Vampire Academy Chapter 7

SEVEN A COUPLE WEEKS PASSED AFTER that, and I soon forgot about the Anna thing as life at the Academy wrapped around me. The shock of our return had worn off a little, and we began to fall into a semi-comfortable routine. My days revolved around church, lunch with Lissa, and whatever sort of social life I could scrape together outside of that. Denied any real free time, I didn't have too hard a time staying out of the spotlight, although I did manage to steal a little attention here and there, despite my noble speech to her about ? ®coasting through the middle.' I couldn't help it. I liked flirting, I liked groups, and I liked making smartass comments in class. Her new, incognito role attracted attention simply because it was so different than before we'd left, back when she'd been so active with the royals. Most people soon let that go, accepting that the Dragomir princess was fading off the social radar and content to run with Natalie and her group. Natalie's rambling still made me want to beat my head against a wall sometimes, but she was really nice – nicer than almost any of the other royals – and I enjoyed hanging around her most of the time. And, just as Kirova had warned, I was indeed training and working out all the time. But as more time passed, my body stopped hating me. My muscles grew tougher, and my stamina increased. I still got my ass kicked in practice but not quite as badly as I used to, which was something. The biggest toll now seemed to be on my skin. Being outside in the cold so much was chapping my face, and only Lissa's constant supply of skin-care lotions kept me from aging before my time. She couldn't do much for the blisters on my hands and feet. A routine also developed with Dimitri and me. Mason had been right about him being antisocial. Dimitri didn't hang out much with the other guardians, though it was clear they all respected him. And the more I worked with him, the more I respected him too, though I didn't really understand his training methods. They didn't seem very badass. We always started by stretching in the gym, and lately he'd been sending me outside to run, braving the increasingly cold Montana autumn. Three weeks after my return to the Academy, I walked into the gym before school one day and found him sprawled on a mat, reading a Louis L'Amour book. Someone had brought in a portable CD player, and while that cheered me up at first, the song coming from it did not: â€Å"When Doves Cry† by Prince. It was embarrassing to know the title, but one of our former housemates had been obsessed with the ? ®80s. â€Å"Whoa, Dimitri,† I said, tossing my bag on the floor. â€Å"I realize this is actually a current hit in Eastern Europe right now, but do you think we could maybe listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?† Only his eyes flicked toward me; the rest of his posture remained the same. â€Å"What does it matter to you? I'm the one who's going to be listening to it. You'll be outside running.† I made a face as I set my foot up on one of the bars and stretched my hamstrings. All things considered, Dimitri had a good-natured tolerance for my snarkiness. So long as I didn't slack in my training, he didn't mind my running commentary. â€Å"Hey,† I asked, moving on to the next set of stretches, â€Å"what's with all the running, anyway? I mean, I realize the importance of stamina and all that, but shouldn't I be moving on to something with a little hitting? They're still killing me in group practice.† â€Å"Maybe you should hit harder,† he replied drily. â€Å"I'm serious.† â€Å"Hard to tell the difference.† He set the book down but didn't move from his sprawl. â€Å"My job is to get you ready to defend the princess and fight dark creatures, right?† â€Å"Yup.† â€Å"So tell me this: suppose you manage to kidnap her again and take her off to the mall. While you're there, a Strigoi comes at you. What will you do?† â€Å"Depends on what store we're in.† He looked at me. â€Å"Fine. I'll stab him with a silver stake.† Dimitri sat up now, crossing his long legs in one fluid motion. I still couldn't figure out how someone so tall could be so graceful. â€Å"Oh?† He raised his dark eyebrows. â€Å"Do you have a silver stake? Do you even know how to use one?† I dragged my eyes away from his body and scowled. Made with elemental magic, silver stakes were a guardian's deadliest weapon. Stabbing a Strigoi through the heart with one meant instant death. The blades were also lethal to Moroi, so they weren't given out lightly to novices. My classmates had just started learning how to use them. I'd trained with a gun before, but no one would let me near a stake yet. Fortunately, there were two other ways to kill a Strigoi. â€Å"Okay. I'll cut his head off.† â€Å"Ignoring the fact that you don't have a weapon to do that, how will you compensate for the fact that he may be a foot taller than you?† I straightened up from touching my toes, annoyed. â€Å"Fine, then I'll set him on fire.† â€Å"Again, with what?† â€Å"All right, I give up. You've already got the answer. You're just messing with me. I'm at the mall and I see a Strigoi. What do I do?† He looked at me and didn't blink. â€Å"You run.† I repressed the urge to throw something at him. When I finished my stretches, he told me he'd run with me. That was a first. Maybe running would give me some insight into his killer reputation. We set out into the chilly October evening. Being back on a vampiric schedule still felt weird to me. With school about to start in an hour, I expected the sun to be coming up, not down. But it was sinking on the western horizon, lighting up the snow-capped mountains with an orange glow. It didn't really warm things up, and I soon felt the cold pierce my lungs as my need for oxygen deepened. We didn't speak. He slowed his pace to match mine, so we stayed together. Something about that bothered me; I suddenly very much wanted his approval. So I picked up my own pace, working my lungs and muscles harder. Twelve laps around the track made three miles; we had nine more to go. When we reached the third-to-last loop, a couple of other novices passed by, preparing to go to the group practice I'd soon be at as well. Seeing me, Mason cheered. â€Å"Good form, Rose!† I smiled and waved back. â€Å"You're slowing down,† Dimitri snapped, jerking my gaze from the boys. The harshness in his voice startled me. â€Å"Is this why your times aren't getting any faster? You're easily distracted?† Embarrassed, I increased my speed once more, despite the fact that my body started screaming obscenities at me. We finished the twelve laps, and when he checked, he found we'd shaved two minutes off my best time. â€Å"Not bad, huh?† I crowed when we headed back inside for cool-down stretches. â€Å"Looks like I could get as far as the Limited before the Strigoi got me at the mall. Not sure how Lissa would do.† â€Å"If she was with you, she'd be okay.† I looked up in surprise. It was the first real compliment he'd paid me since I started training with him. His brown eyes watched me, both approving and amused. And that's when it happened. I felt like someone had shot me. Sharp and biting, terror exploded in my body and in my head. Small razors of pain. My vision blurred, and for a moment, I wasn't standing there. I was running down a flight of stairs, scared and desperate, needing to get out of there, needing to find? ­me. My vision cleared, leaving me back on the track and out of Lissa's head. Without a word to Dimitri, I tore off, running as fast as I could toward the Moroi dorm. It didn't matter that I'd just put my legs through a mini-marathon. They ran hard and fast, like they were shiny and new. Distantly, I was aware of Dimitri catching up to me, asking me what was wrong. But I couldn't answer him. I had one task and one alone: get to the dorm. Its looming, ivy-covered form was just coming into view when Lissa met up with us, her face streaked with tears. I came to a jarring stop, my lungs ready to burst. â€Å"What's wrong? What happened?† I demanded, clutching her arms, forcing her to look into my eyes. But she couldn't answer. She just flung her arms around me, sobbing into my chest. I held her there, stroking her sleek, silky hair while I told her it was going to be all right – whatever ? ®it' was. And honestly, I didn't care what it was just then. She was here, and she was safe, which was all that mattered. Dimitri hovered over us, alert and ready for any threat, his body coiled to attack. I felt safe with him beside us. A half hour later, we were crammed inside Lissa's dorm room with three other guardians, Ms. Kirova, and the hall matron. This was the first time I'd seen Lissa's room. Natalie had indeed managed to get her as a roommate, and the two sides of the room were a study in contrasts. Natalie's looked lived in, with pictures on the wall and a frilly bedspread that wasn't dorm-issue. Lissa had as few possessions as I did, making her half noticeably bare. She did have one picture taped to the wall, a picture taken from last Halloween, when we'd dressed up like fairies, complete with wings and glittery makeup. Seeing that picture and remembering how things used to be made a dull pain form in my chest. With all the excitement, no one seemed to remember that I wasn't supposed to be in there. Outside in the hall, other Moroi girls crowded together, trying to figure out what was going on. Natalie pushed her way through them, wondering what the commotion in her room was. When she discovered it, she came to a screeching halt. Shock and disgust showed on almost everyone's faces as we stared at Lissa's bed. There was a fox on the pillow. Its coat was reddish-orange, tinged in white. It looked so soft and cuddly that it could have been a pet, perhaps a cat, something you'd hold in your arms and snuggle with. Aside from the fact that its throat had been slit. The inside of the throat looked pink and jellylike. Blood stained that soft coat and had run down onto the yellow bedspread, forming a dark pool that spread across the fabric. The fox's eyes stared upward, glazed, over with a sort of shocked look about them, like the fox couldn't believe this was happening. Nausea built up in my stomach, but I forced myself to keep looking. I couldn't afford to be squeamish. I'd be killing Strigoi someday. If I couldn't handle a fox, I'd never survive major kills. What had happened to the fox was sick and twisted, obviously done by someone too fucked up for words. Lissa stared at it, her face death-pale, and took a few steps toward it, hand involuntarily reaching out. This gross act hit her hard, I knew, digging at her love of animals. She loved them, they loved her. While on our own, she'd often begged me for a pet, but I'd always refused and reminded her we couldn't take care of one when we might have to flee at a moment's notice. Plus, they hated me. So she'd contented herself with helping and patching up strays she found and making friends with other people's pets, like Oscar the cat. She couldn't patch this fox up, though. There was no coming back for it, but I saw in her face she wanted to help it, like she helped everything. I took her hand and steered her away, suddenly recalling a conversation from two years ago. â€Å"What is that? Is it a crow?† â€Å"Too big. It's a raven.† â€Å"Is it dead?† â€Å"Yeah. Definitely dead. Don't touch it.† She hadn't listened to me back then. I hoped she would now. â€Å"It was still alive when I got back,† Lissa whispered to me, clutching my arm. â€Å"Barely. Oh God, it was twitching. It must have suffered so much.† I felt bile rise in my throat now. Under no circumstances would I throw up. â€Å"Did you – ?† â€Å"No. I wanted to? ­I started to? ­Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Then forget about it,† I said sharply. â€Å"It's stupid. Somebody's stupid joke. They'll clean it up. Probably even give you a new room if you want.† She turned to me, eyes almost wild. â€Å"Rose? ­do you remember? ­that one time? ­Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Stop it,† I said. â€Å"Forget about it. This isn't the same thing.† â€Å"What if someone saw? What if someone knows ­Ã¢â‚¬  I tightened my grip on her arm, digging my nails in to get her attention. She flinched. â€Å"No. It's not the same. It has nothing to do with that. Do you hear me?† I could feel both Natalie and Dimitri's eyes on us. â€Å"It's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay.† Not looking like she believed me at all, Lissa nodded. â€Å"Get this cleaned up,† Kirova snapped to the matron. â€Å"And find out if anyone saw anything.† Someone finally realized I was there and ordered Dimitri to take me away, no matter how much I begged them to let me stay with Lissa. He walked me back to the novices' dorm. He didn't speak until we were almost there. â€Å"You know something. Something about what happened. Is this what you meant when you told Headmistress Kirova that Lissa was in danger?† â€Å"I don't know anything. It's just some sick joke.† â€Å"Do you have any idea who'd do it? Or why?† I considered this. Before we'd left, it could have been any number of people. That was the way it was when you were popular. People loved you, people hated you. But now? Lissa had faded off to a certain extent. The only person who really and truly despised her was Mia, but Mia seemed to fight her battles with words, not actions. And even if she did decide to do something more aggressive, why do this? She didn't seem like the type. There were a million other ways to get back at a person. â€Å"No,† I told him. â€Å"No clue.† â€Å"Rose, if you know something, tell me. We're on the same side. We both want to protect her. This is serious.† I spun around, taking my anger over the fox out on him. â€Å"Yeah, it is serious. It's all serious. And you have me doing laps every day when I should be learning to fight and defend her! If you want to help her, then teach me something! Teach me how to fight. I already know how to run away.† I didn't realize until that moment how badly I did want to learn, how I wanted to prove myself to him, to Lissa, and to everyone else. The fox incident had made me feel powerless, and I didn't like that. I wanted to do something, anything. Dimitri watched my outburst calmly, with no change in his expression. When I finished, he simply beckoned me forward like I hadn't said anything. â€Å"Come on. You're late for practice.†

Great Expectations Essay

As part of my GCSE coursework, I have read two novels written by Charles Dickens. The first novel is ‘Oliver Twist’, from, whwhich I will look at a villain called Bill Sikes who is a thief, a housebreaker, a murderer and one of Ddickens’ most menacing characters. I will look at how Dickens characterises him as a villain. s makes him a villain. The second book I read was ‘Great Expectations’, infrom which I will look at another villain called Magwitch who bullies a young boy named Pip into helping him q. escaping from prison. I will also look at how Dickens characterises himmakes him as a villain.. I will then compare Bboth characters will then be compared and contrasted in my study. . The first person I will look at is Bill Sikes who is a murderer, a thief, a housebreaker, a bully and is part of Fagan’s gang. Before we meet Sikes, Dickens dDescribes his environment. Firstly it is described as an ‘obscure parlour of a low public house’, a ‘dark and gloomy den’, ‘in the filthiest part of Little Saffron Hill’ and ‘where no ray of sun ever shone in the summer’. Adjectives such as obscure, low, dark gloomy and filthiest are all negative and suggest to me a very unpleasant and rough environment. The place being described as ‘where no ray of sun ever shone in the summer’, suggests to me further of the place’s depravity and that the public house is set in a back ally. The room Sikes is situated in is called a ‘Den’, A den is a place where animals usually live, so it suggests to me that this is an inhuman place, not suitable for a persons habitation. Over all I can say that the atmosphere is excessively bleak and miserable, the setting is used to reflect character and to create atmosphere suggestingand Sikes is in part, athe product of his own environment. Sikes is said to have been ‘brooding’, this suggests that Sikes had been in deep thought, scheming and plotting evil things. Sikes is described as ‘strongly impregnated with the smell of liquor’, this suggests to me that he we was highly intoxicated and the result, would mean that he would be grumpy, and irrational. He wares ‘a velvet coat, drab shorts, half-boots and stockings. As you can see his clothing is very drabmonotonous and this suggests to the reader the obscure and sinister nature of Sikes and the world he inhabits. ity Sikes of which Sikes can possess. Sikes is described as ‘even by that dim light, no inexperienced agent of police would have hesitated for one instant as Mr. William Sikes’. This suggests to the reader that Sikes is well known by the police and is obviously a common criminal. Sikes’ dog is described as being ‘red-eyed’. This is symbolic of depression and anger and many other negative emotions, so it is apparent that the dog is symbolic to the negativity in Sikes’ environment and is also a product of bad environment may be symbolic that the dog is symbolic of the harsh environment. The dog sits at his mastersmaster’s feet, this shows the relationship between the dog and his master as being close and intermit and proves Sikes’ ownership of the animal. Later the ‘unoffending’ dog is attacked and by Sikes, this shows that Sikes is very volatile, unpredictable, unstable and dangerous because he attacks his dog for no cause and acts very spontaneously with his aggressiveness. After the attacking, the dog avenges his attack it, by attacking Sikes’ half-boots. This shows that the dog has a bad temper and has a lot in common with his master. This eventually leads to a fight and Sikes’ attempted murder of the dog. This shows how malevolentsatanic Sikes’ can be. Sikes is a very aggressive man in his language, he ‘blasphemes’ and ‘curses’, ‘thrusts’ and ‘swears’ This type of language is rather unpleasant, shows negative emotions to a reader. This sort of dictionspeech gives a sense of violence to the reader. When Sikes speaks to his dog he says ‘Keep quiet, you warmint! Keep quiet! ‘ Here he commands and insults, so it shows that he is violent when he talks. We know this because Dickens has used exclamation marks to show that he was talking in anger. This can also be seen when he talks to Fagan for example ‘you white-livered thief! ‘ This shows the anger in the voice with the use of insults and exclamatoryion phrases. marks. Sikes also seeksspeaks to Fagian with a ‘fierce gesture’gesture’; this adds to Sikes’ sinister character because it suggests that again Sikes is angry and violent with his oral expression. Sikes’ often ‘growled’, had a ‘fierce sneer’ and speaks ‘savage like’. This further makes him look obnoxious and unhappy. These details present him as brutal, animalistic and primitive. Sikes speaks with the ‘harshest key of a very harsh voice’. This suggests that he is very unpleasant when he usually speaks. Therefore I would say that the way in which Sikes’ speaks shows that cruelty and ill-intent of his character. Thus from this extract we are given the impression that Sikes is incredibly evil, menacing, he is unhappy, intimidating, ferocious and volatile. This impression is reinforced later in the novel in which we look at Sikes killing his prostitute lover Nancy and the events leading up to it. It begins with Noah, repeating what he told Fagin to Sikes. Fagin ‘cries’, and says ‘Tell him that, tell him that.

Black House For David Gernert and Ralph Vicinanza

You take me to a place I never go, You send me kisses made of gold, I ‘ll place a crown upon your curls, All hail the Queen of the World! -The Jayhawks. Right Here and Now . . †¦..RIGHT HERE AND NOW,as an old friend used to say,we are in the fluid present,where clear-sightedness never guarantees perfect vision. Here:about two hundred feet,the height of a gliding eagle,above Wisconsin's far western edge,where the vagaries of the Mississippi River declare a natural border.Now:an early Friday morning in mid-July a few years into both a new century and a new millennium,their way-ward courses so hidden that a blind man has a better chance of seeing what lies ahead than you or I.Right here and now,the hour is just past six a.m., and the sun stands low in the cloudless eastern sky,a fat,confi-dent yellow-white ball advancing as ever for the first time toward the fu-ture and leaving in its wake the steadily accumulating past,which darkens as it recedes,making blind men of us all. Below,the early sun touches the river ‘s wide,soft ripples with molten highlights.Sunlight glints from the tracks of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad running between the riverbank and the backs of the shabby two-story houses along County Road Oo,known as Nailhouse Row,the lowest point of the comfortable-looking little town extending uphill and eastward beneath us.At this moment in the Coulee Country, life seems to be holding its breath.The motionless air around us carries such remarkable purity and sweetness that you might imagine a man could smell a radish pulled out of the ground a mile away.

Promotion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Promotion - Research Paper Example Promotions always play a vital role for every organization. It is a way to communicate to the buyers about product and product policies. Through this, the buyers get an idea about product and its value to them. In others words, it provide information about product to the buyers. Promotion includes lots activities which aid to share knowledge about product and its policies to the buyer. Such activities are advertising, media communication, sponsorship, sales force and lots more. It is a major airline carrier in U.S.A. Headquarter of American Airline is in Fort Worth, Texas. It has huge network of domestic and international. The flights are schedule throughout U.S.A, Europe, the Caribbean and Asia. Promotion objectives for any organization are same. Promotion of product or service is done only to raise the sale of it in market. Others objectives are information about product or service to the buyers and its good features. The main objectives of American airline are to increase in sales and retention of customers. This is done through with good promotion activity, where they provide information about their services and features. They promote themselves with help of communication channels in large number. The communication channels are news releases (in this they tell about their financial reports, their new strategies), press kits (used to tell about their features and technology), multimedia library (eg. Television advertising, mms clips) and social media (eg. facebook, tweeter, LinkedIn, Google +, YouTube, instagram and lots more) The way of promotion is very unique, which attract the buyers. Even though, they have launched loyalty program for frequent flyer which is also attracting strategy of promotion. According to the Corporate Responsibility Report, The American Airline has done good work in social and economic aspects, which gives a good footprint into market. Delta Air Line, a big name in this

New York City Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

New York City - Essay Example The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the philosophy of the city by taking in consideration three different mediums that represent similar or different aspects of the city. Each person has a different view of the city and the purpose of this paper is to view the city from their perspective. In order to bring about a suitable understanding of the city, three different Medias are taken. These include photographs of the subway by Walker Evans, The Empire State Building and the postcard titled, ‘Future of New York’. Walker Evans, in his representation of New York has taken pictures of random people in the subway without their consent. The Empire State is the landmark for NYC and represents the city in various fronts. The postcard shows a futuristic view of New York, taking in view the rapid pace of development within the city. Thus, each medium has brought forward a different aspect of the city that is apt from their perspective. New York City New York City is one of the most famous and populated cities of USA. This city is the center of all economic activities including education, technology, commerce, trade, art, fashion etc. New York can be termed as the capital of the modern world with its enterprising nature. New York is able to enjoy such popularity on account of it being a city with the port. It is because of this importance of the city that New York continues to be an important part of representing American throughout the world. When people talk about American, they conjure up an image of the lively bustling streets of New York with its diverse population compromising of people from all races, religious and casts.

Business Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Research Methods - Essay Example It is often difficult to obtain good advice and supervision for research in a steel company with low productivity where job security is very low among the employees. Good advice and supervision (for trainees) or peer review (for experienced researchers) are a key to successful research. Inadequate planning This is often related to poor advice. All stages of the project need to be planned in detail. There is nothing worse than getting halfway through data collection, and then realizing that things should be done slightly differently. Or even worse collecting a whole load of data and then realizing that one do not really know how to analyze it. Methodological error Many questions in Job Satisfaction survey are rather complex. The Method has to match the question. If not, there will be problems in analyzing the results. Premature data collection It is very tempting to design a data collection form and start collecting data as soon as possible. However this is always a mistake. A lot of energy and enthusiasm is wasted by premature data collection. A Structured Approach has to be adopted to avoid this pitfall. Underestimate of time / resources required Research projects always take much longer and are always much harder. A good rule of thumb is to estimate within the time and resources that you have available, play safe and ask a smaller or different question. Lack of motivation Completing a research project is hard work. It takes energy, enthusiasm and staying power from the employees. In a steel company with low productivity, one cannot expect the employees to be enthusiastic. Not asking a focused question This is the commonest reason that projects fail, with the usual error being to attempt to answer a question that is too big and too general. Obtaining a... It is very tempting to design a data collection form and start collecting data as soon as possible. However this is always a mistake. A lot of energy and enthusiasm is wasted by premature data collection. A Structured Approach has to be adopted to avoid this pitfall. Research projects always take much longer and are always much harder. A good rule of thumb is to estimate within the time and resources that you have available, play safe and ask a smaller or different question. Completing a research project is hard work. It takes energy, enthusiasm and staying power from the employees. In a steel company with low productivity, one cannot expect the employees to be enthusiastic. This is the commonest reason that projects fail, with the usual error being to attempt to answer a question that is too big and too general. Obtaining a concrete answer to a small and specific question is much better than attempting to obtain an answer to a 'big question'. This is also called a dichotomous scale and takes the form Yes and No questions. The Major draw back of this type is that it can be applied for demographic responses or where a dichotomous response is adequate. Analysis is almost negligible for these types of scales. This scale is appropriate when there are multiple options but only one answer is sought.

Evolution of Health Care Information Systems Essay - 1

Evolution of Health Care Information Systems - Essay Example This paper outlines that the use of health care information systems in United States has changed considerably during last twenty years. U.S. health organizations have modernized most of their health facilities in order to improve service delivery. A great deal of investments has been made in implementation of the information systems that are applied in clinical operations. In an effort to improve service delivery and decrease costs, health organizations have adopted computerized systems such as Electronic Medical Record systems. In the past, before the development of the EMR, health organizations used paper based record systems. At the time, half of the patient’s information was computerized and stored as computer printouts. From this study it is clear that the automated systems were used as primary source for analyzing patients’ information by the physicians or the clinicians. This contrasts sharply with the modern Electronic Medical Recording systems which are used as passive storage devices in many health organizations. Using this system enables physicians to access knowledge resources, reminders and alerts. Health professionals can use the system in decision making due to the fact that it enables them to access the decision support capabilities. Most of the health facilities present in the health centers could not be used to manage the patient health effectively. With the introduction of the electronic system, clinicians and physician have used the system to manage health of patients. The health facilities in the past could not provide the physician with comprehensive view of the patient’s health. Even though there is sharp contrast between health care facilities in the past and at the present, there exist some similarities. Medical records kept whichever the system is used, is very useful for documenting patient care.  

E- Commerce application for Computer hardware Sale Essay

E- Commerce application for Computer hardware Sale - Essay Example Thomas asserts that, The main stages in the development of a good interface involves conducting a detailed requirement analysis which aids in establishing the goals to be achieved by the website, outlining the site design and architecture details and performing a task analysis, prototyping, creating, testing and launching the site. After launching the site, analysis of the feedback messages is necessary to improve the site. Dix et al (pg 84) ascertains that, the use of HCI increases the productivity and reduces costs. Saving results due to few errors, reduced user interruption, reduced support staff workload, elimination of maintenance, redesign and training costs. HCI involves the design, implementation, analysis and evaluation of computer systems in relation to the user, the work and tasks. According to Dix et al (94), for an effective HCI design and implementation, the skills of sociology, psychology, computer engineering, ergonomics, sales and marketing, graphic design and technical knowledge are necessary in order to archive a high quality and effective site. HCI design must emphasize on efficient methods of communication between the users. Usability engineering is necessary in the interface design which comprises half of the software work, done on the site. Models must be formulated to help solve solution and allow the designer visualize the situation at hand says, Cooper & Riemann (pg 231). For a successful HCI design, both the user model and the implementation model are important. Most software developers concentrate on the complex software design limiting the functionality and ergonomics of the site from the user's side. Newmann and L amming, (pg 163) asserts that, conceptual design assist the user understand the system through the development of the user model. According to Newmann and Lamming, (pg 163-231), developments in the HCI field have lead to invention and use of different site enhancement techniques. These include text to speech technology which allows the synthesis of text to speech which greatly helps the visionary impaired people access the website and the use of multi modal interfaces which allow for auditory and visual interfaces creating a conducive environment for the users. These aspects of HCI greatly boost the universality of the system, says Cooper & Riemann, (pg 301). Other barriers that HCI overcomes include; colour blindness, tunnel vision, physically disability which results in the user being unable to manipulate the input devices and storage devices, age barriers and cognitive barriers. Eric (pg, 76), asserts that the security of any website is paramount especially when payments will be made using a computers and the internet. It is necessary to design an elaborate security system that prevents loss and malicious damage or access of information. There are many internet security systems that are used for enhancing security but Stephen (pg 98) argues that The SSL system or the secure socket layer is effective software for website protection. According to Stephen (pg 106), there are two major problems that occur in any network, these problems include not connecting to the right computer and loss of information/ malicious access to information when transferring information from one computer to another in a given network. The SSL system was developed by Netscape and is used for

English Language Learners Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

English Language Learners - Essay Example The paper analyzes that primary language teaching helps both teachers and students. It helps teachers and students properly communicate with each other. Students can ask questions to their teachers in their native languages, which is not easy if the communication language is other than their native languages. Moreover, students can also share their ideas more effectively with their teachers. Teachers are able to transfer knowledge to their students easily. It is also easy for the students to understand the concepts in their native languages because of their familiarity with those languages. Today, most of the companies prefer to hire such individuals who are proficient in speaking the English language. Those students, who have less understanding of English, are unable to get high paying jobs. Thus, the number of job opportunities decrease for such students, which is a major disadvantage of being less proficient in speaking English. Today, a major portion of the working class from the underdeveloped countries is working in the developed countries, such as America, England, and Canada. In all of these countries, English is the language, which people use in every social, political, and professional matter. Those people, who go from other countries to these countries for any purpose, need to have a good understanding of the English language in order to be successful. Therefore, we can say that English should be the global language because of its present and predicted widespread use in every part of the world.

Human Communication Theory and Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Human Communication Theory and Research - Essay Example Different scholars including philosophers have developed theories to help understand ways people communicate and assign meaning to what they say and hear. One of such theories is Referential Theory. The paper will discuss the theory by outlining its assumptions, strengths, and weaknesses. Â  Referential theory of meaning has its roots from the work of Aristotle, and he was the first person to expound on it in the 4th century BC (Hobbs, 2012). He had an assumption regarding words that people spoke and believed they had a meaning attached to them. According to his view, the meaning of a word consists in what it refers to (Hobbs, 2012). He gave several examples to prove his argument and as a justification that meanings are denoted by the words referred. For instance, the word "dog" is used to refer to all the dogs in the world and dogs are mammals that human beings rear at homes. Therefore, it is in order for one to hold that dog refers to all the animals who share the same similarities in the world. Similarly, knowing what dog refers to makes it easy for people to know the meaning of the word. Â  Besides, Aristotle argued by giving other additional examples towards justifying his statements. For instance, the meaning of a tree is the same one known, the meaning of a joke is the same joke we practice every day same to automobiles used in everyday life (Hobbs, 2012). Because of this, proponents of the theory believe that meaning of a term consists in its reference class. This implies that it falls into the category that the words refer. Â  The referential theory is cherished because of the identity it gives objects it refers to. The theory holds because of its ability to point to references class that is used in explaining the meaning of words used (UNC, 2015).

Discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 21

Discussion - Assignment Example The organization management come up with guidelines that shall enhance quality, which are then followed by the employees. After a certain period feedback as well as the recommendation from the stakeholders are taken and the quality support team make necessary adjustments to foster the quality (Shi, 2007). In contemporary practice, there is always a consensus regarding the right of an individual to refuse some of the life-sustaining treatments like mechanical ventilation, blood transfusion and provision of artificial nutrition. The ethical, legal argument that supports this right was framed on the principle of autonomy and the right of a patient to self-determination of care. Resistance to health care describes an individual unwillingness to be helped by a healthcare provider and is manifested by defensive behaviours that may range from minor to aggression. In the facility that I practice, it is noted that risk management of resistance to care has shown to increase safety in the workplace. Some of the strategies that are used in the healthcare organization include increasing the number of staffs, appropriate follow-up of and enhancing security at the high-risk clinical areas. Staff with different field of specialization helps in handling patients who refuse care, this can be achieved through counselling or explaining the legal repercussion of the act. In addition, enhancing security in the organization helps in averting several risks in the hospital (Kable and McLeod 2012). Some of the interventions that were employed included: campaign media and promotion whereby mass media campaigns materials, pamphlets, posters and press releases were utilised. Healthcare professionals who enhanced adoption of systematic prevention programs provided health education. The speakers provided group education through showing videos that are related to prevention of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, individuals were taught on the merits of weight loss as a

Marketing Strategy Essay Example for Free

Marketing Strategy Essay 1. Social media advertisement such as Facebook and Twitter. Through this activity of creating advertisement, their business will be more visible to the public and will be known to the market. People would just hit share and likes, and a possibility to reach to the people who are in need of a dormitory. 2. Flyers and Print ads. Flyers will be given anywhere, like outside the school, crowded area, and offices, along the streets or in any event that the flyers could be distributed. Make sure that the flyers that will be distributed has the information that the consumer needs to know and noticeable to the market. They will post tarpaulins near schools, offices and on their designated target markets. So that people will notice and be aware of this area. 3. Commission based Referrals A form of payment to an agent for services rendered. 4. Word of Mouth Seeding a message or information to a lot of people. So that consumer has an idea were to go if they will find a Dormitory or they will refer it to someone. 5. Text Blast Forward text messages about the Dormitory of those in need and give information about the Dormitory. Action Plan 1. Product Improve services, like security guard. 2. Price Minimum of 2600, max 3500 (fixed price) Price must be affordable especially one of their target markets is students. 3. Place It has laundry area, cafeteria, rooms 4. Promotions Tarpaulin should be place near schools, terminals, along the streets. Flyers must have more specified information and must be given to students, offices, along the streets or crowded area.

Management and company overview of easyjet

Management and company overview of easyjet EasyJet has make the most of successful marketing strategies through the a range of channels available, in order to set up and uphold a control position in the low-cost airline industry. One of the great business success stories of the past five years has been the launch of the easyJet airline company (Dixon, 2000). To make easy our analysis of this purpose, we not only researched EasyJet and its marketing operation adopted over the years, but also identified the main strategies used by the other leading competitors. EasyJet has frequently tried to identify itself to its customer base as the best form of budget travel in Europe. The company known the demand for this form of travel and its marketing strategies have been first and foremost geared around providing more efficient, low-cost flights, at the same time as maintaining as a high a quality of service as possible. Easy Jet needs to concentrate on maintaining its established market leadership.Miles and Snows theory of the Four Business Strategies would suggest easy Jet should move towards being an Analyser from a Prospector. To enhancing their market power both long and short-term ,Easy Jet should look to move into newer mediums for advertising, primarily using television broadcasting. Easy jet need to keep on designing new ways advancing to other ways of its competence and mobilizing within their wide employee base. Easy Jet need to further consider and by fomenting such other dimensions of this business, will help out maintain another key element which still, other rivals fail to be familiar with. Easy jet should keep on hold Its new style of advertising which can be with the help out of its existing customers. That can make things easy for Easy Jet to get to know who are the customers that are brand loyal and can use them for their advertising by providing some special offers and discounts to them. INTRODUCTION Easy Jest airline is one of the best budget or low price airline, which offer cheap flight to an increasing number of destinations around the world. It was established in 1995. It was launched by the son of Greek Shipping tycoon Stelios Haji-loannou who came to England in 1984, with two leased Boeing 737-200 aircraft. EasyJets base in London was low-rent Luton Airport, formerly used only by charter operations. (A large part of easyJets strategy was the use of secondary airports, but not as out-of-the-way as those served by the Irish discount carrier Ryanair.) Easy Jet first linked London with Glasgow (beginning November 10, 1995) and Edinburgh (two weeks later) via two leased planes. Aberdeen was added in January 1996. Answers.com In the beginning booking was by telephone only, Stelios Haji-loannou used to hate the internet and says that The Internet is for nerds, it will never make money for my business!. From this small beginning Easy jet grew rapidly, In August 1999, the site counted for 38% of tickets sales or over 135,000 seats. Stelios Haji-loannou was suggested by Russell Sheffield of Tableau one of the Easy jets design and adverting agencies in December 1997, that he should consider carrying out tests a website for direct bookings. On the other hand East jets marketing director and business manager; they saw the probable and approved a website specific phone number advertised on the site can be used to trace the volume of users on the site. Haji-loannous saw the results and change his mind, and Easy Jet commissioned Tableau as partners to develop as e-commerce website capable of offering real time online booking from April 1998. In 1998 Haji-loannou invested a total of $90 million in the company, which had ordered a dozen new Boeing 737s worth  £500 million. Online booking were handled by Tableau. Over 75% of its sales are sold directly though the website. The results have been quick and sustainable growth in the face of firm competition from the big companies. It has broken the mould assumed for low-cost airlines, operation a modern and expanding fleet intensively on competitive routes. Easy Jet strategies are bold and adventurous rather than risky. The Company takes few real risks, as it applies sound business principles at the same time as carefully exploring the market. SITUATION ANALYSIS SWOT analysis is a tool for inspecting an organization and its environment. It is the first stage of planning and helps out marketers to focus on key issues. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths: characteristics of the business or team that give it an advantage over others in the industry. Weaknesses: are characteristics that place the firm at a disadvantage relative to others. Opportunities: external chances to make greater sales or profits in the environment. Threats: external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. Opportunities and threats are external factors. Its o goal is to identify the project its internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that goal. SWOT analysis may be incorporated into the strategic planning model. Strategic planning has been the subject of much research. It is specific helpful in identifying area for development. SWOT analysis of Easy Jet Strengths The corporate culture at Easy Jet is that of informality and adaptability. The company favors a flat hierarchy whereby the management work closely with those below them in the chain of command. Employees are given responsibility to make decisions themselves. This empowerment is not only eliminates wasteful layers, ensures any situation is dealt with as quickly base possible but is also thought to increase employee motivation. WriteWork.com Essays and writing guides for students n.d Strength Financial growth was solid in Easy Jet, In 2005 Profit was improved by 9.1% over the previous years and the total amount before tax was  £67.6. Number of passenger increased by 21.4% to 29.6% million and revenue raised per sear by 78 pence to  £38.66. The brand name is strong It built its name on the back of the founder Mr. Stelios Haji-Loannou. It bright orange airlines and online booking system which lead to the strap line, The Company has become media friendly and identical with low cost travel. Easy Jet airlines strategy paying attention Focus on our customers, Own our markets and Reduce costs, which has remained strong. Easy Jet presents an online promotion alert which is e-mailed to existing customers and contact on the companys database. Easy Jet runs a fast and competent service with an average turnaround time of 30 minutes or below. This makes possible for them to preserve a reliable and hassle free service to their passengers. Weakness Domestic air travel is a tremendously competitive industry with Easy Jets main competitors being Jet2, BMI Baby, Ryan Air plus a host of smaller independent competitors. These external competitive forces can confine and shape pricing policy on some of Easy Jets less profitable routes as they search for to compete with their competitors. The other important thing which Easy Jet can be its weakness is that they do not offer the service of free food on longer flights of more than two hours. Opportunities Possible opening of options routes to main cities in Europe. A key route could be from Dublin to the UK, as this has a large potential for travelers going to soccer matches in the UK and new links into corporate flyers to and from the UK. Updated versions of the fly on the wall documentaries would provide the brand with more coverage and publicity. Offering of free refreshments and food on flights with a travel time more than two hours, this would offer an extra advantage and comfort to passengers making their experience with Easy Jet all the more comfortable and enjoyable. Threat Pricing is very threat to Easy Jet Company because competitors flying the same routes compete very competitively on price forcing pressure on margin on more popular flights and time slots. Economic slump may lead to reduce in casual flyers and corporate travel as companies seek to limit what they see as unnecessary expenses and in turn make less business trips. Outside market forces can have a major impact on Easy Jets business, Example; the rising cost of oil can have a major impact on running costs putting major pressure on the profitability of less popular routes and time slots. PEST analysis is very important that an organization considers its environment before beginning the marketing process. In fact, environmental analysis should be continuous and feed all aspects of planning. The organizations marketing environment is made up from PEST analysis, the acronym PEST stands for Political, Economic, Social, and Technological it is used to describe a framework for the analysis of the micro environmental factors Political factors are how and to what level a government interfere in the economy. Particularly, political factors take in areas such as tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade restrictions, tariffs, and political stability. Political factors may also include goods and services which the government wants to provide or be provided advantages and those that the government does not want to be provided disadvantages. In addition, governments have vast influence on the health, education, and infrastructure of a nation. Economic factors on Easy Jet include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate. These factors have main collision on how businesses function and make decisions. For example, interest rates affect a firms cost of capital and therefore to what extent a business grows and expands. Exchange rates affect the costs of exporting goods and the supply and price of imported goods in an economy Social factors include the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Movements in social factors affect the demand for a companys products and how that company operates. For example, an aging population may entail a smaller and less-willing workforce , thus increasing the cost of labor. In addition, Easy Jet Company may change various management strategies to adapt to these social trends. Technological factors include technological aspects such as, automation, technology motivation and the rate of technological change. They can decide obstruction to entry, minimum efficient production level and influence outsourcing decisions. Additionally, technological shifts can affect costs, quality, and lead to innovation. Environmental factors include ecological and environmental aspects such as weather, climate, and climate change, which may especially have an effect on industries such as tourism, farming, and insurance. Additionally, growing awareness of the potential impacts of climate change is affecting how companies operate and the products they offer, both creating new markets and moving back or destroying existing ones. Legal factors include discrimination law, consumer law, antitrust law, employment law, and health and safety law. These factors can affect how a company operates, its costs, and the demand for its products. Segmental analysis: The geographical analysis of turnover is as follows: Area 2001 2000 Within United Kingdom 86,545 73,008 Between United Kingdom rest of Europe 244,764 177,141 Within rest of Europe 25,550 13,545 Financial analysis: eMARKETING STRATEGY A strategy is long term plan of action aimed at achieving a particular result. Plans pass on to the instantaneous actions taken to implement a strategy. Strategy also can be defined as the first step to implement in the planning. eMarketing is the procedure of marketing a brand using the Internet. Whether the business is purely an online entity or a traditional business taking its first cautious steps into the digital realm, the marketers team will guide in formulating the most suitable Internet marketing strategy to accomplish the business objectives. Importance of developing an effective e-marketing strategy is indicated by Michael Porter (2001) who has said: The key question is not whether to deploy Internet technology companies have no choice if they want to stay competitive but how to deploy it. Strategy Competitive strategy is at the heart of the field of strategic management.Easy Jet ran its first Internet only promotion in a newspaper in The Times in February 1999, with remarkable results. Easy Jets early marketing strategy was based on making flying as affordable as a pair of jeans and urged travelers to cut out the travel agent. Its early promotion consisted of little more than the airlines telephone booking number painted in bright orange on the side of its aircraft. The scalability of the Internet help out deal with demand since everyone was directed to the web site rather than the company needing to employ an extra 250 telephone operators. Though, risk management did occur with a micro site built for Times readers (www.times.easyjet.com) to keep away from putting a damage on easy Jets main site. Flight promotions are intended to avoid attracting people who had fly with Easy Jet, so advance booking schemes are proposed to attain that. Book in advance for cheap seats The basic principle is that the cheapest seats are sold first, but the approaches to give way management do differ between the airlines. Easy Jet almost completely first-come, first-served, with few special offers or sales. Figure. 1 Showing Booking in Advance Thirty Percent of seats were sold online, with the rest of transaction being completed by phone, 13,000 orders were taken over the Internet in the first day alone with over 15,000 people on the site at one point. This plan made Easy Jet make more profit, five week later after the promotion Easy jet. Promotion offered cheap flights to a choice of all Easy jet destinations when 18 tokens were collected. Seats were sold during the promotion and Easy Jet got more than  £2m. Stelios Haji-loannou uses the website as a PR tool, he uses its nearness to keep newspapers informed about new promotions and offers by phoning and e-mailing journalists and pass on them to the website rather than faxing. The website was used as an aggressive tool in what is very competitive marketplace The essential components to re-think to Stelios Haji-loannou traditional views of marketing to face up the new challenges he face. The model acts as a checklist that advises us to confront the need for:- VALUE STRATEGY A logical and customer focused offer of better value to each of his customers in the terms that matter to them. MARKET STRATEGY A clear balanced strategic pathway to market that take advantage of learning and intellect capabilities to make better market choices, clarify value propositions, and to identify the relationship network to be managed in the process of going to market. INTERNET STRATEGY Developing and Integrating the potential of the Web in changing buyer and sellers relationships, offering multiple channel capabilities and developing new business models. PROCESS STRATEGY Designing and managing clear and focused process of decisions making in creating and delivering of value to customers CHANGE STRATEGY A reliable and effective approach to making things happen in the Easy Jet Company, to deliver maintainable competitive advantage and better-quality performance through the flawless delivery of value to customers Easy Jet protect its strategy, pointing out that all decisions have been made by the full board with agreement, where necessary, from shareholders. The agreement should keep growth at 7.5% this will enable Easy Jet to boost its share of the European short-haul market from the current 7% to around 10%.The board of EasyJet is also committed to ensuring that the company achieves a proper financial return on its capital and therefore has set a target of 15% return on equity. An Important strategic implication for Easy Jet is that while its current pricing strategy is optimal given its size, it would not be optimal for airline to offer such low initial prices were it to add substantial capacity to any given route. This would be the challenge for a firm that has built up expectations among customers as as airline with a great value proposition for those willing to buy early. Value Proposition The Value proposition cencept is an integral part of the business model tool that hold a set of elements and their relationships and allows expressing the business logic of a specific firm. It can be understood as the statements of benefits that are delivered by the solid to its external population. In spite of opposing opinions concerning what factors make firms successful, differentiation and focus are two normally accepted principles that bring about effective strategies and many strategy frameworks. The mixture of benefits offered to customers. Easy Jet operates very cheaply which enables them to offer customers convenience, reliability and great service. It propose cheap flights to convenient European destinations and also gives other related services. Easy Jet apply a direct services business model. The model reaches buyers and sellers directly thereby squeezing the distribution channel and improving efficiency. The reduced expenditure allows Easy Jet to offers a cluster of benefits to customers. Easy Jets value proposition can be summarized by value for money, convenience and excellent customer service. The basic assumption is that every business transaction can be broken down to five major value attributes:- PRICE Cost of goods and services PRODUCT Goods and services purchased ACCESS How consumers obtain goods SERVICES How consumers feel about the suppliers as a result of commercial transaction. EXPERIENCE How consumers feel about themselves as a result of goods and services. Easy jet Value proposition has has been to offer cheap, punctual, safe, no trappings method of travel to people who generally paid out of their own pockets. By remaining a low cost carrieer, customer belief were minimal and as a result brand new planes with the best pilots and punctual flights was clearly successfull in satisfaction the customer, as proof but the high number of repeat fliers. Easy Jets competitive advantage is largely sustainable due to its fast speed of growth and its offer to quickly achieve the benefits of operating at the most favourable scale for greater profitability. Implementation Creating new core and extendd value for customers The capability to bring interactivity and more detailed information through the internet are key to enhacing the extended product offering online. Product selection tools can help match product to customer. The Internet also gives great opportunities to get closer to the customer. The modest feedback button can offer a revelation amount of information. Better still, by analysing consumer e-mail queries from the Internet and other channels, companies can offer best product information.Easy Jet has a detailed sed of frequently asked questions that are compiled from analysis of the hundreds of thousands of questions received online.Improvement of a clear customer value proposition is now an essential part of customer centric marketing, customer relationship management and branding. Easy jet planned to implement the project internally, but the decided that they need a strategic implementation partner with experience of the target solution technology stack. Balancing online and offline promotion methods Easy jet have the promotion method, it is its first internet only promotion in a newspaper in The Times. The use of online and offline promotion. Online promotion method such as search engine registration and banner advertising often take prominence when discussing methods of traffic building, offline promotion using deferent communications tools such as advertising and PR delivery by traditional media such as TV, Radio and Print on order to deliver visitors to an online presence. The passengers online experience strengthens confidence in the booking process. A five step move towards is taken, allowing the passenger to exit at any time. The booking form remembers essential passenger information, so irritating towards the inside of basic details is not necessary if passengers want to try-out with dates and times. Once a passenger has booked their ticket for the first time, they can directly influence the ticket price, and choices are offered to them that are not available elsewhere. As a result, there seems little doubt that easy Jets customers enjoy their online experience, so ensuring that they come back regularly and often. Implementation Impact of strategy having upon the performance of the business The website was designed in such a way that it was easier for the customers to navigate and very simple design. Their new idea in the site design was introducing the games such as BAs losses and Battle with Swissair. These created a curious in the customers to checkup with the site. Also the winners were given prizes in the form of free air tickets, thus increasing the sales by involving the customers themselves. The most important strategy was to make everything easier for their customers. Easy prefix had been added where, easyEverything means, the separate internet cafe which allowed the customers to browse free though the Easy jet site. Some of the strategies which still followed by the easy jet make the customer remember of their service and name of easy jet even in offline, that is even at the street. The major value produced by this site was that it is well integrated within the business itself. That is the changes or any new destinations, everything were immediately updated in the website, once they were fed into the information system of the company. As soon as they have implemented the new system of marketing technique, that is through the internet, their sales rise significantly. This new marketing system facilitate them to lessen the running costs, which is very important to any company. Since their costs were reduced, they were able to offer their customers a discount of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1. Easy Jet company it is also easier for them to determine how much tickets got booked with the help of their website. This was possible with the help of the special telephone number on the site. It was in fact, their six months target was reached just in six weeks. Also, one great benefit they found out with the help of the easy Jets website was, almost everyone who called booked their tickets, opposite to the phone line where only one caller out of the six callers booked their ticket. Easy Jets website sales was rising, at one point they reached the level such that two-fifths of the business was generated through the website. Then they took this task to in house maintenance itself rather than outsourcing as a result the cost was reduced further. Newspaper was their first major promotion of their site was. Mainly they used The Times. This brought a very remarkable result. Where on the first day itself 20,000 tickets were sold out. As a result they used the offline advertising to promote their online ticket bookings. Legal and ethical issues When using the Internet and E-Commerce it is important to remember that there are many legal and ethical issues to be considered. Legal Issues When starting a business on the Web, there are significant legal issue to consider. Making evaluation about legal matter is about how comfortable you are with risk. If you make huge revenue with a high risk business, you could come to a decision that the money is worth the risk, or you might prefer to do it for a short period of time, collect your money and get out. This is just because there is risk does mean that it is not a good business for you. Everything in life has risks and your business is no exception. Consideration for legal and ethical matter with regard to the gathering, processing, distributing and use of information on the internet is now becoming very important. As the technology raise the relationship between the society and politics also increases. Ethical and legal decisions are therefore becoming very important to balance the needs and rights of everyone. Legal issue than can be considered are:- Where things really happen ? How should the transaction be authenticated ? How to determine the minors when making e-transaction ? Who are behind the screen ? Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace ? How can we solve the jurisdiction problem in dispute settlement ? Which Legal System will apply ? Do we have Cyber laws that protect on-line consumer ? Legal issues can be as follows:- Copyright Violation Watch out for this particular crime of sites that copy your website text legal issues or name while trying to pledge off some other item they are selling. It is provided for both the published and unpublished works. It is important when obtaining content for the Easy Jet site and in the protection of the sites content. The owner of a copyright can have the exclusive right:- To copy the work To modify the work To distribute the work To perform the work publicity To display the work publicity Trade mark It is the ownership of intellectual properties that identifies goods or services. In internet trademark is mainly used in naming the domains. A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, which identifies and distinguishes the source of particular goods. A service mark is the same as a trademark, except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. Ethical Issues E-commerce businesses which are entering in the world will be facing a new set of ethical challenges. It is easy for businesses to become sidetracked in the technical challenges of operating in this way and to pay little attention to the ethical implications. Ethical Issues can be as follows:- Advertising And Keywords Scams Unethical spyware/adware companies are promoting themselves as: get to the top of Google, Yahoo, and MSN search guaranteed for your keywords. These companies are using the term Search Engine Data Merging. Spyware and adware is installed on some users computers then they sell keywords to professionals for thousands of dollars a year. This is a huge money making scam. Identity Theft Internet Fraud Identity theft is a main problem of which have been there for long time in many situation. Be cautious, that this issue is related to online B2C ethical business issues and legal issues. Domain Name Registration Issues and Scams Domain name registration is another area online where ethics have been thrown out. Without doubt there are some gray areas for someone to be registering a domain name that is close to some other corporate identitys name. Other than that, many of these individuals and corporations that register domain names in the same country and other countries that are near to, or similar to the spellings of others, are registering the names to violate upon the trademarks and brands of other corporations and organizations. CONCLUSION The main objective of this document is to know what are the strategies followed by the Easy jet to achieve the top position in the low cost carrier in Europe. One of the great business success stories of the past five years has been the launch of the easy Jet airline company (Dixon, 2000). Easy jet has been able to be successful in this industry due to its ground-breaking. And in order to remain in this position in the following years also it has to be more and more inventive. Because in this modern world the competition is becoming heavier and heavier. This is the world of survival of the fittest. Easy Jet has continuously tried to identify itself to its consumer base as the best form of budget travel in Europe. The company known as the demand for this form of travel and its marketing strategies have been first and foremost geared around providing more efficient, low-cost flights, at the same time as maintaining as a high a quality of service as possible. Through their clear, effective website, they have strived to make it increasingly easy for customers to deal with the company, whereas strategically positioning their advertising to be directed at the market served. Policies for expansion have been the driving force behind easy Jets important growth and have enabled them to get rid of key competitor from the industry. Nevertheless, with the emergence of new, strong competitors in the industry and the increasing demand for low-cost travel, it is evident that easy Jet must remain inventive in its marketing and assign enough resources to make safe a long-term position as the market leader.

International And Comparative Human Resource Management Management Essay

International And Comparative Human Resource Management Management Essay This assignment includes journals which are in core with international human resource management (IHRM). In a modern competitive environment most of the organization move globally. IHRM is basically management of human resource internationally for the business occurs globally. Hence IHRM plays a vital role in globalized business. Compare to HRM, the IHRM have additional responsibility with regard to planning, staffing, performance management, training development, compensation and repatriation in international context. The main objective of writing this journal is to identify how HRM practice and managing the people in multinational context and as well as to identifying and analyzing the theories of this particular topic. It gives me wide knowledge about international human resource management. This reflects journal is about nine critical areas of IHRM which was discussed in our class and my observation, my personal viewpoints and theatrical understanding of each session of IHRM class. In order to present my view point better I refer magazine, books, online web and relate my class theatrical understanding with real world examples. I believe this journal will help me to recollect all what I learn from my class to understand and expand my knowledge. Introduction to IHRM In modern competitive environment company efficiency is greatly influenced by the best human recourses. The globalisation made possible for an organisation expands their business in multinational level. Human recourses management in domestic involves all management decision and practices that affect directly the people who are working in the organisation. The first class about international human resources management (IHRM) was conducted by our lecturer Mr. Chandana Kumara and he gave us brief description about our unit plan course outline, learning and assessment method of this subject. In this class we learnt introduction of IHRM in multinational prospective. Also we learnt difference between domestic and international HRM. Human resource manager in multinational company together with HR activities they engage such as helping suitable working environment for the expatriates to avoid regional disparities, reduce cultural risk and to settle down in their working place. We learnt procuring, allocating and effectively utilising human resources and HR activities in foreign locations and also we understood the importance of selecting employees in all three nations such as host country, parent country and third country. IHR manager in an international organisation need to understand the values of host country employees against the home country employees values. The HRM activity such as human resource planning, staffing, performance management, training and development, compensation and industrial relations is more complicated in multinational context. The human recourses manager for an organisation which has branches in overseas need to have a good understanding of cultural diversities and ability to manage diversifies human capital effectively. Managing human resource management internationally is not easy due to the fact that we need to consider the government regulation, policies, cultural background and strategies to be followed to run the enterprise in the host country. Major factor in international human resource management is first we need to understand and satisfy the government regulations of three country nation such as parent country nation (PCN), host country nation (HCN), and third country nation (TCN). The international HR manager has to effectively handle these kind challenges to be successful in the business. IHRM needs additional HR activities such as international taxation, International relocation and orientation, administration service for expatriates, host government relations and language translation services when an organisation moves globally (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.7). As a result HR manger should be able to identify and evaluate HR in broader perspective to treat all the employees equally and pay attention fairly when they consider for any compensation and promotion. HR manager need to satisfy all three nations when he evaluates the employee performance in multinational organisation. Moving the organization internationally it involves different types of employees with different personal life style. The risk exposure is also very high when comparing with the domestic HRM. External factors such as the growth of the host country government and state of economy also play a major role when the organization does a business globally. These factors HR manager need to be aware for the organization success and to achieve its target goals. I got good overview of IHRM and the importance to managing the people with different cultural values in international context. Globalization and rapid increase in technology gives more prominence for IHRM in an organisation. Cultural Differences Second class is all about cultural framework. This part is basically describes on cultural behaviour of the society impacts on an organisational performance. Hence HR manager for an international organisation need to have clear understanding about culture for the host nation and knowledge about different culture practice in different nation to run the organization efficiently and to avoid any misunderstandings among the employees. Here we study different culture of each country related to human resource management and expatriate cultural shock experiences when they work in different state. HR manager must know well about host country culture to reduce conflicts, cultural shock among co-workers and to achieve the business objective of the organisation. Expatriate to overcome from frustration the organisation needs to give introduction and train them. Measuring and assessment of cultural situation can be divided into two. They are emic and etic prospective. Emic refers how own nation look at their own culture and Etic is refers how outsiders views about their culture. IHR manager should have clear knowledge about both with regard to accepted customs and values of the nation as well as his understanding and his view about their values and customs. After the etic and emic perspective we learn about cultural dimension. There are lot of framework to identify cultural difference such as Hofstedes five dimension and trompernaars dimensions. For an example discussed about Hofstedes five dimensions which are individualistic vs. collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity vs. femininity, long term vs. short term and Confucianism. In order to explain the above dimension examples taken Sri Lanka and Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Japan for us to get an understanding about of these countries in terms of cultural dimension. The HR managers should have a clear understanding of the importance of host country culture. We learnt china, Japan, Sri Lanka, India which has high power distance because they give respect to the position as well when they address someone they call sir or madam. USA and UK have low power distance because they have friendly relationship between employer and employee. They all called by first name of the person. Uncertainty avoidance is high where a country can take high risk as well as planned before problem arises. Example we can say UK and USA prefer to take risk so they have high uncertainty avoidance countries. Sri Lanka is a low uncertainty avoidance country. Femininity refers to a country which gives priority to relationship. Example like Sri Lanka, India they give first priority to relationship. Masculinity is where a country gives priority for values, money, status and success.UK and USA are masculinity countries. Individualistic countries achieve their success individually. UK and USA are individualistic countries they identify their success individually. Collectivi sm is where countries achieve their success by set of group. Sri Lanka is a collectivism country. Managers in the multinational organisation, they need to work globally valuing the customs and practice of the locals of the country they work. IHR managers in the international organization need to understand and work in accordance to the cultural diversity of working people for the efficiency and to safe guard the interest of the stakeholders. The knowledge I gained in the class will help me in the future when I am working with different cultural people. The Organizational context This chapter explains how the organizations managed and controlled in international level and effectively handling its human recourses with different cultural values and languages. Also lecture explained span of control of smaller and lager organizations and the benefits of having centralized/ decentralized operation. Organization operated with centralized operation where the decision making with top level management. The manager need to mange internal factors to compete internationally. There are six factors which direct the organization effectively and efficiently. They are size, structure, host country demand, national culture and language, flow and volume of information, operation modes, control mechanism and geographical dispersion. We have to consider these six factors when moving and doing business internationally because this will impact on HR functions. IHRM plays a vital role in selecting and training people and the factors affecting HR with some of them are political and legal nature, technology, and the nature of the product. HRM has the responsibility to select the right people for the tight positions. Also it was discussed about the managers leadership style in the organization and their cultural values and their attitude. Mangers need to adopt different style according to the situation to improve the organization performance. There are some different types of leadership styles to regulate different kind of situation. They are participative, consultative, paternalistic and autocratic styles. Participate is basically always like to work, consultative consults its subordinates to go through specific objective, paternalistic is more concern about employees who works in its organization and autocratic is have a control on whats its operates. A control mechanism plays a major role in an organization. Control can be formal and informal. A formal control mechanism mainly includes for the firm of an organizational structure, reporting system, budget, performance target and formal communication. Informal coordinates its resources and activities not only in the domestic but also for the international level. Its basically includes personal relationship and informal communication and corporate culture. From this class lecture I have understood that the HR manager plays a vital role in an organization. Because they have to know about the different structure and changes which occurred during the external and internal environment. HRM in the host county context This topic explains about issues and problems relate to IHRM in the host country context. This chapter identifies and discusses drivers that interact between global standardization and localization of HRM practice when an organization operates with number of subsidiary operates worldwide. The organization has to decide whether to operate with standard HR policy need to be implement in all worldwide subsidiary or to be localized in accordance with country wise. The implementation of standard HR policies vary from parent country to host country according to culture, maturity, institutional environment, the mode of operation and subsidiary roll. When multinational enterprises (MNE) decide to standardize or localized its operation globally, it needs to have global mindset with local responsiveness. When implementing HR policies globally, the parent company needs to respect host country culture and traditions. There are four factors which have a major impact on standardization. They are host country environments or work place, mode of operation, size and maturity and subsidiary mandate. Need to adopt local institution requirements such as host country government policies and regulations and Host country employees education system and their expectations. Host country culture and workplace environment is different from the parent company culture. Hence localization would be suitable because the host country employees will be find it difficult in adapting to a different culture. Culture determines the standardization in the placement, processes and practices in the work place. For example if the host country belongs to high uncertainty avoidance the employees tend to be rather risk averse and prefer fixed compensation packages or seniority pay. Selection of mode of operation is essential in determining the standardization of work practices. When it is a fully owned subsidiary there is more possibility to standardize than in alliance. Standardization of the organization depends on size and maturity of the firm. Standardization is essential in order to build individuality in all the outlets of the organization. When the subsidiary plays a major part, the work practices and policies of the subsidiary would be standardized to add value. Th is subsidiary becomes relatively important. According to my opinion adapting to the host country background and culture is a critical factor rather than organizing a socializing program. HSBC, being a multinational company has the slogan of Worlds Local Bank, and also in Sri Lanka McDonalds quit beef burgers in India due to the culture problem raised in India and Pizza hut have been initiated to provide variety of rice and pizzas according to citizens taste and eating habits. The advantage for global standardize HR polices are ease of administration and better efficiency and effectiveness. HR policies will be much consistency and transparency. Standardization can be achieved thorough HR practice such as staffing procedure; staff appraisal system, staff training and development programs and corporate code of conduct. (E.g. Unilever, HSBC) Both Standardization and localization for MNE has advantages and disadvantages. Parent company need to adapt suitable HR policies in host country globally for the efficient and effective function. Sustaining International Business Operations This is the topic which identifies the introduction about staffing and the approaches of staffing. Staffing is very important for an organization and in human resource management staffing is a process for recruiting and selecting the best candidate from the pool of the candidate. The objective of this chapter explains about the approaches of staffing. An organization which is having subsidiary internally has different approaches. They are as follows: ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric and regiocentric. Each method includes pros and corns depending on the situation. Ethnocentric gives more importance to the parent company and it is having an authority against subsidiary operations. In this approach autonomy is limited and strategic decision is made by headquarters (Dowling Welch, 2004, P.58).this approach is managed by PCNs. This approach will retain a good communication, good coordination and strong control with parent company. Key position is hold by parent company and independent decision making is limited to the HCN and TCN. Polycentric explains MNE treats each subsidiary as separate national entity and gives autonomy to formulate decision to the subsidiary (Dowling Welch, 2004, P.59). This subsidiary is operates by local nationals. This staffing approach method is so effective and it gives more advantage to the host country nationals (HCNs). It eliminates the language barriers and adjusts the expatriate problems. Basically subsidiaries are managed by host country nation. For an e.g. HSBC is more rely on polycentric approach. Geocentric explains the MNE takes a global approach to its operations. It is accompanied by a worldwide integrated business and nationality is ignored in favor of ability (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.60) it gets the best people for the right job. Here subsidiaries are managed by PCN, HCN and TCN because to get the best work force in order to shine in operational and strategic level. Regiocentric explains that utilizes a wider pool of managers but in a limited way (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.62). Each individual HR person or organization has to take each approach regarding to its situation. We cant apply all the approach for a particular situation we must analysis and compare the situation and think what approach is more suitable for this kind of situation after that apply the staffing approach. Roles of expatriates to act as agent of direct control, to act as an agent of socialization, to coordinate the building of sustainable networks within the host country, to act as boundary spanners and to transfer competence and knowledge (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.69). International assignment includes different reasons such as to fill up the position, build up management and organization and the period of assignments can be short, medium and long term and non standard forms of assignments are commuter, rotational, contractual and virtual assignments. The functions of the expatriate: as an agent for direct control, as an agent, as network builder, as boundary spanners, and to coordinate the building of sustainable networks within the host country and transfer information and capability. Expatriate also undergo so many challenges. They are cultural issues, communicating difficulties, family absence and health problems. Here after I would say expatriate are more aware of their tasks it will lead to the success of the organization. Recruitment Selection for International Assignments Staffing Recruitment and selection are the important factor in human resource management. International recruitment and selection are important and difficult task when doing business globally. Recruiting is basically selecting a good candidate for a right job after recruit the selection process will continue in the process. That is basically gathering all information and selecting a best candidate. In this chapter mainly explains about expatriate recruitment and selection process as well as the success and failure of expatriate and the direct indirect cost of expatriates. The expatriates are used to transfer knowledge, control the organization as well as to fulfill the needs of the organization. The performance of the achievement will rank the organization. In this class mainly discuss about the recruitment and selection process done internationally for assignments. Here also discuss about major difference between the domestic and international staffing, firstly it says the firm have predisposition towards to hold the key position in headquarters and subsidiaries and by host government and the firms ability to attract the right candidate. To achieve the international assignment the expatriate should give their best shot to identify their personal trait. To prove that they should have a good leadership style, adoptability, flexibility, accept and adopts changes and work as calm and relaxed when under pressure times. Convince the managers to send the best employees for the international assignments are the main role for corporate HR. The four myths of global manager are there is a universal approach to management, people can acquire multicultural adaptability and behaviors, there are common characteristics shared by successful managers and there are no implements to mobility. Our lecturer spend some time in discussing the global manager and there function. The global manager job is tough to handle because most of the time they live abroad and they use to the different culture as well as they adapt to it. When the HR manager is recruiting employees for international assignment they have to motivate the staff to accept the foreign assignment so HR manger have to say that they are proving attractive salaries, financial incentives and other salary based benefit. When the organization is expanding their business globally they have to make sure staffing methods and policies are in line with host country laws. Selection also play major role in HR function. Expatriate failure is mainly premature return of expatriate. It will occur due to family concerns, early completion of assignments, cultural shock, security concern, lifestyle, poor performance, due to wrong selection and repatriate issues. For an example expatriate work in china they will come across cultural shock due to the poor performance. This will lead to the failure of expatriates. Analyzing the performance would be inability to adjust to foreign country, length of assignment, willingness to move, work related factors and psychological contract. Expatriate failure will cause direct cost and indirect cost. Direct cost includes airfares, associated relocation expenses and salary and training. Indirect cost will includes damaged relationship with host country and demotivating the local staff. To overcome this factors MNE should send knowledge person for the right assignment before sending the staff make sure to attend the pre departure program. International assignment will help the expatriate to gain knowledge in related topics and it will lead to achieve their career succession well. Training Development This chapter explains about one of the HRM function. Training and development plays a vital role for employees to achieve their target. In HRM recruiting selecting the first aspect and second is training development. Providing training in work place is to improve the current work, flexible in work as well as to adopt changes and challenges and work successfully in a given situation. Expatriate can perform well when they adopt and practice the training. To be last in the global market we need training as well more firms are focusing on the task of human resources as a significant part of their core competence and competitive advantage. Functions of Expatriate training contain many factors. They are Pre departure training, effective cultural training, host country business practices, host country labour laws, management styles, economic legal factors and relocation training and language training. The expatriates who work in abroad are not be aware of the host country function and cultures. To overcome this issue they have to undergo pre departure system which help the employees to know about the organisations, functions of the organisation and culture of the host country. Pre-departure training would include cultural awareness programs, preliminary visits, language training, practical assistance, training for the training role, TCN and HCN expatriate training. The success of the expatriate is depending on pre departure programs. It will give confidence to expatriate to do their work in host country. Effective cultural training also plays a major role because employees who selected to work abroad also find difficult to adopt host country culture. They undergo cultural shock so to overcome these better to have culture training. Trained expatriate will be more confident when they work in host country. Cultural training will provide confident to the expatriate to work effectively in host country. Cultural training and preliminary visit are important factor in pre departure program. Language training also plays an important role because an expatriate enter into a country and they use different language then expatriate will face difficulty. It will lead to a poor performance as well as communicate with other employees also lacking. Comfortable communication will lead to success and poor communication will lead to failure so to overcome this issue if they undergo language training it will help to be confident in host country. For an example if an employee going to China or France without attending language training they will face lot of problem. An effective employee will always go under language training before going to the host country. To compete successfully in the global market MNEs firms are focusing on the task of human resources as a significant part of their core competence and competitive advantage. To improve in competitive advantage training and development are important. Performance Management Performance management is a process which highlights in running the multinational organization and improves the entity, subsidiary unit and corporate performance as a whole to estimate whether they have achieved their target and pre determined goals. Introducing new methods to the labor force which will helps the multinational organization to carry out the employee performance to present level to the desired level. Through identifying the employees performances MNEs can evaluate the employees strengths, weaknesses and gaps between the desired one and actual one. During this process they can identify the employees in different levels. The organization proved training and development program for the employees to work easily at their home country. The major advantage of performance appraisal is selecting the right person for the right job. Because to reach the success. Mainly recruit the right employee as an expatriate to achieve the success in the global market. To motivate them the organization need to provide benefits and compensation to promote them and achieve the target goal of the organization. The organization should be very cautious when evaluating the subsidiaries sometimes it will get into demote situation. Because subsidiaries are different due to many other factors that affect performance appraisal such as who conducts the appraisal, use of standardized or customized appraisal forms, frequency of appraisal and performance feedback host country environment. There are three types of goal. They are hard goals, soft goals and contextual goals. Performance appraisals and these types of goals will help the firm to manage and control the work force and cultural to be flexible when dealing with people. Therefore performance appraisal system for subsidiary needs to be modified according to the environmental changes. The performance of the expatriate determined with support from headquarters host country culture, family consideration and external environment of the subsidiary it operates. Hence we could standardize and implement similar performance appraisal system in our entire subsidiary when evaluating performance appraisal for expatriate. Re entry and Career Issues This topic explains the challenges faced by expatriate when they enter into their home country. Re entry to their home country will lead to new challenges. Repatriate who are going to host country after finishing their task they have to return to their home country. When they come to their home country they will experience re entry shock. Expatriate will experience the cultural shock when they return back and experienced the difference of unusual things in home country. This will happens when the expatriate stayed for long time in the host country and use to the cultural differences. So when they come to home country they will experience the differences. In addition, after returning the expatriate may discover the organizations culture and subordinates also have change and expatriates feel working in a new environment. The re entry process includes four phases. They are preparation, physical relocation, transaction and readjustment. Preparation is basically when an expatriate return to theory home country they have to be well prepared. HR department must do the needful thing to the repatriate. The organization will provide the checklist when the expatriate return to their home country. Physical relocation means dismiss and finale the personal effects and breaking ties with same age group and friends and moving to the next positioning. Transaction refers to adjustment and settlement in the home country. When expatriate move to their home they need accommodation such as basic needs to fulfill the expectation. For an example such as basic needs housing, schooling, banking facility, transport facility, insurance, medical insurance and facility. Readjustment is includes in coping home country changes, reverse cultural shock and career demands. To overcome the re entry issues in home better to design a repatriate program. It will help the expatriate to avoid fear and adjustable to their home country culture. The expatriate can have Pre re entry program before they enters to their home country. This program is useful before entering into their home country. This will also help to adjust their selves in their home country. I firmly believes that HR manger have to play an important role in an expatriate re entry process. Conclusion International human resource management plays a major role in every organisation to provide a successful staff base and also achieve the firm target internationally. International human resource management mostly rely on HR issues and challenges. Throughout all the lectures I understand about the HR roles and challenges faced when expatriate enter into the host country as well as issues occur when expatriate re enter to their home country. After understanding about the international human resource management I realize HR manger plays a vital role in recruiting, selecting, training an employee for the right job globally. The success of the multinational organisation depends on HR managers selection. HR manager have a responsibility to make sure to improve skills and knowledge of the employees in order to shine in domestic environment as well as global environment. These reflective journals help me out to understand about human resource management globally. Our lecturer Mr. Chandana kumara discusses lot of questions and argues with students in related topic. It helps me gather more information in related topics in international human resource management.