Research Project Climate Change Essay

INTRODUCTION Climate change is the variation of the weather in global scale which include changes in temperature, precipitation, nebulosity and other phenomena. These variations last for an extended period of time (decades to millions of years) and they can be caused by external forces (variations on the solar activity, orbital variations, impact of meteorites), internal forces (volcanic eruptions, plate tectonics, El Nino), or by results of the human activity (global warming). Global Warming There are many questions about global warming, from its causes to its effects, and many people even question whether or not it even exists. Global warming is described as the increase of the average temperature of the Earth caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities, such as deforestation, use of fertilizers, fossil fuel combustion and cement production. According to the global warming theory, the intensification of industrial activities during the twentieth century (based on the fossil fuel combustion such as petrol and coal) increased the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. The increase of the global temperature and the new composition of the atmosphere lead to several alterations which affect the elevation of the sea level, heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall, ocean acidification and species extinctions, to name a few. Greenhouse effect and the emission of CO2 Greenhouse gases keep the Earth warm through a process called the greenhouse effect. If it were not for the greenhouse gases trapping heat in the atmosphere, the Earth would be a very cold place. Greenhouse gases are any of the atmospheric gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation produced by solar warming. They include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and water vapor. Greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, but the elevated levels are directly blamed to human activities, specially the production in excess of carbon dioxide when any material containing carbon is burned, such as oil, coal, natural gas, or wood. However it is controversial whether the human activities are to blame for the global warming due to the emission of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide represents a very small percentage of the gases in the atmosphere (only 0.032%) and it is immediately absorbed by the vegetation, in all kind of environments, without any possibility of accumulation anywhere. The population that consumes CO2 (plants) is much bigger than the population that is emitting this gas (men and machines). Besides, the energy used in the process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere is endless: the solar energy. Mainly, the determining factors of the climate change are basically the energy of the sun or insulation and the speed of the rotation and translation of the Earth. Is Global Warming Real? Although the whole world is aware of the global warming issue and is afraid of what its impacts could do in the coming future, there are those who still believe global warming is a fiction and does not exist. The global warming debate in many parts of the earth is ranging more than before. One of the world’s best known climate change sceptic John Coleman, who co-founded the Weather Channel, has claimed that the theory of man-made climate change is no longer scientifically credible and rising global temperatures points to a natural phenomenon within a developing eco-system. According to Coleman, global warming has become a political and environment agenda item, but the science is not valid, and efforts to prove the theory that carbon dioxide is a significant greenhouse gas and pollutant causing significant warming or weather effects have failed. â€Å"The impact of humans on climate is not  catastrophic†, he says, â€Å"our planet is not in peril. It is all a scam, the result of bad science.† (John Coleman, 2014) On the other hand, former Vice President Al Gore, who had an award-winning documentary film in 2006 called An Inconvenient Truth which discusses the present and future effects of global warming, continues his fight against global warming and says that â€Å"we simply cannot continue to use the atmosphere as an open sewer for dirty and dangerous global warming pollution that endangers our health and makes storms, floods, mudslides and droughts much more dangerous and threatening.† (Al Gore, 2014). He supports the adoption of renewable energy such as solar and wind power and enforces bold new standards for fuel economy. CONCLUSION Whether global warming is a consequence of human activities or other phenomena (or both), it is real and climate change is happening. We should all do our part to help alter the future path of human-induced warming by adopting a more responsible lifestyle to reduce the amount of CO2 emission by reducing waste, recycling, switching to green power (wind and solar), planting trees, carpooling and so on. Also, less energy use means less dependence on the fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases and contribute to global warming. REFERENCES Climate Change. – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change (Online; accessed 14-November-2014). Global Warming. – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming (Online; accessed 14-November-2014). Global Warming. – NOAA National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-references/faq/global-warming.php (Online; accessed 14-November-2014). Coleman, J. (2014) Global Warming Greatest Scam in History! – Global Warming And The Climate. Retrieved from http://www.global-warming-and-the-climate.com/ arguments-against-global-warming.htm Gore, A. (June 18, 2014) The Turning Point: New Hope for the Climate. – Rolling Stone. Retrieved from http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/ the-turning-point-new-hope-for-the- climate-20140618 Statement by Former Vice President Gore on Australia’s climate policy. July 17, 2014. Retrieved from blog.algore.com (Online; accessed 19-November-2014).

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Essay

Oliver Twist is a novel written by Charles Dickens. The novel follows an orphan boy named Oliver through many trials and tribulations he must endure. Through this he does have a few kind, compassionate, and stable people to rely on. Two of the most important were Nancy and Rose Maylie. Within this essay I will give a detailed description of both Rose and Nancy and also compare and contrast the two. First I would like to introduce you to Nancy. Nancy is the only female character of Fagin’s group. Being a part of this group Nancy must steal from the rich in order to make money for basic necessities and keep her relationships with the crew. This lifestyle puts he in the criminal social class or otherwise know as the lowest of the low social class. Nancy, much like Oliver, was also an orphan growing up. She acquires no formal education; therefore she can neither read nor write. Even though Nancy was not blessed with the luxury of the basic upbringing, she maintains very impressive street smarts. She displays this when bringing stolen goods to Fagin that are bundled like a baby so it is not witnessed as suspicious. Nancy may have been a criminal but she had a great heart. She had a great relationship with all of Fagin’s boys and cared for all of them. She also cared greatly for her boyfriend Bill Sikes who, in my opinion, did not return this love. Bill was very abusive towards Nancy and seemed to threaten her on a regular basis. When confronted with the question, â€Å"Do you love me Bill?† by Nancy, he did not directly answer and proceeded to ignore the question. In the end it was also Bill who ended up murdering Nancy. Apparently, Bill Sikes thought Nancy telling Mr. Brownlow and Rose where to find Oliver was punishable by death. By following through with the action of â€Å"peaching†, Nancy shows how much she truly cares about Oliver. Another major character in Oliver’s life was Rose Maylie. Rose Maylie was a ward of Mr. Brownlow, therefore also making her an orphan. Mr. Brownlow was an Upper Middle Class man, which made Rose and Upper Middle Class â€Å"Victorian woman.† She, like many others from her social class, was well educated. She even was very talented at playing the piano. Mr. Brownlow’s grandson, Edward, wanted to marry Rose. Rose, seeing that Edward’s thinking was wrong, expressed to him how against the idea she was; something very uncommon for that day in age. Oliver was brought into the home by Mr. Brownlow after Oliver was wrongfully accused of pick pocketing him. While Oliver is changing into clean, more appropriate clothing, Rose notices scars on Oliver’s back due to beatings. From then on Rose feel obligated to protect poor Oliver. She becomes somewhat of a sister figure to him. Throughout the novel Rose protects and defends Oliver. As you can see Nancy and Rose are different in many ways. However, both women do have a few things in common. Rose and Nancy both had very different social classes.

Comparative Academic Review

Introduction The aspects of psychiatric treatment of patients have been widely discussed in the academic literature on the subject in the last several decades. In two separate studies, Christina Katsakou et el. (2010) and Jelena Jankovic et. al (2011) trace the practical implications of treatment satisfaction and caregivers’ experiences respectively. Both studies cover specific aspects of psychiatric treatment in the UK. The first study focuses on the coercion and treatment satisfaction among patients, who have been admitted for psychiatric treatment involuntarily. The research, conducted in 2010, reveals the impact of coercion on the satisfaction of treatment among patients, as well as the psychological aspects of coercion. The study has been conducted as an observation in 22 hospitals in England, where a total of 778 patients were recruited (Katsakou et. al, 2010). Their satisfaction with the treatment they received has been measured at different stages: one week, one month, three months and one year after the admission. In order to measure the levels of satisfaction, the authors have used factors such as clinical improvement and clinical characteristics. The results from this study were obtained using standard statistical analysis, and indicated an increase in the satisfaction among involuntarily admitted patients between their first admission and the different follow ups. The second study, conduc ted in 2011, focuses on the experiences of family caregivers during involuntary hospital admissions of their relatives. It is a qualitative study, which used as a research method semi-structured interviews, conducted with 29 caregivers whose relatives have been admitted involuntary in 12 hospitals across England (Jankovic et.al., 2011). Throughout the study, major themes have been identified, such as relief and conflicting emotions, frustration with the delay of getting help, etc. The results of the second survey have concluded that the role of the family caregivers can be enhanced if their duties are valued enough, without turning into a burden. The purpose of this brief academic review is to critically compare both studies, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses and possible contributions to the literature on the subject. Both studies provide valuable insight on the subject of treatment of patients with mental illnesses, and reveal the interactive nature of the clinical process as a dynamic interaction between different elements – institutions, caregivers, and patients. Both studies manage to reveal the intricacy of the connection, which exists between coercion and satisfaction in the first case, and family caregivers as active elements in the process of involuntary admission in the second case. The first study uses a quantitative research method and statistical analysis, based on an observational study. The study has been conducted in 22 hospitals in England. The advantage of the choice of this method for the purposes of study is its accuracy and straightforwardness. Results obtained through observation are easier to analyse, and presented in a comprehensible and consistent manner. In terms of the design of the research, the use of timeline base is a feasible option, which meets the research aims of the study and unfolds different aspects of satisfaction among patients. The fact that the patients have been examined at three different periods following their first admission provides the researchers with the possibility to explore how satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) develops gradually. This is an important feature of the research design deployed, because here satisfaction is discussed in relation to memory and emotions, which change over time. This changeability has been ca ptured with the choice of the design. Also, it is a good way to operationalize and thus measure the main variable – patients’ satisfaction. Despite the fact that the operationalization of satisfaction was enhanced through the use of specific research design, the study could have also benefited from a bigger emphasis on open interviews, conducted with a certain (perhaps smaller) portion of the patients. This is because interviews allow for more abstract and personal issues to be uncovered in the research and these are issues which are usually unquantifiable and difficult to detect in observational studies and semi-structured interviews. As far as data collection is concerned, the authors of the first study have used two different models, designed to measure satisfaction – one concentrating on potential base lines predictions combining satisfaction scores from all time points (baselines, one month and three months) and another one concentrating on the results from the follow ups only. The data was analysed using a three step model, and applying standard linear statistical analysis (Katskakou et.al, 2010:287-288). This comprehensive choice of methods and models for data collection has enhanced linear results, which allow readers to obtain an extensive view of satisfaction not only as an isolated variable, but also as a process, which is happening over time. However, one of the weaknesses of this study in the methodological part is the sampling. The researchers have attempted to obtain a representative sample, covering hospitals from different geographic areas and patients of different ethnic and social backgro unds. Little, if anything is mentioned however on how the eligibility of the patients has been identified (eligibility criteria). Another weakness in the methodology part is related to the decreasing number of patients interviewed at the baseline, the first month and the third month and one year. For the baseline, the patients are 778, and for the one year follow up their number has decreased almost in double – 396 (Katskakou et.al., 2010: 289). This might pose some problems related with the generalizability of the results obtained and the consistency of observations. Although it would be a formidable task to keep the number of patients at each point exactly the same, at least proximity in the numbers of interviewees could have been targeted. Another possible weakness of the study is related with the lack of causality between coercion and satisfaction. In other words, the study does not necessarily reveal a cause-effect relationship between the two, because coercion in this observation has been explored as an individual projection. However, this can also be looked at as an advantage, because a cause-effect relationship between two abstract concepts can oversimplify their existence in a particular setting. To compare, the second study uses a very different methodology. It is a qualitative study, and the variables measured here are even more abstract compared to the first study. The psychological aspects of personal experiences relating to care are difficult to capture and quantify, and this is important to mention in the methodological review of the second study. In terms of choice of methods, the authors have used semi-structured interviews, conducted among family caregivers of 29 patients admitted involuntary against 12 hospitals in England (Jankovic et.al., 2011: 1). Compared to the first study, here the sample is much smaller. It is arguable whether such a small sample can provide results, which are generalizable. Perhaps the authors have decided to choose smaller number of participants in order to observe the matter more closely. Here it is important to note that the issue of carers’ experiences is sensitive and often a stressful one. Therefore a smaller sample would give t he chance to conduct more detailed interviews, and thus capturing nuances of the matter, which remain unexamined in studies involving larger samples, due to time constraints. Another problem with the sample, just like in the first study, is its ability to represent the population. A closer look at the participant’s characteristics in the second study reveals that in more than 50 percent of the cases, the relationship of the carer to the patient is â€Å"parent† (Jankovic et.al., 2011: 3). This fact could have influenced the results, since parents tend to be much more concerned for their children. They are concerned first as patients, and then as carers – therefore a more representative selection of the carers could have taken place (for example equal number of carers who are patients, partners, siblings or children). Yet, the study manages to make good use of thematic analysis, clustering answers of the patients and identifying four important themes – rel ief and conflicting emotions in response to the admission, frustration with the delay in getting help, being given the burden of care by services and difficulties with confidentiality (Jankovic et.al, 2011:3-4). Just like the first study, the methodology is well-implemented in terms of coding. In the second study, two independent researchers have been selected to code the interviews, and the results have been finalized through a joint discussion (Jankovic et.al, 2011:3). In both studies, the methods chosen have met the research criteria, and have been meticulously implemented to produce comprehensive and well-themed results. Also, the proposed hypotheses have been well tested. Here it is important to note that both studies tackle issues, which are not easily quantifiable or measurable. The first study concentrates on satisfaction among patients which have been involuntary admitted for treatment, while the other one focuses on an even more sensitive and abstract issue, related with personal experiences among family caregivers in the cases when patients have been admitted for treatment. Therefore the authors of both studies have made significant effort in the planning of the research, its design and implementation in order to make the themes of their research measurable. As a result both studies have managed to create consistent results. The first makes coercion and satisfaction measurable, with the implementation of a 0 to 5 scale of coercion and inco rporating the results in a separate model. Critics would suggest that the method implemented in the first study is too rigid for the investigation of issues, which are deeply psychological and reflect the personal perceptions of patients on the way they have been treated. Although the study could have benefited from a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, its reliance on quantitative techniques only does not affect the overall validity of the results. Perhaps one of the biggest strengths of this study is that through the interpretation of the results, the authors manage to reveal the connection between patients’ satisfaction and coercion as an individual perception. As already mentioned, the second study relies solely on a qualitative technique. They authors capture the nuances in the experiences of the caregivers, and interpret the results closely adhering to the themes, identified by them during the data analysis stage. Both studies deal with aspects of psychiatric treatment, which are challenging due to their specificity. Therefore they both make significant contribution to the literature and theory on the subject. The first study sheds light upon the complexity of coercion as an individual perception, and its results resonate with those obtained in earlier studies (Lidz et.al, 1998; Sorgard, 2004). Observing coercion as an individual perception, projected by patients as a result of hospital surroundings and treatment, shows a major transition in clinical psychology, and a shift towards a more constructive approach for understanding patients’ reactions. In this sense, this study can be classified as a constructivist study, because it measures how perceptions are formed and exemplified by particular patients in particular environments. It deviates from earlier studies on the subject, like the ones conducted by Svensson et al. (1994) and Spenseley (1980), which observe patients’ satisfa ction with treatment in their entirely empirical dimensions, ignoring individual projections. Similarly, the findings and conclusions from the second study (Jankovic et.al, 2011) resonate with conclusions from previous research on the subject (Simson et. al, 2002; Jones et.al, 2009). Therefore this study belongs to a particular body of literature in clinical psychology, which explores the psychological and social impact on families of care for people with mental disorders. Both studies contribute to their relative subjects, and might have important implications in terms of policy reform in health care services for people with mental illnesses in the UK. Recommendations for policy-makers in this sector, stemming from Jankovic’s study include an improved service, which would ensure that carers obtain proper assistance and cooperation from hospitals prior to the admission of mentally unwell relatives. This would have positive implications to the quality of treatment of mentally unwell patients, by enhancing cooperation between carers and institutions, which would inevitably lead to a better distribution of responsibilities. Katsakou’s study might have policy implications as well, because it reveals the necessity for interventions, which would reduce patients’ perceived coercion. In conclusion, both studies discussed in this review present specific aspects of treatment of mentally unwell patients. Despite some weaknesses in sampling, and some minor limitations, both studies make significant contributions in their relative fields, and offer new, and well-supported angles of interpretation on the themes they cover. Both studies make good use of research methods, despite the differences in the number of participants for the first and the second study. Some issues related to generalizability of the results have arisen, such as the decreasing number of observed patients in the first study and the small sample in the second study. Still, the data analysis and the interpretation of the results obtained have been meticulously carried out and well situated in the context of existing literature. In addition, both studies might serve as a basis for policy-reform in the UK healthcare system, ultimately leading to improvement of the latter. In sum, the studies present coh esive and well-researched conclusions and can be a useful reading for students and professionals, occupied in the field of Clinical Psychiatry, Health Services and Public Policy. Reference list: Jankovic J, Yeeles K, Katsakou C, Amos T, Morriss R, Rose D, Nichol P, McCabe R, Priebe S (2011) ‘Family caregivers’ experiences of involuntary psychiatric hospital admissions of their relatives – a qualitative study’, PLoS ONE 6(10): e25425. Jones IR, Nilufar A, Catty J, McLaren S, Rose D, Wykes T, et al. (2009) Illness careers and continuity of care in mental health services: A qualitative study of service users and carers. Soc Sci Med 69: 632–639. Katsakou C, Bowers L, Amos T, Morriss R, Rose D, Wykes T, Priebe S (2010) ‘Coercion and Treatment Satisfaction Among Involuntary Patients’, Psychiatric Services 61: 286-292 Lidz C, Mulvey EP, Hoge SK (1998) et al: Factual sources of psychiatric patients’ perceptions of coercion in the hospital admission process. American Journal of Psychiatry 155:1254–1260 Simpson EL, House AO (2002) Involving users in the delivery and evaluation of mental health services: systematic review. BMJ 325: 1265–1268 Sorgaard K (2004): Patients’ perception of coercion in acute psychiatric wards: an intervention study. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry 58:299–304 Spensley J, Edwards DW, White E (1980): Patient satisfaction and involuntary treatment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 50:725–729 Svensson B, Hansson L (1994) : Patient satisfaction with inpatient psychiatric care. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 90:379–384

Symphony of Ludwig Van Beethoven Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Symphony of Ludwig Van Beethoven - Research Paper Example The sketchbook of Beethoven shows that some musical materials that were used in the symphony were written in 1811 (Nicholas 231). The symphony also came from other Beethoven’s pieces, while completion of the work on its own right shows some sense for future sketches for the symphony. The choral fantasy is basically a movement of piano concerto, which brings the vocal soloists and a chorus piano near the end of climax. In this symphony, theme is first sung by vocal forces and is played by instruments, thus making it highly reminiscent of the ninth symphony’s corresponding theme. Going further back, the theme of the choral fantasy’s earlier version has its origins from the song â€Å"Gegenliebe† which means, â€Å"Returned Love†, for high voice and piano that dates back to 1795. Scherzo’s theme was composed from fugue, which was written in 1815. The symphony’s vocal introduction part caused Beethoven to encounter very many difficulties. His friend, Anton Schindler said that his work on the fourth movement made Beethoven struggle than never before. The aim was finding out the most appropriate way of Schiller ode’s introduction. One day, he was able to get a version with the words of singing the immortal Schiller’s ode. Though he was very happy to get it, he did not retain it, but kept on writing other versions until he got its final form. This final form had the words, â€Å"O freude, nicht diese Tone, which translates into â€Å"not these sounds, oh dear friends†. ... Beethoven augmented each wind part with two players at the premiere. The woodwinds included piccolo, 2flutes, 2 oboes, 2clarinets, and 2 bassoons. Brass was composed of 2 horns, 2 trumpets, and 3 trombones. The fourth movement was sung in soprano solo, alto solo, tenor solo, baritone solo, SATB choir voices. Percussions were also used and comprised of timpani, bass drum, triangle and cymbals. Finally, his composition was accompanied by strings that included violins, viola, cellos and double basses. Form Beethoven’s symphony was in four movements: allegro, scherzo, Adagio and recitative movements. He changed the common classical symphonies patterns by placing scherzo prior to slow movements, instead of the vice versa (Hopkins 76). The first movement was in the form of sonata, which was accompanied by a stormy mood. His inspiration was felt in the opening theme, when pianissimo was played over string tremolos, to resemble orchestra sound. The theme showed clarity and power that drove the entire movement. On the other hand, the introduction employed relationships, from mediant to tonic, which distorts the key until it is played in the lowest register by the bassoon. Scherzo, the second movement, resembles the first movement in the opening theme. Written three times, its punctuation sounds like it is in a quadruple time when played with meter speed Hopkins 127). This movement made Beethoven to face various criticisms for failing to abide by standard forms of his composition. This movement has an internal structure that is very elaborate, making it a complete sonata. The third movement comprises of a lyrical slow movement in a variation form that is loose. Each variation pair then progressively elaborates the melody and rhythm. The fourth movement is a

Persuasive Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Persuasive Memo - Essay Example Some companies may opt to lay off some of the workers in order to evade providing their health cover. There is also a high probability that employers will incur additional costs for their employees’ insurance. This may arise because insurance companies have to cover everybody including the sick. They may therefore increase the general insurance costs for health cover, in order to cater for the high risk of loss. Our company, therefore, needs to create well-thought strategies to meet the mandates of this Act and retain the much needed part-time workers, while concurrently ensuring  that  they dont bear  unneeded  costs. For instance, the company can offer a fixed amount of money to employees, to cater for specific drugs or procedures. This amount is a form of incentive that prompts the employees to look for the best price when making any purchases. Additionally, since the company needs the part-time workers, offering minimal coverage would help to retain them, and even improve their productivity. Moreover, the company should implement the disciplinary acts that the Act allows for such as surcharges to smokers, to avoid incurring avoidable

Hospitality Service Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Hospitality Service Management - Assignment Example Innovation is the key focus to excel in this industry. Utilising service management for proper handling and delivery of services is the aspect which the services industry must set a priority in their areas of concern for promotion and company's growth - including industries in health care, caterers, manufacturers and suppliers, tourism and financial services. Organisations must set the difference between the idea of customer satisfaction and service of quality rendered to clients. Although sometimes considered ambiguous, a specific label is required that will detach these important entities with regards in providing services of which supposed as one. Both are correlated in terms of industrial needs but different. Customers may vary on every organisation to which they provide their products, be of services or goods, by some mechanism acceptable in the industry's marketplace. Of course, getting through the competition in the market is another endeavour which organisation needs focus. Customer satisfaction is a business term which is used to capture the idea of measuring how satisfied an enterprise's customers are with the organization's efforts in a marketplace (Wikipedia, 2006). Once customer's expectations are exceeded, the organisation will attain high levels of customer satisfaction and will create "customer delight." This implies that organisation must possess the ability to fulfil the consumers' needs through business, emotional and psychological aspects. The interaction between the service provider and the recipient, which are the customers, must not be in idle to properly measure the level of satisfaction. Proper attitude in dealing with varied customers should be considered; knowing their attitudes, feedbacks or commendations can contribute in determining the organisation's marketing strategies. Basically, organisations aim is to retain customers in patronising their services offered and the target of increasing the number of loyal customers and eventua lly increasing the organisation's revenues. Although customer satisfaction may vary from customer-to-customer, it is important to consider that physical and psychological characteristics which play a very important factor in measuring the degree where customers satisfy with the organisation's services. Comparatively speaking, the customer's expectation can be evaluated with the customer's experience prior relevant to the services the organisation delivers. Organisation must take into account that satisfaction is not quantitatively measured since it is more of a psychological aspect; it is more of the qualitative. And, service of quality will be now measured. Commonly, customers define 'quality' as they are met by their perception and experience. This is the degree or level of customer's satisfaction with the services or products an organisation offers dependently to the environment and the kind of service given. It is difficult to conform to the expectations of the customers needs with the level they require with regards to efficiency, quality, flexibility, and dependability to the services delivered. To achieve this, Total Quality Management (TQM) is applied. TQM is management philosophy committed to a focus on continuous improvements of product and services with the involvement of the entire workforce. This principle is a long-term process to sustain business excellence and the comprehensively and continuously involvement of all organisation functions. Through this method,

Basic knowledge of Contract Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Basic knowledge of Contract Law - Case Study Example Shiny Ltd. faces the prospects of grappling with breach of contract cases after three separate retailers found the orders delivered to them deficient. The purpose of this paper is to advise Shiny Ltd. of its legal position on these cases, which suggest breach of contract. Retailer 1 - Mohammed personally placed an order for 75 pieces of the orange plastic buckets that he saw at the display room of Shiny Ltd. He specified that he wanted the handles of the same buckets to be replaced with metal ones. The retailer learned that these buckets were the last items of that type and color that Shiny Ltd. had in stock. When Shiny Ltd. agreed to the additional specification, Mohammed paid for the order in cash with the understanding that delivery will be made the following week Retailer 2 - At about the same time, another retailer by the name of Navraj telephoned Shiny Ltd. to order 120 black buckets. The supplier had 180 of such black-colored buckets stored in its warehouse and informed Navraj that his order would be sourced from that stock. Delivery was arranged for the following week with payment to be made within 10 days of delivery. Immediately after the telephone call, the manager of Shiny Ltd. went to the warehouse and made a separate stack of 120 black buckets from the 180 in stock. The stack of 120 black buckets was then labeled: "Property of Mr. Navraj." Before any delivery was made to either Mohammed or Navraj, however, there was a fire at the supplier's warehouse that, before it was put out in time, completely burned the 120 black buckets destined for Navraj and partially destroyed the 25 orange buckets ordered by Mohammed. The stack of 60 black buckets that was separated from Navraj's order was rescued from the fire. When informed of the accidental fire, Navraj and Mohammed indicated that they wanted Shiny Ltd. to fulfill their orders. Retailer 3 - The third retailer, Oliver, ordered and paid for 100 lightweight plastic buckets without specifying any color, to be delivered the very next day. Shiny Ltd. duly loaded the buckets onto a lorry owned by an independent carrier for delivery to Oliver. When the buckets arrived at Oliver's premises he found that a number of the bucket handles had been damaged. The buckets apparently sustained the damage because they were not properly secured in transit. Oliver wanted to return his order to Shiny Ltd. and get his money back plus damages. Legal Principles The term breach of contract is defined in law as the "failure without legal reason or legal excuse to comply with the terms of a contract or to perform any promise which forms the whole or part of the contract." Shiny Ltd. definitely has the "legal excuse" for failing to meet the terms of the three aforementioned purchase orders, which represent the breached contracts. The firm may have fallen short of the retailers' expectations on three counts, failing to deliver the orders of Mohammed and Navraj on time and having partially damaged goods delivered to Oliver. However, no willful conduct and gross negligence were involved at all in these shortcomings of Shiny Ltd. In the US and many other countries, punitive damages are awarded on breach of

How Does the American Public School Philosophy address the concept of Research Paper

How Does the American Public School Philosophy address the concept of Democracy aad the individual - Research Paper Example In this case, before undertaking to explore the role that American schools play in educating children in about democracy, it is crucial to attempt explaining the relationship between the two concepts of education and democracy. Thus, from a contemporary point of view, democracy can be considered to be that which results from and is reflective of modern day societies political and market economy, it personified by activities such as choosing political representatives and an autonomous judicially (Loflin, 2008). In these premises, school provides education to the minority future political figures, the majority to fit into their future role as consumers and producers in the society, and ultimately the decision makers in the society. Hence, such an education, will ideally involve educating them by practical activities so that they can experience democracy in their own personalized setting such as participating in their student centered committees and organizations, in their schools. This paper is an introspection of the role played by public schools in perpetuating the concept of democracy and individual through pedagogy by discussing the rationale; examining the objectives of teaching democracy in schools, the methods and implementation as well as the challenges that are encountered in the endeavor. The culture of democracy should be taught to schoolchildren for a number of reasons; prominent among them is the need to create self-awareness to them, which is instrumental in helping them take responsibility for their lives and the country’s destiny. This is because when children understand democracy, they will appreciate its importance and can easily apply it in their lives as students. This is concerning activities such as voting for prefects and student leaders as well as in simple things like solving a dispute on where to eat lunch among friends or which bus to take home (Rosenthal and Burroughs, 2003.). While these might seem like minor considerations, th ey set ground for bigger issue that the students will have to make in their adult lives, and it helps socialize them into democratically sensitive individuals. Although it is hailed and praised for facilitating legitimate governance, democracy can only be as strong as those who practice it. As a result, in America, students should be taught about democracy in order to ensure they are able to make judgments for themselves on what is democratic and what is not democratic. The process of democracy in America is often fraught with conflict and can often be messy, thus, teaching schoolchildren democracy is crucial since it helps them to appreciate the potential for conflict that result even with democracies, in order to develop democratically acceptable ways of dealing with these conflicts. In addition, youths might mistakenly assume that what happens in congress, and in national politics, is the epitome of democracy due to its lofty position. Nonetheless, the truth is that democracy is frequently abused and overstepped by politicians in their search for political mileage. Therefore, education about democracy provides learners with wisdom enabling them to contemplate the political climate and happenings critically so that they do not get mislead by these populist shenanigans. Electronic and print media has failed miserably in their attempt to convey to

Performance Evaluation & Competitive Benchmarking Research Paper

Performance Evaluation & Competitive Benchmarking - Research Paper Example The information was gathered from these sites by searching for the most appropriate and relevant key words such as hospitality, satisfaction, quality of services, accommodation, cuisine and beverages. Of all the 50 reviews, many clients seem to be content with the quality of services offered by these restaurants. However, for them to be too competitive, they need to make the necessary improvements in their specified weak areas. â€Å"Trace† Restaurant is part of the prestigious W Hotel SF which specializes in the provision of catering, accommodation and a wide range of services. As an established facility, â€Å"Trace† Restaurant, it is obvious that the restaurant offers a high degree of quality services. This has been evidenced in the kind of reviews it has been getting from the clients who often attest to the nostalgic and memorable experiences they had while visiting the facility. Based on my experiences and the numerous positive customer reviews, I would like to point out that this restaurant offers an exceptionally high quality service. For this reason, anyone who visits it, would not be disappointed, but would have to get a taste of delicious meals in a conducive environment worth staying on. Indeed, the reviews published in Yelp, Trip Advisor and social media platforms demonstrate that the restaurant has lots of strengths which need to be maintained for excellent services. To begin with, the restaurant is equipped with high tech modern and up-to date facilities. These include comfortable tables, chairs, beds which are used by the clients when having their meals or spending the night within the restaurant. In order to effectively accommodate all its clients, the management has supplied the facility with a total of 500 chairs and 300 tables. The other strength for â€Å"Trace† Restaurant is that it has employed a team of professionals to manage its

The stages of the selection process Essay Example for Free

The stages of the selection process Essay Shortlisting: Shortlisting applicants is like a minefield, if the JCC doesnt short list an applicant that feels they should have been, they could take the company to court over discrimination, and this could cost the JCC money. It is the HR department that take out the shortlisting, and the JCC make sure that all of their staff are adequately trained in this process because they dont want to get involved in any discrimination court case. It can be very difficult when shortlisting application forms so the HR staff judge each application form on the applicants own merits, they wont compare two applicants with each other. The applicants are classified into three categories; these categories are DEFINITE, MARGINAL, and UNSUITABLE. The staff decides which category the applicant goes into, the definite pile are people who are definitely going to be interviewed, the marginal are boarder line and if there arent enough people in the definite category a few marginal applicants will get an interview, and the unsuitable applicants just get a letter saying thanks for their time but they have been unsuccessful this time. When the HR department are making the interviews they attach a form on the front of the application form saying why applicants got an interview and why some applicants never got an interview. When making the shortlist the HR apartment must be politically correct in the reason the applicant did or didnt get an interview with the JCC. Those people who were in the marginal and unsuccessful pile will be on file with the JCC for six months so the applicant can query why they didnt get the interview, or in case they want to make a claim against the JCC, so the JCC have proof as to why they didnt get the interview, and they also keep them on file for reference for if someone leaves there job, people in the definite pile get kept on file for twelve months and those who were successful with their application form and got the job get kept on file for life. Application packs: A job description and a person specification are sent out with an application form. The reason these are sent out with the application form is so the applicant has the best chance of getting the job and so they know what qualities they will need to get the job, and on the application form it also says when the deadline is for the job. Information for candidates: They should know the overview of position, overall responsibilities, requirements, responsibilities References: in the recruitment process is requesting for references. Once the applicants have been short-listed the recruiter will contact the nominees and ask them to provide a reference. Some references ask for detail about the applicants skills. Others just ask for more general comments. Interview: The interviews are conducted by the HR staff and on the interview panel they have three or five interviewers depending on how big the position is. Normally the panel consists of the team leader of the department the job is for, the HR manager there is a set very specific process that is followed for each candidate and every applicant has to go through the process so everyone gets a fair chance. All of the people on the panel need to be very aware of who is asking what question, they also need to be aware of the process so they look professional, there will also be a chairperson on the panel for the interview who keeps control of everything, he makes sure everyone is prepared and dressed properly, the chairperson will have devised a timetable and every one will have the same amount of time in the interview. The chairperson also makes sure that everyone on the panel has a copy of the job description, the person specification and each applicants application form. The interview panel prepare by reading through each applicants application form just before they review it. The chairperson introduces each applicant to the panel and explains what is going to happen during an interview and explains that the applicant can ask questions at the end. The JCC are very aware that applicants perform best in interviews when they are relaxed, and comfortable in the environment that they are in so the JCC try to put all of their applicants under ease rather than under pressure. The JCC aim to do this by holding the interviews at on of the hotels, they ensure that all the applicants have access to hot and cold drinks and they are put in a comfortable and relaxed room. They are led into the interview room and are introduced to the panel, and the panel must ensure that they give verbal and non-verbal encouragement by smiling, shaking peoples hands and by having eye contact, these techniques should make the applicant feel at ease or relaxed. The chairperson will also explain that the panel will be taking notes throughout the interview. During the interview the applicant will be asked a range of questions that will have been selected before the interview was held. The first type of question is an open ended question, the JCC use open ended questions as a means of gaining the most information about the candidate as possible, these types of questions encourage the candidate to talk about themselves, describe events, express opinions, and provide facts, can you give me an example of a time when you have dealt with a difficult customer? , and can you give me an example of a time when you have lead a team? Are two examples of these types of questions. The next type of question are probing questions, these are used to provide a more clear focus on questions that are too short, an example of a probing question is how did you handle that? a probing question allows the interviewer to get more information and they can also be used when the applicant goes off point to bring the applicant back to the point. The JCC interview panel try to avoid asking closed questions which have one word answers, they dont like to ask these questions because they dont get much information form these questions, they also try to avoid leading questions; they want the candidate to offer information freely. They also try to avoid multiple headed questions, they try too avoid these because they can confuse the applicant and can raise stress levels when they are trying to keep the applicant calm and at ease. Although the hotel would be very interested in the answers of this question they will probably ask it as three separate questions, were another business might ask them together. An example of a multiple headed question is what is it that interests you about this position, why o you want to leave your current position, and what are you future career expectations? the JCC also refer back to the applicants application form for one of the questions. If a candidate doesnt give a very good answer the interviewer cant let that show in their facial expressions. It is vital that the JCC has a timetable to ensure that the interview is fair on every applicant, so every applicant has the same amount of time in the interview. Interview: In an interview assessment form the areas for evaluation are usually 1. Physical appearance and deportment Does the candidate have the right image suited to the advertised post? 2. Attainments What experience and qualifications that they have meet the needs of the post. 3. General Intelligence 4. Special Aptitudes What skills does the candidate have which relates to the job for example foreign languages or knowledge in the latest software package. 5. Personality/disposition Questions: If I was a human resource manager and was holding an interview for a job six questions that I would likely ask the applicant would be: 1) Tell me about yourself 2) Why do you want this job? 3) What are your long-term aims? 4) What are your strengths/weaknesses? 5) What do you think you can bring to this job/company? 6) Why should we give you this job? Interview checklist: This is a document which shows the documents and things to be done in the recruitment process which allows the recruiter not to forget or miss anything. Decision documentation: This is the document which allows to make decision in the recruitment process. The whole reason that they go though the recruitment procedure is to ensure that they select the best candidate for the job the recruitment process is very expensive for the JCC and they dont want to do it over and over for the same job. Once the interview panel have interviewed everyone and assessed everyone at the assessment centre they than come together and have a meeting and discuss the benefits and downfalls of hiring each candidate and they analyse each candidate. Instead of having lots of notes they have an interview report form each on each candidate. They will mark each candidate and will put them in order of say 1 15. If certain people have different candidates at number one the panel have a debate to try to find a solution on who should get the position, they need to come up with a unanimous decision on who is best for the job. If this process is going to be worthwhile for the JCC it has got to be valid, free from interviewer bias and prejudice, and the interviewers need to be open and listen to other interviewers take on candidates and look at the candidate from a different point of view. All of the interviewers need to be satisfied with the overall decision. When the JCC interview panel have decided who is the best for the job they then select who is the second choice and who is the third choice for the job. The reason the JCC has three choices for the job is because if the candidate who gets the job has applied for a job somewhere else at another hotel and decides to take that job because they feel it has better pay or prospects for their future career such as more chance of getting a promotion, and they decide to turn down the JCCs offer of a job, then the job will be offered to the candidate who is their second choice, and if they turn it down it gets offered to the third choice candidate. If the JCC didnt have a successful assessment centre it could cause them a lot of problems because they could hire the wrong employee and this would waste their valuable time trying to find the right employee, so the good thing about having an assessment centre is they can watch each candidate in action and make sure that they hire the right employee saving them a lot of time. It is important that the JCC have a second choice and third choice for the job because once again it saves them a lot of time and money, because they dont have to go through the whole process of the assessment centre again because they have the two choices who have already been assessed Informing candidates of decisions: This is the sending of the letters to notify the candidates weather they are successful or unsuccessful.

Assessing and Managing Supply Chain Risks

Assessing and Managing Supply Chain Risks 1. Introduction The current trend of outsourcing to low cost countries combined with supplier base reduction has provided significant cost reductions for businesses. However, globalization and implementation of more streamlined supply chains have increased risks for companies when acquiring goods and services needed for their operations. By the term risk is meant a chance of facing undesired consequences such as damage, loss, or injury. More scientifically, risk is defined as the combined probability for an undesired event and the potential damage the event might cause. This definition, or variations of this definition, has been applied by a number of researcher investigating risk (March and Shapira, 1987; Zsidisin, 2003; Spekman and Davis, 2004; Wagner and Bode, 2006; Ritchie and Brindley, 2007). The detrimental effects does not have to be existential to the companies, but typically they cause lost sales, decreased market share and large contractual penalties for the parties affected (Zsidisin, 200 3). A very well-know example of such a detrimental effect is the $400 mill loss suffered by the Swedish cell phone manufacturer Ericsson due to a lightning bolt which struck their sub-supplier of semi-conductors (Latour, 2001). Another example is the battle against the foot-and-mouth disease in the UK agricultural industry during the year 2001. This event temporarily paralyzed the agricultural industry, while the tourism industry suffered great losses. Even luxury car manufacturers such as Volvo and Jaguar were affected since deliveries of quality leather used in various parts in the car compartment were temporarily stopped (Norrman and Jansson, 2004). A general ban on sale and export of British pigs, sheep and cattle was introduced during the outbreak. The tourism industry also suffered as many tourists changed their vacation plans due to transport bans and detergent washing of cars, boots and clothing in affected regions. Similarly, the fruit company Dole lost over $100 million dollars when a hurricane caused massive damage to the area in Central America where their banana suppliers were located (Griffy-Brown, 2003). The outbreak of SARS in Southeast Asia affected various industries such as the electronics industry, retailing, tourism, and the airline industry with losses at the national level stipulated to $38 billion just for Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand (Overby et al., 2004). The economic impact of the hurricane Katrina is stipulated to $100-125 billion. More than half of that amount is due to the flooding of New Orleans which paralyzed industry and disrupted normal living conditions in the affected areas (Boettke et al., 2007). However, the most famous of such disruptive events is probably the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001, which caused immediate financial losses and initiated a massive restructuring of the airline industry (Bhadra and Texter, 2004). The above mentioned examples illustrate that supply chains may not be well prepared for dealing with unanticipated events causing disruption in sub-systems of supply chain networks. The traditional cost-efficiency focus of supply chain systems have led companies to eliminate buffers in the form of inventories and multiple sourcing throughout the network. However, this has also led them to remove mechanisms in the supply chain which previously moderated the effects of undesired, disruptive events in the chain. An alternative approach is to introduce more agility in the supply chain. This approach has successfully been applied as a response to the fact that more and more market places in the twenty-first century require a proliferation of products and services, shorter product life cycles and increased demand for innovation (Narasimhan, Swink and Kim, 2006). In agile supply chains, stock out penalties occur immediately in the form of lost sales and the key performance measure is no lon ger productivity or cost, but customer satisfaction. Traditional stable partnerships are substituted with more fluid clusters where partners enter and leave the network at a more rapid pace. In general, there is also a focus on operator self-management to maximize the actors autonomy (Mason-Jones, Naylor and Towill, 1999). The actors higher level of autonomy in agile supply chains makes them better able to respond to changes in supplies upstream as they have no or few bindings keeping them from changing to alternative sources of supply. However, supply chain companies dealing with commodity goods rather than fashion goods can not necessarily be expected to have the same degree of freedom. Their day-to-day competition would require them to eliminate all forms of waste to remain competitive. Any cost driving measure to mediate or avoid risk such as excess production capacity, excess inventory, and increased supplier base would therefore have to be weighed against the expected costs of future unknown disruptive events. To do this, a proactive identification of potential supply and demand hazards is required at a strategic level. The point is to identify where unanticipated risk events have the biggest impact on the supply chain network, identify the type and number of risks, their associated costs, and as sess alternative counter-measures to improve the resilience of the supply chain. The intent of this conceptual paper is to establish a decision framework in order to aid the proactive identification and management of potential upstream and downstream supply and demand hazards. The framework is developed based on a broad variety of literature integrating multiple perspectives on risk from supply chain management, marketing, and organizations theory. The risk framework presented separates itself from previous efforts in its comprehensiveness, and it has been designed to match the supply chain management framework developed by the Global Supply Chain Forum (GSCF). Previous categorization attempts have usually only presented sub-sets of risk factors and have not paid much attention to how supply chain risks can be dealt with proactively. For instance, Zsidisin (2003) listed a number of useful supply risk characteristics and classified them into characteristics belonging to items, markets and suppliers based on the results of a case study. Item characteristics included impact on profitability and the newness of product application, while market characteristics involved global sourcing, capacity constraints, market price fluctuation, and number of qualified suppliers. Risks associated with suppliers were capacity constraints, inability to reduce costs, incompatible information systems, quality problems, cycle times, and volume and mix requirements changes. However, Zsidisins list of supply risk characteristics did not contain important risk elements such as behavioral appearance of supply chain actors and risks associated with skills and qualities of the individual supply chain organizations, nor did it pay much attention to mitigation of risk events. In addition, the network perspective of supply chain management was not evident in the sense that an event can appear several tiers away from the focal organization but still damage the organization via an unknown dependence. Spekman and Davis (2004) also discussed a typology for categorizing risks. They found that risk lies inherent in every supply chain flow of goods, information, and money and they mentioned many of the same risk characteristics as in Zsidisin (2003). In addition, criminal acts and breach of norms were included as risk elements in the supply chain. However, they did not focus much on actions to minimize or avoid the effects of undesired events. Dealing with risk was eventually reduced to the introduction of buffers or building trust. An exception is made for the management of security risks where they briefly mention the necessity of proactive planning to avoid such risks. Another example is Peck (2005) who reported from an empirical study where the sources and drivers of supply chain vulnerability were investigated. She used the knowledge achieved to develop a multi-level framework for risk analysis and did not put much emphasis on identifying individual risk characteristics and tactics to improve the supply chains resilience. However, the framework illustrated in an intuitive manner how unanticipated and undesirable events at other nodes in a network could influence and cause problems at different levels for a focal company via dependencies. Kleindorfer and Saad (2005) also attempted to provide a conceptual framework to assess risk and introduced three tasks as the foundation of risk management. These were Specifying sources of risk and vulnerabilities, Assessment, and Mitigation. The sources of risk and vulnerability were thereafter divided into operational contingencies, natural hazards, and terrorism and political instability. Kleindorfer and Saad (2005) did not elaborate in much detail on which risks to include in each of these categories, thus from a practical risk assessment point of view, the model becomes less interesting. In a similar vein, Ritchie and Brindley (2007) developed a framework to encapsulate the main strands of supply chain risk management. They distinguished between seven sources of risk, but were not specific about which risks to expect in each category and they were not very detailed in their description of risk avoidance or mediation tactics. In stead, they used their general model as a guide in an exploratory case study where the purpose was to focus on supply chain members degree of awareness of supply chain risks, and how supply chain members identified and responded to identified risks. Ring and Van De Ven (1992) developed a framework for structuring cooperative relationships between organizations based on varying degree of risk and reliance on trust. They based their paper on the assumption that the degree of risk inherent in any transaction depends in the direct proportion to decreases in time, information, and control. Examples provided were commercial risk (risk of not finding a price-performance niche in the market), technological risk (probability of bringing the technology to market), scientific risk (lack of knowledge), engineering uncertainty (will the technology work?), and corporate risk. By corporate risk they referred to the risk of wrong allocation of resources in the organization. However, these types of risk are strongly connected with internal managerial and organizational skills of the focal company, and thus cover only a small portion of the risk concept from a supply chain management perspective. Risks arising from process sharing and network inf licted risks were barely mentioned. In summary, a higher level of precision in supply chain risk assessment frameworks combined with normative guidelines for risk avoidance seems present in extant literature. This call has formally been put forth by Harland, Brenchley and Walker (2003) who provided an easy-to-follow procedure for risk assessment in supply chain networks. They concluded that more managerial guidance is required to support risk management and redesigning of supply strategies to incorporate risk strategies . An attempt to answer this call has been made in the following sections. Mapping of risks in the supply chain has been emphasized combined with a discussion of tactics for risk mitigation and risk avoidance. In essence, this covers steps two to four in the model by Harland, Brenchley and Walker (2003) (Figure 1). Guidance for mapping of the supply chain is the main goal for many of the supply chain management frameworks recently developed. Mapping of the supply chain has therefore only received limited attention in this paper, but references to some well-known supply chain frameworks are provided. Steps five and six have been left for the managers to decide as the strategy formation and implementation would be situation specific and dependent on the outcome of steps one to four. 2. Research method The framework is developed based on a literature review where multiple perspectives on risk from marketing theory, organizations theory, and supply chain management have been integrated into a composite supply chain risk framework. Relevant contributions were identified through library searches and key word searches in Proquest and ScienceDirect databases. Search words were used either alone or in combination to find contributions which could bring added insight about risk from different theoretical perspectives. Key word searches typically included words such as supply chain management, marketing, or organization theory, and words such as risk, framework, uncertainty, vulnerability, resilience, etc. A large number of research contributions were identified from this procedure and contributions were further selected based on a qualitative assessment of the title and abstract of each identified contribution. A guideline for the literature review was to find an answer to the question what do we know from theory which could be relevant for supply chain managers in their efforts to identify and reduce the level of risk in their supply chains? The emphasis on theory was decided since an exploratory empirical investigation would be descriptive of current practices which would not fit with the normative purpose of this investigation. Ex post empirical testing of the entire framework in a single study were also considered difficult to accomplish due to the amount of risk factors included. However, a varying degree of empirical validity is offered through the previous empirical testing performed by the researchers referenced. Some empirical guidance and initial face validity was also provided through discussions with the general director of a sub-supplier to the Norwegian oil and gas industry. 3. Supply chain management and risk The term supply chain management (SCM) has primarily been linked to the study of either internal supply chains integrating internal business functions, the management of two party relationships with tier one suppliers, the management of a chain of businesses or with the management of a network of interconnected businesses (Harland, 1996). Transaction cost analysis (TCA), organization theory (OT) and relational marketing (RM) literature have contributed substantially to the development of SCM research (Croom, Romano and Giannakis, 2000). However, a definition of SCM given by the members of the Global Supply Chain Forum states that Supply chain management is the integration of key business processes from end user through original suppliers that provides products, services, and information that add value for customers and other stakeholders. This distinguishes SCM from the previous mentioned theories since it is the network or chain perspective which is emphasized (Lambert, Cooper and P agh, 1998). 3.1. Mapping the supply chain In order to be able to assess risk in a focal companys supply chain, a thorough insight is required about how the supply chain is configured. A number of frameworks have been developed for the purpose of achieving such knowledge, but Lambert, GarcÃÆ'Â ­a-Dastugue and Croxton (2005) identified only five frameworks which recognized the need to implement business processes among supply chain actors. Such implementation is considered a key area where supply chain management can offer improvement to supply chain actors (Hammer, 2001). However, only two of the five frameworks provided sufficient details to be implemented in practice (Lambert, GarcÃÆ'Â ­a-Dastugue and Croxton, 2005). On the other hand, these two frameworks are both supported by major corporations which indicate a high level of face validity. The first framework is the SCOR model developed by the Supply-Chain Council (SCC, 2008). The SCOR model focuses on five different processes which should eventually be connected across firms in the supply chain. These are the plan, source, make, deliver, and return processes. The second framework was developed by the Global Supply Chain Forum in 1996 and was presented in the literature in 1997 and 1998 (Cooper, Lambert and Pagh, 1997; Lambert, Cooper and Pagh, 1998). Similar to the SCOR model, the GSCF model focuses on a set of distinct business processes to be shared among business organizations. However, a main difference between the two supply chain frameworks is their linkage to corporate strategy. While the SCOR framework emphasizes operations strategy, little reference is made to organizations corporate strategies. The GSCF framework, on the other hand, directly links with the corporate and functional strategies of the companies and thus offers a wider scope (Lambert, GarcÃÆ'Â ­a-Dastugue and Croxton, 2005). Since risk is inherent at every level of an organization, and should be considered also at the strategic level, the GSCF framework was chosen as a starting point for our development of a supply chain risk management framework. 3.2. Identify risk and its location In the GSCF framework, supply chain management consists of three inter-related elements: 1) the structure of the supply chain network, 2) the management components governing the shared supply chain processes, and 3) the different types of processes linked among supply chain actors. Who to link with, which processes to link, and what level of integration and management should be applied are considered key decisions for successful management of supply chains (Lambert, Cooper and Pagh, 1998). From a supply chain risk management perspective, these managerial questions make way for three propositions regarding risk and the focal company. The first proposition concerns the unpredictability of human nature when processes are shared with others. The second concerns the vulnerabilities created because of dependencies between multiple network actors, and the third refers to the skills and qualities of the different supply chain actors organization and management. Stated formally: P1: A focal companys exposure to supply chain risk depends on the level of human behavior unpredictability in the supply chain and the impact such unpredictability can have on the companys supply chain. P2: A focal companys exposure to risk depends on the number and strength of dependencies in its supply chain and the impact an external risk event may have on the company. P3: A focal companys exposure to risk depends on the supply chain actors skills and qualities to identify potential risks in advance and to solve risk situations once they occur. Although they address different aspects of risk to a focal company, the propositions are closely related. For instance, without the existence of network dependencies, behavioral unpredictability at another supply chain actor becomes irrelevant. Similarly, the focal company does not have to worry about the skills and qualities of other supply chain actors because there is always another alternative to select. Also, an increase in the supply chain actors skills and qualities will indirectly reduce the level of human unpredictability since it rules out some of the mistakes humans can make; however, it does not rule out the focal companys uncertainty about other supply chain actors intended strategic actions. The relationship between the propositions has been outlined as arrows in Figure 2. Each category between the arrows refers to a more precise definition of the risks mentioned in the propositions. The categories follow the naming convention in the GSCF framework, and together, they c onstitute a holistic representation of supply chain risks relevant for successful supply chain management. The formal definitions for the three types of supply chain risk in Figure 2 are provided below and explained in the subsequent sections: Supply chain processes risk refers to the perceived risk of other companies in the supply chain behaving intentionally or unintentionally in a manner which could be harmful to the company. Supply chain structure risk is closely linked with the total number and type of dependencies in the network. It is a measure for the level of significant detrimental effects an undesired and unanticipated event can have on a companys supply chain network. This event can occur externally or internally to a local market or industry and affect either a single node or a multitude of nodes simultaneously. Supply chain components risk refers to the technical, managerial and organizational abilities each supply chain actor has developed in order to embrace opportunities, detect and avoid potential supply chain disruptions, and to mediate the effects of a disruption once it has occurred. 3.3. Supply chain processes risk A focal companys exposure to supply chain risk will, according to proposition one, depend on the level of human behavior unpredictability and the impact such unpredictability can have on the companys supply chain. When companies begin to explore the competitive advantage of accessing and managing processes belonging to other companies in the chain, they therefore need to identify how the sharing of a process can change its vulnerability to unanticipated events and agree on strategic actions to reduce the processes vulnerability. The main factors to consider when processes are shared with other actors are shown in Figure 3 and explained below. In general, the sharing of processes across tiers in a network can be problematic since it simultaneously makes the focal company more vulnerable to risk. Under working market conditions, each actor is free to choose its trading partner for every transaction. A natural moderating effect on risk therefore exists since there is no dependency on other specific actors in the network. However, when companies begin to integrate processes, as prescribed by supply chain management literature, they distance themselves from the market by creating lock-in effects with selected partners due to the specificity of tangible and intangible assets deployed. From a transaction cost theory point-of-view (Williamson, 1975, 1985), specific investments in shared processes must be protected against the risk of possible opportunistic behavior from the other actor in each partnership. Opportunistic behavior refers to actors self-interest seeking with guile (Williamson, 1975) where guile means lying, stealing, cheating, and calculated efforts to mislead, distort, disguise, obfuscate, or otherwise confuse (Williamson, 1985). In practice, this type of supplier behavior would materialize in hazards like broken promises, production delays, increased costs, production shortcuts, and masking of inadequate or poor quality (Provan and Skinner, 1989; Wathne and Heide, 2000). Any uncertainty of whether the suppliers behave, or would attempt to behave, opportunistically therefore increases the impression of risk to the actor performing the risk assessment[1]. However, transaction cost theory has been criticized for its assumption of opportunistic decision makers. Critics argue that it is a too simplistic and pessimistic assumption about human behavior, and that opportunism represents the exception rather than the rule (Macneil, 1980; Granovetter, 1985; Chisholm, 1989). John (1984) also argued that undesired attitude such as hard bargaining, intense and frequent disagreements, and similar conflictual behaviors do not constitute opportunism unless an agreement has been reached of not to do so. In addition, even well-meant behavioral actions by one party may have negative effects for another party in the supply chain. The perception of risk linked with human behavior where processes are shared can therefore not be restricted to a matter of opportunism alone, but needs to include any kind of undesired human behavior whether it is opportunistic, undesirable or well-intended, but still potentially harmful. It has been suggested that behavioral uncertainty can be reduced with the introduction of formal and informal safeguards to the relationship. In a successful relationship, relational rules of conduct work to enhance the well-being of the relationship as a whole and take explicit account for the historical and social context within which an exchange takes place (Heide and John, 1992). Flexibility among the parties, solidarity, information exchange, and long-term orientation are norms typically associated with, and referred to, as relational safeguarding mechanisms in contemporary research (Ivens, 2002). The presence of these norms in a relationship has been found to improve the efficiency of relationships and to reduce parties behavioral uncertainty (Heide and John, 1992). Alternatively, ownership, or some form of contractual command-obedience authority structure can be used to protect against inherent behavioral uncertainty. Vertical integration has traditionally been prescribed by transaction cost literature as an answer to handle uncertainty in repeated transactions when there are specific investments involved (Williamson, 1975, 1985). However, Stinchcombe (1985) found that the safeguarding features of hierarchical relationships can be built into contracts as well. These features included authority systems, incentive systems, standard operating procedures, dispute resolution procedures, and non-market internal pricing. It should be noted that advanced pricing mechanisms used can include agreed risk sharing and paying an insurance premium to a third party to protect against the financial consequences of a business interruption (Li and Kouvelis, 1999; Doherty and Schlesinger, 2002). However, a prerequisite for risk transfer mitigation to work is the a bility to clearly define the type, cause and boundaries for when the agreed risk transfer applies. Also, well defined standard operating procedures are particularly important since they indirectly describe the non-conformance cases. Breaches in quality performance or EHS procedures, shipment inaccuracies, delivery times, etc. by the focal company or another party are indications of reduced control over the supply chain. Hence, an increased frequency of such incidents in other nodes in the network will lead to an impression of greater behavioral uncertainty and supply chain risk. The impression of risk when processes are shared would naturally depend on the degree of lock-in which exists between two parties. A second risk factor in supply chain processes risk therefore refers to the criticality of specific nodes in the network (Craighead et al., 2007). More precisely, critical nodes are actors in the supply chain responsible for delivery of critical components or important subsystems where the number of supplier choices is limited. However, a node can be critical even though there may be little dependence in day-to-day operations. The increased popularity of outsourcing to third parties necessarily increases other actors involvement in the companys material and information flow. But, since both information and materials represent a form of capital investment, this also means that other actors in some cases handle large parts of a companys tied-up capital either in the form of information or in the form of goods. This risk is called degree of capital seizure in the framework. For instance, it is generally not very difficult to switch from one supplier of IT-server capacity to another, but the dependence on the supplier of server capacity can prove severe if sloppy routines at the supplier destroy the electronic database stored. A similar logic applies for other actors with control over much of the companys information and material flow. Large distribution centers are one example. A typical risk event would be a fire causing damage to much of the companys goods stored; however, such an event would not be attributable to the processes shared and is therefore not a supply chain process risk. Instead, such a risk event has been characterized as external to the network and described under supply chain structure risk. However, another example would be the distribution centre not informing the focal company of a changed general staff leave. This would be a breach in the supplier relationship management process because it is a deviation from expected service leve ls in that particular period. 3.4. Supply chain structure risk The decision of who to link with in a network requires an explicit knowledge and understanding of the supply chain network configuration. According to proposition two, this includes a thorough comprehension of the risk inflicted upon the company because of dependencies established in relationship with other network actors. Therefore, the supply chain manager needs to assess how vulnerable the company is to unanticipated changes in the network and its exogenous environment. Dependencies are created with individual partners in the network and the level of dependency must therefore be assessed for each node. However, attributes of the network configuration itself may increase or reduce the impression of risk. A field risk category and a network complexity risk category have been created to reflect this duality. Field risk includes risk factors which are exogenous to the network, and not endogenously created as in supply chain process risk. Field risk is assessed for each node, but supply chain structure risk must also take the complexity of the network into consideration. For instance, geographically dense nodes within a network may represent a great risk to a company even though each actor itself may not be very important. This is similar to the Dole example mentioned in the introduction where a hurricane destroyed the banana harvest in the area where Dole had most of its suppliers (Griffy-Brown, 2003). Network complexity risk refers to decision makers perceiving large networks as more uncertain since the involvement of more actors and more people implicitly includes more things which can go wrong (Craighead et al., 2007). This perception naturally becomes even stronger when the number and strength of identified critical nodes under supply chain processes risk is high. However, if a focal company is engaged in several sub-networks of supply and demand, this would moderate the perception of risk similar to the basic idea of diversification in modern portfolio theory. The reason is that the company can rest on several independent business pillars and prosper with the remaining pillars while the problem in the failing supply chain is sorted out. Field risk factors such as currency fluctuations, political or legal changes, environmental, and social risks are external to the supply chain network, and refer to the country or region where suppliers, or clusters of suppliers, are located (JÃÆ'Â ¼tner, Peck and Christopher, 2002). Climate changes, in particular in combination with population growth, should receive attention since such changes may alter and threaten the living conditions in large regions of the world with serious effects on both the supply side and demand side to companies (Gilland, 2002; Yea, 2004; Leroy, 2006). An undesirable side-effect of global trade is that supply chains have become significantly more vulnerable to both organized and unorganized crime. Although cargo thefts have not yet caused major supply chain disruptions, the extent of such crime is steadily increasing and should receive attention from a proactive risk management perspective particularly if shipment of critical components is part of the day-to-day operations (Caton, 2006; Barnett, 2007). Another type of crime is abduction of key personnel for ransom money. Kidnappings are mentally challenging to the abducted and the organizations they work for, and can strain organizational resources for a substantial amount of time after a kidnapping incident. In addition, if a decision to pay ransom money is made, the amount required could be financially problematic to smaller companies. This type of crime has generally been associated with Latin America; however, experts have anticipated that such kidnappings will spread to other parts of the world (O Hare, 1994). Although no scientific follow-up study has been identified

History of Communism Containment

History of Communism Containment After the Second World War, the United States began seeing an expansion of communism into Eastern Europe and sought to stop the spread of communism by adopting a policy of containment. The U.S and President Truman saw the Soviet Union to be a serious threat to the free world and as a result, they were about to enter a new kind of war: the Cold War. After defeating Germany during World War II, most of Europe and Asia lay in ruins, and on the horizon a new threat appeared, communism. Even though the U.S. and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II, they both emerged from the war as global powers, with differences on their perspectives of the world. Both nations were competing with each other economically and militarily and where in at an impasse. The U.S. was the richest country in the world and it promoted democracy and capitalism, while the Soviets thought communism was a better (political system because it transformed their economy and status in the world from nothing but a declining empire to a super power once again) (StudyWorld). By 1947, relations between the two countries had broken down completely. President Truman took decisive steps to contain Soviet expansion in regions in which the U.S. had vital interests. With the takeover of Greece and Turkey by a Soviet backed guerilla movement, this was the first sign of communist aggression that forced the U.S. to react. In March 1947, Truman decided to (draw a line in the sand)(US History)by asking Congress to appropriate $400 million for these two nations to help them in the form of military and economic assistance. The Truman Doctrine came about as direct result of the Soviet aggression and was basically an (open pact to any group willing to stand against communism, guaranteeing them military and financial aid)(US Dept of State). This is also the beginning of an embarrassing an unprecedented series of foreign policy blunders on the part of the U.S. The Truman Doctrine would later be used to justify shady actions in Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba. The second step in containment was the Marshall Plan, which provided economic relief to the rebuilding of Western European nations such as Great Britain, France, Belgium and even Germany. By boosting these economies, the U.S. ensured that (communism would not rise in any of these countries from a weak economy)(Studynotes). Four years later, not only were the Western European industries producing twice the amount that they had before war broke out, but the U.S. saw a postwar economic boom with record levels of trade. At first the U.S. Congress wasnt in favor of the proposed plan, but following a coup by communist in Czechoslovakia, they approved it. An official alliance with other nations that opposed communism came to be after the coup in Czechoslovakia. In April 1949, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was founded. The countries agreed that they would (stand by each other as one, and any attack on a member of the alliance is an attack on all)(US Dept of State). At the time, this was a great idea; trying to prevent communism from taking over the world. But as time went by, we have come to realize that as a part of NATO, the U.S. is the majority partner, and is becoming the worlds police and major contributor of the funds for these efforts. I think that the U.S. needs to withdraw from NATO and try and get the U.S. back to status of the worlds super power. We dont have the funds to bail out the rest of the world, when our own economy is in such dire straits. Being a member of NATO, provides a presidential loophole for military intervention by America in any foreign struggle without Congress declaring war, which is a bad idea. All this did was force the Soviet Union to flex its muscles and in 1955, it formed an alliance, known as the Warsaw Pact, with other Eastern European nations, such as Poland, Bulgaria, E. Germany, and Romania. Now, these countries are (no more than puppet nations held by the Grand Puppeteer, Russia)(Pieper). In one fell swoop the Soviet Union (gained almost as much land as Napoleon or Hitler; but without a war)(US History). Americas idea of a united effort at the containment of Communism had exponential grown into a united expansion of communism, just the opposite effect the U.S. was trying to accomplish. After World War II, redrawing of boundaries all over the world came about. Korea, who was conquered by Japan during the war, was divided at the 38th parallel, and the northern part of the country was given to the Soviet Union and the southern half to the U.S. In 1950, the Soviets left N. Korea leaving a communist regime behind. That regime, funded and equipped by China, invaded S. Korea. The United Nations, led, of course, by the United States, (raised an army to restore peace and expel the aggressors)(Pieper). The U.S. established a cease-fire zone, but not before the victory changed hands twice and lasted three years. Some might say that (communism in this case was successfully contained but with the loss of 53,000 American lives in a fruitless attempt to topple a regime is hardly a victory)(US Dept of State). Another failure of containment by the United States would be in Vietnam. After the fighting with France ended in 1954, Vietnam was split in two like Korea, North Vietnam being Communist and South Vietnam led by the Vietnamese who supported the French. In 1963, the South Vietnamese leader was assassinated, and the U.S. sent over American troops to support the non-Communist regime, while in accordance with the Truman Doctrine. The resulting struggle would prove to be (the most agonizing and long defeat of the American military in history)(StudyWorld). Two elements of the U.Ss failure of Vietnam were trying to win a traditional war in a guerrilla setting and not having full support of the U.S. people. This resulted in a loss of 68,000 U.S. soldiers and over 400,000 South Vietnamese. The U.S. started withdrawing troops in 1973, but by 1976, all of Vietnam came under communist rule, proving once again that containment didnt work. Even after the Korean War and the creation of the Warsaw Pact, the expansion of communism was not over. In 1959, a rag-tag band of guerillas overtook the government of Cuba and it fell under Fidel Castros regime. The U.S. was unwilling or unprepared to stop this, either for fear of judgment from the international community or of the (shortsightedness caused by a general distaste for Cubas previous government)(Nuclearfiles). This would later come back to haunt them, in both the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Realizing the problem that Castro could cause, the U.S. planned a literal exertion of the Truman Doctrine. President Kennedy ordered the execution of The Bay of Pigs operation and in April 1961, 1500 Cuban exiles landed in the Bay of Pigs. American air support never arrived and the plan backfired and all of the exiles were gunned down mercilessly. Again containment was once again dashed. A year later was probably the scariest moment of the Cold War. The Soviet Union made a deal with Castro to place nuclear missiles on Cuba and those missiles gave the Soviets a chance to hit U.S. soil without an air offensive. The range of those missiles was 3000 miles, which could demolish the whole eastern seaboard. After a U2 flight over Cuba, President Kennedy ordered a blockade of Cuba and stated that any further attempts to arm Cuba would result in an act of war. The Soviets backed down and removed the silos from Cuba. It was found later, that Russias president made a secret deal with the U.S. agreeing to remove the missiles from Cuba if the U.S. would remove missiles from Turkey. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a (propaganda victory for the U.S. and an undisclosed blow to containment)(Nuclearfiles). Even though 1989 marked the end of the Cold War, some say that since the Soviet Union ultimately fell, the policy of containment was successful. I think this is wrong. The Soviet Union fell under its own weight; the countries expenditures were huge. They had a very large army to support and the cost of such a large country could not be sustained, leaving them no choose but to declare bankruptcy. Another symbol of the U.S. failures to contain communism, is that the nations under the Soviet bloc remain to this day; Vietnam, North Korea, Cuba, and China are still completely Communist nations. Not only was American (containment in the height of the Cold War a failure)(US History), those failures can still be seen to this day. And if the U.S. isnt careful, we too could come under communist rule due to our astronomical debt in which China holds the note. Works Citied Containment of Communism Nuclearfiles.org. Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. 1998-2012. Web. 5 Nov 12 Pieper, Moritz. Containment and the Cold War: Reexaming the Doctrine of Containment as a Grand Strategy Driving US Cold War Interventions. Student Pulse. 2012. Web. 5 Nov 12. Studynotes.org. 2008. Web. 5 Nov 12. Studyworld.com. Oakwood Mgt. 1996-2012. Web. 5 Nov 12. U.S. Department of State. Office of the Historian. US Department of State. Web. 6 Nov 12. USHistory.org. Containment and the Marshall Plan. Hall Assoc. 2008-2012. Web. 5 Nov 12

Reinhold Niebuhr :: essays research papers

Niebuhr, Reinhold (1892-1971), American Protestant theologian, whose social doctrines profoundly influenced American theological and political thought. Born in Wright City, Missouri, June 21, 1892, he was educated at Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois; Eden Theological Seminary, Webster Groves, Missouri; and Yale Divinity School. In 1915 he was ordained in the ministry of the Evangelical Synod of North America and made pastor of the Bethel Evangelical Church of Detroit. He held that post until 1928, at which time he joined the faculty of the Union Theological Seminary, New York City, where he taught for 30 years. At the time of his retirement (1960) he held a chair of ethics and theology; he also served as dean (1950-55) and vice president (1955-60). After retiring he continued at Union as a lecturer. An outstanding, although not a systematic, theologian, Niebuhr was notable primarily for his examination of the interrelationships between religion, individuals, and modern society. Outside the field of theology, he took a keen interest in trade union and political affairs. He was an active member of the Socialist Party in the 1930s, waged a vigorous fight against isolationism and pacifism before and during World War II, and in 1944 helped to found the Liberal Party in New York State. He received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 and was made a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He died on June 1, 1971. Niebuhr indicated his overriding interest in what has been called theological anthropology, a concern with the nature of man as a contact point for religion and society, in such major works as Moral Man and Immoral Society (1932), Interpretation of

Horace Mann Essay -- essays research papers

Horace Mann was the father of the American School System. Horace Mann’s had many reforms on education. He was born in 1796. Mann determined what the purpose of education should be based on his own experience and observation. Mann also had many ideas how education could be improved. Many of these ideas have been followed by schools today as well. Mann also had ideas on topics which one considers today to be controversial. The public should take into account what Mann’s ideas were on these issues. Horace Mann’s reforms and ideas have had influence during his time, and now in our time on many issues. Some of issues the issues are the purpose of education and the improvement of education. The purpose of education is a large subject and Horace Mann covered it completely throughout his life. Even today the purpose of our schools is almost the same as what Horace Mann prescribed it should be long ago. Mann wanted the common schools to be available to everyone. He wanted it to be available to people that were rich, poor, and of different backgrounds. Public schools try to be this today; they are free to everyone and nondiscriminatory. Mann believed in public support and control of schools. Mann thought that education was a right that was passed on from generation to generation. Denying children this right was horrible to Mann. Today in the United States, education of the public is seen as a right and is partaken in by countless young people eve...

Part Two Chapter IV

IV Samantha's dinner invitation to Kay had been motivated by a mixture of vengefulness and boredom. She saw it as retaliation against Miles, who was always busy with schemes in which he gave her no say but with which he expected her to co-operate; she wanted to see how he liked it when she arranged things without consulting him. Then she would be stealing a march on Maureen and Shirley, those nosy old crones, who were so fascinated by Gavin's private affairs but knew next to nothing about the relationship between him and his London girlfriend. Finally, it would afford her another opportunity to sharpen her claws on Gavin for being pusillanimous and indecisive about his love life: she might talk about weddings in front of Kay or say how nice it was to see Gavin making a commitment at last. However, her plans for the discomfiture of others gave Samantha less pleasure than she had hoped. When on Saturday morning she told Miles what she had done, he reacted with suspicious enthusiasm. ‘Great, yeah, we haven't had Gavin round for ages. And nice for you to get to know Kay.' ‘Why?' ‘Well, you always got on with Lisa, didn't you?' ‘Miles, I hated Lisa.' ‘Well, OK †¦ maybe you'll like Kay better!' She glared at him, wondering where all this good humour was coming from. Lexie and Libby, home for the weekend and cooped up in the house because of the rain, were watching a music DVD in the sitting room; a guitar-laden ballad blared through to the kitchen where their parents stood talking. ‘Listen,' said Miles, brandishing his mobile, ‘Aubrey wants to have a talk with me about the council. I've just called Dad, and the Fawleys have invited us all to dinner tonight at Sweetlove – ‘ ‘No thanks,' said Samantha, cutting him off. She was suddenly full of a fury she could barely explain, even to herself. She walked out of the room. They argued in low voices all over the house through the day, trying not to spoil their daughters' weekend. Samantha refused to change her mind or to discuss her reasons. Miles, afraid of getting angry at her, was alternately conciliatory and cold. ‘How do you think it's going to look if you don't come?' he said at ten to eight that evening, standing in the doorway of the sitting room, ready to leave, wearing a suit and tie. ‘It's nothing to do with me, Miles,' Samantha said. ‘You're the one running for office.' She liked watching him dither. She knew that he was terrified of being late, yet wondering whether he could still persuade her to go with him. ‘You know they'll be expecting both of us.' ‘Really? Nobody sent me an invitation.' ‘Oh, come off it, Sam, you know they meant – they took it for granted – ‘ ‘More fool them, then. I've told you, I don't fancy it. You'd better hurry. You don't want to keep Mummy and Daddy waiting.' He left. She listened to the car reversing out of the drive, then went into the kitchen, opened a bottle of wine and brought it back into the sitting room with a glass. She kept picturing Howard, Shirley and Miles all having dinner together at Sweetlove House. It would surely be the first orgasm Shirley had had in years. Her thoughts swerved irresistibly to what her accountant had said to her during the week. Profits were way down, whatever she had pretended to Howard. The accountant had actually suggested closing the shop and concentrating on the online side of the business. This would be an admission of failure that Samantha was not prepared to make. For one thing, Shirley would love it if the shop closed; she had been a bitch about it from the start. I'm sorry, Sam, it's not really my taste †¦ just a teeny bit over the top †¦ But Samantha loved her little red and black shop in Yarvil; loved getting away from Pagford every day, chatting to customers, gossiping with Carly, her assistant. Her world would be tiny without the shop she had nurtured for fourteen years; it would contract, in short, to Pagford. (Pagford, bloody Pagford. Samantha had never meant to live here. She and Miles had planned a year out before starting work, a round-the-world trip. They had their itinerary mapped out, their visas ready. Samantha had dreamed about walking barefoot and hand in hand on long white Australian beaches. And then she had found out that she was pregnant. She had come down to visit him at ‘Ambleside', a day after she had taken the pregnancy test, one week after their graduation. They were supposed to be leaving for Singapore in eight days' time. Samantha had not wanted to tell Miles in his parents' house; she was afraid that they would overhear. Shirley seemed to be behind every door Samantha opened in the bungalow. So she waited until they were sitting at a dark corner table in the Black Canon. She remembered the rigid line of Miles' jaw when she told him; he seemed, in some indefinable way, to become older as the news hit him. He did not speak for several petrified seconds. Then he said, ‘Right. We'll get married.' He told her that he had already bought her a ring, that he had been planning to propose somewhere good, somewhere like the top of Ayers Rock. Sure enough, when they got back to the bungalow, he unearthed the little box from where he had already hidden it in his rucksack. It was a small solitaire diamond from a jeweller's in Yarvil; he had bought it with some of the money his grandmother had left him. Samantha had sat on the edge of Miles' bed and cried and cried. They had married three months later.) Alone with her bottle of wine, Samantha turned on the television. It brought up the DVD Lexie and Libby had been watching: a frozen image of four young men singing to her in tight T-shirts; they looked barely out of their teens. She pressed play. After the boys finished their song, the DVD cut to an interview. Samantha slugged back her wine, watching the band joking with each other, then becoming earnest as they discussed how much they loved their fans. She thought that she would have known them as Americans even if the sound had been off. Their teeth were perfect. It grew late; she paused the DVD, went upstairs and told the girls to leave the PlayStation and go to bed; then she returned to the sitting room, where she was three-quarters of the way down the bottle of wine. She had not turned on the lamps. She pressed play and kept drinking. When the DVD finished, she put it back to the beginning and watched the bit she had missed. One of the boys appeared significantly more mature than the other three. He was broader across the shoulders; biceps bulged beneath the short sleeves of his T-shirt; he had a thick strong neck and a square jaw. Samantha watched him undulating, staring into the camera with a detached serious expression on his handsome face, which was all planes and angles and winged black eyebrows. She thought of sex with Miles. It had last happened three weeks previously. His performance was as predictable as a Masonic handshake. One of his favourite sayings was ‘if it's not broke, don't fix it'. Samantha emptied the last of the bottle into her glass and imagined making love to the boy on the screen. Her breasts looked better in a bra these days; they spilled everywhere when she lay down; it made her feel flabby and awful. She pictured herself, forced back against a wall, one leg propped up, a dress pushed up to her waist and that strong dark boy with his jeans round his knees, thrusting in and out of her †¦ With a lurch in the pit of her stomach that was almost like happiness, she heard the car turning back into the drive and the beams of the headlights swung around the dark sitting room. She fumbled with the controls to turn over to the news, which took her much longer than it ought to have done; she shoved the empty wine bottle under the sofa and clutched her almost empty glass as a prop. The front door opened and closed. Miles entered the room behind her. ‘Why are you sitting here in the dark?' He turned on a lamp and she glanced up at him. He was as well groomed as he had been when he left, except for the raindrops on the shoulders of his jacket. ‘How was dinner?' ‘Fine,' he said. ‘You were missed. Aubrey and Julia were sorry you couldn't make it.' ‘Oh, I'm sure. And I'll bet your mother cried with disappointment.' He sat down in an armchair at right angles to her, staring at her. She pushed her hair out of her eyes. ‘What's this all about, Sam?' ‘If you don't know, Miles – ‘ But she was not sure herself; or at least, she did not know how to condense this sprawling sense of ill-usage into a coherent accusation. ‘I can't see how me standing for the Parish Council – ‘ ‘Oh, for God's sake, Miles!' she shouted, and was then slightly taken aback by how loud her voice was. ‘Explain to me, please,' he said, ‘what possible difference it can make to you?' She glared at him, struggling to articulate it for his pedantic legal mind, which was like a fiddling pair of tweezers in the way that it seized on poor choices of word, yet so often failed to grasp the bigger picture. What could she say that he would understand? That she found Howard and Shirley's endless talk about the council boring as hell? That he was quite tedious enough already, with his endlessly retold anecdotes about the good old days back at the rugby club and his self-congratulatory stories about work, without adding pontifications about the Fields? ‘Well, I was under the impression,' said Samantha, in their dimly lit sitting room, ‘that we had other plans.' ‘Like what?' said Miles. ‘What are you talking about?' ‘We said,' Samantha articulated carefully over the rim of her trembling glass, ‘that once the girls were out of school, we'd go travelling. We promised each other that, remember?' The formless rage and misery that had consumed her since Miles announced his intention to stand for the council had not once led her to mourn the year's travelling she had missed, but at this moment it seemed to her that that was the real problem; or at least, that it came closest to expressing both the antagonism and the yearning inside her. Miles seemed completely bewildered. ‘What are you talking about?' ‘When I got pregnant with Lexie,' Samantha said loudly, ‘and we couldn't go travelling, and your bloody mother made us get married in double-quick time, and your father got you a job with Edward Collins, you said, we agreed, that we'd do it when the girls were grown up; we said we'd go away and do all the things we missed out on.' He shook his head slowly. ‘This is news to me,' he said. ‘Where the hell has this come from?' ‘Miles, we were in the Black Canon. I told you I was pregnant, and you said – for Christ's sake, Miles – I told you I was pregnant, and you promised me, you promised – ‘ ‘You want a holiday?' said Miles. ‘Is that it? You want a holiday?' ‘No, Miles, I don't want a bloody holiday, I want – don't you remember? We said we'd take a year out and do it later, when the kids were grown up!' ‘Fine, then.' He seemed unnerved, determined to brush her aside. ‘Fine. When Libby's eighteen; in four years' time, we'll talk about it again. I don't see how me becoming a councillor affects any of this.' ‘Well, apart from the bloody boredom of listening to you and your parents whining about the Fields for the rest of our natural lives – ‘ ‘Our natural lives?' he smirked. ‘As opposed to – ?' ‘Piss off,' she spat. ‘Don't be such a bloody smartarse, Miles, it might impress your mother – ‘ ‘Well, frankly, I still don't see what the problem – ‘ ‘The problem,' she shouted, ‘is that this is about our future, Miles. Our future. And I don't want to bloody talk about it in four years' time, I want to talk about it now!' ‘I think you'd better eat something,' said Miles. He got to his feet. ‘You've had enough to drink.' ‘Screw you, Miles!' ‘Sorry, if you're going to be abusive †¦' He turned and walked out of the room. She barely stopped herself throwing her wine glass after him. The council: if he got on it, he would never get off; he would never renounce his seat, the chance to be a proper Pagford big shot, like Howard. He was committing himself anew to Pagford, retaking his vows to the town of his birth, to a future quite different from the one he had promised his distraught new fiancee as she sat sobbing on his bed. When had they last talked about travelling the world? She was not sure. Years and years ago, perhaps, but tonight Samantha decided that she, at least, had never changed her mind. Yes, she had always expected that some day they would pack up and leave, in search of heat and freedom, half the globe away from Pagford, Shirley, Mollison and Lowe, the rain, the pettiness and the sameness. Perhaps she had not thought of the white sands of Australia and Singapore with longing for many years, but she would rather be there, even with her heavy thighs and her stretch marks, than here, trapped in Pagford, forced to watch as Miles turned slowly into Howard. She slumped back down on the sofa, groped for the controls, and switched back to Libby's DVD. The band, now in black and white, was walking slowly along a long empty beach, singing. The broad-shouldered boy's shirt was flapping open in the breeze. A fine trail of hair led from his navel down into his jeans.