day the Shogun was on a journey and he happened to accidentally kill a fox. He hurried home to explain to his wife that it hadn't been intentional, but when he arrived he found his household in mourning, for his wife had already left him, with all his sons and daughters.† â€Å"Oh, too bad,† Matt muttered, trying to be polite, when his brain elbowed him in the ribs. â€Å"Wait. But if they all left†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I see you're an attentive young man,† the delicate old woman laughed. â€Å"All his sons and daughters were gone†¦except the youngest, a girl of peerless beauty, although she was just a child. She said, ‘I love you too much to leave you, dear father, even if I must wear a human shape all my life.' And that is how we are said to be descended from a kitsune.† â€Å"Well, these kitsune aren't just causing mischief or ruining crops,† Matt said. â€Å"They're out to kill. And we have to fight back.† â€Å"Of course, of course. I didn't mean to upset you with my little story,† Obaasan said. â€Å"I'll write out those amulets for you now.† It was as Matt was leaving that Mrs. Saitou appeared at the door. She put something into his hand. He glanced down at it and saw the same calligraphy that Obaasan had given him. Except that it was much smaller and written on†¦ â€Å"A Post-it note?† Matt asked, bewildered. Mrs. Saitou nodded. â€Å"Very useful for slapping on the faces of demons or the limbs of trees or such.† And, as he stared at her in complete amazement, â€Å"My mother doesn't know all there is to know about everything.† She also handed him a sturdy dagger, smaller than the sword she was still carrying, but very serviceable – Matt immediately cut himself on it. â€Å"Put your faith in friends and your instincts,† she said. Slightly dazed, but feeling encouraged, Matt drove to Dr. Alpert's house.

Howard Hughes

Legend of the Aviator Howard Hughes is a man of many mysteries, very few actual facts are known about him. Historians constantly argue to decipher which of their theories are correct and which are Just over glorified rumors. The fact is Hughes liked to keep to himself. This man left behind not only the â€Å"Legend of the Aviator† but also one of the biggest gaps in the world of film and aviation. â€Å"Hughes was the ambassador who ushered in a new era of living and a new way of life† (Hack 5). He introduced new ideas and accomplished things that people had deemed impossible.He believed that with his oney nothing was impossible, he made that very apparent through his invention's. He designed planes and made some of the most revolutionary movies that captivated the minds of millions. Howard lived his life behind closed doors, hiding all of his true ambitions and how he achieved them. He also hid the world from not only his crazed ideas but also his mental illness, perha ps because he himself did not know that he was mentally ill. Howard Hughes related every aspect of his life to modernism. Not only did he relate to modernism but he himself was a modernist.His ingenious ideas ere thought to be radical for his time but at the same time they were somewhat inspirational. He was an idealistic man who looked beyond the possible and did not take no for an answer. Because of this, he broke world records and raised the bar for the upcoming 20th century. In order to truly understand this man, his actions, and how the â€Å"Legend of the Aviator† started one has to look into early life. If there ever was a more crucial part of anyones life it was Howard Hughes' upbringing. Hughes birth place and date are not precisely known and are still a major controversy.What ou need to know is that he was born somewhere in Texas in the year 1905. He was born to a very fortunate family. At the time Hughes father Robert was the sole owner ofa crucial piece of equipme nt that was used to drill oil. His father made it rich selling land that contained massive oil deposits and by designing and selling the only drill bit that was strong enough to penetrate hard layers of granite. This drill bit was also the only one that could actually drill deep enough to tap into large oil reserves. In later years Hughes took over the family company after the death of his father in 1924.He inherited 75 percent of Hughes Tool Co. and later bought out the other 25 percent from the rest of his family (Hack 43). He was inspired to be like his father, a businessman. At heart, Hughes was not a businessman but his positive â€Å"go get 'em† attitude helped him seem like one. Hughes' company was once accused of being a monopoly, his response was simply â€Å"We don't have an monopoly. Anyone who wants to dig a well without a Hughes bit can always use a pick and shovel† (Howard 1). Howard Hughes was one of the most iconic fgures of the earlier half of the 20th century.He revolutionized the airline industry, presenting ideas that made flights smother and took less time from takeoff to landing. He single handedly defeated the social norms of his time and was known for setting a certain standard of class. Modernism by broad definition is, â€Å"a style or movement in the arts that aims to break that his individual attitude and matches that of modernism. In 1927 the film industry was booming, and Hollywood was at its highest peak in setting new standards. Out of now where a 23 year old millionaire came from Texas and dropped millions of dollars nto one single film.People were skeptical and thought of this producer as a crazed Texan with money that Just wanted to find a way to spend it, but as proven by Howard Hughes they were wrong. Three years later Hughes' movie was release. He had successfully raised the bar for film industry. The movie Hell's Angels had broken the record for the highest budget spent, most time ever spent on a film and t he highest yield (Hell's 1). The critics withdrew their previous remarks and Howard Hughes' name in the film industry was established. Now the man not only owned a great share of the oil arket but now had his foot in the film industry.He produced films, directed movies, and threw around his money around as if it would never leave his side. Some would call it a gamble, and it was but he never did lose that money. Many people that tried to follow in his footsteps ended up broke, and with nothing left in their pockets. For Hughes it was never the case, he was an invincible man. He could do anything he wanted and have any thing he desired. His bank account kept on growing despite his vast expenditures on his little projects. After working on Hell's Angels he got more nvolved in aviation. Howard Hughes, the man who is known as the Aviator. After production on Hell's Angels was wrapped up, Hughes became more involved in aviation and started designing his own planes† (Hack 103). He c reated some of the fastest planes and thought up ideas that seemed impossible or even pointless. For example, the Hughes H-1 Racer. He designed this plane to be fast, his goal was to take off everything on the plane that it did not need and by doing so he made it light and aerodynamic, thus giving the plane greater speed. He sunk the screws into the aluminum exterior educing wind resistance and made many other small advancements that gave his plane a design that was superior to others.Because of this fascination with planes he always had work. Aviation design opened the door for government contracts designing and creating prototypes of spy planes. Once this door was opened, it shaped Hughes future for years to come. His government contracts were the basis of most of the rumors about Hughes. In his later life scams arose about Howard Hughes, himself trying to plot ways to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro, along with CIA operations that were claimed to be associated with Hughes. These c laims were later discovered to be coverups for a CIA reconnaissance mission of a Soviet Union Nuclear Submarine.To allude the attention of the public to their massive ships trolling international waters, the CIA claimed that it was simply a drilling rig operation owned by Howard Hughes (Central 2). It was later discovered that he had absolutely nothing to do with this government reconnaissance mission and had no knowledge of it. This man didn't always have the best of luck. On two occasions he came close to death. He dodged death and survived two deadly plane crashes. In his first plane crash he was one of the two survivors, out of the four XF-11, â€Å"a military plane that was designed with a counter rotating double propeller system† (History 1).It was the first of its kind and in early experimental stages. Hughes took the XF-11 for its first test flight. Upon his return to the Air Force base after a very successful first flight, he lost oil pressure in one of the right eng ines. Rapidly losing altitude he attempted to crash land in a Beverly Hills mansion. Upon impact the plane's fuel tank ruptured and ignited. Hughes barely managed to escape eath, sustaining third degree burns on most of his body and this left him with a severe case of â€Å"Complex Regional Pain Syndrome† (Hughes's 1).The Aviator died on April 4, 1976 (Hack 215). At this point in his life he was dependent on opiates and codeine and had a hygiene issues. He would only cut his hair once a year and was supposedly seen with long grown out fingernails. He became so mentally ill that he believed that the germs did not come from him but came from the world which is ironic because his health was in very poor condition. He died of malnutrition and kidney damage. X-rays later revealed hat he had five broken off hypodermic needles in his arm.

Western Union

Western Union was founded in 1851 and started its history as a telegraph and wire services company. In 2006, Western Union discontinued its telegraph service and focused exclusively on money transfers (Pearce & Robinson, 2011). Jorge Ochoa, Vice President of Finance and Raul Duany, Director of Corporate Communication joined The Western Union Company (WU) in November 2008. The primary customers for money transfers were immigrants that were seeking better opportunities in richer countries away from their home.When immigrants leave their home countries, they often leave behind family members who depend on them for financial support. This is most true in the case of poorer countries. Government regulators scrutinized the operations and fee-charging practices of money transfer businesses. Western Union is a leader in global money transfer, providing people with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send money around the world. The Western Union brand is globally recognized.Their services are available through a network of over 375,000 agent locations in more than 200 countries and territories (Western, 2009). Their consumer-to-consumer money transfer service enables people to send money around the world in minutes. Their consumer-to-business service provides consumers with flexible and convenient options for making one-time or recurring bill payments. Western Union believes that the brand strength, size, and reach of their global network, along with the convenience and reliability to their consumers have been essential in the growth of the business.As they continue to meet the needs of their consumers for fast, reliable, and convenient money transfer services, they are also working to enhance their services and provide their consumers with access to an expanding portfolio of payment and other financial services. The federal law known as the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) obligates federally insured banks and depository institutions to help meet the needs of commun ities in which they operate (Pearce, & Robinson, 2011). In March 2007, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke stated, â€Å"the CRA reaffirmed the long-standing principle that financial institutions must serve the convenience and needs of the communities in which they are charted† (Pearce & Robinson, 2011). Western Union serves many of the financial needs of immigrant populations, as a bank might, with a major presence in poor and racially diverse neighborhoods. Western Union is now being held up to the same standards as banks because they are both financial institutions. Western Union’s customers are mostly urban and poor.The typical user of its remittance service is a low-wage immigrant worker who lives in Urban America, makes $15,600 annually and sends home $293 a month, almost 30% of his or her net monthly income (Pearce & Robinson, 2011). Heavy charges in the money transfer industry places economic burden on low-income immigrant families in the United States and in their communities of origin while creating and increased reputation risk for Western Union (Pearce & Robinson, 2011). Western Union has been facing numerous lawsuits, mainly because of their lack of social responsibility.This has affected the company’s image and could potentially increase the risk that Western Union faces in the competitive market. Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate social responsibility is generally perceived as a positive business ideology in the 21st century, despite some challenges. A significant expansion of basic business ethics, CSR establishes guidelines for ethical and socially responsible behavior. It addresses how companies that want to satisfy government and societal requirements should treat key stakeholder groups, including customers, suppliers, employees and the community (Mal Warwick Associates, 2008).Pros: One of the elements of CSR is that it causes companies such as Western Union to reason beyond basic ethics to consider the benefit s of active involvement in communities. In the article â€Å"The 7 Principles of Business Integrity,† business strategist Robert Moment argues that 21st-century companies must prove themselves to customers to build long-term relationships (Moment, 2004). Western Union involves itself in the community by giving back. Insinuates Western Union to the local markets in which they operate.Cons: The main reason any company would object to participating in CSR is the associated costs. With CSR, companies have to pay for environmental programs, more employee training and efficient waste management programs. Proponents of CSR agree that any expenses to businesses are ultimately covered by stronger relationships with key customers. However, David Vogel indicates in his Forbes article â€Å"CSR Doesn't Pay† that investment in CSR programs may not necessary result in measurable financial results (Vogel, 2008).* Corporate Citizenship. Western Union’s global corporate citizens hip is their commitment to enrich the lives of global citizens by expanding economic opportunity. Through initiatives like the Western Union Our World, Our Family program, they are able to put their values into action (Western Union, 2011). Western Union corporate citizenship efforts focus on three primary areas: 1. Supporting Cultural Inclusion: Western Union recognizes the importance of helping individuals and families build strong communities, in which all members can contribute their distinctive talents and feel at home. . Creating Pathways to Opportunity: Western Union help diverse individuals and communities around the world realize their tremendous potential with scholarships supporting financial literacy, entrepreneurship, job training, and other skills necessary on the journey to a better life. 3. Fostering Hope in the Developing World: Western Union support economic development and opportunities with infrastructure development, community centers and access to technology (W estern Union, 2011).Western Union’s Current Strategy. Currently, Western Union is using the free cash flow that is generated to repurchase stock and acquire rival money transfer firms in order to expand. Along with the repurchasing of stocks and acquisitions, WU has donated millions of dollars to charitable organizations and other countries. Their current strategy is concentric diversification because they are acquiring firms that are related to them in terms of products and markets. They have pursued growth of their brand through international expansion and the growth in the worldwide immigration population was also driving growth in the money transfer business.Although there is a higher risk associated with diversification, according to Pearce & Robinson (2011), the distinctive competencies of the diversifying firm are likely to facilitate a smooth expansion. Globalization There are about seven factors that make global strategic planning complex. These factors are economic factors, political factors, geographic factors, labor factors, tax factors, capital source factors, and business factors (Pearce and Robinson, 2011). When you look at the economic factors of a country, you need to look at the GNP for the country, and the foreign exchange rate.You also need to consider the size of the market and the markets potential rate of growth. As far as the political factors are concerned, you have to determine whether the country is stable, as well as, the type of political structure in the country. It is also important to understand how foreign business is perceived in the country by the government, consumers and competitors. The geographic factors that you should be concerned with is the availability of raw materials, utilities, and the proximity to export markets.Other globalization challenges you need to be aware of are the labor factors – whether you will have the necessary skills available in the people in the country, tax factors – whether there are any tax breaks for foreign investors or if there is a huge tax rate for the country, capital source factors – banking systems available in the country, and business factors – current industry information for competitors and competitive situation. Diversification There are also challenges inherent to diversification.Companies often decide to diversify so that they can acquire a new company that will potentially balance the strengths and weaknesses of the two businesses (Pearce and Robinson, 2011). Companies use diversification as a grand strategy in order to increase stock value, increase growth rate, better use of investment funds, improve stability of the company, acquire needed resources quickly, and tax savings, and increase efficiency and profitability.Trends in the Financial Services Industry. Current trends in the financial services industry is the use of a focus strategy. Focus strategy, involves concentrating on a particular customer, product line, g eographical area, channel of distribution, stage in the production process, or market niche. The underlying premise of the focus strategy is that the firm is better able to serve its limited segment than competitors serving a broader range of customers. Firms using a focus strategy simply apply a cost-leader or differentiation strategy to a segment of the larger market.Firms may be able to differentiate themselves based on meeting customer needs through differentiation or through low costs and competitive pricing for specialty goods. This strategy is often appropriate for small, aggressive businesses that do not have the ability or resources to engage in a nation-wide marketing effort. Such a strategy may also be appropriate if the target market is too small to support a large-scale operation. Many firms start small and expand into a national organization. The trend in the financial services industry is that consumers are working outside of their home countries.Many of these consume rs have families back in their home country that they periodically send money to in order to help them pay their bills. Western Union has a niche with this trend because they provide a means of easily getting the money to their family without having to have a checking account or if they have credit problems and owes the money elsewhere. Western Union guarantees that the money will be secure and delivered to the correct person. Internal Environment Financial Information In 2008, Western Union’s market share grew and delivered record levels of revenue and cash flow.Revenue was $5. 3 billion; $1. 25 billion was generated in cash flow from operations and WU handled $67 billion in cross-border consumer-to-consumer remittances. They also delivered an operating income margin of 26% for the year. Western Union and its consumers are feeling the impact of the global economic recession. They have confidence in their strategy. Their plan is to focus on what they can control and influence . They have a brand that is recognized around the world. Their business generates significant cash flow.They have created a business model that consistently delivers strong margins. They have built a distribution channel that is second to none and their global team is focused on a short list of priorities to drive growth. They provide vital services to consumers in more than 200 countries and territories. These services not only make a tremendous difference in the individual lives of their customers, but the volume of remittances sent through Western Union helps drive many national economies, paving the way for long-term growth.They also have the advantage of a globally recognized brand and unmatched worldwide distribution. Western Union plans to continue investing in their brand even in these tough times. Their brand represents speed, trust and reliability to their consumers worldwide. WU has launched a comprehensive new global brand initiative that embodies an ambitious and forwar d-looking vision for the company. Their vision is of optimism for their customers, company, agents and, employees. This vision shows their commitment to help people who are on the move, pursuing their dreams.At a time when there is so much pessimism in the world, it is believed that this Western Union message will serve as a source of positive energy in the marketplace, which should ultimately translate into mind share and market share for the company. They will increase their technology spend to further develop tools that allow them to perform deeper analysis on their customers. Western Union is sharpening their focus and directing investments to meet market share opportunities. They have demonstrated that their global team working together has helped them gain market share in 2008.These employees were using Western Union’s four key strategies—strategies that will continue to drive their business forward: * Accelerate profitable growth in the global cash money transfe r business * Expand and globalize the consumer-to-business payments business * Innovate new products and services for target customers * Improve profitability by leveraging scale, reducing costs and effectively using capital During 2009, Western Union will increase investment in technology and systems.They want to update their systems in order to move traditional and new services from virtually anywhere in the world, with exceptional speed. Western Union has a proven business model with significant financial strength. Alternatives and Recommendations Strategic Alternatives In order to publicize their commitments to social responsibility, Western Union should consistently re-evaluate their operations and look for areas of improvement. They can also look at what other companies in the industry are doing to be socially responsible and implement such procedures to their company.Because of the challenges inherent in globalization and diversification, it is important for Western Union to perform due diligence when entering foreign markets. One of the challenges when globalizing may be the exchange rate in different countries. Western Union may have to charge different fees depending on where they are and who their competition is. Recommended Strategy We believe that the company should stick with what they know and continue to repurchase shares and acquisitions. Repurchasing shares can generate a higher EPS and help use up excess cash.It can also increase the ROE and raise demand for the stock on the open market. Their current strategy seems to be working for them and as long as they continue to re-evaluate their operations and remain socially responsible, their strategy will be a success. The bottom line is that Western Union wants to pursue mergers in order to make money for the company and for shareholders.ReferencePearce, J. A, & Robinson, B. R. (2011). Strategic Management- Formulation, Implementation, and Control. (12ed) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Mal War wick Associates, Initials. (2008). The Five Dimensions of CSR. Retrieved from http://www. malwarwick. com/ Moment, R. (2004). The 7 Principles of Business Integrity . Retrieved from http://www. webpronews. com/the-principles-of-business-integrity-2004-07 Vogel, D. (2008). CSR Doesn't Pay. Retrieved from http://www. forbes. com/2008/10/16/csr-doesnt-pay-lead-corprespons08-cx_dv_1016vogel. html Western Union. (2011). Corporate Citizenship. Retrieved from http://corporate. westernunion. com/corporate_responsibility. html

Effects of Brand Local and Nonlocal Origin on Consumer Attitudes - The Thesis

Effects of Brand Local and Nonlocal Origin on Consumer Attitudes - The Case of Oil Change behavior of Passenger Cars Owners in Egypt - Thesis Example This is because studying and understanding the consumer behavior and purchasing habit of a group of consumers gives a marketer an idea of what to trade in. There are times that two marketers have traded in the same kind of product. However, one marketer experiences higher patronage than the other. In such a situation, it means that even with the same kind of product they are dealing in; there are some consumer preferences attached to certain aspects of the product. The oil marketing industry in Egypt is one market that has a lot to do with consumer preference for oil products. Investigations have shown that the country of origin of oil product is a major aspect of consideration for consumers. This paper is therefore being written as a research paper to study the consumer behavior of automobile users in Egypt to identify aspects of oil products that they have preferences for and the ones they less have preference for. Specifically, the aspect of oil product to be considered will be country of origin. More specifically, the paper shall investigate factors and conditions that inform their line of purchase and how marketers can take advantage of this line of purchase. Even though works of literature portray general preference for nonlocal products in most Arab and developing countries, the specific country of consideration in this paper is Egypt. Even in Egypt, the line of product to be considered is refined oil product; though the writer admits that there exists preference for other lines of product such as food, clothes and textiles. The general trend and attitude behind the way and manner consumers make purchases of products and services is very crucial to marketers. It serves as indicators for what a marketer should trade in and why. Perner (2009) explains consumer behavior as â€Å"the psychological processes that consumers go through in

Electro-Motion Devices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Electro-Motion Devices - Essay Example This novel electro-motion device has been explained in the paper below. The common electro-motion devices comprise of the normal rotary machines running on both AC and DC power supply. In addition to these, electro-motion devices also produce linear motion, controlled rotary and linear motions. On most of the occasions, the linear motion in an electro motion device is produced using rotary equipment. For long traveling devices, motors are used with appropriate capacity. Stepper motors and servo controlled motors are normally used for small and incremental movements needed out of electro motion devices. These motors are normally rotating devices. They are not directly producing linear movement. However, there are devices which produce controlled linear movement. Uncontrolled linear devices are used in high speed trains typically, the bullet trains. In some special applications, rotating devices need to be controlled to an accurate angle. This kind of controlled movement becomes a tough implementation because of the motor's speed and the reduction that mi ght be required. These are normally used for controlling the movement of telescopes and antennas in radar systems. The electro motion device for rotation control is a common requirement. ... The ball valve is normally operated using either a mechanical lever or a rotating member or it could be a pneumatically operated valve. The ball valves are used to control the flow rate and could be placed in any of the angles to control the flow. In order to realize this, an electro motion device is used more comfortably rather than use one of the indicated methods. The design consists of a large gear wheel connected to a standard AC motor. This motor to gear ratio is predetermined in such a way that the motor has to rotate about 100 times to realize one complete rotation of the gear wheel. One rotation of the gear wheel will, in turn, open the valve fully. If the gear wheel is to be rotated only through half of the rotation, then the valve will be open ninety degrees. The design of the gear wheel has to take into consideration the size of the motor drive gear. The ratio between them has to be one hundred ensuring that the motor rotates one hundred times to open the valve fully. By controlling the motor and the number of times it could rotate, the opening of the valve could be controlled. The percentage opening obtained is exactly proportion to the number of rotations that the motor has performed. If it has rotated twenty times, then the valve is open for twenty percent. The same logic is maintained for one hundred percent opening too. The working of the device varies with the options that are required. In the process industries where such devices are put to use, the electro motion ball valve can be used in any of the following applications: 1. Steam handling 2. Non Corrosive liquid handling 3. Corrosive liquid handling 4. Gas handling 5. Sludge or semi solid handling Depending on the viscosity of the fluid that is

Homo floresiensis or the Hobbit or Flores man, is it a homo erectus Research Paper

Homo floresiensis or the Hobbit or Flores man, is it a homo erectus - Research Paper Example These remains have increased historic researchers’ curiosity of intense research in order to determine if they represent a distinct species from modern humans. This scientific controversy progress has closely been followed by different forms of media. The most remarkable feature of this hominid is that it has a small brain and body. However, it could have survived until the recent past, about 12,000 years ago. Together with the skeletons were archeological horizon’s stone tools. Critics of this species claim that they are HomoSapiens going by their physiology and anatomy. The other hypothesis is that these individuals did have functional thyroids during their birth, and this resulted in myxoedematous, a kind of endemic cretinism. To prove the hypothesis wrong or right, researchers are in the process of finding preserved mitochondrial DNA, so that they can compare it with samples from the same specimens from fossilized HomoSapiens and Homo. The possibility of the similarity between Homo floresiensis and Homo sapiens is a study that needs further research. Though many scientists and scientific groups have shown mush interest on this subject, they still have not yet found the truth. However, the already found research findings indicate that this species is different from today’s human in several ways like body and brain size. Furthermore, its time of existence is also questionable. Mitochondrial DNA, which is still in the process of being undertaken, might be the only hope that will answer the many questions that scientists want to answer.

Sex offender database Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sex offender database - Essay Example nder and had been released, have served to help stir up public outcry and outrage, but it is debated whether the reactions to this demand have been wise. Several pieces of legislation have been proposed and adopted that are intended to toughen punishments for sex offenders despite evidence that fear of punishment has little to no effect upon commission of the crimes involved while they serve to also undermine the basic human rights and privileges we all enjoy as Americans and must work to protect. In an attempt to decrease the ability of sex offenders to re-offend by moving to an unaware community and slipping the notice of the law, Florida and many other states began enacting legislation designed to put greater constraints upon freed sex offenders by requiring greater legal involvement. In 2005, Jessica’s Law, named after a young girl who was raped and murdered by a previously convicted sex offender, was enacted in the state of Florida and has since been introduced, in a revised form, to federal ranks. It introduces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 25 years followed by lifetime electronic monitoring for sex offenders convicted of engaging in ‘lewd or lascivious acts against a victim less than 12 years old’ (Florida Statutes, 2007). Those found guilty of sexual battery or rape of a child less than 12 are convicted of a capital felony with sentencing limited to death or life imprisonment with no chance of parole (Florida Statutes, 2007). As it has bee n introduced at the federal level, Jessica’s Law requires the use of GPS devices on all sex offenders for a period of five years after they are released from prison unless they are considered to be sexual predators, in which case they are required to wear the ankle devises for life. Under the current proposed legislation, states must incur the expense of tracking these devices for each offender and must also engage in a mailing of sex offender registration forms randomly at least twice per year as a

Video games as an art Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Video games as an art - Research Paper Example One of the major reasons why some people support the playing of video games is that they assist in the expansion of individuals’ intelligence. This is normally in the case of children whose brain is still growing. Also, some games such as Dance Revolution are advantageous to the kids as they enable them to exercise and have fun at the same time. The supporters of the video games also state that they help in the improvement of coordination and also serve to bring together many people which leads to the making of new friends (Gee 49).   Another major reason why some people support the video games is that they are relaxing and fun to play and some games are considered to be educational as they are either based on situations which occur in individuals’ real life or are based on certain simulations. Lastly, the playing of video games is supported by some people as it ensures the growth of concentration power and makes the participant’s mind to become sporty. In addi tion, some realistic feigning gives learners a chance to experience the outcomes of their decisiveness and consider the solutions decently. Educational computer games have numerous advantages to the students in that learners acquire continuous and contiguous feedback. Learners are able to contain the entire sailing of the game, breaking down Byzantine tasks and this directs or chips in guidelines to learners through diverse steps and game-based tasks. This enables the learner to come up with hypotheses and experimentation.

Makeup Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Makeup - Assignment Example Hoffman presents a disillusioned figure as she talks standoff and rubble of years of industrialization and governments. She further explains the Cartesian perception of the world, which she believes hurts the environment and humanity. The philosophy of Descartes primarily revolves around metaphysics and epistemology. Sonia brings in Descartes philosophy in the film by claiming that people have grown to develop the opinion that the nature is not a living organism. Sonia argues that Descartes plays a major role into making people view nature as a machine rather than a living thing. She picks out Descartes philosophy of the human body, which views the human body as a machine, as a fundamental way of thinking that led people to view nature inappropriately. In the film, Sonia asserts that the essence of life itself is basically self-organization. According to her, life is all about self-maintaining, renewing and transcending. Life is characterized by the innate propensity to generate new

Bollywood Film Essay Example for Free

Bollywood Film Essay The development of technology has caused various changes in the different aspects of the society. One of the most observable modifications is in terms of the source of entertainment for most people. Nowadays, majority of the people are interested in watching movies. They tend to get the satisfaction out of looking at actors and actresses play various roles. Motion pictures also portray different themes that could be focused on romance, actions, horror, science fiction, and others. The clamor for movies also paved the way for the success and popularity of numerous thespians such as those in Bollywood. Bollywood usually make movies that feature the concept of Scopophilia, which literally means the â€Å"love of watching. † This term is also synonymous with voyeurism that pertains to the experience of sexual gratification by means of observing other people in secret. Most of the time, the object of such kind of desire is someone who is undressed or engaged in a sexual activity. The main idea in the concept of scopophilia is that the one who is looking or peeping does not interact with the person being observed. In the same manner that movie-viewing also adheres to such practice because the audience watches the activities of the people on the screen, who are unaware that they are being observed. Most of the time, filmmakers would use erotic scenes in order to satisfy the sense of scopophilia within a person. However, they could get around it by featuring a chaste woman in the plot of the story. In this sense, the filmmakers are actually creating a balance between a woman who easily engages in sexual activity and another female who represents the conservative value of being chaste. This is greatly observable in Shri 420, wherein it shows two women that were linked with the main character Raj, Vidya the virtuous woman and Maya the sultry temptress. The film shows erotic scenes especially those involving Maya. Nevertheless, they were able to get away with it because of the argument that these scenes are important in order to show the difference of Maya from Vidya. As such, erotic scenes were perceived to have an important purpose in the plot of the story to be able to distinguish the kinds of women that exist. This also symbolizes the difference of the good and the bad that is shown in the movie, wherein Raj was with Vidya when he was still living a morally upright life but later on tempted by Maya when he was already engaged in illegal activities. The discussions above show that scopophilia is actually the main idea behind the very nature of movie-watching. Filmmakers usually use erotic scenes in order to satisfy this kind of desire within a person. Nevertheless, erotic scenes also have an important part in the movie as it tends to distinguish the upright life from the unethical one by using women as examples.

Cross-cultural Communication and Marketing of Museums

Cross-cultural Communication and Marketing of Museums Museum is a place for leisure, education and protection of global civilizations. It is an important public service sector and tourism attraction. As an NPO (Non-Profit Organization), how it play in the context of globalization is an interesting and worth studying subject. Therefore, in this report, it will discuss the cross-cultural communication and marketing of the international museums in London. How the Science Museum and Victoria Albert Museum perform in the background of globalisation will emphasis on how to attract diversified needs and improve service quality. The study will come out with some implications, through analysis of the observation held in the museum. Research was carried out in the forms of data collection. It randomly picked up the issues the visitors encountered while visiting the museum, by using the problem-oriented approach. This approach indeed added a lot of fun in my research, on one hand. A case in point, I saw an elder woman, who pushed a baby carriage, was wandering in a channel. In the beginning, I thought she had some problems and was in need for help, I stepped forward to ask her, and humorously was told that she just wanted to make her grandchildren sleeping. On the other hand, it is an effective, stimulated and enjoyable approach, so that I was encountered in the process. Later, I will describe four special events that meaningful for me and for this observation of globalization. The first thing happened in a gallery of jewellery and other ornaments in the Victoria and Albert Museum, I met a Chinese tourist who was going to take a photo of a pair of sword. At that moment, an administrator blocked him. I went to talk to the man immediately and discovered that he just could not help to photograph the precise sword. In addition, he also mentioned that although the majority of the exhibits in this museum allow photographing, but there is still a small part of non-photos area. However, which are specific non-photos areas, he was not very clear, but he believed that there must have some reminder in those areas and if inappropriate, the administrator will told him. So he did not care about the rules and regulations of the museum, which is not a big deal for him and do not want to spare some time to note down these regulations. The second incident occurred during my visit to a Chinese art exhibition. It is about the understanding of a French visitor towards a Chinese collection ?C a statue of. The tourist asked me about the history of this person, who is admired by most of the Chinese. When I was talking about the public faith of Kuan Kung as the God of Wealth in China, he interrupted me and said that this belief is very interesting. Then he explains his opinion that people need to success by themselves, but not ask for god for help and he also doubt that this was why Chinese doing business through Guanxi made sense. After this, we kept going on this topic. The third thing is about a Japanese mother and her daughter in Science Museum. They are living in London for couple of years. This time, she planned to take her daughter to practice zone, named Launchpad to play a game called the Big Machine. Many people were there and every parts of the game were occupied. She said that she used to bringing her daughter to the Science Museum because children can practice the knowledge there, but every time they just enjoyed one or two parts of the game. Luckily, she said, today we play the four parts of the game and this is due to a very kind American parent who let us play after noticing that we are waiting for a long time. I ask her that why she did not grasp opportunity by them. The explanations she gives to me are impressive. The first one is, in her opinion, she did not want to disturb someone enjoying the game. Second she said that the child is too shame to play with others, she is now seven 7 years old. Finally, she said they had time to visi t this museum, so she did not worry about any chance to practice. The last one, it is very simple, but worth for analysis. It is an Australia woman. She came to me and asked me for the time. After I told her, she complain that the root design and layout of the exhibition in the Science Museum are so bad that she cannot use time efficiency and missed many collections. It is a pity for the tourist. Although there exist the anti-globalization voices, such as German Martin and Schumanns (1996) The Global Trap, the British author Alan Rugmans (2001) the end of globalization, , for now, Globalization is an indisputable fact and continually affects everyones daily lives. As Held and McGrew (2000) emphasized that globalization is currently does not have a universally accepted definition by the world. In the past, the globalization is far more defined as the formation of the global market, where the goods, technology, services; capital can flow and trade freely in the world (Theodre Levitt, 1985). However, the results of theoretical research on the current point of view, this is only part of globalization. From Roland Robertson (1992), has started to pay attention to the broader implication of globalization. That is globalization is a set of globalization among economic, political, cultural, technological and other processes. Here we will focus on cultural globalization, and some of the theories on cross-cultural communication and marketing. Giddens and others transformationlists (2001) thought that globalization is a comprehensive process of development and the economic globalization is bound to lead to the globalization of culture and value. Along with the acceleration of globalization, the impact of globalization on culture has also been keen to explore by scholars. The first understanding believes that cultural globalization is the formation of a common or a single culture, which can be described as a cultural homogeneity (Stephan Dahl,). They explored that cultural globalization refers to mutual penetration, absorption of the worldwide different lifestyles, consumption patterns, ideas, and awareness, thus the development of culture will show the trend of homogenization. The second major theory insists that cultural globalization is the parallel process of homogenization and heterogeneous, or the dialectic of globalization and localization in parallel (). The third main study directly denies the existence of cultural globalization. Samuel Huntington () is an important critics of globalization discourse. He made his famous clash of civilizations theory, which Demonstrate the development of world history will strengthen the differences and conflicts between civilizations. Throughout these theoretical insights, in line with materialistic point of view, cultural globalization is inevitable. Moreover, in reality, we can find the subtle changes are taking place in the worlds civilizations, whatever the western or oriental. (David Herder, 2001). Therefore, this cultural is still diversified in the context of globalization. Cross-cultural communication and marketing of an organization will determine whether it is able to compete in the global market to survive. Cross-cultural communication is to study how people from different cultural backgrounds communicate effectively with each other through language, behaviour, etc. (Cross-cultural communication, 2008). Cross-cultural communication involves a lot of the edge of disciplines, including psychology, ethnology, culture and science. Cross-cultural communication theories are the mainly base on theories that study difference between the values of the culture. These theories include the Geert Hofstedes (2001) five dimensions of culture, Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turners seven dimensions culture model. The following will be further elaborated in Fons Trompenaars models, combined with the investigation to analyse how museums manage and market in cross-cultural environment , both of the achievements and shortcomings, through our investigation, although very simple and not comprehensive. First of all, will be a brief introduction of Trompenaars model(). This model, like other onions model studies the culture by dividing into seven dimensions. Five dimensions of them are reflecting how people interact with each other. The first dimension is Universalism versus Particularism(). Universalism is more emphasis on the importance of the rules and regulation system. As described in his book, Americans do not tend to lie when disobey the regulation or rules. The second is Individualism versus Collectivism, which show whether the relationship between the individual and the collective is an Isolationism, or collectivism. The next is Neutral vs. Emotional expression is a measure of whether the emotion is naturally revealed. The fourth one is the Specific versus Diffuse. These are being considered when weighing the participation and responsibility of individuals in the organization. The fifth is the recognition of the position, named Achievement versus Ascription. Trompenaars arg ues that some people believe the position embody the personal contributions, but not your organization. In other words, they measure the loyalty towards organization. The last but one is a Sequential versus Synchronic, mainly to reflect the concept of time of the different cultures. The last one is Internal versus External Orientation, which are to examine the different cultural attitudes on the external environment. There are two arguments, some think that people are controlled by environment, while the others insist human being Dominate the environment. These seven dimensions are well defined and being used to analyse how cultural differences in the museum. However, there is a need to introduce one management framework to help us figure out some implications from the cross-cultural analysis. Therefore, we would also like to use SERVQUAL theory() to study customer perceptions of service quality in the museum. SERVQUAL is based on the theory of total quality management theory and puts forward in the service industry. The core of this new service quality evaluation system is the Service Quality Model or 5GAP model. Firstly, SERVQUAL divides service quality into five levels: physical Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy, including total 22 small questions. The method used to analyse is to measure the gap between customer perception and expectation. Whereby, the company need to fix up the other four gaps ,which are less understanding of the customers expectation, wrong service design and standards, failure to standards of service delivery, not match between service performance and service promise. While some reviews on the theory argue, it needs for appropriate modifications when applied in cross-cultural study (Smith Reynolds, 2002), nevertheless, beca use of time and a limited extent to research, we will still stick to the original theory. The first step of analysis will focus on the customers cultural differences. From the above, it suggests that the cultural differences still exist, as the transformation theory argues. However, following the Trompenaars model, we can examine these differences specifically. Above all, the photograph incident indicates that the Western view on rules and regulations are different from the oriental. As usual, most Western tourists have not the habit of taking pictures in the museum. This is because of their awareness of the requirements in the museum in one hand, in the other hand, that they pay more attention to understand the exhibits, rather than simply to mark the travel. Of course, we cannot judge the person who take photos in the museum is fault, but it did tell us that how different values and norms conveyed by different persons. The Chinese tend to disregard the rules, although he knew. In the meantime, there are many other tourists spend some time looking through the maps and rules in the brochure. This is somehow referring to the first dimension that Trompenaars said whether to obey the rules. Easily, the query of the French visitor that I met in the Chinese gallery, make me feel uncomfortable. However, it can refer to the fifth dimension and reveal the distinction between west and east towards personal achievement and the environment. The French person, represent the West, prefer to success by his own effort, but not the god. We can say westerners are more pragmatic and rational. In other words, Chinese rely more on the external environment, while westerners desire to control the environment much more. Followed by, the Japanese mothers shyness is unlike the West, where the parents who can speak calmly of ideas, more open and proactive. This is about the personal liberty. The westerners used to and dare to express their ideas, because in their opinion, everyone is equal to the world, besides the game in the museum. Yet, the mother did not think by this way, she was worry about the others or maybe avoid some risks that disobey their norms. As cite in the model, the mother is more neutral than the American parent is. Eventually, the Australian woman seems to care about the quality of her visit and hope herself has enough time to look around and explore more about the exhibits. Unfortunately, she did not make it. As she complained, she does not like the open form of display in the museum, especially the large museum. She even regards this as time consuming. We can suggest that she takes time serious and tend to not to do one thing at one time. As indicated in the VA Report on Cultural Diversity 2007() , the manager has insight the trend that more BAME(Black, Asian Minority Ethnic) background audience visit the museum(, but there is little forces on impact on service quality by the cultural differences, even more there is no reports for 2008 and 2009. Recommended by the SERVQUAL model, that can offer some implication on five fields. For one thing, the museum needs to make more effort on tangible aspect, to avoid the irregularities. For example, Rules need to be modifying in a clear and well delivering and more clear signs are demanded, too. This not only makes the visiting smoothly for visitors, but also protects the heritage in the museum. To accommodate the customers who are not emotional, there is better to employ some advisors or rules in the practice zone. In addition, it can use some systems, like booking system for this kind of customers to book in advanced or when entry. This will assure the customer right to enjoy the facilities in the museum. Many of tourist use no more than one day to look around in the museum, this is a pity for them. How to make up this perception difference of service quality is worth analysis. In China, museums prefer to make some valuable roots for visitors, this will save time and value for custom ers. This is related to the reliability of the service, because if the visitor can not well experience the service, or the exhibitions provided by museum, that means the museum has neglect its aim due to responsible for its own loss and profit. To conclude, this is just a small observation in museum. The result turns out without enough supportive evidence is a disadvantage of this paper. Over all, it is beneficial to discuss about how a NPO, as well as the public sector to face the globalization, especially manage in the cross-cultural environment. Reference Iris V. and Linds B. (2000) Intercultural Business Communication in the Global Workplace (second edition). McGraw-Hill Stephan Dahl () Communications and Culture Transformation Benjamin Barbers McWorld vs. Jihad Finola Kerrigan, Peter Fraser, Mustafa Ozbilgin (2004) Arts Marketing Butterworth-Heinemann Alan M. Rugman (2001) The End of Globalization: What it means for Business (Paperback). Random House Business Books; German Martin and Schumanns (1996) The Global Trap: Civilization and the Assault on Democracy and Prosperity The Global Trap: Civilization and the Assault on Democracy and Prosperity (Paperback), St. Martins Press; David Held and Anthony McGrew (2000) The global transformations reader: an introduction to the globalization debate. Cambridge: Polity Press; Theodore Levitt (1984) The globalization of markets THE McKINSEY QUARTERLY 1984 Summer; Robertson R. (1992) Globalization: Social Theory and Global Culture (Published in association with Theory, Culture Society) (Paperback), Sage Publications Ltd; Giddens, Anthony (Ed.) (2001) The Global Third Way Debate. Cambridge : Polity; Cross-cultural communication (2008) Wikipedia. Available from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-cultural_communication [ accessed 02 Jan 2010]

Beauty and The Color Purple :: essays research papers fc

â€Å"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not† -Ralph Waldo Emerson As stated by Emerson, beauty cannot be found unless carried within one’s self first. In the novel by Alice Walker, â€Å"The Color Purple†, Celie finds out that beauty is not real unless it is first found within, so that that beauty felt can reflect for others to see. [Celie went through traumatic struggles before she ever felt beautiful starting with the treatment of influential men in her life. Although she felt more connection with women in her life, her early encounters with Shug greatly accounted for her self worth at the time. However, Celie could not be beautiful to others unless she found beauty within herself, for herself.]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For the majority of the novel, Celie was never told she was or could be beautiful by men, she was told how much of nothing she was to them. Beauty was something Celie learned was for women who enjoyed having sex, something for women who had confidence, which was something she could never feel for herself. She was constantly mis treated and told what to do by men like her father and Albert. The book opens with her being raped by her father. He tells her to tell nobody but God, and she begins to be scared of saying â€Å"no† to men, she feels she needs to take the abuse, Celie would â€Å"be wood† because wood does not feel pain. Her father dominates and makes Celie feel like she was bad, like she did something to deserve this. She felt she was worth little because she should allow her father to do thing like this to her. She felt controlled, dominated and therefore subordinate to men. Her self worth had gone from little down to nothing, and she was to ld by her father how ugly she was.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not only had her father told her she was ugly, Shug Avery also took it into her own hands when attempting to make Celie feel ugly. Celie began to feel even worse when she first met Shug Avery, and the excitement she had to see Shug, was ruined as a dark shadow hovered over Celie, making her feel more ugly than she had ever thought. Shug Avery was spoken about by Albert like some kind of Goddess. She was the epitome of beauty for Celie because Albert had spoken about her so fondly.

Pledge of Allegiance: A Perfect Symbol of Hypocrisy Essay -- American

Every morning over 75 million students around the nation recite the Pledge of Allegiance verbatim (Digest of Education Statistics). If one walks up to one of these students and asks them about the meaning and the origin of this pledge, what would they say? Nothing. However, even though more than a million students recite these words every day, not more than half probably know the true meaning behind these words. One cannot deny the fact that most of these children just want to get this pledge â€Å"over with† to continue talking to their peers. The Pledge of Allegiance has gone through several changes since Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, wrote it in 1892. The pledge acts as a source of patriotism, national pride and controversy. The statement, â€Å"under God† has caused much controversy and has created a distinct line between the supporters and non supporters of the pledge. America, which famously provides one with true equality, ironically has a pledge that goes against its doctrine and foundations. The changes that occur throughout the years to the pledge that results in its undeniable controversy and losing value. The adjustments lead to the pledge’s undeniable ambiguity and the nation should revert to its previous 1924 pledge. Every day, while facing the flag, American students exhibit their loyalty to the country by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Written in 1892, during the 400th celebration of Columbus Day, the pledge used in â€Å"ceremonies that would culminate in raising of the flag† (Pledge of Allegiance). The creation of the pledge resulted from one sole event, the Civil War. Before the American Civil War of 1861, the American flag used to be a rare sight for many people. The Civil War resulted in the rise of patriotism an... ...ual. Baer, John. The Pledge of Allegiance, A Centennial History, 1892 - 1992, Annapolis, Md. Free State Press, Inc., 1992. "The Pledge of Allegiance." The Pledge of Allegiance. Aug. 17 2006: n.p. SIRS Government Reporter. Web. 02 Apr 2012. Demar, Gary. "The Pledge of Allegiance Goes to Trial." American Vision. N.p., 04/10/2005. Web. 27 March 2012. Nunberg, Geoffrey. "I Pledge Allegiance To Linguistic Obfuscation." npr.org. npr, 30/03/2010. Web. 1 Apr 2012. United States. U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. Pledge of Allegiance. VA: , Web. Kline, Austin, â€Å"Defending ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance,† posted on the â€Å"About† website, March 30th, 2004, Drey, Riley. "Misguided Patriotism and the Pledge of Allegiance." LDS Liberty. Riley Drey, 24/11/2010. Web. 24 March 2012. Nunberg, Geoffrey. E-mail Interview. 3/4/2012.

Teaching Evolution in Public Schools Essay -- Essays on Teaching Evol

Many groups have tried to push their ideas on the public through schooling. Public school students, numbering in the millions, seem a perfect, captive audience for the promulgation of the ideas of a few self-righteous groups. These groups have tried to influence national thinking by promoting their views in the classroom, but this is not an acceptable method. A public school classroom is a place for the passing of accepted knowledge from an instructor to a student, not the place for the ideas of the ignorant few to influence the thinking of the many. The local and state school boards serve as the check on the vocal few and determine the curriculum to be administered to the throngs of students attending class. Current science curriculum is widely accepted. Parents and communities have no complaints over their students learning about the classification of animals and plants, chemistry, gravity, cells, and body processes. The complaints are focused around the teaching of evolution, but for the many educated people in the field of biology, evolution is a basic principle. Public school students must be exposed to this fundamental concept and be familiar with it. Evolution must be taught in schools since it is a scientific model that cannot and should not be ignored. All other alternatives—creation science, intelligent design, creationism, and others—are religious and have no place in the public school classroom. Looking at the historical precedent and scientific acceptance, evolution is the only model of life origins and progression that should be taught in public schools. The battle regarding evolution in public schools has been going on for over a century. Charles Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species by Means o... ...[17] â€Å"Science.† Webster’s Dictionary. 1042. [18] Moore 133. [19] Harbaugh, M.J. Fundamentals of Biology. 450. [20] Harbaugh 403. [21] National Science Education Standards. 201. [Emphasis added.] [22] Appleman, Philip. Darwin. 592. [23] â€Å"NSTA Position Statement.† [24] â€Å"Academic Standards for Science and Technology.† http://www.pde.state.pa.us/k12/lib/k12/scitech.pdf. 15-17. [25] The National Science Education Standards. 185. [26] Burlingame, Leonas Lancelot. General Biology. 381-2. [27] â€Å"Science and Creationism.† http://books.nap.edu/html/creationism/appendix.html. [28] Moore 135. [29] Moore 135. [30] â€Å"NSTA Position Statement: The Teaching of Evolution.† [31] National Science Education Standards. 184. [32] Brandwein, Paul. Teaching High School Science: A Book of Methods. 255. [33] Brandwein 254. [34] Brandwein 255.

English is a second language Essay

For many poets, English is a second language. Many poets feel trapped between two cultures. Choose 3 poems we have studied which show this. The collection of three poems I have chosen to use give an in-depth incite into the fears and feelings that an outsider goes through after settling in to a new country. The cultural differences between the poet’s home countries and their new home country become very clear and this major life change is mainly what fuels their discontent. All three of the poems give the impression that the poet is unattached and that they feel as if they are not a member of any nation. All these problems are shown in the three poems and by the end of each poem the reader almost feels as if they have some role to play in this person feeling so alone. The first of the three poems is called, â€Å"Search for my tongue,† and it is about the poet searching herself for her mother tongue. The poem starts with a sense of bereavement as the poet mourns the loss of her mother tongue. The first few lines give the sense that the poet is proud of her roots and that her mother tongue is one of the only things left that attaches her to her home country. Her feelings towards her roots are strong and in the last few lines of the play we see how deep her roots go. The poem describes how her new language has starved her old one and how she strives to be able to speak as fluently as before. She seems to almost feel hate towards the new language that has starved her much loved mother tongue. She uses blunt sensual expressions to describe her emotional turmoil which shows how much her mother tongue means to her. â€Å"Mother tongue would rot. Rot and die in your mouth, until you had to spit it out. † The whole mood of the poem changes during the line, â€Å"I thought I spit out but over night while I dream, it grows back,† The but is pivotal in this line as it swings the mood of the poem around completely. The return of the mother tongue is signified by the six lines of translated Arab compete with phonetic expressions for the reader’s benefit. After this section of Arab text the poem suddenly springs into life. The sudden reappearance of the mother tongue is described using spring imagery. This may be used to signify the blossoming of her mother tongue after being dormant through the dark ‘winter’. This new soft and gentile description of her feelings is a lot different from the dark, harsh description that was existent at the start of the poem. This shows that when she has her mother tongue at her disposal she feels more relaxed and a lot happier with her new surroundings. The mother tongue gives her a feeling of a greater identity and a little bit of her past culture may help soften her evident homesickness. â€Å"Half Caste,† is a poem which takes on the term ‘Half Cast’ and the feelings that go through the mind of an half cast person. There is a great feeling of entrapment as the reader reads this poem as the poet comes across as being slightly aggressive and he uses the word, ‘You’ which automatically accuses the reader not a selected minority. This direct approach shows that this person is angry at the entire nation and that their frustration is down to the British people labelling people ‘half caste’. He uses phonetic language throughout the poem and that it’s like he’s teasing people who think he’s â€Å"only† half-caste. He uses comedy but at the same time he is teasing the reader as he is making people think again about how half caste doesn’t mean half minded. At the start of the poem he says, â€Å"Excuse me standing on one leg, im half caste,† This quote is written to be slightly ironic as throughout the rest of the poem he questions the discrimination against half-caste people. It also seems to be the poets English ‘half’ as in the next paragraph the text changes and it becomes clear that this is his Caribbean ‘half’. The way in which this poem is written shows the personality split that the poet must feel. Sometimes he may feel proud to be English and another day he may be ashamed to be Caribbean and vice versa. Throughout the poem the phrase, â€Å"explain yuself,† is repeated many times and it shows that he is disgraced by the actions of the reader and that he wants some reason to why he is subject to being tossed into a separate group to the average Englishman. He shows that a commonly used word like ‘Half Caste’ can be hurtful to someone of a mixed race. The poet is similar to the poet in the first poem because they both feel detached from their backgrounds and they both have come from different countries. â€Å"Search for my tongue,† and ,†Half Caste,† both deal with different problems when migrating to a new country. â€Å"Search for my tongue,† deals with the torment of losing touch with your past language and culture. † Half Caste,† deals with the discrimination against foreigners which is mostly spoken by people who don’t believe they have said anything wrong. This unawareness to the hurt such a widely excepted phrase like ‘Half Caste’ can cause someone needs to be improved and â€Å"Half Caste,† highlights this. The third poem, â€Å"Presents from my aunts in Pakistan. † is similar to the other two as the poet feel alienated from her past home and her present home. The quote, â€Å"I was alien in the living room. † The poet’s unease opening her presents shows that she feels she doesn’t belong to that culture anymore. The fact that she is half English makes her feel that she isn’t Pakistani enough to be able to were these clothes. The fact that she is half cast makes her feel detached from both her current and her past cultures. She is stuck in the middle of two worlds, much like John Agard in the poem, â€Å"Half cast†. As the poem goes on the poet searches her memory for any hints towards her past. Her memories of Pakistan to her are properly one of the most important things she has as they confirm her identity. Her Aunts gifts bring out a reaction in her friend which shows the large cultural differences between the two countries. The quote, â€Å"Didn’t impress the school friend who sat on my bed, asked to see my weekend clothes,† shows that to the English friend her Pakistani clothes were boring and she asked to see her casual wear instead of admiring the dazzling colour. In Pakistan these clothes would be rated very highly amongst teenagers and this huge difference in opinions give her a option, to be a English girl or a Pakistani girl. This indecision shows how she is stuck between two cultures. The poem says that she â€Å"longs† for denim and corduroy indicating her English side, but she also wants her parent’s Pakistani camel skin lamp. When the lamp is switched on, it shows a wonderful array of colours, but when it’s off it becomes dull. Maybe this represents the colourfulness of the Pakistani culture in comparison with the colourless English culture. In conclusion these three poems give the reader a different view of people who are half-caste or who have emigrated to a different country. They show the torment of not being fully attached to a certain culture and also the strain of adapting to a new language and a new culture. The poets of these three poems help the reader consider issues that they would have never thought about before for example the offence of being called ‘Half-Caste’.

The Demand of Samsung

I. The demand for smartphones worldwide. – The worldwide mobile phone market grew 1. 9% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2012 (4Q12), as the number of smartphone sales raised to levels nearly equal to those of other phones. 219. 4 million units in 4Q12, which represents 45. 5% of all mobile phone shipments, the highest percentage ever. On an annual basis, 712. 6 million smartphones were shipped globally in 2012, which was 44. 1% more than in 2011. Top Five Smartphone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share Calendar Year 2012 (Units in Millions) Vendor2012 Unit Shipments2012 Market Share2011 Unit Shipments2011 Market ShareYear over Year Change 1. Samsung215. 830. 3%94. 219. 0%129. 1% 2. Apple135. 919. 1%93. 118. 8%46. 9% 3. Nokia35. 14. 9%77. 315. 6%-54. 6% 4. HTC32. 64. 6%43. 68. 8%-25. 2% 5. Research In Motion32. 54. 6%51. 110. 3%-36. 4% Others260. 736. 5%135. 327. 5%92. 7% Total712. 100. 0%494. 6100. 0%44. 1% Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, January 24, 2013 - The huge demand from all over the world -> the need for expanding the production facilities as well as the employees. II. Production plan -Over the world,Samsung has plants in 5 countries: China,Korea,Brazil,India and Viet Nam. – The Vietnam unit of the company has started construction on the plant in Yen Binh Industrial Park in Thai Nguyen province.Operation of the plant, which will mainly produce mobile phones, is expected to start from the end of the year, and production is projected to be boosted since 2014 to hit 120 million units by 2015. -Together with the current plant in Bac Ninh Industrial Area in Vietnam, the completion of the new plant will lift production capacity of Samsung's Vietnam unit to 240 million by 2015, accounting over half of Samsung's total projected capacity. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (2nd, R), leaders of Samsung and guests press the button to start work on the hi-tech complex of Samsung in Thai Nguyen >The locations of the factories have major effects on the firm’s performance as establishing factories in these countries helps reduce the cost of renting space as well as the labor cost than in other countries due to the fact that they are big countries with a high population. ->helps increase the revenue of the firm. -The more factories they build, the more benefits they gain because according to economies of scale, the average cost per unit produced declines as the firm produces more units as the facilities stay the same. ->helps sell more products-> more profit.

Ethics during Change Paper Essay

The purpose of change in the work place is to help motivate the people there and make a difference in the company. Change is needed to make improvements and better things so that a company can move forward and focus on the future. In this paper one will help the reader understand some ethical issues that organizations may face when making changes to their companies. Understanding this will help the reader identify ethical issues with in their own company when implementing change. Companies face many challenges when it comes time for change. However, ethical challenges are more difficult to figure out when it is detected. There may be many ethical issues that companies have to go through, but some are easier to focus on. One major issue can start with self-control. Even though companies have their own set of policies, rules, and other directions all ethical issues are still a problem that management has to handle. It is best that when implementing changes that the employees are still informed with the changes that will be made. Not only will change help motivate but it will also impact the employees on new knowledge within the process of change. Companies want for their employees to have self-control when it comes to making ethical decisions. Change can be overwhelming at times, not only for the people who work within the company, but everyone who plays a part in that company. Even though it can be disruptive it is best to make sure that everyone is involved. Figure out how to change the focus on making it less of a problem. The company needs to plan ahead, so that they will be ready for the different outcomes that come with innovation and change. Companies may want to give their employees a heads up on the process but may not be able to until a certain point of the process is met. Changes will affect the way the employees do their jobs but management needs to speak up so that they do not become a disruption in the change process that they are trying to implement. This can be a down fall for some companies because giving information to soon may affect the process of change. Communication also plays a role in the process of change and dealing with ethics. An open line  of communication is best to help communicate the nee ds and wants for change within that organization. When communicating with the employees and staff this helps build the trust between the two. When companies are not honest and giving the employees the information about the change they are trying to make it makes it difficult for the employees to trust when the change is implemented because they were not aware of what was going on. Not letting the staff know what’s going on can cause problems of trust, how they do their jobs, and the way that they perform. Team work is essential because the ethical behavior to the employees and community can help the business more than they know. Participating in the process of change can help the company see where their future may be when they work for the greater purpose in making these changes. These changes that will be made for companies can benefit everyone in the organization. Rewarding the ones who helped with the change process and treating them in an ethical manner, will bring greater results for them in the long run. Ways to resolve ethical issues can be to educate the employees on a code of ethics and how they want their company to be run. Giving them examples and leading with confidence can help them resolve common ethical dilemmas. Companies need to be clear in what they want and show their employees ethical behavior through their eyes. Let the employees know what is expected when ethical problems appear give them the chance to show them that they know how to handle the situation. Again reward those who make the good ethical decisions. There are plenty of ethical challenges companies will come across throughout time. The way to understand how to address these problems, and each of the different challenges, is to think of the source of the problems and how the company is affected by those results. Companies want to come out on top and show that they are better than their competitors. If an organization focuses on the right things such as ethics and how they run their company they will come out on top. Making sure that all the factors above are address when situations in the change process accrue then they should be able to handle the issues with no problem. Problems accrue when the management is not ethically tr ained and when they don’t know how to focus on the right subjects. All focus during the change process needs to be on the employees and how the change will affect the company.