Expansion In The Supermarket Commerce Essay

As we know that enlargement in the supermarket and now it is besides diversified in the Fieldss like communicating, insurance, fiscal services. Here we are we are sing the vision of the Tesco and the ways Tesco comes up with the taking rival in the market for the remainder of companies. Here we will be discoursing the assorted stairss and schemes, policies, theoretical accounts used by the company in order to increase its public presentation in the market. Introduction: Here we are we are sing the vision of the Tesco and the ways Tesco comes up with the taking rival in the market for the remainder of companies. Here we will be discoursing the assorted stairss and schemes, policies, theoretical accounts used by the company in order to increase its public presentation in the market. In the supermarket and now it is besides diversified in the Fieldss like communicating, insurance, fiscal services. Talking about Tesco it is presently the UK ‘s most successful supermarket with a UK market portion in surplus of 30 % and one-year net incomes of some ?2bn. It is the universe ‘s 4th largest retail merchant. Although after the debut in the US markets Tesco was the one of the most sensible retail merchants for the clients but it have to confront the critics of some of the analyst who was analyzing the consequence of debut of Tesco into the retail market of US. It was said by some of the analyst that if Tesco effort to come in in the American market it has been a failure that the company should retreat. One of the known analysts named Piper Jaffray has estimated the cost for the company which will be the set uping cost if the Tesco will retreat from the US markets which would be near about one billion lbs. The company ‘s environmental claims have come un der analysis, along with its belongings scheme, its non-unionisation policy in a comparatively strongly nonionized sector of concern and its refusal to subscribe a community benefits understanding. Community benefits understandings are used by shops in the USA to derive client trueness. Tesco, in bend, has countered these unfavorable judgments. Jack Cohen ‘s concern slogan was â€Å" pile it high and sell it inexpensive † , although this was rapidly replaced with the stating â€Å" You Ca n't Do Business Siting On Your Buttocks † . He was known to administer points bearing the acronym to his gross revenues force. Talking about the history of this company who has strong clasp In the UK markets was started in 1919. This was the started by Jack Cohen who started his concern calling by selling the food markets from the streets of London. Tesco is the name that was billed by the names of provider the individual who brought the cargo of tea his name was T.E Stock good and the label was made by utilizing the initial of his name and by adding the name of the proprietor Jack Cohen and they gave this house a name called Tesco that is a shop now sits in the sites. When Tesco stepped in to twenty-first century it was the most effectual period for the company to turn and supply its excellence services to the clients as in 2001 they had started the online shopping for the food markets as after achieving more that one-fourth interest in the food market works and it was good feedback from the clients. In the period of 2002 they made the major alterations to the shops in UK as they have purchased more than 80 0 T & A ; S shop in one spell. They have besides shown some of the biggest influence in the Polish market when they purchased more than ten biggest hypermarkets in Poland. The twelvemonth 2003 can be called the technological twelvemonth for this company as they have entered in to the telecommunication universe consisting nomadic and place phone services, to complement its bing Internet service supplier concern. In 2004 Tesco was the other company to launch broadband services but unluckily the program for Tesco in Thailand for making and running the hypermarkets in the coaction with Charoen Pokphand Group was non really successful as confronting the heavy unfavorable judgment in the market the Charoen Pokphand Group sold their interest. In the twelvemonth 2005 when there was the breakage of contract between Safeway and BP so Tesco bought some of the shop to increase its market In 2007 Tesco was placed under probe by the UK Office of Fair Trading ( OFT ) for moving as portion of a tru st of five supermarkets ( Safeway, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury ) and a figure of dairy companies to repair the monetary value of milk, butter and cheese. They were reportedly paid i5 million ( US $ 10 million ) . In April 2009, Tesco announced that it had created a ace tomato that â€Å" does n't leak † . The tomato is grown in Holland and is meant to be a better tomato for sandwiches since, being less juicy, they will non do sandwiches every bit boggy as regular tomatoes do. 2 Strategic Decisions for the company Before stating the strategic determination, plans or aims for the company foremost of all we have to understand â€Å" what are the thing that can be covered under these determinations? † In the simple words we can state that it is the systematic and the analytic attack which review the concern as a whole in relation to the environment and which can be said into two different footings To develop an integrated, co-ordinate and consistent position of the path the company wishes to follow To ease the version of the organisation to environmental alteration. They together describe the construct of the house ‘s concern which specifies the sum of growing, the country of growing, the way of growing, the taking strengths, and the profitable marks. In add-on they are stated operationally in a signifier useable for steering direction determinations and actions. It is concerned with the preparation of the schemes within the model of company policies. It involves the procedure of strategic direction that will take through assorted operational and undertaking programs for the accomplishment of the aims ( Michael Armstrong, 1990 ) . Now speaking about the company which is tesco the basic attack they use for the preparation and completion of the aim and ends is the IBM attack in this attack the company will demo the type of concern they are making and they will show the sense of concern the endeavor is in and the way in which they are traveling. For doing it simple for the client to understand what they want to accomplish is some clip shown by the aid of graph and pie charts or the waggon wheels. Before utilizing this attack they have to maintain in head some of the basic characteristics or demands for the theoretical account. Operational Plans Undertaking Plans Recourse Plans Corporate Management Strategic Management Aims Valuess Policies Mission Feedback Actions Budgets So this is the chief flow of program which should be followed while utilizing IBM attack. Now in the instance of tesco they have followed the same form but in the different format. So now we should look at the different strategic determination or programs for the tesco. There are three type of the schemes that the tesco following in order to accomplish their ends and aims as they are typed below: Cost leading: One of the schemes that are used by Tesco for accomplishing their ends in a simple and easy manner id the cost leading as we can place from the word cost that they are taking about the monetary value thing as they have the scheme to supply their client with the lower monetary values from any other company. The ability for cut downing the cost for client or to take down the monetary values they control their operating costs in such a manner that they are easy able to take down the monetary values as in compared to others which help them to bring forth the high net incomes and therefore assisting them in the important manner. Scheme of distinction: Now this is the scheme that will distinguish the offer and the services that they have to offer to the clients and the featured clients. On the footing of this scheme they can make their trade name vicinity for the clients that they have to offer in footings of publicities, engineering, heath merchandises, bakeshop, etc. Customer service is popular attacks to distinction. Focused market. In prosecuting a cost leading scheme Tesco focuses on the creative activity of internal efficiencies that will assist them defy external force per unit areas. As we have seen that how tesco take attention of their client by utilizing the assorted schemes for the clients and which makes us to believe that tesco will be in the regular connexion with the operational governments and the other in the same sectors such as purchasers. While seeing to these schemes we can state that the schemes of cost leading and market distinction are aimed at the wide market and by utilizing these schemes they can settle their merchandises to any markets ( thrower, 1980 ) . Or we can state in other words that they pursue a scheme of cost leading or distinction either in a specific market or with specific merchandises. The danger some administration face is that they try to make all three and go what is known as stuck in the center. In instance of Tesco it is non appropriate, as they do hold a clear concern scheme with a clearly defined market section. Swot Analysis Strengths Raising market part: One of the strengths of the Tesco is the big size in the retail market which covers about the 13 per centum of the entire value. Just because of it versatility in every field it will be continuously turning in the UK market and part will besides be increased non in merely in nutrient sector but besides in non nutrient. Tesco ‘s general growing and ROI show no mark of slaking: One of the other strength of the Tesco is big investing in the West midlands departmental shops name called T and S Group which was considered the one of the monolithic measure taken by the company for the vicinity markets. In add-on in this twelvemonth Tesco became the UK ‘s 2nd largest convenience concatenation as compared to the co-operative shops and they besides opened more than 5o new shops this twelvemonth. If we take a expression towards the international concern portion of Tesco so we can see that it is continuously turning and the anticipation made by the board of the company that it will lend about one one-fourth of its net income in following consecutive five old ages. Now it is so much grown that it entire gross comes to 23 per centum of the entire group net incomes. And in terminal if we talk about the regional or geographical strength that is immense and will continues to turn. Insurance: In the twelvemonth 2003 Tesco reached the new stat mi rock of finishing the one million clients under the insurance subdivision by selling the motor insurance policies which made Tesco one of the fastest service supplier and marketer for the motor insurance. One of the characteristics that Tesco provides a simple characteristic to their club card holders that they can buy the vacations or travel insurance really easy at the sections. In the field of life insurance it gained award for most competitory life insurance supplier in the money facts awards 2003 and got the good response of the clients. It besides sells more than 330,000 pets insurance for the Canis familiariss and cats. Tesco online: One of biggest and the most convenient characteristic that Tesco provides is the on-line shopping. Tesco web site is the universe ‘s one of the biggest online shopping site. In this online shopping that about had a sale of over 550 million lbs which shows the addition in the company of more that 27 per centum in the last twelvemonth stats. We can run this site in more than 250 shops around the UK and have the client count of over one million to whom they provide on-line service. This company is besides demoing the strong development in its gross watercourse. UK market leading reinforced: If we take into consideration the size and the competition of Tesco to their rivals in this graduated table Tesco is really huge and immense in the service supplying. As they got the figure one ranking the twelvemonth 1996 for the best markets every bit merely because they have the multi format programs to follow which make them successful to accomplish the ends easy. And in the study by the competition committee as they have said that it is really hard for any company in the retail markets to vie with Tesco as if we see UK their gross revenues are 71 per centum larger than any company. And if it will turn at this rate so it will convey down the Wal- marketplaces opportunities of being the largest marketer in UK. Failings Reliance upon the UK market: As this the one of the best and the biggest company in the UK markets but it is really limited in the most of the UK markets. Although it s turning internationally but their chief stairss are based in the UK market will is the most important failing of the company. As we know that they are lifting twenty-four hours by twenty-four hours but we have to see the competition in the market as it was in the studies that in the supermarket industry over the period of one twelvemonth Morrison group will purchase the Safeway group will be the affecting for the market sharing for the company. Debt decrease: One of the other failing for the Tesco Idaho of high pitching ratio for the company as their Debs Ate increasing at really high rate and they are n ready to cut down that as because they had used all the money in the immense investing for the increasing the assets for the company and in the meeting with the pull offing manager he said that there is small program to return the debts as batch of money is being used in the other sectors. Signs point to consecutive acquisitions: One the company assets and the operation we have seen that this company is tremendously large in every province but to make fulling up the spread they have to sued the certain methods or programs that can assist them to accomplish the things easy. Thays why they have used the fill the spread scheme and has been the instance with the UK convenience market, there is the danger of Tesco going a consecutive acquirer, as this tends to cut down net incomes visibleness and quality. Opportunities Health and beauty: Opportunities are the things that are good for any company to turn as we have seen in the instance of Tesco that it have increased its market in the wellness and beauty merchandises from rather a piece and became the taking retail merchant in the field of wellness and beauty. As the secondary things they have one of the best toilet articless and health care and they have progressively become the figure marketer of baby goods. They have invested in the wellness and beauty about 27 million entirely in the market the money in the immense investing for the increasing the assets for the company and in the meeting with the pull offing manager he said that there is small program to return the debts as batch of money is being used in the other sectors. Further international growing: Tesco has shaped a strategic association with US supermarket, Safeway Inc, to take the tesco.com place shopping theoretical account to the US. Telecommunications are the latest phase in its scheme to develop popular retail services. It has repeated its attack in banking, by capitalising on its trade name. In 2004 the company plans to come in the Chinese market, as China is one of the largest economic systems in the universe with enormous prognosis growing and will show many chances for Tesco. Menaces UK structural alteration could trip a monetary value war: Menaces are the more likely to be in the big concern as they have more things to worry approximately as per the little things can do large harm to them. As now the biggest menace to the concern is the monetary value for the clients and as in UK the clients are more aggressive for the monetary values merely because in the competition the companies are cut downing their monetary values and in the instance of Morrison they are diminishing the monetary values by 6 per centum on every point as in comparison to Tesco. For these things they have to be committed to monetary value alterations in approaching hereafter. Overseas returns could fall: In the instance of the UK it is developed and they have nil in comparison able to the others but it will non be the good for the company to travel to the other state and put up the concern as they are certain factors that they have to see while puting up. They have to look at the economical, political, societal factors and rival ‘s status. So that they are ready to take the effects if we take the illustration of China and Japan they are have wholly different conditions. Talking about the challenges faced by the company here we can take the illustration of Tesco ‘s experience in the in-between land like in the state like China and the center of the Asia. As they all are saturated markets and all these are maximum the developed states and they have the maximal competition and really less chance so the Tesco is believing about the most effectual and the simplest schemes so that they can construct up at that place. Ut we have to see the assorted factors which have to be keep in head like the economic, political, societal and environmental issues. Decision So here in this paper after speaking about the one of the biggest group in the retail markets we merely came to decision that it is working really good from every facet as there are many Fieldss where we have seen that Tesco was new but utilizing their most simple and easy schemes they made them self a really immense and big industry and have reached to the success in one twelvemonth clip that is so impressive. The manner they trade name their merchandises and the manner they provide the client service to their client ‘s is beyond the thought. It had fostered powerful individualities by doing their retailing construct into a virus and disbursement it out into the civilization via a assortment of channels: cultural sponsorship, political contention, and consumer ‘s experience and trade name extensions. So here we did the grind analysis of the company which give us the fact that there are many planetary and internal factors that rhenium associated with the companies ‘ public presentation. In last 30 old ages sentiment of the market has altered from a merchandise and client way to strategic class. Here we are we are sing the vision of the Tesco and the ways Tesco comes up with the taking rival in the market for the remainder of companies. Here we will be discoursing the assorted stairss and schemes, policies, theoretical accounts used by the company in order to increase its public presentation in the market.

Mlk Nobel Peace Prize Speech Analysis

Elizabeth Potoa’e Ms. Casberg AP English P. 3 15 January 2012 AP Essay MLK Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. has always been a great public speaker because of the amount of passion instilled in his words and his extreme mastery in putting images in the minds of his audience. Not to mention, his message is explicitly conveyed to the audience. Martin Luther King Jr. establishes his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize with powerful insight of the Civil Rights Movement, and the must to overcome segregation through the use of figurative language and repetition/example/parallelism/imagery to show that our battle with racism has yet to be over. Martin Luther King uses figurative language to emphasize the importance of the meaning behind his words. He says in his speech over and over â€Å"I am mindful that only yesterday† to demonstrate that racism and discrimination is still going on. He discusses the struggles and conflicts blacks faced due to the hatred and violence that is occurring in the world. King repeats the horror of the current situations to allow his audience to understand that something still needs to be done. He feels, maybe if he says it enough times, people will actually do something about it, because the award he is receiving simply means nothing without action. To show that he will not give up until a change comes, he repeats the words â€Å"I refuse to accept† and goes on to tell of the excuses people use as why not to change. Martin Luther King Jr. believes that action will lead us down a road where love and hope await. Here we can find a world of freedom and justice. Martin Luther King uses imagery with his figurative language. He uses it to not only tell but show his audiences how the current ways of people are not helping pave the way to a brighter future, which encompasses no discrimination, only peace. He compares racism to a starless night to illustrate that racism is a dark and very inhumane part in the lives of many people. He says â€Å"beauty is truth and truth beauty† to depict in the minds of audience that once they’ve acknowledged that the truth is the truth in the ircumstances they face, it will be a much more beautiful tomorrow than they could ever imagine. Martin Luther King wants everyone to honestly ponder about the conflict we have and decide whether we want to take part of the solution or add to the problem when he says â€Å"this faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future [and] give us new strength to continue forward. † And by doing so, people will work and build a better future for all of us, where there is no racism, but peace.

Business Environment Fonterra Co-Operative- Samples for Students

Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is one of the leading dairy cooperatives in the world with its roots in New Zealand. The pany was established in the year 2001 through the merging two New Zealand's dairy section players; Kiwi Cooperative Dairies and the New Zealand Dairy Group. Currently, the pany takes a share of about 30% of the total world’s dairy exports and is now the biggest pany in New Zealand. Therefore, its existence in the country has positively impacted on the economy of New Zealand employing millions of the people to work in the pany ("Home," n.d.). Fonterra operates in an international context and has many subsidiaries in the world. The primary business of Fonterra is to collect, manufacture and sell milk and milk-products in the market. It also handles fast moving consumer goods (abbreviated as FMCG), together with the food service business where it has employed many professionals for restaurants and bakeries. Therefore, the pany sells its products directly to the consumers and also provides some out-of -home food service in various parts of the world. Besides, the organization has also partnered with many food panies where it supplies them with dairy products. The pany has established five segments through which it operates. Each segment has its various activities of operation that work together to form the plete organization. The first part of Fonterra is the Global Ingredients and Operations (GIO), which deals in processing and production of milk and milk products together with marketing these products. The second segment is the Oceania, which specializes in the consumer goods in New Zealand ("Home," n.d.). The third section is the Greater China which operates in China dealing FMCG, food service and farming businesses mostly in the region of the greater China. Also, there is a segment called Oceania, handling the pany's business in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Lastly, there a section called Latin America serving the Caribbean and South America. It handles the FMCG and it ingredients businesses. Fayol’s management principles of division of work, centralization and remuneration can be applied to the operation of Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited for effectiveness. The performance of Fonterra is greatly attributed to the management decisions (Brunsson, 2008). Firstly, principle of division of work is important; where the work load is divided among employees or various groups of employees to ensure they are the focus and concentrate on one task. In as much as Fonterra has shown efforts of embracing division of work, there is need to do more about it. The pany can divide its operation task and then mandate its various segments to deal in these portions of work. This likely to help employees increase specialization which in turn improve their productivity (Cran, 2016). Also, the degree of centralization is another principle of management that Fayol suggested that it needs to be considered. Depending on the size of the pany, there should be efforts to balance management and decision making (Van, 2009).  Organizations should strive to maintain this balance for effectiveness. Fonterra has centralization in its structure and a lot of decision making authority lies on the senior management staff in the pany. The organization should make efforts to ensure that the balance in decision making is attained (Angelo & Ricky, 2009). Besides, Fayol discussed remuneration is one of the key aspects of successful management. Employees need sufficient pensation both financial and non-financial. Remuneration contributes to the satisfaction of the employees thus increasing their motivation (McLean, 2011). The pany should consider various factors in determining the remuneration of the workers. These factors include the cost of living, the general business conditions and the business success among many other aspects. Sufficient remuneration package will motivate the employees, reduce their financial stress and thus increase their productivity in the organization thus it should never be under looked at any point (Almashaqba&Nemer, 2010). Every pany has its own culture, which defines the way an organization does things.The corporate culture entails various areas such as the pany’s expectations, its experiences, the philosophy and the values that guide the organization’s working and its general operation. It is based on a shared belief of the team that is expected to help it perform better. The business leaders are usually responsible for formulating the culture and municating at the workplace (Tsai, 2011). Regarding the Fonterra's culture, the organization founded on a mission of working towards being the leader in the provision of dairy products all over the world, and positioning its products and services above all similar products on the globe (The Tipster, 2013).The organization is driven by a vision statement of sharing the natural source of proteins to the world by reaching the every person, everywhere and every day. The pany operates on values to enable them to bine personal strengths with those of others to Fonterra stronger, better more innovative (Costanza et al., 2015).Therefore, the vision, mission and value statements have played a major role in municating the culture of the pany. Also, Fonterra runs on a cooperative philosophy which has been incorporated into the organizational culture. Some of these philosophies include the restriction that shares in Fonterra Group can only be held the supplying shareholders who agree to a dual mitment to supply milk and invest their capital to the business (Kleinbaum, 2013).  The supplying parties must also own shares in the co-operative and also shares the financial benefits proportionally according to the shares they hold in the co-operative. The management control of Fonterra is controlled by the supplying shareholders who elect through voting. Fonterra maintains the culture of mutual benefit and sustainability and the transparency in the transactions of the pany. This culture governs Fonterra and has the power of control on the way things are done at Fonterra (Boddy, 2011). Fonterra operates in a business context just like any other business. The operation, decision and moves of the pany are influenced by the corporate environment in which the business operates. It is important to establish both the macro and micro environment in which the business operates. The macro business environment of Fonterra can be analyzed using PESTLE analysis which covers all contextual factors that affect the pany. PESTLE is an abbreviation for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors (Steven & Britt, 2008). Politically, the decisions and operations of Fonterra are influenced by the politics of the countries in which it carries out business. In some cases, the pany experiences restrictions of trademarks, labeling actions, bio-diversity and quota's arguments. Regarding economic factors, Fonterra experiences influence in its operations due to these factors. They usually e from the economic state of the world, variations in foreign currency and also the changing demands for dairy products (Michael, 2008).  These economic factors mainly cause general economic effects in the world. Socially, there is a rapid increase in the dairy needs in the world consumer markets. Thus, Fonterra is currently enjoying the social effects of the growth in nutrition demands (Charles, 2012). Fonterra’s environment is also affected by the technological factors. New technologies that affect the operation of the pany are ing to the market, and Fonterra has to adopt them. Some of these technologies include the technology for cooling, heating and also transportation. Environmental factors also affect the operation of the pany. The atmospheric conditions of New Zealand vary a lot like increased greenhouse effect, and this affects the performance of his dairy pany. Besides, the existing legal systems affect the operation of Fonterra in the market. Some policies and regulations influence the operation of the business such permissions or restrictions to conduct certain businesses (Hamlin, 2015). Also, there are various legal structures that exist regarding the legal rights of the employees, the farmers and other people living in the system. Apart from the macro environmental factors, Fonterra is also affected by the micro environmental factors. These are factors that exist internally within the organization such as their leadership and other in house aspects of Fonterra. The pany has experienced a fall in the share of the milk products in New Zealand market due to tight petition in the industry, and this has affected the operation of this organization. Also, the demand for milk products is not easily predicted and thus affects Fonterra's business. These internal factors among others have influenced the performance of the organization (Philip& Gary, 2014). As a summary, managing a business organization entails many aspects for consideration. The success of a given business enterprise is greatly attributed to its management. Fonterra, just like other business organizations in the world, has dedicated itself to deliver the milk, milk products, and food service to people all over the world. The pany has an established management structure in place which guides its operation. Various Fayal's theories can be applied to the process of Fonterra. The organization has adopted a mechanistic governance structure and therefore,it employs most of the Fayal’s principles. Some of these theoretical principles include centralization where the organization has a hierarchical management structure, the division of work and specialization where employees are the workers are assigned specific tasks for a long time for mastery. Fonterra also emphasizes on Fayal's principle which emphasizes on the remuneration of the employees. The organization has a culture in place that dictates its operation. Formulation and adoption are cultures a responsibility resting upon the management of this business enterprise. The pany has its mission, vision, values, and principles laid in place. This aspect of the corporate culture dictates the way Fonterra runs its business. Also as a summary, Fonterra is also influenced by the macro environment (factors outside the business organization) and micro environmental factors (those from within the pany). An understanding of both the internal and external business environment is important for the management of the organization that helps it for its success. Fonterra has the potential of sustaining its top position for a long time. The pany needs to put in place appropriate management strategies to ensure that the profitability of the organization increases continuously. The management should concentrate on reaching many customers around the globe for its growth. One of the best strategies to achieve this is through partnering with various food and nutrition organizations. The partnership will increase the volume sales of Fonterra's products and services improve the brand name and reach more customers. Fonterra should expand its efforts to target the global market. This increases diversification of the market thus increasing profitability and its general sustainability (Teixeira et al., 2012). Organizational culture is also a critical tool that the management team of Fonterra can adopt for effectiveness. Culture is a robust element that has control on the operation of the pany, either positively or negatively. Fonterra should capitalize on the power of corporate culture through formulation, policies, and procedures that can be useful for the performance of the pany. Internal culture will guide employees on the expectations of the pany and also help manage successions when one employee leaves the pany. Therefore, there is need to identify all important aspects necessary for the success of Fonterra and then municate them effectively to people (Cameron, 2014). Besides, Fonterra's management must consider adopting appropriate marketing strategies for the organization. The Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP) strategies are effective in the management and the success of the pany. Fonterra's management has shown efforts to embrace STP strategies. However, the pany needs to do more about this. Firstly, Fonterra should segment its market further depending on various factors or characteristics of the available market. The pany can divide the market based on various aspects such as their consumption patterns, the purchase ability, their geographical location, their age and many other issues. This is necessary for successful management. It is also r mended that the management team of Fonterra should also consider targeting the segmented groups of customers. The pany should produce the milk products that suit the characteristics of these specific groups of people. For example, the milk products should be packaged into smaller quantities that suit the suits consumers with lower purchase ability. Also, the pany should continue positioning its products and services in the market above many others to ensure that the brand name stays top in the market. bining these management strategies is likely to help increase the profitability of the organization thus giving it a petitive advantage over other players in the environment. This is likely to increase its sustainability and ensure it remains a top player in the dairy market Almashaqba, Z. &Nemer A., (2010). "The Classical Theory of Organization and its Relevance." International Research Journal of Finance & Economics. 41: 60–67. Angelo S. & Ricky G. (2009). Human Resources Management, Biztantra Publication, New Delhi 2nd edition. Boddy, R. (2011).  Corporate Psychopaths: Organizational Destroyers, Palgrave Macmillan Brunsson, K. (2008). "Some Effects of Fayolism." International Studies Of Management & Organization.  38  (1): 30–47. Cameron, B. (2014). Management. Strategic Leadership Review, pp. 22-27. Charles L. (2012). Essentials of Marketing (7e ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Costanza, David P., Nikki B., Meredith R., Jamie B., and Arwen H. (2015). â€Å"The Effect of Adaptive Organizational Culture on Long-Term Survival.†Ã‚  J Bus Psychology Journal of Business and Psychology, 1-21. Web. Cran, C.,  (2016). The Art of Change Leadership: Driving Transformation In a Fast-Paced World,  Wiley, Hoboken, N.J.   pp. 174–75 Hamlin, R. (2015).  "Niche Marketing and Farm Diversification Processes: Insights From New Zealand And Canada." Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.fonterra /nz/en.html Kleinbaum, A. (2013).  Creating a Culture of Profitability, Probabilistic Publishing,  ISBN  978-0964793897   McLean, J. (2011). "Fayol-Standing the test of time".  British Journal of Administrative Management  (74): 32–33. Michael J., et al. (2008).  Organizational munication Perspectives and Trends  (4th Ed.). Sage Publications. Philip K. & Gary A, (2014).  Principles of Marketing,  Pearson Steven M. & Britt, W. (2008).  Organizational Psychology, A Scientist-Practitioner Approach, John Wiley & Sons,  ISBN  978-0-470-10976-2. Teixeira, R., Koufteros, X. &Peng, D. (2012).  "Organizational Structure, Integration, and Manufacturing Performance: a Conceptual Model and Propositions." Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management.  5  (1): 69–81. The Tipster. (2013). â€Å"4 Types of Organizational Culture.† Arts FWD. 31 st July 2017. Retrieved from https://artsfwd.org/4-types-org-culture/ Tsai, Y. (2011). "Relationship between Organizational Culture, Leadership Behavior, and Job Satisfaction." BMC Health Services Research BMC Health Serv Res  (11)1, 98. Van V. (2009).  14 Principles of Management (Fall). Retrieved on 31 st July 2017 from ToolsHero: https://www.toolshero /management/14-principles-of-management/

The dangers that police officers face in rural areas due to the lack Research Paper

The dangers that police officers face in rural areas due to the lack of back up or riding partners - Research Paper Example The personal safety and security of a rural police officer is a cause of stress to the police fraternity, as they are faced with isolation that poses great danger. The back- up required by an urban police officer is met with, almost instantly. Whenever the need arises, the urban police officer is assured of back-up within minutes. The same is not in the case of their rural counterparts because at most times there is the danger that relief comes when it is too late. In most cases it sometimes takes more than an hour to get help from back-up forces. This leads to stress on the part of the rural police officer even when they have to handle seemingly easy cases of domestic violence or auto crashes. A good example of this was an incident that took place on March 31st 1989, where help did not arrive in time and Maine State Police Detective Giles Landry was shot and killed after he responded to a call regarding a domestic dispute in a secluded spot in a rural area. When inspector Landry arrived at the scene of the crime, the suspects girlfriend made a beeline to the passenger seat of the detective’s patrol car, giving the suspect reason to believe that Detective Landry was indeed her lover because he was in an unmarked police car and moreover alone. The suspect had slowly approached the vehicle from the rear- end and shot at Landry twice through the window at the back, with a Ruger .44 caliber rifle, hitting Detective Giles Landry in the head, putting an end to him instantly. Immediately after this, the suspect shot at his girlfriend killing her on the spot and soon after that committed suicide himself. The detective officer had left behind a wife and their two children. There are countless such cases taking place especially in the rural areas, where unsuspecting police personnel are at the mercy of dangerous criminals. Such a dangerous situation could have been averted had the officer

The peacekeeping mission of the united nations in Democratic Republic Research Paper

The peacekeeping mission of the united nations in Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda - Research Paper Example Democratic Republic of Congo is a large country. It is also the home for the prestigious rain forest, rare species of the world and valuable minerals as well as natural resources. However, Congo is one of the poorest countries and most chaotic on the planet. The unrest in the country is estimated to have claimed lives of millions in the past decade (Mays 11). The country lacks necessities like electricity, medical facilities, law, and order in most of its parts. Mass rape and human brutality have been a common phenomenon in these parts of the country. In the first year after of independence of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mobutu Sese Seko seized the country and declared himself as the president (Youtube). He ruled the country for five years. Several events occurred in the country that led to the deterioration of Mobutu’s government. First, the army of the country mutinied, the governor of Katanga attempted a coup, and the prime minister of the country died (Sitkwoski 87). All these events led to the United Nations peacekeeping mission respond to restore order in the country. When Kabila took over as the president, he tried reforms that saw a relative peace prevail in the country for about two years. Kabila was, however, weakened by domestic protests, international critics of his poor tyrannical governance and the poor economic drive of the country (Mays 12). The soldiers and the military defense of the country deployed and rioted to protest against the poor leadership of Kabila. Kabila, instead, enforced his rule in a dictatorial way, a process that led to a sharp schism of the country into three segments. One of his bodyguards allegedly assassinated him and the act led to the incision of the United Nations militia force into the country (Tull 18). Upon its establishment, the United Nations organization authorized deployment of military liaison from all other

Brief summery about Q-Media company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Brief summery about Q-Media company - Essay Example The aim is to connect brands with the consumers in a unique way. This is achieved using multi-channel set of services (Bayt, 2014). The company also enjoys a strong association with Qatar regulatory authorities. This can be seen through collaborative initiatives on the developmental agenda. For a period the company has been in existence, it has acted as a reliable partner to the state through development of Qatar. Moreover, the company has led to a remarkable improvement of outdoor media in terms of reach, diversity, and quality (Q.Media, 2014).This is reflected in the development of Qatar. Most of the transactions of the company occur between the states. As a result, the company can be said to involve to business to government (B2G). For example, the company enjoys a close working relationship with regulatory authorities in Qatar. Some of those the company is involved with the transaction includes Doha municipality and major transportation companies such as Mowasalat (Q.Media, 2014). The products offered by the company are in line with the needs of the state. Moreover, the companies work with the state in organizing events. For example, it was recently involved with the Qatar tourism authority to organize Qatar motor show (GL-Events, 2012). Q.media offers services to diverse people. It offers opportunities to anyone with advertising campaigns. However, the company enjoys valuable clients such as government organizations and authorities. Some of those includes NGOs, banks, corporate, airlines, and advertising agencies. The company has various divisions that offer services. The first one is q.media outdoor. This provides outdoor advertising in Doha and Qatar (Bayt, 2014). The other product is q.media Decaux. This is an initiative between q.media and JCDecaux (Bayt, 2014). It is a major advertising company world wide and acts as a global leader in outdoor adverting. The other is q.media events. The role is to

An Exploration into the impact of working with a dying client on the Essay

An Exploration into the impact of working with a dying client on the Humanistic PersonCentred Psychotherapist - Essay Example The death or dying condition of the client has a profound impact on the therapist who not only witnesses the gradual demise of a person he knew closely but also the dissociation of a relationship that may have developed over years in which the client and the therapist were part of deeper thought processes and the therapist became aware of the inner mental processes of the client. Considering that the therapist may well have been the closest person to the client, and the client revealed many secrets to the therapist, the bond may have been especially strong between the client and the therapist. Clients in many cases are closest to their therapists than even to their family members and the client therapist relationship is defined by trust as the client reveals many personal facets to the therapist which the world may not even know. The therapist and client thus develop a mutual attachment and that is why being attached to a dying client and witnessing a close person's death could have a significant impact on the psychotherapist. It is difficult to gauge what sort of impact this could be and whether this would be positive or negative for the therapist but it is expected that the therapist would learn from the experience so it would be positive in an experiential sense although the emotional impact being significant, the whole experience could be negative and di sturbing for the psychotherapist. The case placed here is that of a terminally ill cancer patient, 60 year old John P who joined a clinical centre and therapeutic group initially to overcome his emotional problems following the discovery of his life threatening illness. John P was then recommended to a psychotherapist who practiced person centered humanistic approaches and therapeutic sessions began after a first introductory visit by John p to the therapist's chamber. The client therapist mutual relationship soon developed as a bond and an attachment as John P revealed his inner fears, his emotional strengths and weaknesses and his general attitude towards life and death and reflected on his illness. The therapy continued to help John greatly as he found a confidante and a friend in the therapist and their mutual relationship strengthened as the therapist focused more on the humanistic approach and showed concerns about John's emotional and personal needs, his aspirations, and goals and what he wanted in life. The opportunity to share his thoughts and feelings with the therapist infused confidence in John P and the therapeutic sessions turn out to be advantageous for John especially during his end of life stage when he faces the prospect of rapid health deterioration due to his terminal illness. The focus however is the impact of the professional relationship which can even border on the personal, on the therapist who will live with the memories of the client and having developed an attachment or bond with the client may find it difficult to cope with the loss of daily interaction with the patient when John P dies or becomes incapable of attending sessions any further.

Challenges in the Korean Protestants dealing with ancestor worship Term Paper

Challenges in the Korean Protestants dealing with ancestor worship - Term Paper Example The challenge faced by protestant Christians when dealing with ancestor worship can be attributed to the fact that there existed other religious beliefs that had helped propagate the practice in the Korean society over the years, especially traditional religions. Consequently, this essay provides a critical analysis of the challenges that Protestants have faced in their dealing with ancestor worship especially since they have always sought to protect the Christian doctrine from adopting any form of practice that would imply absorption of aspects of ancestor worship. The diverse nature of religion in both South and North Korea is exemplified by the study conducted by Johnson and Hickman, which indicate there are five and four types of religion with each claiming about 10 percent Korean population being their members (14). This paints a clear picture of the interaction between different religions among members of the Korean population. These figures represent the growth of region in Korea with Christianity also achieving huge success in the society. The growth in Christianity is significant especially when considering that Protestants make up the second largest group of worshippers being second to Buddhism, which was, introduced to the Koreans years earlier that Christianity. Protestant churches entered Korea in the 1800s and has since attracted millions of members with approximately 60 000 Protestant churches operating in the in the region in addition to having about 100 000 ministers and 12 000 overseas missions (Kim, Jung Han 132). Even with this development and continued growth of Christianity, ancestor worship has continued to be exercised within Korean society. Although the protestant doctrine does not support ancestor worship, and there are other factors outside Protestant Christianity that has contributed to the maintenance of this practice in the Korean society. To make an assessment of what has sustained the practice of

Buttled water Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Buttled water - Case Study Example The fact is that bottled water is operating in a very harmful market environment. This is especially true because the people who would be its primary consumers, such as health conscious people, also tend to be most acutely aware of the supposed problems of sustainability associated with bottled water. Many bottled water brands have good public images and popularity, but the fact remains that bottled water is an expensive commodity that people can easily get for free by buying home filtration units and a permanent bottle, such as aluminum ones that are becoming so popular. I would recommend that bottled water companies continue to support their primary product while simultaneously diversifying in order to be able to escape if the market continues to be more and more hostile to their product. Luckily, diversifying is somewhat easy. A bottled water company could make and market home filtration units with permanent bottles, building off of their brand popularity, and then marketing their traditional bottled water as an emergency or convenience item. They could also begin adding additives to their water, such as vitamins, minerals and nutrients, in order to make their product differentiated from what people could get at home. Bottled water, as an industry, may be on the decline, and i f that is the case companies need to prepare for the

The video game console wars Essay Example for Free

The video game console wars Essay 1. Compare and contrast Nintendo’s marketing strategy for the Wii with Sony’s strategy for PS3. By the end of 2006, two game console industry giants, Nintendo and Sony had launched their respective new products; the Wii and PS3. Various marketing strategies were implemented by both rivals and this writing attempt to analyse common and differing elements. Similarly, both companies had a product differentiation strategy, with the aim of being distinctly set apart from their competitors by the viewing market. However, different elements of this strategy were focused on by the firms. For instance, Nintendo differentiated via product form and design. Instead of the traditional controller where buttons are pressed, the Wii had a wireless motion-sensitive controller, which recognises the player’s arm movements. Thus, actions such as golfing, tennis and even dancing can be detected by the game. It is assumed that the rationale behind this is the fact that â€Å"new things and ways of doing things† always grab attention, whether good or bad. Thus, Nintendo’s aim would have been to gain the market’s attention and then convince them positively about the Wii. Conversely, Sony attempted to differentiate through performance quality. Heavy investment was made on a new processing chip and a laser diode, which would rev up the speed drastically and offer superior graphics quality. The video gaming industry prides itself on graphics; hence differentiating in this area may significantly increase demand. One believes however, that Nintendo’s product differentiation strategy had a stronger impact than Sony’s. This is because Sony followed the industry norm, of each new generation of machines being faster and more powerful than the preceding generation, as the case states. Thus, the market was already expecting the enhanced features, compared to the curiosity of a completely new game design by the Wii. With reference to the Ansoff Matrix framework, Nintendo implemented a marketing diversification strategy, whereby they offered a new product to new markets (in terms of untouched customer segments). Nintendo’s designers, according to the case, deliberately developed a machine that is simpler to use, since the complexity of current games appeal only to advance gamers. This thus, would allow market reach to a broader demographic of new segments, thereby beginning to challenge Sony’s market share dominance. For instance, males and female above and below the common age bracket of video game players may now demand the Wii. On the other hand, Sony implemented a product development strategy, by launching a new product in their existing market segment of customers, as the Ansoff theory advocates. Hence, Sony’s PS3 targeted their current customer segment for the PS2. A marketing strategy of Sony may have been to have first mover advantage, by launching in November 2006 in the United States before the Wii. Most studies indicate that the market pioneer gains the greatest advantage, however sometimes it can be risky and expensive. In Sony’s case, they would have easily been able to capitalise on the fans of the playstation and PS2 and new customers entering that market. Their downfall however was inadequate launch preparation and planning with regards to their diode technology, as mass production issues caused shortages. Thus, achieving the Christmas season’s full revenue potential was lost. Even though Nintendo was the second mover launching a month after in December, they had an international marketing launch strategy being executed. They made the Wii available in the United States, the Eurozone and United Kingdom. As a result, the benefits of being the first mover would have been gained in the Eurozone and United Kingdom. It is noted that Sony launched the PS3 four months after in Europe. Being the second to enter that market, Sony may have researched any problems Nintendo may have encountered and adjusted accordingly, for a smoother launch. Nintendo appears to have implemented a market-penetration pricing strategy. The Wii at a cost of $250 is 50% less than the 20-gigabyte PS3 (smaller hard drive machine). At this lower price, it is easier for the product to penetrate the market due to affordability in most segments. This aligns with the assumed company’s aim of maximising market share in the current and new segments. To achieve this, Nintendo ensured that the Wii was less costly to manufacture. Moreover, a higher sales volume may lead to lower unit costs and higher long run profits. Conversely, Sony is believed to have a market-skimming pricing strategy. The company invested $2 billion in technology, so this strategy aims at recovering the maximum amount of revenue to cover the high costs incurred in the early stages of the product life cycle. Additionally, Sony has a strong brand due to the success of their previous machines (PS2 and playstation) and the high price assists in communicating the image of a superior product with quality. 2. What is the key to the Wii’s popularity? The key facet responsible for the Wii’s popularity lies in the innovative design, which â€Å"calls to action† the player with physical movement. The writer views the wireless motion sensitive game console as a new, simple and fun method of gaming for all age groups. As a result, it may appeal not only to the traditional expert video game player like the PS3, but other individuals outside that segment. It thus makes marketing sense, if Nintendo promoted the game as a family requirement for cultivating an enjoyable, quality family time with members. It seems also a great game for various informal social events. Furthermore, since different types of games can be played, the Wii has the potential to appeal to a vast number of different market segments. For instance, The Wii Fit is an exercising game, where aerobics, yoga and other body strengthening activities can be done. Thus, the Wii Fit may have been positioned as a convenient way of losing or maintaining your weight, as it can be done in the comfort of one’s home and a more enjoyable method compared to simply following an instructor on a DVD. Likewise, sports fanatics may gravitate towards the Wii sports for the games of their interest. There also is the possibility of the Wii being used for rehabilitation after a stroke or injury, due to it body strengthen capabilities. It must be noted, that Nintendo’s international marketing strategy of launching in three distinct major areas, was a contributing factor towards the quick popularity gained. The areas were the United States, the Eurozone and the United Kingdom. This means that great strategic marketing focus had to be made on the different areas, to accommodate international cultural differences and legalities. As a result, Nintendo may have had to implement global product strategies for market adaptation in areas such as price, sales promotion, colours, labelling and advertising execution, to name a few. 3. Do you agree with Sony’s decision to incorporate a Blu-ray DVD player in the PS3. The writer agrees with the decision to incorporate a Blu-ray DVD player in the PS3. Firstly, Sony is considered one of the market leaders in the consumer electric industry; where the brand is known for high quality and advance technology. Since the consumer market started demanding more high definition TVs and viewing of DVD’s in high definition, it made good marketing sense to satisfy that need for high definition imagery in the video games, which ultimately reinforced the company’s brand. A â€Å"spin off† from this implementation of Blu-ray, is that the PS3 can actually be used by consumers to watch Blu-ray DVD movies, for those who may not own a Blu-ray DVD player. Thus, the value of the PS3 may increase, due to more product uses than the main function. Secondly, it was wise for Sony to include the Blu-ray DVD player in the PS3, due to their current product range developments. Sony had already launched the Blu-ray video format in their DVD players, thus the inclusion in the PS3 was a commendable and necessary marketing move, in order to keep as many products in the range up to date with the latest technological advancements. More importantly, this was a medium to push and promote the adoption of the Blu-ray in the market, reflecting strong strategic planning for profit maximisation. The draw back to the implementation however, was the issue of mass-production difficulties of the diode for the Blu-ray, resulting in shortages for the U. S holiday launch, as the case explains. Thus, it is assumed that there was a deficiency in proper operational planning and execution. This can be a critical concern with new product planning, since shortages can greatly impact forecasted revenue streams and significant opportunities may be lost. In Sony’s situation, the launch was around the Christmas season, where many PS3s may have been gift considerations and individuals generally spend more on commodities at this time, due to Christmas bonuses and advances. Thus, Sony would not have been able to capitalise on this, due to low supply of machines. In the final analysis however, if Sony had anticipated any production issues to cause marginal temporary shortages at the launch, one is of the opinion that this is not drastic a problem enough, to decide forgoing the implementation of the Blu-ray. This is because consideration is given to the return on investment with the Blu-ray inclusion and the technological drive in the industry at large. The Blu-ray would have generated greater demand than the HD-DVD and take longer to become obsolete, thus having an extended life-span. 4. Some industry observers have noted that the battle between HD-DVD and Blu-ray is reminiscent of the showdown between Beta and VHS videocassette formats in the 1970s. What was the outcome? The videocassette showdown between Beta and VHS in the 1970’s mainly was a clear example of â€Å"listening and responding† to what the market wants. It began when Sony produced Bata, a video standard which had a recording time of 60 minutes. Almost one year later, JVC launched the VHS, which is another video standard that had a recording time of 120 minutes. The two videocassettes were different in size and completely incompatible. The VHS was cheaper than Beta; however the longer the recording time resulted in a degraded quality of image. The market nevertheless, wanted a longer recording time, which allowed for longer movies and football matched to be recorded. Sony held their end for more years supplying the more upscale market with the 60 minute high quality videocassettes, but eventually in the mid 80’s they had to offer videocassettes with a longer recording time to remain competitive. By then however it was too late and VHS already held dominance in the market. VHS won the battle and in 2002 the last Beta machine was produced. Sony’s mistake was not listening to what the market wants and not willing to compromise the quality to satisfy the market. The battle between HD-DVD and Blu-ray is quite similar, however this time Sony is not the defender, but the challenger. To forecast who the winner may be, the same underlying factor exists, regarding listening to the market and responding. The case explains of the continuous electronic industry’s upgrade towards high definition TVs and DVD movies. Thus, one can assume that consumers want a player which provides the greatest quality of high definition. A common element between HD-DVD and Blu-ray is that they have 1080 lines of resolution (the highest quality video playback possible) on their widescreen HDTV set, as the case shows. Thus, consumers are going to look for other factors which can determine which player provides better quality. Firstly, the fact that Sony’s Blu-ray technology is incompatible with Toshiba (assuming other rival products as well) and can only be used on Sony products, signals that Sony is trying to maintain a type of niche market, which in essence aims at guaranteeing that using Blu-ray technology on Sony products will produce the best quality. This is similar to what Apple does with their range of products. Secondly, over the years Sony has positioned and built their brand to represent â€Å"high quality† and thus brand loyalty is strong among customers in the electronic industry. Lastly, price sends market signals and the common understanding is that high price tends to reflect high quality. The case states that Sony BDP-S1 and S300 cost $999. 99 and $600 respectively, compared to Toshiba’s models ranging from $399. 99 to $799. 99. Thus the higher price of Sony can be assumed to have better quality. Conclusively, HD-DVD and Blu-ray battle is almost mirrored in Beta and VHS rivalry. VHS won the battle since they satisfied the market’s demand for longer recording time with the videocassette. With HD-DVD and Blu-ray, the market is assumed to want high quality on their high definition widescreen HDTVs. The writer believes that Sony with their Blu-ray technology would win the battle, given that they can reflect a better level of quality over Toshiba, through â€Å"non-1080 lines of resolution† factors. CITATION Czinkota, Michael, and Ilkka Ronkainen. International Marketing . Thomson South-Western, 2007. Harvey, Nathan, and Louise Ada. 2012. Suitability of Nintendo Wii Balance Board for rehabilitation of standing after stroke. Physical Therapy Reviews 17, no. 5: 311-321 Kotler, Philip, and Kevin Keller. Marketing Management. Pearson Education Limited, 2012.

BioMedical Waste Management in an Indian Hospital

BioMedical Waste Management in an Indian Hospital Introduction: The waste produced in the course of healthcare activities carries a higher potential for infection and injury than any other type of waste. Inadequate and inappropriate knowledge of handling of healthcare waste may have serious health consequences and a significant impact on the environment as well. According to Bio-Medical Waste (management and handling) rules, 1998 of India, Bio Medical Waste (BMW) means any solid, fluid, or liquid waste including its containers and any intermediate product which is generated during the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals or in research activities pertaining there or in the production or testing of biological and includes categories for same 1 The large volumes of health care waste if not managed properly can lead to a global hazard. This could not only lead to the spread of highly contagious diseases but the hazardous chemical waste produced by the use of items can cause considerable damage to the ecosystem and the environment.2 Majority of waste (75-90%) produced by the healthcare providers is non-risk or general and it is estimated that the remaining (10-25%) healthcare waste is regarded as hazardous the potential for creating a variety of health problems.3 Infectious waste may contain any of a great variety of pathogenic microorganisms. Pathogens in infectious waste may enter the human body via number of routes: through a puncture, abrasion, or cut in the skin; through the mucous membranes; by inhalation; by ingestion .4 Bio medical waste collection and proper disposal has become a significant concern for both the medical and general community. Among all health problems, there is a particular concern with HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C, for which there is a strong evidence of transmission through healthcare waste.5In the healthcare sector alone, the World Health Organization estimates that unsafe injections cause approximately 30,000 new HIV infections, 8 million HBV infections, and 1.2 million HCV infections worldwide every year.6The BMW rule applies to all those who generate, collect, receive, store, transport, treat, dispose or handle BMW in any manner and also to every institution that generate BMW. Effective management of biomedical waste is not only a legal necessity but also a social responsibility. Hence, there is a need for resource material to help administrators, doctors, nurses and paramedical staffs. The purpose of Bio-Medical Waste are mainly to reduce waste generation, to ensure its efficient collection, handling, as well as safe disposal in such a way that it controls infection and improves safety for employees working in the system. For this, a conscious, coordinated and cooperative effort has to be made from all Hospital staff7. India already has biomedical waste management regulations including a ban on the incineration of biomedical waste with the exception of human and animal waste at the Union level, but their implementation and enforcement throughout the country has been inconsistent. The present cross sectional questionnaire study was conducted in Ahmedabad city, Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of interns, graduates post graduates at private dental colleges in Ahmedabad regarding biomedical waste management. Material and Method Ahmedabad is the largest city and former capital of the Gujarat. Ahmedabad is located on the banks of river Sabarmati, 32 km from the state capital Gandhinagar.7 The study sample includes intern, graduates and post graduates from private dental college in Ahmedabad. This study was conducted in private dental colleges in Ahmedabad City, Gujarat, India. A total of 135 dentists were selected, from which interns, graduates and postgraduates were divided equally. The selection of samples for the study was carried out by using simple random sampling technique. To make the sample more representative 45 Dentists from each private dental college were selected randomly. The sample size of 135 was determined. From each group from each college we have taken 15 subjects. Participants who do not want to participate in the study, not responding after repeated reminders and incompletely filled questionnaires were excluded from the study. The survey was scheduled to spread over a period of 1 month. A detailed weekly schedule was prepared well in advance. Although a detailed schedule was prepared meticulously, few adjustments and changes were done due to logistic reasons. Two days in a week were allotted for conducting the study. A questionnaire related to biomedical waste in the form of multiple choices was given to each participant and the response sheets were collated after a week. Principal Investigator collected the data. A pilot study was conducted on 20% of the total sample size to check the feasibility of the study and to validate the questionnaire. Prior to study a questionnaire was pre-tested and validated. The questionnaire was validated for construct and content validity, reliability and ease of use. Content and construct validity shows no significant changes. Questionnaire showed high degree (0.89) of agreement during test-retest of questionnaire. Those individuals who participated in the pilot study were not considered for the main study to prevent possible bias. The purpose and procedure of the study was informed to each participant and also participant information sheet was provided to each participant, which explains all aspects of the study. It was explained to them that they had no obligation to complete the questionnaire and could abandon it at any point without stating a reason. After explaining the purpose of the study, the informed consent was obtained from each participant who was willing to participate in the study. Data was collected by using pre-tested self-designed questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed in English only because it was expected that all doctors and nurses were able to comprehend English. The questions were framed in three sets; knowledge, attitude and practices of interns, graduates and postgraduates in relation to Bio-medical waste management. Each participant was given a separate copy of the questionnaire personally by investigator and requested to fill it up within seven days. Collected data was coded, compiled and tabulated. The data was analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Analysis was carried out using SPSS package version 17. Result: The present study was conducted to access â€Å"knowledge, attitude and practices of interns, graduates p.g. Students at private dental colleges in Ahmedabad regarding biomedical waste management. A total of 135 participants from private dental colleges of Ahmedabad city were included in the study population. Table 1. illustrates the distribution of subjects according to their gender. Out of 135 participants 79 (58.5%) were male and 56 (41.5%) were female. We can see the answers given by the participants in table 2 which is self explanatory. Table 3. illustrates that the majority of the participants were having good knowledge regarding bio medical waste management. Whereas their attitude towards the same was found little low which is an alarming situation (table 4) and they were doing fair practice of the same which is shown in (table 5). Table 1: The distribution of subjects according to their gender Table 2: Answers given by participants Table 3: shows overall knowledge of subjects: Table 4: shows overall attitude of subjects: Table 5: shows overall practice of subjects: Discussion: The participants involved in this study were assessed for knowledge, attitude and practice of BMW management. Interestingly, this study revealed that the awareness and proper practice of biomedical waste management was satisfactory which is correlating with the study of Sachan R.. According to World Health Organization, The humans element is more important than the technology. Almost any system of treatment and disposal that is operated by well-trained, and well-motivated staff can provide more protection for staff, patients and the community than an expensive or sophisticated system that is managed by staff who do not understand the risks, and the importance of their contribution8 (World Health Organization) For effective management of hospital waste it is essential that personnel hold positive attitude towards care of the environment, occupational health and safety and teamwork. Hospital waste management has major attitudinal and behavioral components9 Literature search show poor knowledge, attitude and practices of biomedical waste management among staff and have reported that there is urgent need to train and educate all the staff, in order to adopt an effective waste management practice. Which is not exactly matching with our studies. A chain is as strong as the weakest link in it, thus the entire staff involved in waste management at some point or the other should be trained properly. Our study shows almost all of the participants were having good knowledge of bio medical waste, which is not in siding with the study of Sudhakar V10. Before providing the training program, it is mandatory to understand the existing gaps and deficiencies in the study participants knowledge, perceptions, and behavior towards hospital waste management. Knowledge, attitude and practices of the personnel play an important role. Lack of these, even with good infrastructure and technology, is of little or no use in proper waste management. Knowing this, the training program can be aimed to make participants understand-environment friendly, healthy and economically viable in-house management systems, to ensure that the waste is carried responsibly from cradle to grave. Conclusion: Optimal waste management is at best, a moving target. Usually attenders are responsible for spearheading the waste management initiatives. Waste handling is left to lower-level workers who operate without any training, guidance, and supervision. Managing waste requires effective management of people who produce the waste, not just those who handle it. Its primarily the dentists who are responsible for waste generation. But currently, as most of us are aware it is mainly the resistant attitude of dentists that is responsible for poor results on this front. Dentist at the high end of hierarchy should take this issue, which needs to be addressed not as a burden difficult to bear. Proper management of dental hospital waste should be addressed with dignity, by concerted action as duty, and by no uncertain terms as responding to pressure. They probably should not do it because there is legislation, but they need to do it, as they are also socially accountable. References: Sharma AK, Bio Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules. Bhopal: Suvidha Law House; 1998. Aruna.C, Assessment of the knowledge, attitude and Practices regarding Biomedical Waste Management amongst the Medical and Paramedical Staff in Tertiary Health Care Centre, Int J Scientific Research, Vol. 2(7): 2012 Safe Management of waste from health care activities. WHO, Geneva; 1999. 4. Prà ¼ss A, Giroult E, Rushbrook P, Safe management of wastes from healthcare activities, Edited by  © 1999, WHO 5. Central Pollution Control Board. Environmental standard and guidelines for management of Hospital waste. CPCB, Ministry of Environment and Forest, New Delhi, 1996. 6. Analysis of Priority Waste Streams: Healthcare Waste. Final Information Document Commission of the European Communities (CEC), 1993 7. Khan KDL (4 June 2011), â€Å"The Symbol of Ahmedabad†. Navhind Times, retrived 24 Sept, 2013. 8. World Health Organization. Suggested guiding principles and practices for sound management of hazardous hospital waste. New Delhi: Regional Office for South-East Asia, World Health Organization; 2000. p. 3-5. 9.Rasheed S, Iqbal S, Baig LA, Mufti K. Hospital waste management in the teaching hospitals of Karachi. J Pak Med Assoc 2005;55:192-5. 10. Saini S, Nagarajan SS, Sharma RK. Knowledge, Attitude and practices of bio-medical waste management amongst staff of a tertiary level Hospital in India. J Acad Hosp 2005;17:54-9

Free Scarlet Letter Essays: Hester and the Puritan Society :: Scarlet Letter essays

Hester and the Puritan Society of The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, focuses on the Puritan society. The Puritan society molded itself and created a government based upon the Bible and implemented it with force. The crime of adultery committed by Hester generated rage, and was qualified for serious punishment according to Puritan beliefs. Ultimately the town of Boston became intensely involved with Hester's life and her crime of adultery, and saw to it that she be publicly punished and tortured. Based upon the religious, governmental, and social design of the Puritan society, Hester's entire existence revolved around her sin and the Puritan perception. Therefore it is evident within The Scarlet Letter that the Puritan community to some degree has constructed Hester's character. In the novel The Scarlet Letter it is evident that the base of their social framework was that of the Church. The Church and beliefs of Protestantism became all encompassing within the town of Boston; meaning that the Church would be directly involved in the running of the community and its regime. The Enforcing of laws were established by scripture read from the Bible, as the Puritans considered the Bible as the "true law" of God that provided guidelines for church and government. Those who disagreed or committed crimes against the government, were not only criminals but also sinners, and they were sought to be punished severely. The Puritans stressed grace, devotion, prayer, and self-examination to achieve religious virtue while including a basic knowledge of unacceptable actions of the time; this was expected to secure order and peace within the Puritan community. The Puritan culture is one that recognizes Protestantism, a sect of Christianity. Though a fundamental of Christianity is forgiveness for one's sins, this seems to have been forgotten amongst the women of the community: "Morally, as well as materially, there was a coarser fiber in those wives and maidens of old English birth and breeding, than in their fair descendants." As read between the lines we can notice a concern in Hester's acceptance within the Puritan community. More so, Hester senses a lack of acceptance within the circle of woman in the community. The use of the term "coarser fiber" intertwines the relationship that she once had, and what it has become within the woman of the community. It has also come to my attention that when Hester compares the women of the community to their descendants, she clarifies that the women of the community have become deviant, and or immoral to their religious past.

Network (Internet) Neutrality Essays -- Internet Net Politics

Introduction Network neutrality (or more commonly, net neutrality) is a problem related to the internet that not enough people know about. Biases abound in this politically heated debate and although most people that know even a little on the argument have strong opinions, it is becoming more and more apparent that few people are informed about this issue at all. To reiterate, network neutrality has great support on both sides. However, if this problem is not soon addressed, there could be major problems with how the public uses the internet. Hypothesis By looking at what is best for the public and for the internet as a whole, net neutrality laws should be put into place to preserve the characteristics of the internet that make it unique. Definition of Net Neutrality Simply put, net neutrality is a network design paradigm that argues for broadband network providers to be completely detached from what information is sent over their networks. In essence, it argues that no bit of information should be prioritized over another. This principle implies that an information network such as the internet is most efficient and useful to the public when it is less focused on a particular audience and instead attentive to multiple users. To draw a simple example, take two content providers such as the Verizon website and the University of California website. If net neutrality were upheld, both entities would pay their monthly fees to the network provider and if all else equal, any bit of information from the Verizon website will make the same trek as one from say the UC Berkeley website. There would be no roadblocks or shortcuts any of the websites can take to make the end user desire their content more. However, witho... ... market will only hurt consumers if there is no government intervention. By allowing the telcos to tier the internet, consumers will be forced to pay multiple times for the same service. On top of that, tiering could result in telcos becoming an internet â€Å"gatekeeper† that could greatly influence what stays and goes on the internet. Even still, the cases against net neutrality and for tiering are weak at best. Their arguments that content providers are receiving a â€Å"free lunch† are unsubstantiated and, in fact, the telcos are paid twice already. There should be no need for them to be paid a third time. Worse of all is their misleading view that the free market will even out any inequities of their plans when they should clearly know that their industry is anything but a free market. If the internet is tiered, the greatest losses will be to the consumers. Network (Internet) Neutrality Essays -- Internet Net Politics Introduction Network neutrality (or more commonly, net neutrality) is a problem related to the internet that not enough people know about. Biases abound in this politically heated debate and although most people that know even a little on the argument have strong opinions, it is becoming more and more apparent that few people are informed about this issue at all. To reiterate, network neutrality has great support on both sides. However, if this problem is not soon addressed, there could be major problems with how the public uses the internet. Hypothesis By looking at what is best for the public and for the internet as a whole, net neutrality laws should be put into place to preserve the characteristics of the internet that make it unique. Definition of Net Neutrality Simply put, net neutrality is a network design paradigm that argues for broadband network providers to be completely detached from what information is sent over their networks. In essence, it argues that no bit of information should be prioritized over another. This principle implies that an information network such as the internet is most efficient and useful to the public when it is less focused on a particular audience and instead attentive to multiple users. To draw a simple example, take two content providers such as the Verizon website and the University of California website. If net neutrality were upheld, both entities would pay their monthly fees to the network provider and if all else equal, any bit of information from the Verizon website will make the same trek as one from say the UC Berkeley website. There would be no roadblocks or shortcuts any of the websites can take to make the end user desire their content more. However, witho... ... market will only hurt consumers if there is no government intervention. By allowing the telcos to tier the internet, consumers will be forced to pay multiple times for the same service. On top of that, tiering could result in telcos becoming an internet â€Å"gatekeeper† that could greatly influence what stays and goes on the internet. Even still, the cases against net neutrality and for tiering are weak at best. Their arguments that content providers are receiving a â€Å"free lunch† are unsubstantiated and, in fact, the telcos are paid twice already. There should be no need for them to be paid a third time. Worse of all is their misleading view that the free market will even out any inequities of their plans when they should clearly know that their industry is anything but a free market. If the internet is tiered, the greatest losses will be to the consumers.

Illusions in Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire :: Streetcar Named Desire

Illusions in A Streetcar Named Desire In Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire, there are many examples where the characters are using illusions in an attempt to escape reality. The best example is found by looking to the main character. Blanche Dubois was a troubled woman who throughout the play lives her life in illusions. The story begins with Blanche going to New Orleans to stay with her sister Stella, and her husband Stanley for a while. Here, the illusions are revealed and the battle between the illusions and the characters will begin. What initially leads to her illusions is love. When she was young, "sixteen, I made the discovery - love. All at once and much, much too completely" (1368). She met Allan Grey, the perfect man - he had "a nervousness, a softness and tenderness which wasn't like a man's, although he wasn't the least bit effeminate" (1368). However, as we are eventually are shown, this illusion wouldn't last forever. The young couple got married and, to Blanche, were falling more and more in love, when one day "coming into a room that I thought was empty" (1368), this illusion would be shattered. In this room were her husband, Allan, and a older male friend of his. Allan Grey was gay. Soon, Blanche realised that all along he had been trying to let her know and get "the help he needed but couldn't speak of! He was in the quicksands and clutching at me - but I wasn't holding him out, I was slipping in with him!" (1368). She was falling farther into the illusion with each passing second with her love, because she couldn't really believe that he was with her and was for real. Allan was in fact an illusion himself, by trying to appear straight to everyone. At first, they would try to deny it but the illusion would soon be totally destroyed when Blanche let it slip while they were dancing that "I saw! I know! You disgust me..." (1369). With this, Allan runs outside and kills himself. I believe that Allan killed himself more so because he realised Blanche would no longer help him than because she knew. He believed that if there was anyone who would help him make it through this whole ordeal, it would be Blanche. Because of all this, Blanche fell into another illusion. She figured that if she were loved again, the way Allan and her were meant to be, then she could be happy again. So, "after the death of Allan - intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart

Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 14

They walked back to the gas station quickly, their shoulders almost touching. Mary-Lynnette found comfort in Rowan's nearness, in her levelheadedness.She'd never had a friend before who was completelyher equal, who found it as easy to take care of people as to be taken care of. As they reached the gas station, they could see thatthe little group was now clustered around Mary Lynnette's car. Jeremy was peering under the hood.Mark and Jade were back, hand in hand, but there was no sign of Tiggy. Kestrel was leaning against a gas pump, and Ash was talking to Jeremy. â€Å"So the werewolf walks into the second doctor's office and he says, ‘Doc, I think I have rabies.' And the doctor says †¦Ã¢â‚¬  So much for bluffing him, Mary-Lynnette thought. Rowan, eyes shut and shoulders tensed, said, â€Å"Ash,that isn't funny.† She opened her eyes. â€Å"I'm sorry,† she said to Jeremy. â€Å"He doesn't mean it.† â€Å"He does, but it doesn't matter. I've heard worse.† Jeremy bent over the engine again. He replaced a cap with careful, even twists. Then he looked up at Mary-Lynnette. Mary-Lynnette didn't know what to say. What's the etiquette when you've just discovered that somebody's a werewolf? And that it may be their duty to eat you? Her eyes filled. She was completely out of control today. Jeremy looked away. He shook his head slightly. His mouth was bitter. â€Å"That's what I figured. I thought you'd react this way. Or I'd have told you myself a long time ago.† â€Å"You would?† Mary-Lynnette's vision cleared.†But-then you would have gotten in trouble. Right?† Jeremy smiled faintly. â€Å"Well, we're not really sticklers for Night World law around here.† He said it in a normal tone of voice. Ash and the sisters looked around reflexively. Mary-Lynnette said, â€Å"‘We'?† â€Å"My family. They first settled here because it was so far out of the way. A place where they wouldn't bother anybody, and nobody would bother them. Of course, they're all gone now. There's only me left.† He said it without self-pity, but Mary-Lynnette moved closer. â€Å"I'm sorry.† Jade moved in on the other side, silvery-green eyeswide. â€Å"But that's why we came here, too! So nobody would bother us. We don't like the Night World,either.† Jeremy gave another faint smile-that smile thatshowed mostly in his eyes. â€Å"I know,† he said to Jade. â€Å"You're related to Mrs. Burdock, aren't you?† â€Å"She was our aunt,† Kestrel said, her golden gaze fixed unwaveringly on him. Jeremy's expression changed slightly. He turned around to look at Kestrel directly. â€Å"‘Was'?† â€Å"Yes, shemet with a slight accident involving astake,† Ash said. â€Å"Funny how that happens some times†¦.† Jeremy's expression changed again. He looked as if he were leaning against the car for support. â€Å"Who did it?† Then he glanced back at Ash, and Mary-Lynnette saw a gleam of teeth. â€Å"Wait you think I did. Don't you?† â€Å"It did cross our minds at one point,† Ash said. â€Å"Actually, it seemed to keep crossing them. Back and forth. Maybe we should put in a crosswalk.† Mary-Lynnette said, â€Å"Ash, stop it.† â€Å"So you're saying you didn't do it,† Mark said to Jeremy, at the same time as Rowan said, â€Å"Actually, Kestrel thinks it was a vampire hunter.† Her voice was soft, but once again, everybody looked around. The street was still deserted. â€Å"There's no vampire hunter around here,† Jeremy said flatly. â€Å"Then there's a vampire,† Jade said in an excited whisper. â€Å"There has to be, because of the way Aunt Opal was killed. And the goat.† â€Å"The goat . . . ? No, don't even tell me. I don't wanttoknow.† Jeremy swung Mary-Lynnette's hood shut. He looked at her and said quickly, â€Å"Everything's fine in there. You should get the oilchanged sometime.† Then he turned to Rowan. â€Å"I'm sorry about your aunt. But if thereis a vampirearound here, it's somebody staying hidden. Really hidden. Same if it's a vampire hunter.† â€Å"We already figured that out,† Kestrel said. MaryLynnette expected Ash to chime in, but Ash was staring across the street broodingly, his hands in hispockets, apparently having given up on the conversation for the moment. â€Å"You haven't seen anything that could give you a due?† Mary-Lynnette said. â€Å"We were going to lookaround town.† He met her eyes directly. â€Å"If I knew, I'd tell you.† There was just the slightest emphasis on the last word. â€Å"If I could help you, I would.† â€Å"Well, come along for the ride. You can put your head out of the window,† Ash said, returning to life. That did it. Mary-Lynnette marched over, grabbedhim by the arm, and said to the others, â€Å"Excuse us.† She hauled him in a series of tugs to the back of the gas station. â€Å"You jerk!† â€Å"Oh, look†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. â€Å"Shut upl†She jabbed a finger at his throat. It didn't matter that touching him set off electrical explosions. It just gave her another reason to want to kill him. She found that the pink haze was a lot like anger when you kept shouting through it. â€Å"You have to be the center of every drama, don't you? You have to be the center of attention, and act smart, and mouth off l† â€Å"Ow,† Ash said. â€Å"Even if it means hurting other people. Even if itmeans hurting somebody who's only had rotten breaks all his life. Well, not this time.† â€Å"Ow â€Å"Rowan said you guys think all werewolves are low class. And you know what that is? Where I come from, they call that prejudice. And humans have it, too, andit is not a pretty picture. It's about the most hateful thing in the world. I'm ashamed to even stand there while you spout it off.† Mary-Lynnette realized she was crying. She also realized that Mark and Jade were peering around the edge of the gas station. Ash was flat against the boarded-up window, armsup in a gesture of surrender. He looked at a loss for words and ashamed. Good, Mary-Lynnette thought. â€Å"Should you keep poking him that way?† Mark said tentatively. Mary-Lynnette could see Rowan andKestrel behind him and Jade. They all looked alarmed. â€Å"I can't be friends with anybody who's a bigot,†she said to all of them. She gave Ash a jab for emphasis. â€Å"We're not,† Jade said virtuously.†Wedon't be lieve that stupid stuff.† â€Å"We really don't,† Rowan said. â€Å"And Mary-Lynnette-our father is alwaysyellingat Ash for visiting the wrong kind of people on the Outside. Belonging to a dub that admits werewolves, havingwerewolves for friends. The Elders all say he's too liberal about that.† Oh. â€Å"Well, he's got a funny way of showing it,† Mary-Lynnette said, deflating slightly. â€Å"I just thought I'd mention that,† Rowan said.†Now we'll leave you alone.† She herded the others back toward the front of the station. When they were gone, Ash said, â€Å"Can I move now, please?† He looked as if he was in a very bad mood. Mary-Lynnette gave up. She felt tired, suddenlytired and emotionally drained. Too much had happened in the last few days. And it kept happening, it never let up, and †¦ well, she was tired, that's all. â€Å"If you'd go away soon, it would be easier,† shesaid, moving away from Ash. She could feel her headsag slightly. â€Å"Mary-Lynnette . . .† There was something inAsh's voice that she'd never heard before. â€Å"Look it's not exactly a matter of me wanting to go away.There's somebody else from the Night World coming on Monday. His name is Quinn. And if my sistersand I don't go back with him, the whole town is in trouble. If he thinks anything irregular is going onhere †¦ You don't know what the Night Peoplecan do.† Mary-Lynnette could hear her heart beating distinctly. She didn't turn back to look at Ash. â€Å"They could wipe Briar Creek out. I mean it. They've done things like that, to preserve the secret. It's the only protection they have from your kind.† Mary-Lynnette said-not defiantly, but with simpleconviction, â€Å"Your sisters aren't going to leave.† â€Å"Then the whole town's in trouble. There's a roguewerewolf, three renegade lamia, and a secret vampirekiller wandering around somewhere-not to mention twohumans who know about the Night World. This is a paranormal disaster area.† A long silence. Mary-Lynnette was trying very hard not to see â€Å"things from Ash's point of view. Atlast she said, â€Å"So what do you want me to do?† â€Å"Oh, I don't know, why don't we all have a pizza party and watch TV?† Ash sounded savage. â€Å"I haveno idea what to do,† he added in more normal tones.†And you'd better believe I've been thinking about it. The only thing I can come up with is that the girlshave to go back with me, and we all have to lie through our teeth to Quinn.† Mary-Lynnette tried to think, but her head was throbbing. â€Å"There is one other possibility,† Ash said. He saidit under his breath, as if he wouldn't mind if she pretended not to hear him. Mary-Lynnette eased a crick in her neck, watchingblue-and-yellow images of the sun on her shut eyelids. â€Å"What?† â€Å"I know you and the girls did a blood-tie ceremony. It was illegal, but that's beside the point. You're part of the reason they don't want to leavehere.† Mary-Lynnette opened her mouth to point out thatthey didn't want to leave because life had been unbearable for them in the Night World, but Ash hurried on. â€Å"But maybe if you were-like us, we could work something out. I could take the girls back to the island, and then in a few months I could get them out again. We'd go someplace where nobodywould know us. Nobody would suspect there was anything irregular about you. The girls would be free,and you'd be there, so there's no reason they shouldn't be happy. Your brother could come, too.† Mary-Lynnette turned around slowly. She examined Ash. The sun brought out hidden warm tonesin his hair, making it a shimmering blond somewherebetween Jade's and Kestrel's. His eyes were shadowed, some dark color. He stood lanky and elegantas ever, but with one hand in his pocket and a pained expression on his face. â€Å"Don't frown; you'll spoil your looks,† she said. â€Å"For God's sake, don't patronize mel† he yelled. Mary-Lynnette was startled. Well. Okay. â€Å"I think,† she said, more cautiously but with emphasis to let him know that she was the one with a right to be upset, â€Å"that you are suggesting changing me into a vampire.† The corner of Ash's mouth jerked. He put his other hand in his pocket and looked away. â€Å"That was the general idea, yes.† â€Å"So that your sisters can be happy.† â€Å"So that you don't get killed by some vigilante like Quinn.† â€Å"But aren't the Night People going to kill me just the same if you change me?† â€Å"Only if they findyou,† Ash said savagely. â€Å"And if we can get away from here clean, they wouldn't.Anyway, as a vampire you'd have a better chance of fighting them.† â€Å"So I'm supposed to become a vampire and leave everything I love here so your sisters can be happy.† Ash just stared angrily at the roof of the building across the street. â€Å"Forget it.† â€Å"Believe me, I wasn't even thinking about it in the first place.† â€Å"Fine.† He continued to stare. All at once Mary-Lynnette had the horrible feeling that his eyes were wet. And I've cried I don't know how many times inthe last two days-and I only used to cry when thestars were so beautiful it hurt. There's somethingwrongwith me now. I don't even know who I am anymore. There seemed to be something wrong with Ash, too. â€Å"Ash †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He didn't look at her. His jaw was tight. The problem is that there isn't any tidy answer, Mary-Lynnette thought. â€Å"I'm sorry,† she said huskily, trying to shake off the strange feelings that hadsuddenly descended on her. â€Å"It's just that everything's turned out so †¦ weird.I never asked for any of this.† She swallowed. â€Å"I guess you never askedfor it, either. First your sisters running away †¦and then me. Some joke, yeah?† â€Å"Yeah.† He wasn't staring off into the distance anymore. â€Å"Look †¦ I might as well tell you.I didn't ask for this, and if somebody had said last week that I'd be in †¦ involved †¦with a,human, I'd have knocked his head off. I mean, after howls of derisive laughter. But.† He stopped. That seemed to be the end of his confession:but.Of course, he didn't really need to say more. Mary-Lynnette, arms folded over her chest, stared at a curved piece of glass on the ground and tried to think of other phrases that started with in.Besides the obvious. She couldn't come up with any. She resisted the impulse to nudge the glass with her foot. â€Å"I'm a bad influence on your sisters.† â€Å"I said that to protect you. To try and protect you.†Ã¢â‚¬ I can protect myself.† â€Å"So I've noticed,† -he said dryly. â€Å"Does that help?† â€Å"You noticing? No, because you don't really believe it. You'll always think I'm weaker than you, softer †¦even if you didn't say it, I'd know you were thinking it.† Ash suddenly looked crafty. His eyes were as greenas hellebore flowers. â€Å"If you were a vampire, you wouldn't be weaker,† he said. â€Å"Also, you'd know what I was really thinking.† He held out his hand. â€Å"Want a sample?† Mary-Lynnette said abruptly, â€Å"We'd better get back. They're going to think we've killed each other.† â€Å"Let them,† Ash said, his hand still held out, but Mary-Lynnette just shook her head and walked away. She was scared. Wherever she'd been going with Ash, she'd been getting in too deep. And she wondered how much of their conversation had been audible around front. When she rounded the corner, her eyes immediately went to Jeremy. He was standing with Kestrel by the gas pump. They were dose together, and forjust an instant Mary-Lynnette felt something like startled dismay. Then her inner voice asked, Are you insane? You can't be jealous over him while you're worrying whether he's jealous over you, and meanwhile worrying about what to do with your soulmate†¦. It's good if he and Kestrel like each other. â€Å"I don't care; I can't wait anymore,† Jade was saying to Rowan on the sidewalk. â€Å"I've got to find him.† â€Å"She thinks Tiggy's gone home,† Rowan said, seeing Mary-Lynnette. Ash went toward Rowan. Kestrel did, too. Somehow Mary-Lynnette was left beside Jeremy. Once again, she didn't know the etiquette. Sheglanced at him-and stopped feeling awkward. He was watching her in his quiet, level way. But then he startled her. He threw a look at thesidewalk and said, â€Å"Mary-Lynnette, be careful.† â€Å"What?† † Be careful. â€Å"It was the same tone he'd used whenwarning her about Todd and Vic. Mary-Lynnette followed his gaze †¦ to Ash. â€Å"It's all right,† Mary-Lynnette said. She didn't know how to explain. Even his own sisters hadn't believed Ash wouldn't hurt her. Jeremy looked bleak. â€Å"I know guys like that.Sometimes they bring human girls to their clubsand you don't want to know why. So just just watch yourself, all right?† It was a nasty shock. Rowan and the girls had saidsimilar things, but coming from Jeremy it sank in, somehow. Ash had undoubtedly done things in his life that †¦ well, that would make her want to kill him if she knew. Things you couldn't just forget about. â€Å"I'll be careful,† she said. She realized her fists were clenched, and she said with a glimmer of humor, â€Å"I can handle him.† Jeremy still looked bleak. His brown eyes were dark and his jaw was tight as he looked at Ash. Underhis quietness, Mary-Lynnette could sense leashed power. Cold anger. Protectiveness. And the fact that he didn't like Ash at all . The others were coming back. â€Å"I'll be all right,† Mary-Lynnette whispered quickly. Aloud, Jeremy said, â€Å"I'll keep thinking about the people around town. I'll tell you if I come up with something.† Mary-Lynnette nodded. â€Å"Thanks, Jeremy.† She tried to give him a reassuring look as everybody got into the car. He stood watching as she pulled out of the gas station. He didn't wave. â€Å"Okay, so we go home,† Mark said. â€Å"And then what?† Nobody answered. Mary-Lynnette realized that she had no idea what. â€Å"I guess we'd better figure out if we still have anysuspects,† she said at last. â€Å"There's something else we've got to do, first,† Rowan said softly. â€Å"We vampires, I mean.† Mary-Lynnette could tell just by the way she said it. But Mark asked, â€Å"What?† â€Å"We need to feed,† Kestrel said with her most radiant smile. They got back to Burdock Farm. There was no sign of the cat. The four vampires headed for the woods, Jadecalling for Tiggy, and Mary-Lynnette headed for Mrs. B.'s rolltop desk. She got engraved stationery only slightly mildewed at the edges-and a silver pen with a fussy Victorian pattern on it. â€Å"Now,† she said to Mark as she sat at the kitchen table. â€Å"We're going to play List the Suspects.† â€Å"There's nothing in this house to eat, you know,† Mark said. He had all the cupboards open. â€Å"Just things like instant coffee and green Jujyfruits. The ones everybody leaves.† â€Å"What can I say, your girlfriend is undead. Come on. Sit down and concentrate.† Mark sat down and sighed. â€Å"Who have we got?† â€Å"We should have gone to find out what the dealwas with that horse,† Mark said. Mary-Lynnette stopped with her pen poised overthe stationery. â€Å"You're right, that must be connected. I forgot about it.† Which just goes to show you, detective work doesn't mix with 1-with idle dawdling. â€Å"All right,† she said grimly. â€Å"So let's assume that whoever killed the horse was the same person who killed Aunt Opal and the goat. And maybe the sameperson who broke the gas station window-that hap pened last night, too. Where does that get us?† â€Å"I think it was Todd and Vic,† Mark said. â€Å"You're not being helpful.† â€Å"I'm serious. You know how Todd is always chewing on that toothpick. And there were toothpicks stuck in the goat.† Toothpicks†¦ now, what did that remind her of? No, not toothpicks, the bigger stakes. Why couldn't she remember ? She rubbed her forehead, giving up. â€Å"Okay†¦I'llput Todd and Vic, vampire hunters, with a question mark. Unless you think they're vampires themselves.† â€Å"Nope,† Mark said, undeterred by her sarcasm. â€Å"I think Jade would've noticed that when she drank their blood.† He eyed her thoughtfully. â€Å"You're the smart one. Who doyou think did it?† â€Å"I have no idea.† Mark made a face at her, andshe doodled a stake on the stationery. The doodle changed into a very small stake, more like a pencil,held by a feminine hand. She never could draw hands†¦. â€Å"Oh, my God. Bunny.† â€Å"Bunny did it?† Mark asked ingenuously, preparedto be straight man for a joke. But Mary-Lynnette said,†Yes.I mean-no, I don't know. But those stakes in the goat-the big ones I've seen herusingthem. She uses them on her nails. They're cuticle sticks.† â€Å"Well †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mark looked dismayed. â€Å"But I mean †¦ Bunny . C'mon. She can't kill a mosquito.† Mary-Lynnette shook her head, agitated. â€Å"Rowan said she had a lamia name. And she said something strange to me-Bunny-the day I was looking for Todd and Vic.† It was all coming back now, a flood of memories that she didn't particularly want. â€Å"She said, ‘Good hunting.†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ â€Å"Mare, it's from The Jungle Book .† â€Å"I know. It was still weird for her to say. And she's almosttoosweet and scared-what if it's all an act?† When Mark didn't answer, she said, â€Å"Is it any more unlikelythan Todd and Vic being vampire hunters?† â€Å"So put her down, too.† Mary-Lynnette did. Then she said, â€Å"You know, there's something I keep meaning to ask Rowanabout how they wrote to Mrs. B. from thatisland-† She broke off and tensed as the back door banged. â€Å"Am I the first one back?† It was Rowan, windblown and glowing, slightlybreathless. Her hair was a tumbling chestnut loud around her. â€Å"Where's everybody else?† Mary-Lynnette asked. â€Å"We separated early on. It's the only way, you know, with four of us in this small of an area.† â€Å"Small!† Mark looked offended. â€Å"If Briar Creekhas one good thing-and I'm not saying it does it's space.† Rowan smiled. â€Å"For a hunting range, it is small,†she said. â€Å"No offense. It's fine for us-we never got to hunt at -all on the island. They brought our mealsto us, tranquilized and completely passive.† Mary-Lynnette pushed away the image this evoked. â€Å"Urn, you want to register a guess on Whodunit?† 0Rowan sat down in a kitchen chair, smoothing a wisp of brown hair off her forehead. â€Å"I don't know. I wonder if it's somebody we haven't even thought of yet.† Mary-Lynnette remembered what she'd been talking about when the door banged. â€Å"Rowan, I always meant to ask you-you said that only Ash could havefigured out where you were going when you ran away. But what about the guy who helped yousmuggle letters off the island? He would know where your aunt lived, right? He could see the address on the letters.† â€Å"Crane Linden.† Rowan smiled, a sad little smile. â€Å"No, he wouldn't know. He's †¦Ã¢â‚¬  She touched her temple lightly. â€Å"I don't know what you call it. His mind never developed completely. He can't read. But he's very kind.† There were illiterate vampires? Well, why not?Aloud Mary-Lynnette said, â€Å"Oh. Well, I guess it's one more person we can eliminate.† â€Å"Look, can we just brainstorm a minute?† Mark said. â€Å"This is probably crazy, but what if Jeremy'suncle isn't really dead? And what if-† At that moment, there was a crash from the front porch. No, a tap-tap-crash, Mary-Lynnette thought. Then she thought, Oh, God . . . Tiggy.