Corporate social responsibility is likely to gain growing importance Essay

Corporate social responsibility is likely to gain growing importance for business, Discuss this statement and relate your answer to ENVIRONMENT - Essay Example This paper defines as â€Å"the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, their local community and society at large to improve their quality of life in ways that are both good for business and development†1 especially as it is framed to accommodate the aspirations of the corporations and the local communities in which they operate. This paper further adds that, since in every society infrastructure basically represents a luxury, corporations should strive at meeting the human standards of the society in which they operate by giving back to that society all that can be considered as humanly from an ethical standpoint. But hardly this is the case. Take the case of CSR problems that arise between SHELL and the indigenes of the Niger-Delta area in Nigeria in which during operations, their main sources of livelihood (i.e. rivers and farmlands) are polluted and destroyed. These damages often lead to conflicts b etween the oil firms and the host communities. Today, the environment is facing increasing pressure from large scale and rapid industrialisation due to modernisation and globalisation that is causing heavy damage all due to mass consumption of the earth’s resources. In a bit to purify the environment, the western world government’s have enacted new environmental legislation aimed at an introduction of major new regulatory regimes such as Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) in England & Wales, where the Environment Agency (EA) is developing new methods of environmental risk screening and targeting of regulatory effort based on the better regulation principles. Under the dynamics of globalisation, economic integration, and global environmental governance, issues of global warming and CO2 emissions have been increasing receiving attention today. This evolution has been unfolding since the 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development, through the 2002

Adenosine Triphosphate and Aerobic Respiration Essay Example for Free

Adenosine Triphosphate and Aerobic Respiration Essay Comparison chart Embed this chart Aerobic Respiration Anaerobic Respiration DefinitionAerobic respiration uses oxygen. Anaerobic respiration is respiration without oxygen; the process uses a respiratory electron transport chain but does not use oxygen as the electron acceptors. Cells that use itAerobic respiration occurs in most cells. Anaerobic respiration occurs in bacteria, yeasts, some prokaryotes, erythrocytes (red blood cells), and in muscle cells. Production of lactic acidDoes not produce lactic acidProduces lactic acid (in lactic acid fermentation but not in alcoholic fermentation) Amount of energy releasedHigh (36-38 ATP molecules)Low (2 ATP molecules) ProductsCarbon dioxide, water, ATPLactic Acid Fermentation lactic acid, ATP Alcoholic Fermentation ethyl alcohol, ATP, carbon dioxide Reactantsglucose, oxygenglucose Site of reactionsCytoplasm and mitochondriaCytoplasm StagesGlycolysis, Krebs cycle, Electron Transport ChainGlycolysis, Fermentation combustioncompleteincomplete Contents: Aerobic vs Anaerobic Respiration The process of aerobic vs anaerobic respiration 1. 1 Fermentation in anaerobic respiration 1. 2 Krebs cycle in aerobic respiration 2 Energy efficiency of aerobic vs anaerobic respiration 3 Video comparing Aerobic Respiration vs Anaerobic Respiration 4 References The process of aerobic vs anaerobic respiration The sugar molecules stored in the food are broken apart through enzyme-mediated reactions and the energy released is absorbed by cells. This process is much more effective in the presence of oxygen through aerobic respiration. Aerobic respiration requires oxygen in order to generate energy (ATP). It is the preferred method of pyruvate breakdown from glycolysis and requires that pyruvate enter the mitochondrion in order to be fully oxidized by the Krebs cycle. The product of this process is energy in the form of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate), by substrate-level phosphorylation, NADH and FADH2. Anaerobic and aerobic respiration share the initial pathway of glycolysis but aerobic metabolism continues with the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation. The post glycolytic reactions take place in the mitochondria in eukaryotic cells, and in the cytoplasm in prokaryotic cells. Fermentation in anaerobic respiration Without oxygen, pyruvate is not metabolized by cellular respiration but undergoes a process of fermentation. The pyruvate is not transported into the mitochondrion, but remains in the cytoplasm, where it is converted to waste products that may be removed from the cell. This serves the purpose of oxidizing the hydrogen carriers so that they can perform glycolysis again and removing the excess pyruvate. This waste product varies depending on the organism. In skeletal muscles, the waste product is lactic acid. This type of fermentation is called lactic acid fermentation. In yeast, the waste products are ethanol and carbon dioxide. This type of fermentation is known as alcoholic or ethanol fermentation. The ATP generated in this process is made by substrate phosphorylation, which is phosphorylation that does not involve oxygen. Krebs cycle in aerobic respiration The Krebs cycle (also known as the citric acid cycle, or the tricarboxylic acid cycle) is a series of enzyme-catalysed chemical reactions, which is of central importance in aerobic respiration. the citric acid cycle is part of a metabolic pathway involved in the chemical conversion of carbohydrates, fats and proteins into carbon dioxide and water to generate a form of usable energy. Other relevant reactions in the pathway include those in glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation before the citric acid cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation after it. Therefore, carbohydrates break into sugar and then into ATP. The overall process of aerobic respiration can be understood by the following reaction. C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O ——gt; 6CO2 + 12H2O + energy. Energy efficiency of aerobic vs anaerobic respiration Aerobic metabolism is 19 times more efficient than anaerobic metabolism (which yields 2 mol ATP per 1 mol glucose). Anaerobic respiration is less efficient at using the energy from glucose since 2 ATP are produced during anaerobic respiration per glucose, compared to the 38 ATP per glucose produced by aerobic respiration. This is because the waste products of anaerobic respiration still contain plenty of energy. Ethanol, for example, can be used in gasoline (petrol) solutions. Glycolytic ATP, however, is created more quickly. For prokaryotes to continue a rapid growth rate when they are shifted from an aerobic environment to an anaerobic environment, they must increase the rate of the glycolytic reactions. Thus, during short bursts of strenuous activity, muscle cells use anaerobic respiration to supplement the ATP production from the slower aerobic respiration, so anaerobic respiration may be used by a cell even before the oxygen levels are depleted, as is the case in sports that do not require athletes to pace themselves, such as sprinting. Video comparing Aerobic Respiration vs Anaerobic Respiration References http://en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php? title=Cellular_respirationoldid=320134686 Related Comparisons Oxygen vs Ozone Oxygen vs Ozone Mitosis vs Meiosis Mitosis vs Meiosis DNA vs RNA DNA vs RNA Photosynthesis vs Respiration Photosynthesis vs Respiration Mold vs Yeast Mold vs Yeast Comments: Aerobic Respiration vs Anaerobic Respiration Facebook Anonymous (4) Stay informed Get email alerts when new comparisons are published in these categories: Science L Biology Related Comparisons Oxygen vs Ozone Mitosis vs Meiosis DNA vs RNA Photosynthesis vs Respiration Mold vs Yeast Follow Diffen Make Diffen Smarter. Log in to edit comparisons or create new comparisons in your area of expertise! Sign up  » Top 5 Comparisons 1. Democrat vs Republican 2. Animal Cell vs Plant Cell 3. Meiosis vs Mitosis 4. Affected vs Effected 5. 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A Critique of DiLorenzos The Real Lincoln Essay -- Thomas J. DiLorenz

A Critique of the Real Lincoln The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, by Thomas J. DiLorenzo completely shatters the illusion of the 16th President as the liberator of the slaves. DiLorenzo provides convincing evidence for Lincoln’s overt racism as expressed in his documented views on racial supremacy as stated in his desire to colonize all American blacks outside the United States (p. 4); Lincoln’s views were matched by the majority in the North who used such tools as state constitutional amendments to prohibit the emigration of black people into Northern states like Lincoln’s home of Illinois (p. 4); and that the Presidents war which killed 620, 000 Americans and destroyed 40% of the economy, was a singularly terrible, unjustified conflict given the proven success in the 19th century of the peaceful end to slavery through the policy of compensated emancipation (p. 4). DiLorenzo accordingly notes that, â€Å"Between 1800 and 1860, dozens of count ries, including the entire British Empire, ended slavery peacefully; only in the United States was war involved (p. 4). DiLorenzo documents that history’s claims that the abolition of slavery as the leading motive behind the Union’s aggression against the South is untrue. He states that Lincoln’s motives were economic and political and in no way altruistic. Lincoln did oppose slavery, but his opposition did not stem from any moral motive. He wished to preserve white labor, and to avoid artificial inflation of Southern representation in Congress under the three-fifths clause of the Constitution, under which every five slaves counted as three free persons for the purpose of allotting number of congressional seats. DiLorenzo explains that from th... ...ding Fathers had tried to institute through the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Thomas DiLorenzo does a good job in documenting Lincoln’s ruthlessness and hypocrisy and how historians have covered it up. The founding fathers had a fear of federal governmental abuse. They saw state sovereignty as a protection. That’s why they gave us the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. I found this book very interesting and it makes you wonder what else we may have learned growing up that could be completely untrue according to your elementary school history books. I do however understand that there is two sides to every story and I wish DiLorenzo did a better job at explaining why history has painted Lincoln as such a hero. Works Cited DiLorenzo, Thomas. The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War. Three Rivers Press, 2003.

Caitlin LaGrone Research

Caitlin LaGroneDr. Ramsey English Composition II 19 April 2018Through a Soldiers Eyes Wilfred Owen utilizes his poems to display problems throughout war that soldiers deal with which is not easy. They face many trials that sometimes leads to death. Death does not care who you are or where you are when it is ready for you it will take you. Sacrifices are made, and it is a personal choice. He allows these poems to foreshadow what can happen or what they must conquer as their time as a soldier. Owen illustrates throughout his poems, â€Å"Anthem For Doomed Youth,† â€Å"S.I.W.,† and â€Å"Dulce es Decorum Est,† how the soldiers have faced multiple physical and mental challenges throughout their times during service. Throughout Owen's poem â€Å"Anthem For Doomed Youth,† he displays the physical hardships that are faced by soldiers but also the families of the soldier. Owen begins his poem with how the hardships are faced by a soldier and their families as well:What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã‚  Only the monstrous anger of the guns.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattleCan patter out their hasty orisons (1.1-4). â€Å"The â€Å"passing-bells† is a demonstration of how the deaths are announced to the world. The soldiers do not get a real prayer or rights like the Christians get back home, they received the right to a rifle being shot at them. They received sounds of the â€Å"rapid rattle of gun fire (1.3),† as a choir instead of a choir from a church as they fall to death. Owen suggest that they are not getting the real respect from the organized religion for those dying on the lines when it comes to war. The families are faced with not being able to honor their family member the correct way. The soldiers are putting their life on the line for the country but are not getting the right recognition that they are so deserving of. Their families believe they deserve a true memorial service where they are honored with the respect they are deserved. The soldiers go through a lot, but it also takes a toll on the families as well. The soldiers faced many obstacles but the harshest one was watching one of their own hit the ground injured or experiencing death. Owen utilizes â€Å"what candles may be held to speed them all?  Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes† (9-10), to demonstrate the soldiers' eyes lit up as they saw one of their family members lying on the ground suffering of and injury or death. Seeing one of their family members as they thought of them laying on the ground suffering was one of the hardest things for them to watch due to them all wanting to make it out alive together. The eyes of the surrounding brothers as a army soldier would call his friends are lit up with broken spirits and defeat. Harold Bloom illustrates that Owen's poems that war has gone far beyond religion since they all sin and do what is best for the country to obtain their freedom (Bloom par. 3)Also, Owen indicates an infliction with a solider that cannot decide between facing the hardships or going ahead and ending his life to avoid them in â€Å"S.I.W.† Struggling is not an easy thing to accept. At the beginning of the poem Owen exposes the father stating, â€Å"he'd always show the Hun a brave man's face (2),† but the son is honestly terrified but cannot dishonor his fathers wishes of him going in the army, so he puts on an act that he is brave. The kid only wanted to show his father that he was brave but did not want to let him down either. Merryn Williams suggests that the father believes that if his son commits suicide he will be dishonored because it is not an action that is honored like one that puts himself on the line for the country, committing suicide is too easy compared to being on the front line (Williams par.10), The solider is going through being shot at, depression, sickness, injuries, but also having to pretend to be brave when they are really terrified due to the fact they never know when their life may end or if they will even make it out alive. â€Å"Where once an hour a bullet missed its aim and misses teased the hunger of his brain (12-13),† is displayed throughout Owens poem as a display of how the soldiers brain hungers for a bullet as they are missed by them but also their brain gets jittery because they never know when one will strike. But sadly, the solider cannot take it any longer â€Å"this time, Death had not missed (26),† the self-inflicted wound theory took over his mental state and he followed through with it but made it look like it had been made on purpose due to the others finding a bullet within the body. Death occurred from the wound and could not be changed or stopped. During Owens poem â€Å"Dulce es Decorum Est,† he establishes more difficulties that the soldiers are having to face during the battle times. Daniel Hipp portrays the poem as the soldiers are dealing with shellshock due to their inabilities to walk and hear as their major flaws throughout the war times but also, they are drunk half the time which can affect their mental abilities and play a part in their flaws as well (Hipp par.26), any struggles that were faced were â€Å"Many had lost their boots, but limped on, blood-shod (5-6),† covered in blood and carrying themselves on just their feet was not an easy thing. They were sometimes covered in blood from head to toe due to all the action going on back and forth. Most had injuries but had to overcome the injuries and continued to fight for the achievement of freedom. Along with the injuries and no shoes they also faced â€Å"all went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind (6-8),† these defects affected their mind and did not allow them to have a mental capacity to comprehend what was going on around them or how to overcome not being able to deal with what was going around them. Some had to deal with higher up problems such as â€Å"Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! —An ecstasy of fumbling Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time (9-10),† some had to have quick reflexes to put a gas mask on without having any trouble and being very quick about it because they do not have much time to protect themselves from the gas being used against them. The characteristic of displaying fast reflexes can save themselves from the actions of destruction from the gas that is deadly. Throughout Wilfred Owens three poems he utilizes them to prove that being a soldier is tough but can be accomplished. A soldier is an honor and it takes a brave person to face the hardships and overcome adversity. Owen portrays these poems to display what a soldier is signing up for when they began thinking about the Army.

Case Study of McDonald’s Essay

In the early 1940’s, two brothers opened a burger restaurant that was based on standardized preparation called the Speedee Service System. This â€Å"burger restaurant† is now globally known as McDonald’s. In 1976, McDonald’s introduced the breakfast menu as a way to diversify sales and product selection. Today this multinational corporation serves nearly 54 million customers every day in 120 countries around the world. McDonald’s first international venture was in Richmond, British Columbia, during 1967. Two of McDonald’s main products were introduced in 1968, the Big Mac and the Egg McMuffin Sandwich. When the first McDonald’s opened in Hong Kong in 1975, they were the first restaurants to consistently offer clean bathrooms, which drove customers to demand the same standards of other restaurants and institutions. McDonald’s continually builds its brand by receiving customer input. This is why McDonald’s is known as one of the most recognizable brands in the world. This case study illustrates how McDonald’s marketing process works and how they overcome problems in the process. This case analysis will include a SWOT analysis of McDonald’s, which looks at the internal environment of strengths and weaknesses and the external environment of opportunities and threats. It then examines alternative solutions to correct weaknesses, threats, and opportunities and concludes with recommendations with exact steps and a brief conclusion. S.W.O.T. AnalysisThis analysis was developed from the McDonald’s website and various other online sources. Other information was provided by the textbook, Organization Behavior by Robert Kreitner and Angelo Kinicki. SWOT stands for internal Strengths and Weaknesses and external Opportunities and Threats. It will illustrate the opportunities and threats in McDonald’s current environment, and compare it to their internal strengths and weaknesses. We will then discuss creative strategies to align their internal environment with their external environment and provide multiple alternatives and a recommendation. Internal AnalysisMcDonald’s Corporation is a multimillion dollar global business because of the fact their strengths greatly outweigh their weaknesses. McDonalds is known globally because it is dedicated to the unparallel levels of quality service, cleanliness and values. McDonalds is also globally known because it is financially sound and recognized by the Fortune 500 and the Hoovers 500. We will provide the strengths and weakness of the McDonalds Corporation. We will also show the effect they have on their expansion throughout the globe and the direct impact it has on their financial records. This will be presented in descending order of importance throughout the strengths and weaknesses. McDonald’s SWOT AnalysisStrengths1.The Company’s developed global strategya.60% of McDonald’s sales and all of its top 10 restaurants, (in terms of sales & profits) are now overseas. b.McDonald’s adapts to each country’s specific needs & cultural differencesi. For example: In Japan, McDonald’s had to substantially adapt it’s original U.S. style menu to include a McChao(a Chinese fried rice dish). When McDonald’s introduced rice meals in Japan, sales jumped 30% in one year, and it continues to innovate in Japan with Teriyaki McBurger and Chicken Tatsuta. ii.The menu price has been adapted for each country. iii.The average Big Mac price for the U.S. is $3.00; China $1.26; Switzerland $5.64c.In 2005 McDonald’s was ranked 8th out of the top 30 global brands. 2.Adaptation to cultural preferences and trendsa.Within the past 3 years, McDonald’s has made several adaptations to their strategy by adding a more appealing breakfast menu, specialty coffees, and healthier menu options. b. McDonald’s has also managed to adapt their individual franchises to the current trends and concerns in their individual geographical locations, simultaneously cutting costs. i.For example: In Europe, McDonald’s discovered that children were content  with a simple word puzzle on a menu tray or a small stuffed animal and did not require more expensive Happy meal promotions that they used in the U.S. c.This year the world’s largest restaurant chain, with 31,000 locations, will spend $1.9 billion to open 800 restaurants and reinvest in existing locations. 3.The company’s attention to global health concernsa.McDonald’s menus offer a variety of food products that can fit into balanced, active lifestyles. Restaurants typically serve several types of hamburgers, grilled and fried chicken products, and fish and, in many cases, salads, fruits, and additional sandwich options. i.Many European countries have launched Salads Plus menus, including meal-size salad choices, a side salad, fresh fruit bag, and other options. ii.McDonald’s Canada offers Toasted Deli Sandwiches. iii.McDonald’s Hong Kong has a Fresh Choices Menu, with two salads and fruit yogurt. iv.McDonald’s Australia offers a QuickStart breakfast menu, including a choice of cereals, juices, reduced fat or nonfat milk, and yogurt. v.McDonald’s Taiwan serves a Toasted Rice Burger. vi.Apples are served whole or with other foods in more than 20 countries around the world. b.Many local business units are adding new salad, fruit, and vegetable offerings. c.Local business units are also expanding Happy Meal choices to include new sandwich, side, and beverage alternatives. These reflect a System-wide goal of ensuring that Happy Meals remain a choice moms feel good about and  children enjoy. 4.The Company has high environmental standards:a.Delivery Vehicles which can carry fresh, frozen and chilled food have resulted in fewer deliveries, enabling them to reduce diesel costs and fuel emissions. Also, fixed delivery schedules reduced the distance traveled in 1993 by 310,000 miles. b.Each McDonald’s restaurant is carefully designed individually to fit into its local environment. This means listening to local concerns, fitting in with local scenery and landscaping drive-thru restaurants. Over 120 McDonald’s restaurants are in conservation areas and over 30 are in Grade II listed buildings. c. McDonald’s uses a minimum of 50% recycled content in corrugated cardboard boxes and ask that their suppliers do the same. All McDonald’s food boxes and cartons are made from 72% recycled material, carry out bags are unbleached and made from 60-80% recycled material, while napkins and tray liners are 100% recycled paper. Additionally, all their picnic benches, drive=thru lane traffic bollards and most of the fencing panels are new restaurants are made from recycled polystyrene. d. McDonald’s have made a commitment that, by 1995, they had reduced the volume of solid waste by 50%. They achieved this by using the three R’s: Reduce, Recycle and Reuse. 5.High percentage of minority employmenta.McDonald’s has the largest number of minority and female franchisees in the quick service industry. b.More than 40.7% of all McDonald’s US Owner/Operators are women and minorities. Weaknesses1.Worker shortagea.In all employment areas, there is a high demand for qualified workers. b.A new development that is creating even more employee demand is the new  immigration laws for the country and state. 2.Employee turn-overa.It is difficult to keep the employees already employed with McDonald’s. i. McDonald’s has a turnover rate of about 35 to 40 percent. b.People consider working at McDonald’s embarrassing and look for employment elsewhere. c.Minimum wage doesn’t keep good workers around. i. $5.85 per hour beginning July 24, 2007ii.$6.55 per hour beginning July 24, 2008iii.$7.25 per hour beginning July 24, 20093.Customer trends change and so do their choicesa.Quality and taste of products is declining. b.People are generally tired of the same brands that they had been using over the years, so when they do not see the expected innovation they migrate to new brands. c.People see McDonald’s every where and this over exposure might also be a reason for abstinence. Moreover maintaining the standards of such a huge chain becomes feasible and when there is lack of quality service in one store it effects the whole brand. External Analysis The constant improvements in technology and the competitive marketplace challenge McDonald’s with many opportunities and threats. McDonald’s has a great management team that constantly looks for new opportunities because McDonald’s is the industry standard on technology. Other opportunities for McDonald’s would be to expand to all developing and developed countries around the world. Among the current and future threats, there are thousands of fast-food chains in the world, most of the new fast-food franchises are concentrating on having a healthy image, so therefore McDonald’s needs to continue to improve  their healthy choice menu. This will be presented in descending order of importance throughout the opportunities and threats. Opportunities1.New Technologiesa.Computers that are also tablesi.These computers that are also tables will be very handy because people do not like standing in lines and having to wait to order. Now all customers have to do is find a table and sit down and start ordering. This will pay off even more because customers will be able to special order their food easier which will in-turn reduce the mess up orders because customers will do it themselves. ii.These computer tables will also make it very easy for customers to pay for their food or even split the bill if they want to. All customers will have to do is lay their credit card or debit card down on the table and then pick what food you want to pay for and drag it over to where your card is laying and then click ok that is correct then use your finger to sign for the bill. 2.International Expansion and Franchisinga.There are only 17,000 McDonald’s around the world and only located in 119 different countries. i.There are 194 countries in the world and McDonald’s has lost of room to expand there restaurants to new countries. ii.McDonald’s main concentration of expanding is in the ever growing in population of China. McDonald’s wants to build as many drive thru’s there as possible for the fast passed living. They have done research that there are 30,000 filling stations to put them in. b.Selling corporate owned McDonald’s and turning them into franchises at home and abroad. i.Sold 18 businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean’s. As a result these two countries will in turn franchise 1,600 restaurants. 3.New Food Items and New Programsa.Here in America we are accustomed to one of the programs that they are trying to add all over the world. This would  be known as the dollar menu. In Europe they are calling it the â€Å"Eurosaver†, China has the RMB 5, and Latin America features the McMenu. b.In Latin America they are experimenting with something called McAhorro. This is a program of special pricing of certain products during certain times of the day or on carious days of the week. c.In Egypt their McDonald’s are trying something completely new to McDonald’s and this is having a carryout. Other countries also doing this now are Turkey, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. d.New food items that became popular in Latin America are the McCafe coffee and dessert concepts. Which are Expanding to other McDonald’s in other countries to see how they fair. e.New Healthy Foodsi.Toasted deli sandwiches have now been put on a couple of McDonald’s menus in Canadaii.McDonald’s are starting to cook their French Fries in healthier oils and finding ways to cook their hamburgers to have less grease in them. iii.Mediterranean – inspired Pitamac, a square pita bread sandwich that is open at the top and filled with spiced beef, grilled vegetables or chicken. iv.Introducing veggie burgers to more of their restaurants. v.Introducing water-based instead of oil-based salad dressings for their new premium salads. vi.Introducing healthier option with their meal instead of fries such as: salads, baked potatoes, yogurt, fruit, ect. Threats1.The biggest threat for McDonald’s domestically is the lack of growth opportunitiesa.The market in the United States is well saturated and there is not a whole lot of room for growth. 2.Healthier eating habits. a.People are more worried about their health in today’s society than they have ever been. McDonald’s has introduced salads and other low fat items but it is hard for people to make the switch because the other food that McDonald’s offers tastes great. 3.Fast food restaurant franchises as upcoming competition. a.The biggest competition would be taco and burrito franchises. This would be a threat because individuals get tired of eating hamburgers and fries and they want something different. b.McDonald’s has the upper hand on most fast food restaurants because they serve breakfast. Recently Taco Bueno has added a breakfast menu and that could also be a threat for McDonald’s. 4.Terrorisma.With McDonald’s being a big retail food store with a lot of customers in the store daily. b.This could be a major threat not only to the store itself but to its customers also. 5.Global Competitiona.Through out the globe McDonald’s is facing more and more competition because of other fast food chains entering the global markets. i.Burger King is the number two burger chain. It is located in over 65 countries now. In the US alone it has more then 11,200 locations. ii.Subway is the second largest quick serving restaurant. It has an astonishing 27,700 location abroad spanning over 85 countries. Another huge threat that this makes is that it now has more locations in the US than McDonald’s. b.With global expansion McDonald’s not only has to deal with other abroad competitors but the own countries fast food chains. McDonald’s also has to get accustomed to the local eating habbits and taste so they will be able to satisfy their wants and needs. This means McDonald’s will have to come up with new menu items for each country to fit their customs. i.Items that they have came up with to fit the taste and customs of consumers in Japan was to introduce the Mega Teriyaki Burger and the Triangle-shaped Mango Custard Pie. AlternativesAlternative 1- Technology UpdateImproving and Buying New Technology – McDonald’s has been improving many things at their restaurants in the past couple of years such as: remodeling, new menu items, and a drive-thru order speaker that shows you what you have ordered. McDonald’s needs to make sure that they deep up with today’s society and the new technology. One of the newest technology that McDonald’s needs to consider purchasing is called Microsoft surface. This new technology well not only cut down on employee cost but it will help them keep up with the new way of life that time is money. ProsA. With Microsoft Surface computer tables in place it will make business quicker. i. People can sit down and order their food at the tablesii. There will be no waiting in lines which in turns saves people time. iii. Customers can pay at the end of their meals incase they want more food after their first order instead of going and standing in line again. B. Offer more things to do while waiting on your food and after you are done eating. i. Microsoft Surface also offers things to entertain your kids such as playing music to painting with their fingers. ii. Business people will find it handy because they can get on the internet and find thing they need or to get directions to their next destination and then can transfer it to their phones of PDA’s. iii. Will older people like the new technology because it will be something new to them and will have to learn how to use it properly. ConsA. Microsoft Surface will be brand new technologyi. The cost of Microsoft Surface will have a very expensive price tag along with it. ii. Since it is a new product this means it will still have a few bugs in it that have not been found or worked out. B. How reliable with this new technology bei. Seeing how this is going to be used not only to order off of it will as be used as a table to eat and drink off of. Will the Surface be durable enough to handle messy food and drinks that will be spilled on it?Alternative 2- Improve Healthy menu OptionsMore Attention for America’s Healthy Menu Options- McDonald’s has been successful in adding healthy menu options around the globe. However, throughout our study we have found that the healthy menu options for Americans are quite limited, and even more limited for the children in the United States. The PlanA.We feel that adding some healthy menu combination meals would really improve McDonald’s sales. Americans don’t want just a salad or chicken wrap as a meal, so why not add a combination meal that includes a salad, wrap, grilled chicken breast, or toasted deli sandwich with their choice of a healthy side, such as a fruit salad, yogurt, vegetables, or baked potato. B.Don’t forget about our children. Mom’s aren’t just concerned about what they are putting in their mouths, their children’s health is just as important. If a mom can go to McDonald’s and get a healthy meal, but there isn’t anything healthy to feed her children, most likely she’s going to choose a competing fast food franchise. Happy meals need to have options such as, a beef pot pie, turkey sandwich, or grilled chicken fingers.  Choices of sides could include a healthy macaroni and cheese, vegetables, fruit & marshmallows, or even cottage cheese and strawberries. McDonald’s could also really score some big points with parents if they added healthy lifestyle tips for kids on the happy meal sacks, or provided toys that promote exercise. Pro’sA.American’s love variety and choices. That’s exactly what this plan is giving McDonald’s customers. Variety and healthy choices will not only satisfy current customers, but it will attract more business. B.One of McDonald’s biggest customer bases is America. Providing these options for this customer base will also increase their profit intake. C.This plan also shows the people in the U.S. that McDonald’s cares about their customers concerns. This is just one more way to attract business. D.Since the release of the movie â€Å"Super Size Me† McDonald’s has been known as the fast food restaurant that makes Americans fat. The best way to improve this bad image is to implement the healthy menu options in America. Con’sA.Adding more options to a menu also means adding costs for the business. It is more expensive to keep vegetables and fruits fresh than it is to keep the food they currently serve fresh. B.Even though American’s are very concerned about their health, there is a large number of people who don’t want to do anything about it. People aren’t looking to be healthy when they go out to eat at McDonald’s, and because of that, the new healthy food options may not sell as well as other well established items on the McDonald’s menu. Alternative 3 – Increasing WagesIncrease starting wages and implement frequent raises – McDonald’s has always been considered one of the worst paying jobs with the lowest skill level. Even though the working conditions are favorable, qualified workers do not want to work at McDonald’s because it is embarrassing, but mainly because McDonald’s does not pay their  employees enough. We think starting salaries should be increased as an incentive to want to work for McDonald’s and turn the job into a career. ProsA. More dependable employees as applicants. i. The country is experiencing a huge worker shortage, but not only a worker shortage, but qualified, dependable workers. This alternative should help remedy that situation. ii. With higher starting wages and frequent raises for the employees, there should be a less percentage turn-over rate. If the employees are happy, they won’t be looking for other positions elsewhere. ConsA. This increase will cost the corporation more financially. ii. This could limit the amount available in dividends to stockholders hurting future investments. RecommendationsTechnology updateIn order to remain in competition with not only fast food restaurants, but other restaurants as well, McDonald’s will have to keep up with the growing technological society. This means taking advantage of any fast food advances that pertain to their area of service. The new technology will have to keep the pace of today’s fast moving society, in which time is money. A specific technology that we recommend McDonald’s take advantage of is the Microsoft Surface computer tables. This technology will be costly, if implemented in metropolitan area’s it will be beneficial to not only the corporation, but also to McDonald’s customers. Microsoft Surface computer tables will increase the contribution margin of the corporation by saving time, money, and order errors. McDonald’s should gradually begin the implementation of the Microsoft Office table in major cities throughout the globe. As McDonald’s begins to reap the benefits, and work out the kinks of the tables, the corporation should  gradually apply this product throughout smaller restaurants. This process will be very slow moving and costly, but it is key in ensuring McDonald’s continued domination in global fast food service. ConclusionsIn today’s fast paces, highly technological society McDonald’s has been able to stay on top of the fast food service industry, while providing quality service, and timely deliverance of food. It is not an easy task to stay on top of technologies and changing tastes of customers. McDonald’s will need to continue to research the changing eating habits and styles to attract new customers and keep the business of current customers. McDonald’s has proven it’s concerns for customers and employee’s by experimenting with new facilities and foods they are proving to society that they are concerned with not only their health but their prosperity. McDonald’s has a very promising future ahead of them and if they continue to adapt to society and new technologies. Refrences www.mcDonalds.com

Free Essays on Haiti

In the Haitian culture children are considered to be their parent’s property. In American culture children are conditioned to believe that they are free – even from their parents. The two philosophies regarding parent-child relationships causes conflict in cross-cultural families. In her short story, â€Å"Caroline’s Wedding,† Edwidge Danticat exposes the cultural struggle between mother and daughter. The daughter, Caroline, is raised in America, and as a result, has adopted the country’s customs. The mother’s homeland, however, is Haiti. â€Å"Ma,† as she is referred to throughout the story, has difficulty preserving the Haitian traditions that she values, and accepting the American customs that surround her. Furthermore, she has difficulty accepting that her daughter has become â€Å"Americanized.† In Caroline’s Wedding, Ma is initially upset that her youngest daughter is marrying out of the family’s Haitian cult ure. Ma struggles to accept that Caroline is engaged to a Bahamian man, and that their engagement and wedding plans are non-traditional. Throughout the story, Danticat shows Ma’s growing acceptance of the wedding. She shows Ma increasingly being able to understand her daughter’s decision to marry. Finally, Ma fully accepts the marriage. Her acceptance of the marriage results because she sees herself mirrored in her daughter. She realizes that despite cultural differences, they both experience genuine love. Second, Ma uses her oldest daughter, Grace, as a bridge between the two cultures. Ma is Haitian, Caroline is American, and Grace can associate to both cultures. Grace, then, helps her mother and sister understand one another. Finally, Ma accepts the marriage because she lets go of Caroline, realizing that she will still be a part of her life. Throughout Caroline’s engagement and wedding Ma shows that she is capable of accepting American customs while preservin g her own Haitian culture. Ma begins to accept ... Free Essays on Haiti Free Essays on Haiti In the Haitian culture children are considered to be their parent’s property. In American culture children are conditioned to believe that they are free – even from their parents. The two philosophies regarding parent-child relationships causes conflict in cross-cultural families. In her short story, â€Å"Caroline’s Wedding,† Edwidge Danticat exposes the cultural struggle between mother and daughter. The daughter, Caroline, is raised in America, and as a result, has adopted the country’s customs. The mother’s homeland, however, is Haiti. â€Å"Ma,† as she is referred to throughout the story, has difficulty preserving the Haitian traditions that she values, and accepting the American customs that surround her. Furthermore, she has difficulty accepting that her daughter has become â€Å"Americanized.† In Caroline’s Wedding, Ma is initially upset that her youngest daughter is marrying out of the family’s Haitian cult ure. Ma struggles to accept that Caroline is engaged to a Bahamian man, and that their engagement and wedding plans are non-traditional. Throughout the story, Danticat shows Ma’s growing acceptance of the wedding. She shows Ma increasingly being able to understand her daughter’s decision to marry. Finally, Ma fully accepts the marriage. Her acceptance of the marriage results because she sees herself mirrored in her daughter. She realizes that despite cultural differences, they both experience genuine love. Second, Ma uses her oldest daughter, Grace, as a bridge between the two cultures. Ma is Haitian, Caroline is American, and Grace can associate to both cultures. Grace, then, helps her mother and sister understand one another. Finally, Ma accepts the marriage because she lets go of Caroline, realizing that she will still be a part of her life. Throughout Caroline’s engagement and wedding Ma shows that she is capable of accepting American customs while preservin g her own Haitian culture. Ma begins to accept ...

Free Essays on Criminal Activity In The Brain

Criminal Activity and the Brains Role When it comes to aggression, the brain is said to be directly connected to psychological abnormalities. When there is damage to the frontal lobe of the brain, the chances of the individual having social and behavioral problems are higher. The traits and characteristics that the individual has as a result of these abnormalities contribute to antisocial behavior and aggression. The damage that is done to the brain reduces the individual’s autonomic arousal ability, which decreases the individual’s level of fear. As a result, the individual seems to fear nothing and has a higher possibility of becoming a violent offender. If an individual fears nothing, then they believe that they can do anything, because it is the fear of being punished that keeps most people from committing crimes. If an individual has no fear they have no need or desire to refrain from being violent. The individual’s personality and emotional deficits are controlled by the right frontal cortex a nd when this area is damaged or altered, the individual’s behavior ids different from those individuals that do not have damage to the brain. If an individual is abused as a child, they tend to have reduced right hemisphere functioning, in the brain which causes the individual to engage in serious violent acts. However, those that were abused, but refrained from violence had a higher right hemisphere brain activity. Physical abuse is a risk factor that has a major contribution to damage to the brains functioning and increases the chances of violent behavior. However, if the right hemisphere of the brains function is good or normal, the chances of the individual being violent will be reduced, these individuals are unable to handle or process an extended amount of information and when they are faced with this, it could cause more damage to the already damaged frontal lobe of the brain., which contributes to the loss of self control ... Free Essays on Criminal Activity In The Brain Free Essays on Criminal Activity In The Brain Criminal Activity and the Brains Role When it comes to aggression, the brain is said to be directly connected to psychological abnormalities. When there is damage to the frontal lobe of the brain, the chances of the individual having social and behavioral problems are higher. The traits and characteristics that the individual has as a result of these abnormalities contribute to antisocial behavior and aggression. The damage that is done to the brain reduces the individual’s autonomic arousal ability, which decreases the individual’s level of fear. As a result, the individual seems to fear nothing and has a higher possibility of becoming a violent offender. If an individual fears nothing, then they believe that they can do anything, because it is the fear of being punished that keeps most people from committing crimes. If an individual has no fear they have no need or desire to refrain from being violent. The individual’s personality and emotional deficits are controlled by the right frontal cortex a nd when this area is damaged or altered, the individual’s behavior ids different from those individuals that do not have damage to the brain. If an individual is abused as a child, they tend to have reduced right hemisphere functioning, in the brain which causes the individual to engage in serious violent acts. However, those that were abused, but refrained from violence had a higher right hemisphere brain activity. Physical abuse is a risk factor that has a major contribution to damage to the brains functioning and increases the chances of violent behavior. However, if the right hemisphere of the brains function is good or normal, the chances of the individual being violent will be reduced, these individuals are unable to handle or process an extended amount of information and when they are faced with this, it could cause more damage to the already damaged frontal lobe of the brain., which contributes to the loss of self control ...

Spanish Idioms Using Haber

Spanish Idioms Using Haber Like many other common verbs, haber is used to form a variety of idioms. As phrases whose meanings dont depend on the literal meanings of the individual words, idioms can be somewhat challenging to learn. But they are a necessary part of language, and some of them using haber express everyday concepts and are used often. Following are the most common idioms using haber. For other usages of haber, see lessons on its use as an auxiliary verb and as a translation for there is or there are. Also note that the conjugation of haber is highly irregular. haber (in the third-person singular) que infinitive - to be necessary to, to be essential to - Hay que comer. It is necessary to eat. Habr que salir a las tres. It will be necessary to leave at 3. haber de infinitive - to be to, to be supposed to - Hemos de salir a las tres. We are to leave at 3. He de viajar a Nueva York. I am supposed to go to New York. haber de infinitive - must (in the sense of showing high probability) - Ha de ser inteligente. He must be intelligent. Habà ­a de ser las nueve de la noche. It must have been 9 p.m. habà ­a una vez (or, less frequently, hubo una vez) - Once upon a time ... - Habà ­a una vez un granjero que tenà ­a una granja muy grande. Once upon a time there was a farmer with a very large farm. no haber tal - to be no such thing - No hay tal cosa como un almuerzo gratis. Theres no such thing as a free lunch.  ¡Quà © hubo!,  ¡Quihà ºbole! (regional variation) - Hi! Whats happening? No hay de quà ©. - Dont mention it. Its n ot important. No big deal. habà ©rselas con - to have it out with, to quarrel with - Me las habà ­a con mi madre. I had it out with my mother.  ¿Cunto hay de ... ? - How far is it from ... ? -  ¿Cunto hay de aquà ­ al parque nacional? How far is it from here to the national park?  ¿Quà © hay?  ¿Quà © hay de nuevo? - Whats happening? Whats new? he aquà ­ - here is, here are. - He aquà ­ una lista de nombres. Here is a list of names. Heme aquà ­. - Here I am. He lo aquà ­. He lo allà ­. He los aquà ­. He los allà ­. - Here it is. There it is. Here they are. There they are.  ¡He dicho! - And thats that! Keep in mind also that many expressions use hay. Although the meaning of many of them can be deduced from the words, they arent necessarily translated literally. For example, hay sol (literally, there is sun) is often used for it is sunny, and  ¡eres de lo que no hay! (literally, you are of that which there are none) can be used for youre unbelievable! or something like that.

The Management of Small and Medium Enterprises - Literature Review

The Management of Small and Medium Enterprises - - Literature review Example Currently, SMEs in china are responsible for more than 75% of employment opportunities in urban centers and nearly 60% of the GDP (Zhao, 2007). For a period, majority of scholars have agued that organizational theories and models designed for large organizations could be directly applied to SMEs (Boyd & Nicolo, 2005). But in recent times, industry players have clearly demonstrated that there is a big difference between the SMEs and large organizations as indicated by Paulson (2008). This is because SMEs are confronted with numerous obstacles as opposed to large organizations. These obstacles are listed by Antkiewicz & Whalley (2005) to include lack of funds and socialized services, less access to market and poor management among others. The main purpose of the present paper is to examine trade policies in china and their advantages and disadvantages to small and medium-sized enterprises. With examples, this paper will also explore whether there are foreign small or medium-sized enter prises in china. It will also examine the key issues that china needs to address to enhance the growth of SMEs. Laws and Policies Concerning the Promotion of SMEs SMEs are the backbone of the Chinese economy according to study findings by Antkiewicz & Whalley (2005); Dunaway & Li (2005) and Lardy (2002). In view of this revelation, China has put in place trade polices and regulations that help in promoting their growth and development. These policies are geared toward improving their operational environment and increasing employment in both urban and rural areas as indicated in a World Bank report (2008). They are also aimed at exerting their significant influence on national economic and social development (Wang, 2004). At the present, majority of provinces and regions in China have formulated their administrative rules and regulations for enhancing the development of SMEs as noted by Paulson (2008). Moreover, the corresponding authorities and departments of the national government have issued several documents covering market access, the fiscal financial mix, enhancement of government control and administration, technological innovation, development of global markets and creation of service systems for SMEs (The World Bank, 2008). The government of China has developed legislations, policies and regulations related to the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. Th

Age does not matter in relationships Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Age does not matter in relationships - Essay Example The author explains that couples with such an age gap undergo the same marital problems as couples of the same age. However, as a couple with different age gaps continue to age, they are likely to have different desires. For example, as the desire of the younger one increases, the desires other of older age are retiring. Additionally, couples with different age gaps do not merge because the younger one is growing up while the older individual is growing older. The older one behaves like a little child as he ages. For example, older people need more physical help, are self-cantered, cry like a kid and are too emotional. The relationship will not be of living and love but will be living and caring. Vilibert and Lloyd point out that in previous centuries, the average age gap between married couples was 3 years. It is through age where common objectives in life are experienced. Some of the objectives experienced in life give value to a relationship. For example, we experience first kiss, spouse, sex, marriage, a marital home, livelihood, child, divorce and other relevant objectives in live. However, being in a relationship with someone at the first stage of the list when in the last stage is quite strange. However, critics argue that a relationship between a young woman and an older man works out well and leads to a happy marriage. Based on the above analysis, their argument is refutable. A person at a young age is still growing up while the older one is growing old. They are likely to have many differences in marriage as compared to couples with a small age gap. Additionally, couples might be misunderstood in the society and quite embarrassing because the society regards them a s mother and son or father and daughter. Age is not a number, but something to be considered in a relationship as noted in the above study. Despite the view that a person of an older age is

Paper about TANF known by americans as welfare Essay

Paper about TANF known by americans as welfare - Essay Example It advocates the need for jobs, marriages, two parent families and also tries to prevent out of marriage pregnancies. Sharon Hays through her book â€Å"Flat Broke with Children† gives us an interesting insight into the world of the social workers who aid in carrying out the welfare programs under TANF and also tell us the story from the view points of those who receive the aid. TANF which came in place of the Emergency Assistance program (EA), the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) was a welcome change to the social workers who all were involved with various welfare organizations throughout the United States of America. As Hays (2004) points out â€Å" most of welfare caseworkers I met were optimistic about the new law, at least in the first year of its enactment.....a number of case workers, echoing popular sentiment, told me that welfare had become a trap and the clients had become dependentâ₠¬  (Hays, 2004, p. 4). So the social workers felt that to impart training to the poor clients and make them suitable for various jobs would be a change of scenario, both for the worker and the recipient. However as Hays travels through the various phases of this program and meets various clients and aid workers over an extended period of time she finds many pitfalls in this assistance program. Though facts and figures prove that this program is a resounding success but as we travel with Hays we find that not everything is as rosy as it seems. Her research work which nearly extended for about three years gives us, in vivid details, as to the happenings in the various welfare program offices and in the homes of the recipients of this aid. She explores the various social values that this aid program tries to instill in its recipients and the inherent contradictions that arise while trying to apply these values in every day

Colonial Rule and African Resistance in Kenya Essay

Colonial Rule and African Resistance in Kenya - Essay Example This is evident in the utterances of Ngotho as he despaired, "Later, our fathers were taken captives in the first Big War to help in a war whose cause they never knew. And when they came back Their land was taken away for a settlement of the white soldiers." This is true as the Black population was involved in the First World War, a conflict waged by European powers for geopolitical and economic dominance. It was not their war, but they became unwilling pawns in the struggle, only to become captives. Upon their release and return, they found their lands sequestered by the White government, allocating their ancestral land which they have possessed for countless generations, as garrisons for soldiers, settlements for foreign immigrants and plantations for white settlers. With Britain's rule came changes from without as the government imposes its values, laws, culture, and language upon the indigenous people. They were forced to learn English, this being claimed to be good in contrast to their native tongue which is presented by their rulers as being bad. This form of negative reinforcement and encroachment upon native culture and traditions also increased the resentment held by Africans against their colonial masters. The policies of British rule threatens the very foundation of Kenyan existence, as their language, culture, traditions, and laws are being forcefully replaced by foreign ones. The political conflict is also given emphasis by the novel as the power of Kenya's White rulers grew and the bitterness of the African population correspondingly increased. Aside from the resentment felt by Africans against their white masters, there is also conflict between the former and the Indian merchants whom they look down upon with contempt. Considered as opportunists who thrive at the expense of the African, the Indians are also abhorred by the Black population. "He came to the Indian shops. Years ago, he had worked here. That was long before the Second War. He had worked for an Indian who had always owed him a month's pay. This was deliberate. It was meant to be a compelling device to keep Ngotho in the Indian's employment permanently." (Ngugi, Chapter 3).There was also class struggle among Blacks, as those who were able to attain wealth also yearned for more political power and at the same time exploited the lower classes. The Mau Mau revolt was primarily anti-colonial, but it also bore a semblance of civil war because it also went against the Black associates of the white planters. The novel also explicitly pictures the desire of both Blacks, Whites and Indians for power and their resolve to hold on to it once they have gained it. Power and wealth were the common objectives of all those engaged in the conflict. However, the attainment of wealth and riches is paid with a heavy price, by those who remain in poverty and are continually exploited by those who have the means, influence and resolution to subjugate them. They have become enslaved in their own native land, subject to the oppression and tyranny of foreigners, may they be White or Indian. They have been reduced by powerful forces from without, which were beyond their control and sometimes, even comprehension. However, the oppression is continually imposed by the British government through physical subjugation. Armed conflict eventually resulted, led by the Mau Mau movement. It is within this whirlwind of strife and violence that Njoroge and his family find themselves, having to

Policy Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Policy Paper - Essay Example United States is known for its long history of immigrations. For nearly a half a century, United States has experienced the largest and most sustained illegal immigration in the country’s history. While the illegal immigration phenomenon has constantly changed demographic landscape of the country, it has also generated a lot of debate as far as economic and social structure of United Sates is concerned. Of most concern is the large number of immigrants from the Latin America, which are largely unauthorized. The American public has been awaken to the reality that immigration from Latin American countries to the United States has moved to regions or states which, traditionally, had never experienced any of such phenomena before. The worry among the American public is compounded by the negative impact of such unauthorized immigration, which has subsequently changed the social fabric within the communities. While there is a general perception that illegal immigrants from Mexico have fuelled the dropdown of wages of the less educated Native Americans, some researchers disagrees. Those against this general perception state that this notion is wrongfully overstated, as many of the so called illegal immigrations offered cheaper labor to small businesses which led to their expansions. Significantly, this debate has motivated a beehive of research activities among scholars. Research attempts have been made to document how the immigration has affected the United States labor market in the last few decades. In line with these studies are the various policies that have been instituted and enforced in certain states. Some have caused controversy for the last three decades, igniting debates on their ramification on the general economy of the United States. Some of these policies are like enforcing barriers along the expanded border of United States and

Strategic Innovation In Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic Innovation In Marketing - Essay Example Following the theory of Pasa and Shugan (1996. pp379), every large and established organization should hire specialist marketing expertise to reduce the risk of mistakes in marketing process thus leading to large damages due to sheer size. The author wishes to discuss some examples of such mistakes that a large & stable organization can commit in absence of specialist marketing expertise. What should be the knowledge & skills, style of working, mentoring and risk-taking attitude of the marketing specialist in order to avoid the risks of mistakes discussed herewith? This is the first set of discussion points proposed by the author. Woodman and Sawyer et al. (1993. pp309-310) presented "enablers" of innovation and creativity in an organization that finally leads to organization-wide creativity. These enablers have been mentioned. The author hereby proposes to discuss how these enablers can be planned and implemented in an organization. Does this require specialist & dedicated skills in an organization – like knowledge managers? This is the second set of discussion points proposed by the author. Connor (1999. pp1157-1158) justified that short-term strategies essentially are customer oriented and long-term strategies are essentially market-oriented. The author proposes a discussion to justify this. Is this classification applicable on retail markets only or else they are applicable in markets requiring long-term project or service engagements? This is the third set of discussion points proposed by the author.... They proved their hypotheses stating that organization can benefit out of individual creative performance if the group norms support open sharing of information, high risk taking behaviours, reward systems, and employment of organic organizational designs like matrix, collateral group structures, etc. The researchers argued that organizations can benefit out of the innovations and creative thinking by establishing "Enhancers" that promote them in the individuals & groups - like culture, strategy, structure, resources, rewards, funds, technology, etc. Professor Stephen Brown advocates for use of creativity techniques within an organization like brainstorming (group level), brain mapping (individual level), visualization, attribute listing, etc. Professor Stephen Brown argues that the innovators should imagine needs of customers that are not yet tapped and imagine new innovative offerings that can fulfill them. Connor (1999. pp1157-1158) argues that the innovations should be a mix of short term strategies as well as long term strategies whereby short term strategies are customer oriented and long term strategies are market oriented. They argued that companies should establish both customer oriented and market oriented strategies. This makes the innovation paradigm more complex as the output need to be an "innovation mix" for the business that can vary with the type of orientation being addressed. Companies with long term planning may be developing more innovative ideas but they cannot survive just by thinking long term as the show will carry on with the help of short term strategies. Professor Stephen Brown was largely criticizing the customer orientation whereby

Policy Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Policy Paper - Essay Example United States is known for its long history of immigrations. For nearly a half a century, United States has experienced the largest and most sustained illegal immigration in the country’s history. While the illegal immigration phenomenon has constantly changed demographic landscape of the country, it has also generated a lot of debate as far as economic and social structure of United Sates is concerned. Of most concern is the large number of immigrants from the Latin America, which are largely unauthorized. The American public has been awaken to the reality that immigration from Latin American countries to the United States has moved to regions or states which, traditionally, had never experienced any of such phenomena before. The worry among the American public is compounded by the negative impact of such unauthorized immigration, which has subsequently changed the social fabric within the communities. While there is a general perception that illegal immigrants from Mexico have fuelled the dropdown of wages of the less educated Native Americans, some researchers disagrees. Those against this general perception state that this notion is wrongfully overstated, as many of the so called illegal immigrations offered cheaper labor to small businesses which led to their expansions. Significantly, this debate has motivated a beehive of research activities among scholars. Research attempts have been made to document how the immigration has affected the United States labor market in the last few decades. In line with these studies are the various policies that have been instituted and enforced in certain states. Some have caused controversy for the last three decades, igniting debates on their ramification on the general economy of the United States. Some of these policies are like enforcing barriers along the expanded border of United States and

English Formal Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

English Formal Report - Essay Example Secondly, all the information regarding requirements, characteristics for successful promotion, pluses and minuses of future work must be collected and analyzed thoroughly. Thirdly, reasonable comparison of the first two factors and making logical conclusions is the step toward future career (Brown, 2002). It is proved that when people make conscious choice of their profession rather than catch the first option they are much more satisfied with their lives later. Getting all possible information about perspective occupation thus is especially important step. Among numerous possible professions I dwelled on the careers of psychologist and human resources manager as perspective, interesting, and potentially profitable occupations. Both professions presuppose close interaction with people and constant communication. Receiving basic education in one of the spheres is also a compulsory condition of starting a career. Studying psychology professionally presupposes wide range of professions according to a degree received. This science specializes in human behavior and brain work connection research. It also aims to distinguish correlation between social environment and human behavior (APA Guide, 1995). It is important that this sphere is abundant with employment opportunities. In the most recent research regarding growth probability for different occupations the occupation of psychologist was on the 6th place in the rating. This is a clear evidence of favorable conditions of career development. It was estimated that around 93% of all graduates in psychology were employed or accepted to graduate programs. This occupation usually has options in clinical /counseling psychology, concentration on scientific studies, and applied psychology. Those professionals, who choose scientific direction conduct experiments, do teaching in colleges or consult patients. Clinical

Fall of House of Usher Essay Example for Free

Fall of House of Usher Essay The Fall of the House of Usher Psychological Criticism Psychological criticism is the school of literary criticism that focuses on the psychological issues affecting the characters behavior. Throughout this piece Poe uses setting, mood, characterization, conflict, and symbols in order to portray the underlying meaning; Physical disintegration of the House of Usher which parallels the condition of its inhabitants. Poe uses setting and mood in order to foreshadow the ultimate disintegration of the family manor. The narrator notices â€Å"a barely perceptible fissure† running down the front of the building. The detailed description highlights the stories theme and creates a mood of fear. When discussing use of characterization one must consider Roderick Usher, the central character of Poe’s gothic tale. Poe uses direct and indirect characterization techniques in order to effectively convey his point. Usher’s anxiety is revealed through descriptions of his odd, disheveled appearance and mannerisms along with his rapid mood swings. The author describes the tone as â€Å"overdone cordiality† and by â€Å"sullen quality†. Also, when discussing the psychological criticism one must consider how Poe’s approach might lead the readers to see him as a hypochondriac. In addition to the given appearances of characterization there are numerous other descriptions that heighten impression of instability. â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† has a copious amount of metaphors and symbols. The narrator perceives the mansion as human like with its â€Å"vacant and eye-like windows†. This specific metaphor is extended throughout the entire story, becoming more and more sinister in its deep implications. When describing the house, it serves as almost a symbolic prison for Usher and his sister Madeline. Poe uses several descriptive words in his portrayal of the house. The reader’s first impression of the house comes from a direct observation from the narrator. This narrator states, â€Å"†¦ with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit.    As the narrator continues to describe the house he uses several similarly dismal adjectives. The gloom experienced by the narrator is not limited to merely the house itself. The vegetation, which surrounds the area, is described as â€Å"a few rank sedges and †¦ a few white trunks of decayed trees. †Ã‚   He emphasizes these facets of the house and its environs by restating the descriptions reflected in a â€Å"black and lurid tarn. While he claims that the house appears structurally sound, he takes time to comment upon â€Å"the crumbling condition of the individual stones. †Ã‚   He also emphasizes the long history of the house by stating that its features recall an â€Å"excessive antiquity. † It is obvious therefore that Poe means for the building and the family to reflect one another. His use of parallel descriptions of the house and family, the mood that both convey and the intertwined fate of both lead the reader to the inescapable conclusion that the house and the Ushers are one.

Food and beverage sector in the consumption service

Food and beverage sector in the consumption service The service consists of four categories which are people processing (direct at a customer), possession processing (direct at customers physical possessions), mental stimulus processing (direct at peoples mind), and information processing (use technology direct at a customers assets). The people and possession processing are based on tangible service while the mental stimulus and information processing are based on intangible service. In this assignment we choose the food and beverage sector in the service consumption which is based on people processing service. This is a common sector on worldwide. It is the daily routine and needs for everyone. In this sector, different people have different tastes of food, so it will split into different food and beverage sector such as Western, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and other foods form different countries. As a customer, we have three-stage model of service consumption in buying and using a service of our choice, which are pre-purchase stage, service encounter, and post-purchase stage. The Secret Sanctuary is the restaurant that we are chosen. It not just provided the food and beverage service, it also provide the accommodation service. Actually, it is called Secret Sanctuary Boutique Cottage Kuching and created by Cyril Lim. The Secret Sanctuary is a unique boutique cottage located inside Taman Stutong Indah at Jalan Setia Raja (JG blogs 2009). It is like Minangkabau or Padang style house and exotic garden. The Secret Sanctuary is a peaceful garden because it provides a great place for a quiet retreat to get away from the hectic busy city life (JG blogs 2009). This place is for customers to find inner peace, creativity, beauty, love and truth (Travel Borneo Blog 2010). The Secret Sanctuary classifies as a three star hotel, that provides room service, restaurant service, and facilities available service which is waterfall pool, Jacuzzi, stream room, fish spa, open air hot tub, garden shower, gym, Wi-Fi access, and BBQ. For the facilities available service, they jus t provide to those customer who wish to pay RM30 per person (RM15 per children) for the charged of use the facilities available (Cyril 2010). The Secret Sanctuary provides the restaurant service to the guests and also the outsider customers. The foods of its restaurant are based on western foods. THE THREE-STAGE MODEL OF SERVICE CONSUMPTION Pre-purchase stage The pre-purchase is first stage model of service consumption. Pre-purchase is defined as a series of information acquires according to consumer-specific decision making evaluation, which recognize salient information from different resources depending on situation (Hoffman, 1998). Pre-purchase can also being defined as customer decision on their initial decision making pertaining to their purchase of a product or service that being reflected by their underlying needs (Lovelock Wirtz 2004). At pre-purchase stage, we start to be aware of our needs and wants. Such awareness of our needs and wants enable further consideration into the decision making process in later stage, service encounter. It also enables a further implementation of information search and alternative evaluation in pre purchase stage. We awareness needs a restaurant for our friendship reunion and we wants provide the western food and beverage services. This tangible service is based on people processing that provide service directed at the customer. Under information search stage, it plays a relative important role in defining our needs and wants as discussed earlier. When we decide what to the service needed, we will seek for information prior our consumption. Such information search can either be active or passive, depending on the level of involvement and perceived risk associated to the search of information. Active and passive information search normally provided by family, friends, colleagues, advertisement, mass media or organization. For our information search, that is provided by our friends. In addition, information search can also come from both internal and external sources. For example of internal information search are personal preferences and self involvement. Oppositely, external information search such as internet, catalog, and advertisement. Such purchase of service is considered limited decision making mainly because consumers unlikely will purchase such service on the daily basis. This also define the level o f low involvement consumer have on purchasing such service. We information search also come from internet search and Privilege Book which can provide our restaurants information and the environment. Apart from information search and awareness of our needs in consumption service, at pre-purchase stage, we also do alternatives search. Such alternative search enables us to have more choices on our consumption. When we from information search, we have three alternative choices which are Tray Cafe, Secret Sanctuary, and Friends n Family. At this stage, we are concern on our choices between different service provided by both Secret Sanctuary and its competitors which are Tray Cafe and Friends n Family. We not only evaluate the service provided by Secret Sanctuary, but also similar service provided by other competing service providers. Tray Cafe is a memories restaurant that they provide a wall to let customers write down their comments and inside the restaurants memories. But the Tray Cafe does not have a seat to provide a group customers seat on together. However, the Friends n Family is an ordinary western food restaurant and they provide less choice of the food and beverage. As for Secret Sanctuary, it not just a restaurant, it also is a unique Boutique Cottage. The Secret Sanctuary has a graceful environment provide to customers. It can provide a seat like a peaceful garden for our friendship reunion. For our decision making, we are discussing on Facebook and compare the entire three restaurants. After discussion, we are decide to choose the Secret Sanctuary because its service and environment provide be close to our needs Service encounter After making a pre-purchase decision, we will consume a service encounter of the Secret Sanctuary. A service encounter is a period of time during the customer interacts directly with a service provider. Secret Sanctuary is providing us the tangible service (Lovelock Wirtz 2004). The service encounters as moment of truth which is metaphor by Richard Normann. The point of Normann is a service organizations life of the relationship that is at stake on building long-term relationships with their customers (Lovelock Wirtz 2004). The Secret Sanctuary is our decision for friendship reunion place. The Secret Sanctuary is our decision for friendship reunion place. We requests from them to provide the food and beverage service and the happy environment possess a peaceful sanctuary for away from the hectic busy city life and also providing a memorable reunion for us. Throughout service delivery between customers and organization that consists of different level of services which is high-contact services and low-contact services. Most of the restaurants are focuses on customers service rather than inanimate objects (Lovelock Wirtz 2004). But, Secret Sanctuary is focuses on customers service and also the exterior and interior of its building, equipment, physical facilities and furnishing. Secret Sanctuary not only a restaurant, it also is a boutique cottage. It provide a garden style home-stay, is a great place for us because we does not feel the hectic busy city life but a peaceful garden. It is providing high-contact service on their environment and the facilities to their customers. For their low-contact service as customers undertake the self-service on beverage and take order. To conceptualize the service factory as a system that integrated marketing, operations, and customers themselves. It is known as the servuction system which is combining the terms service and production. This conceptual framework to embrace three overlapping elements, there are service operations, service delivery and service marketing system (Lovelock Wirtz 2004). The service operations can be divided into those relating to the service provider and those relating to the tangible services such as equipment and physical facilities (Lovelock Wirtz 2004). The Secret Sanctuary is satisfied our requirement because it provides us a graceful and freedom environment (high-contact service). In Secret Sanctuary, we needs to go their bar counter and take an order by self (low-contact service). Service delivery is concerned with the process of delivery between the product service and customer (Lovelock Wirtz 2004). During the service delivery, the customer will start evaluating the quality of service they are receiving and deciding whether its services meet their expectation. The Secret Sanctuary is a restaurant to provide the western foods. For their restaurant services, they does no provide the service delivery on beverage which is undertake our self-service from their bar counter. But, they were providing the food delivery service on customer seat. In addition, they have prepare a book in the bar counter which is for customer to write down their feeling of the Secret Sanctuary and leave down the contact number, so they can inform them to come their event together. The service marketing system of Secret Sanctuary is a full-service of accommodation and restaurant. The Secret Sanctuary is providing the best facilities to attract customer such as waterfall pool, fish spa, BBQ, and Wi-Fi access. Additional service encounter, they are through their sites to introduce their services and also provide the map of their place. Post-purchase stage After service encounter, we then enter the post-purchase phase. During the post purchase stage, we will evaluate the service performance that we have received and compare it with our prior expectations (Lovelock Wirtz 2004). Post purchase produce satisfaction and loyalty, which are aim of most marketing strategies. The product is evaluated to dissatisfaction or satisfaction. If it is dissatisfaction, customer may produce complaints. The complaints must be handling properly to reserve dissatisfaction. If it is satisfaction, loyalty may perform and the customer is committed to the service. Comparison of the Secret Sanctuarys service performance with our received and prior expectations, it satisfied our prior expectations. Whatever it is expensive than Tray Cafe and Friends n Family, but it provide us the foods service with the best behavior of their employees, comfortable and graceful environment. Therefore, we are satisfaction its employees service behavior and the environment provided. Post purchase dissonance is a doubt or anxiety about the correctness of ones decision after a purchase has been made (Lovelock Wirtz 2004). Customers satisfaction is a purpose of the proximity between the customers expectations and the services perceived performance. If the performance is below the customers expectations, then the customer will be dissatisfied and will suffer the consequences resulting from the mismatch. Dissatisfied customers will reduce the cognitive dissonance and customer will exhibits risk-reducing behavior. Although the Secret Sanctuary satisfied our expectations, but if we were go frequently that prices provide is expensive for us. So, we will loyal in occasionally. Customers may attempt to modify the facts of the purchase scenario, mostly by reducing the proposed price paid for the goods when it meets dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction is the feeling experienced by a customer whose expectations have not been met by a service. However, the purchase has resulted in complete dissatisfaction and goods returning are not probable, this strategy is to hide the good away in an attempt to forget about the purchase. On the other hand, word-of-mouth (WOM) plays an important role in the advertising. Word-of-mouth is used to reduce the cognitive dissonance following a major purchase decision. Nevertheless, word-of-mouth serves functions of ego defense otherwise as a means of enhancing the status of the information giver, as well as dissonance reduction. Purchase satisfaction is the ultimate goal of marketing. It results when perceptions of product performance match expectations that are at, or above, the minimum desired performance level (Lovelock Wirtz 2004). It happens when the purchase expectations are fulfilled; there is a tendency for customers to repurchase and loyalty to the services. Repeat purchase is a pattern of customer behavior that involves the purchase of the same product or services over time (Lovelock Wirtz 2004). However, consumers develop certain expectations about the ability of a product to fulfill instrumental and symbolic needs. If the services meet the needs, satisfaction is likely to result. In the other round, if the expectations are not meet, dissatisfaction is being experiences. In this case, we are satisfied about the services provided by Secret Sanctuary. Secret Sanctuary provided us the delicious food and a garden style home-stay for our reunion. In addition, it is a great place for a quiet retreat to get away from our hectic busy city life, so, it let us enjoyed and relax for our reunion on this place (Travel Borneo Blog 2010). The owner of Secret Sanctuary (Cyril Lim) ever said that, this little cottage is also for those who want to enjoy the sights and sounds of this hidden island paradise. This place will give an ambience of local culture as well as Zen living all under one roof (Travel Borneo Blog 2010). While in our future intention, we cannot go there frequently. Our reason is although the Secret Sanctuary provides us the satisfaction services but their price of food and beverage are expensive, so, we do not have ability to go there frequently. However, we will go there occasionally. CONCLUSION As a result of overall performance, we should through the three-stage model of service consumption before buying or using the service of our choice. When we decide our event, we start to be aware of our needs and wants. For we awareness our needs and wants, we enable a further implementation of information search and alternative evaluation in pre-purchase stage. After that, we enable consideration into decision making process in later stage, service encounter. During the service encounter, we will request service from our chosen supplier and service delivery. After service encounter, the customers then enter the post-purchase phase. At post-purchase stage, customers evaluate the service performance they have received and compare it with their prior expectations. Finally, the customers will make a future intentions whether they loyalty or disloyalty on their chosen supplier. As a conclusion of Secret Sanctuary, it is a unique boutique cottage for accommodation and restaurant business. It provides the service of our needs and wants. Secret Sanctuary let us to enjoy the sights and sounds of this hidden island paradise for our reunion (Travel Borneo Blog 2010). We are satisfaction about their delicious food (western food) and its building style. In future intention, we were going there occasionally because the price of food is expensive and we do not have ability to go frequently.

evilmac Variety of Evils in Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth essays

Variety of Evils in Macbeth      Ã‚  Ã‚   The tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare manifests a rich variety of evils, not only by the main characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, but also by the witches.    Clark and Wright in their Introduction to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare interpret the main theme of the play as intertwining with evil:    While in Hamlet and others of Shakespeare's plays we feel that Shakespeare refined upon and brooded over his thoughts, Macbeth seems as if struck out at a heat and imagined from first to last with rapidity and power, and a subtlety of workmanship which has become instructive. The theme of the drama is the gradual ruin through yielding to evil within and evil without, of a man, who, though from the first tainted by base and ambitious thoughts, yet possessed elements in his nature of possible honor and loyalty. (792)    Roger Warren states in Shakespeare Survey 30 , regarding Trervor Nunn's direction of Macbeth at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1974-75, how the witches represented the evil force of   black magic:    Much of the approach and detail was carried over, particularly the clash between religious purity and black magic. Purity was embodied by Duncan, very infirm (in 1974 he was blind), dressed in white and accompanied by church organ music, set against the black magic of the witches, who even chanted 'Double, double to the Dies Irae. (283)    Fanny Kemble in "Lady Macbeth" asserts that Lady Macbeth died as a result of her evil acts:    Lady Macbeth, even in her sleep, has no qualms of conscience; her remorse takes none of the tenderer forms akin to repentance, nor the weaker ones allied to fear, from the pursuit of which the tortured soul, ... ...nk. "Macbeth." The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1972.    Knights, L.C. "Macbeth." Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964.    Lamb, Charles. On the Tragedies of Shakespeare. N.p.: n.p.. 1811. Rpt in Shakespearean Tragedy. Bratchell, D. F. New York, NY: Routledge, 1990.    Mack, Maynard. Everybody's Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.    Warren, Roger. Shakespeare Survey 30.   N.p.: n.p., 1977. Pp. 177-78. Rpt. in Shakespeare in the Theatre: An Anthology of Criticism. Stanley Wells, ed. England: Oxford University Press, 2000.    Wilson, H. S. On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1957.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 12~13

CHAPTER TWELVE Here's My Coupon, He Said, Singing the Redemption Song Normally, if the whale cops found an unauthorized person on a research vessel, they would simply record the violation, write a ticket, then remove the person from the boat and take him back to Lahaina Harbor. A fine was paid and violations were considered the following year when the permit came up for renewal. By contrast, Kona was delivered to the Maui county jail with both his wrists and ankles shackled and a swath of duct tape over his mouth. Nate and Amy were waiting in the lobby of the Maui county jail in Wailuku, sitting in metal chairs designed to promote discomfort and waffled butt skin. â€Å"It's really okay if he has to stay in overnight,† said Nate. â€Å"Or for a week or so if it would be easier.† Amy punched Nate in the shoulder. â€Å"You creep! I thought it was Kona that got them to let you come to us.† â€Å"Still, jail builds character. I've heard that. It might do him good to be off his herb for a few days.† Kona had slipped his fanny pack full of pot and paraphernalia to Nate before he'd been taken away. â€Å"Character? If he starts with his native-sovereignty speech stuff in there the real Hawaiians will pound him.† â€Å"He'll be okay. I'm worried about you. Don't you want to go get checked?† Clair had taken Clay to the hospital to get a CAT scan and have his scalp stitched up. â€Å"I'm fine, Nate. I was only shaken up because I was worried about Clay.† â€Å"You were down a long time.† â€Å"Yes, and I went by Clay's dive computer. We decompressed completely. The worst part was I froze my ass off.† â€Å"I can't believe you had the presence of mind to decompress with Clay unconscious. I don't know if I would have. Hell, I couldn't have. I'd have run out of air in ten minutes. How did you manage – ; â€Å"I'm small, Nate. I don't use air like you. And I could tell that Clay was breathing okay. I could tell that the cut on his head wasn't that bad either. The biggest danger to both of us was decompression sickness, so I followed the computer, breathed off of Clay's rescue supply when I ran out, and nobody got hurt.† â€Å"I'm really impressed,† said Nate. â€Å"I just did what I was supposed to do. No big deal.† â€Å"I was really scared – I thought you – You had me worried.† He patted her knee in a grandmotherly fashion, and she looked at his hand. â€Å"Careful, I'll get all sniffly over here,† Amy said. They led the surfer into the holding tank, where everyone was wearing the same orange jumpsuit that he was. â€Å"Irie, bruddahs,† Kona said, â€Å"we all shoutin' down Sheriff John Brown in these Great Pumpkin suits, Jah.† They all looked up: a giant Samoan who had beaten an Oldsmobile to death with a softball bat when it stalled in the middle of the Kuihelani Freeway, an alcoholic white guy who had fallen asleep on the Four Seasons' private beach in Wailea and made the mistake of dropping his morning business in one of the cabanas, a bass player from Lahaina who had been brought in because at any given time a bass player is probably up to no good, an angry bruddah who had been caught doing a smash-and-grab from a rental car at La Perouse Bay, and two up-country pig hunters who had tried to back their four-wheeler full of pit bulls down a volcano after huffing two cans of spray paint. Kona could tell they were huffers by the glazed look in their eyes and the large red rings that covered their mouths and noses from the bag. â€Å"Hey, brah, Krylon?† One of the pig hunters nodded and briefly lost control of the motion of his head. â€Å"Nothin' like a quality red.† â€Å"I hear dat,† said the pig hunter. â€Å"I hear dat.† Then Kona made his way to the corner of the cell, the guard locked the door, and everyone resumed looking at his shoes, except for the Samoan guy, who was waiting for Kona to make eye contact so he could kill him. â€Å"Ye know, brah,† Kona said to him in a friendly, if seriously flawed fake Jamaican accent, â€Å"I be learning from my science dreadies to look at tings with the critical eye, don't ya know. And I think I know what the problem with taking a stand against da man on Maui.† â€Å"Whad dat?† ask the Samoan. â€Å"Well, it's an island, ain't it, mon? You got to be stone stupid going outlaw here wid nowhere to escape.† â€Å"You callin' me stupid, haole?† â€Å"No, mon, just speaking the truth.† â€Å"An' what you in for, haole girl?† â€Å"Failing to give a humpback whale the proper scientific handjob, I tink.† â€Å"Goin' ta fuck ya and kill ya now.† â€Å"Could ya kill me first?† â€Å"Whadeva,† said the Samoan, climbing to his feet and expanding to his full Godzilla proportions. â€Å"Thanks, brah. Peace in Jah's mercy,† said the doomed surfer. Forty-five minutes later, after Nate had filled out the requisite papers, the jailer, a compact Hawaiian with weightlifter shoulders, led Kona through the double steel doors into the waiting room. The surfer shuffled in, head down, looking ashamed and a little lopsided. Amy put her arm around his shoulders and patted his head. â€Å"Oh, Sistah Amy, 'twas heinous.† He put his arm around Amy, then let his hand slip to the curve of her bottom. â€Å"Heinous most true.† The jailer grinned. â€Å"Had a disagreement with a big Samoan guy. We stopped it before it got too far. The holding cells are monitored on closed-circuit video.† â€Å"Snatched half me dreads out.† Kona pulled a handful of orphaned dreadlocks from the pocket of his surf shorts. â€Å"Going to cost some deep monies to hook these boys back up. I can feel my strength waning without them.† The jailer waived a finger under Kona's nose. â€Å"Just so you know, kid, if it had gone the other way – if the Samoan had decided to kill you second – I wouldn't have stepped in so early. You understand?† â€Å"Yah, Sheriff.† â€Å"You stay out of my jail, or next time I tell him which end to start on, okay?† The jailer turned to Quinn. â€Å"They aren't filing any charges that merit incarceration. They just wanted to make a point.† Then he leaned close to Nate and whispered, their height difference making it appear as if he were talking to the scientist's shirt pocket, â€Å"You need to get this kid some help. He thinks he's Hawaiian. I see these suburban Rasta boys all the time – hell, Paia's crawling with them – but this one, he's troubled. One of my boys goes that way, I'd pay for a shrink.† â€Å"He's not my kid.† â€Å"I know how you feel. His girlfriend is cute, though. Makes you wonder how they pick 'em, doesn't it?† â€Å"Thanks, Officer,† Nate said. Having shared all the paternal camaraderie he could handle, he turned and walked out into the blinding Maui sun. To Kona, Amy said, â€Å"You better now, baby?† Kona nodded into her shoulder, where he'd been pretending to seek comfort in a nuzzle. â€Å"Good. Then move your hand.† The surfer played his fingers over her bottom like anemones in a tidal wash, anchored yet flowing. â€Å"That's it,† Amy said. She snatched a handful of his remaining dreads and quickstepped through the double glass doors, dragging the bent-over surfer behind her. â€Å"Ouch, ouch, ouch,† Kona chanted in perfect four/four reggae rhythm. CHAPTER THIRTEEN Spirits in the Night Nate spent the whole afternoon and most of the evening trying to analyze spectrograms of whale-song recordings, correlate behavior patterns, and then chart the corresponding patterns of interaction. The problem was figuring out what actually defined interaction for an eighty-thousand-pound animal? Were animals interacting when they were five hundred yards away? A thousand? A mile, ten miles? The song was certainly audible for miles; the low, subsonic frequencies could travel literally thousands of miles in deep ocean basins. Nate tried to put himself in their world – no boundaries, no obstacles. They lived, for the most part, in a world of sound, yet they had acute eyesight, both in and out of the water, and special muscles in the eye that allowed them to change focus for either medium. You interacted with animals you could both see and not see. When Nate and Clay used satellite tags, of which they could afford only a few, or rented a helicopter, from which they could observe animals from a wide perspective, it appeared that the whales were indeed responding to each other from miles apart. How do you study an animal that is socializing over a distance of miles? The key had to be in the song, in the signal somewhere. If for no other reason than that was the only way to approach the problem. Midnight found him sitting alone in the office, lit only by the glow of his computer monitor, having forgotten to eat, drink, or relieve himself for four hours, when Kona came in. â€Å"What's that?† asked the surfer, pointing to the spectrograph that was scrolling across the screen. Nate nearly jumped out of the chair, then caught himself and pulled the headphones down. â€Å"The part that's scrolling is the spectrograph of the humpback song. The different colors are frequency, or pitch. The wiggly line in this box is an oscilloscope. It shows frequency, too, but I can use it to isolate each range by clicking on it.† Kona was eating a banana. He handed another one to Nate without taking his eyes off the screen. â€Å"So this is what it looks like? The song?† Kona had forgotten to affect any of his accents, so Nate forgot to be sarcastic in reply. â€Å"It's a way of looking at it. Humans are visual animals. Our brains are better suited to process visual information rather than acoustic information, so it's easier for us to think about sound by looking at it. A whale or a dolphin's brain is structured to process acoustics more than visuals.† â€Å"What are you looking for?† â€Å"I'm not sure. I'm looking for a signal. For some pattern of information in the structure of the song.† â€Å"Like a message?† â€Å"Maybe a message.† â€Å"And it's not in the musical parts?† Kona asked. â€Å"The difference in notes? Like a song? You know the prophet Bob Marley gave us the wisdom of HIM in song.† Quinn swiveled in his chair and paused in midbite of his banana. â€Å"HIM? What's that?† â€Å"His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia, Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ on earth, son of God. His blessings upon us. Jah, mon.† â€Å"You mean Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian king who died in the 1970s? That Haile Selassie?† â€Å"Yah mon. HIM, the direct descendant of David as foretold in Isaiah, through the divine consort Solomon and Makeda, the queen of Sheba, and from their sons all the emperors of Ethiopia have come. So we Rastas believe that Haile Selassie is Jesus Christ alive on earth.† â€Å"But he's dead, how's that work?† â€Å"It helps to be stoned.† â€Å"I see,† Nate said. Well, that did explain a lot. â€Å"Anyway, to answer your question, yes, we've looked at the musical transmission, but despite Bob Marley I think the answer is here, in this low register, but only because it travels the farthest.† â€Å"Can you freeze this?† said Kona, pointing to the oscilloscope, a green line dancing on a field of black. Nate clicked it and froze a jagged line on the screen. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Those teeth? See, there are tall ones and not so tall ones.† â€Å"They're called microoscillations. You can only see them if you have the wave stopped like this.† â€Å"What if the tall one is a one and the short one is a zero? What's that?† â€Å"Binary?† â€Å"Yah, mon, what if it's computer talk, like that?† Nate was stunned. Not because he thought Kona was right, but because the kid had actually had the cognitive powers to come up with the question. Nate wouldn't have been more surprised if he'd walked in on a team of squirrels building a toaster oven. Maybe the kid had run out of pot, and this spike in intelligence was just a withdrawal symptom. â€Å"That's not a bad guess, Kona, but the only way the whales would know about this would be if they had oscilloscopes.† â€Å"And they don't?† â€Å"No, they don't.† â€Å"Oh, and that acoustic brain? That couldn't see this?† â€Å"No,† said Nate, not entirely sure that he hadn't just lied. He'd never thought of it before. â€Å"Okay. I go for to sleep now. You need more grinds?† â€Å"No. Thanks for the banana.† â€Å"Jah's blessing, mon. Thanks for getting me out for jail this day. We going go out next morning?† â€Å"Maybe not everyone. We'll have to see how Clay feels tomorrow. He went right to his cabin when Clair brought him home from the hospital.† â€Å"Oh, Boss Clay got cool runnings, brah. He having sweet agonies with Sistah Clair. I hear them love jams as I'm coming over.† â€Å"Well, good,† Nate said, thinking from Kona's tone and his smile that whatever he said must have been good. â€Å"Good night, Kona.† â€Å"Good night, boss.† Before the surfer was out the door, Nate had turned to the monitor and started mapping out peaks in the wave pattern of the low end of the whale song. He'd need to look up some articles on blue-whale calls – the lowest, loudest, longest-traveling calls on the planet – and he'd have to see if anyone had done any numerical analysis on dolphin sonar clicks, and that was all he could think of right at the moment. In the meantime he had to have enough of a sample to see if there was any meaning there. It was ridiculous, of course. It would never be so simple, nor could it be so complex. Of course you could assign values of one or zero to parts of the song – that was easy. It didn't mean there would be any meaning to it. It wouldn't necessarily answer any of their questions, but it was a different way of looking at things. Whale-call binary, no. Two hours later he was still assigning ones and zeroes to different microoscillations in wave patterns of different songs and felt as if he might actually, strangely, amazingly, be learning something, when Clay came through the door wearing a knee-length pink kimono emblazoned with huge white chrysanthemums. There was a small bandage on his forehead and what appeared to be a lipstick smear that ran from his mouth to his right ear. â€Å"Any beer in there?† Clay nodded to the kitchen. The office cabin, like all the others at Papa Lani, had once been living quarters for a whole family, so it had a full kitchen in addition to the great room they used for a main office, two smaller rooms they used for storage, and a bathroom. Clay padded past and threw open the refrigerator. â€Å"Nope. Water, I guess. I'm really dehydrated.† â€Å"You okay,† Nate said. â€Å"How was the CAT scan?† â€Å"I'm cat free.† Clay came back to the office and fell into the chair in front of his broken monitor. â€Å"Thirteen stitches in my scalp, maybe a mild concussion. I'll be okay. Clair may kill me yet tonight, though – heart attack, stroke, affection. Nothing like a near-death experience to bring out the passion in a woman. You can't believe the stuff that woman is doing to me. And she's a schoolteacher. It's shameful.† Clay grinned, and Nate noticed a little lipstick on his teeth. â€Å"So that's shame?† Nate gestured for Clay to wipe his mouth. The photographer took a swipe across his mug, came up with a handful of color, and examined it. â€Å"No, I think that's strawberry lip gloss. A woman her age wearing flavored lip gloss. The shame is in my heart.† â€Å"You really had her worried, Clay. Me, too. If Amy hadn't kept her head†¦ well – ; â€Å"I fucked up. I know it. I started living in the viewfinder and forgot where I was. It was an amateurish mistake. But you can't believe the footage I was getting using the rebreather. It's going to be amazing for singers. I'm finally going to be able to get underneath them, beside them, whatever you need. I just need to remember where I am.† â€Å"You're unbelievably lucky.† Nate knew that any lecture he might come up with, Clay had already put himself through a dozen times. Still, he had to say it. Regardless of the outcome, he had endured the loss of his friend, even if was for only forty minutes or so. â€Å"Unconscious, that deep, for that long – you used up a lot of lives on that one, Clay. The fact that your mouthpiece stayed in is a miracle.† â€Å"Well, that part wasn't an accident. I have the hoses tight because the rebreather is so temperamental about getting water in it. Over the years I've had mouthpieces knocked out of my mouth a hundred times, kicked out by another diver, camera caught on it, hit by a dolphin. Since you have to keep your head back to film most of the time anyway, with the hoses short so the thing stays in your mouth, it's just a matter of keeping the seal. Man's only instinct is to suck.† â€Å"And you suck, is that what you're saying?† â€Å"Look, Nate, I know you're mad, but I'm okay. Something was going on with that animal. It distracted me. It won't happen again. I owe it to the kid, though.† â€Å"We thought we'd lost her, too.† â€Å"She's good, Nate. Really good. She kept her head, she did what needed to be done, and damned if I know how she did it, but she brought my ancient ass up alive and without the bends. Situation was reversed, I would have never done the decompression stops, but it turns out she did the right thing. You can't teach that kind of judgment.† â€Å"You're just trying to change the subject.† Clay was indeed trying to change the subject. â€Å"How'd Toronto do against Edmonton tonight?† Oh, sure, thought Nate, try to appeal to his inherent Canadian weakness for hockey. Like playing the hockey card would distract him from – â€Å"I don't know. Let's check the score.† From outside the screen door came Clair's voice. â€Å"Clay Demodocus, are you wearing my robe?† â€Å"Why, yes, dear, I am,† said Clay, shooting an embarrassed glance at Quinn, as if he'd only just noticed that he was wearing a woman's kimono. â€Å"Well, that would mean that I'm wearing nothing, wouldn't it?† said Clair. She wasn't close enough to the door for him to actually see her through the screen, but Quinn had no doubt she was naked, had her hip cocked, and was tapping a foot in the sand. â€Å"I guess,† said Clay. â€Å"We were just going to check the hockey scores, sweetheart. Would you like to come in?† â€Å"There's a skinny kid with a half order of dreadlocks and an erection out here staring at me, Clay, and it's making me feel a little self-conscious.† â€Å"I woke up with it, Bwana Clay,† Kona said. â€Å"No disrespect.† â€Å"He's an employee, darling.† Clay said reassuringly. Then to Quinn he whispered, â€Å"I had better go.† â€Å"You better had,† said Quinn. â€Å"See you in the morning.† â€Å"You should take the day off.† â€Å"Nah, I'll see you in the morning. What are you working on anyway?† â€Å"Putting the subsonic part of the song in binary.† â€Å"Ah, interesting.† â€Å"Feeling vulnerable out here,† Clair said. â€Å"Vulnerable and angry.† â€Å"I had better go,† said Clay. â€Å"Night, Clay.† An hour later, just when Nate was getting to the point where he felt he had enough samples marked out in binary to start looking for some sort of pattern, the third spirit in the night came through the door: Amy, in a man's T-shirt that hung to midthigh, yawning and rubbing her eyes. â€Å"The hell you doing up at this hour? It's three in the morning.† â€Å"Working?† Amy padded barefoot across the floor and looked at the monitor where Quinn was working, trying to blink the bleariness out of her eyes. â€Å"That the low end of the song?† â€Å"Yeah, that and some blue-whale calls I had, for comparison.† Quinn could smell some kind of berry shampoo smell coming off of Amy, and he became hyperaware of the warmth of her pressing against his shoulder. â€Å"I don't understand. You're digitizing it manually? That seems a little primitive. The signal is already digitized by virtue of being on the disk, isn't it?† â€Å"I'm looking at it a different way. It will probably wash out, but I'm looking at the waveform of just the low end. There's no behavior for context, so it's probably a waste of time anyway.† â€Å"But still you're up at three in the morning anyway, making ones and zeroes on a screen. Mind if I ask why?† Quinn waited a second before answering, trying to figure out what to do. He wanted to turn to look at her, but she was so close that he'd be right in her face if he did. This wasn't the time. Instead he dropped his hands into his lap and sighed heavily as if this were all too tedious. He looked at the monitor as he spoke. â€Å"Okay, Amy, here's why. Here it is. The whole payoff, the whole jazz of what we do, okay?† â€Å"Okay.† She sensed the unease in his voice and stepped back. Nate turned and looked her in the eye. â€Å"It might be out on the boat, as you're coming in for the day – or it might be in the lab at four in the morning after working on the data for five years, but there comes a point where you'll find something out, where you'll see something, or where something will suddenly come together, and you'll realize that you know something that no one else in the world knows yet. Just you. No one else. You realize that all the value you have is in that one thing, and you're only going to have it for a short time until you tell someone else, but for that time you are more alive than you'll ever be. That's the jazz, Amy. That's why people do this, put up with low pay and high risk and crap conditions and fucked-up relationships. They do it for that singular moment.† Amy stood with her hands clenched in front of her, arms straight down, like a little girl trying to ignore a lecture. She looked at the floor. â€Å"So you're saying that you're about to have one of these moments and I'm bugging you?† â€Å"No, no, that's not what I'm saying. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just telling you why I'm doing it. And that's why you're doing it, too. You just don't know it yet.† â€Å"And what if someone told you that you'd never have one of those moments of knowing something again – would you keep doing it?† â€Å"That won't happen.† â€Å"So you're close to something here? With this binary thing?† â€Å"Maybe.† â€Å"Didn't Ryder analyze the song as far as how much information it could carry and come up with something really anemic like point six bits per second? That's not really enough to make it meaningful, is it?† Growl Ryder had been Quinn's doctoral adviser at UC Santa Cruz. One of the first generation of greats in the field, along with Ken Norris and Roger Payne, a true kahuna. His first name was actually Gerard, but anyone who had known him called him Growl, because of his perpetually surly nature. Ten years ago, off the Aleutians, he'd gone out alone in a Zodiac to record blue-whale calls and had never come back. Quinn smiled at his memory. â€Å"True, but Ryder died before he finished that work, and he was looking at the musical notes and themes for information. I'm actually looking at waveform. Just from what I've done tonight, it looks like you can get up to fifty, sixty bits per second. That's a lot of information.† â€Å"That can't be right. That won't work,† Amy said. She seemed to be taking this information a bit more emotionally than Nate would have expected. â€Å"If you could move that much information subsonically, the navy would be using it for submarines. Besides, how could the whales use waveform? They'd need oscilloscopes.† She was up on her toes now, almost shouting. â€Å"Calm down, I'm just looking into it. Dolphins and bats don't need oscilloscopes to image sonically. Maybe there's something there. Just because I'm using a computer to look at this data doesn't mean I think whales are digital. It's only a model, for Christ's sake.† He was going to pat her shoulder to comfort her, but then remembered her attitude toward that at the jail. â€Å"You're not looking at data, Nate, you're making it up. You're wasting your time, and I'm not sure you're not wasting my time. This whole job might have been a big mistake.† â€Å"Amy, I don't understand why –  » But she wouldn't give him a chance to defend himself. â€Å"Go to bed, Nate. You're delirious. We have real work to do tomorrow, and you'll be worthless if you don't get some sleep.† She turned and stormed out into the night. Even as she moved across the courtyard to her cabin, Nate could hear her ranting to herself. The words â€Å"doofus,† â€Å"deluded,† and â€Å"pathetic loser† rang out above the tirade to settle on Nate's ego. Strangely enough, a feeling of relief washed over him as he realized that the delusions of romantic grandeur that he'd been indulging – nay, fighting – about his research assistant had been just that: delusions. She thought he was a complete joke. At peace with himself for the first time since Amy had come on board, he saved his work, powered down the machine, and went off to bed.