Ashoka country/region: India Lifespan Essay

Political conditions prior to leader’s gaining power: The Mauryan Empire was perhaps the largest empire ever to dominate the Indian subcontinent. Administration of Mauryan dynasty emote a stupendous instance, in which the top order established solemn groundwork for their descendants.Chandragupta Maurya, the founder king of the Mauryan Dynasty, represents the quintessence of the Mauryan kings, who materialised the very idea of political unification of India. social condition prior to leader’s gaining power: Among the more significant changes which had taken place by the middle of the first millennium B.C. was the development of towns and urban culture. The coming of Aryan culture based on pastoralism and agrarian village communities. It resulted in the entire process of development from village cultures to urban cultures being re-experienced in northern India. Towns evolved from trade centres and craft villages, and consequently the dominant institution of urban life was the guild. economic condition prior to leader’s gaining power: Land revenue had been recognised as a major source of state income before the Mauryas. The proverbial wealth of the Nandas was doubtless due to their efficient collection of revenue from the fertile middle Ganga plain. ideology, motivation, goals: Ashoka goals were to bring Buddhist values, general welfare, justice, and security. significant actions & events during term of power: Ashoka’s military power was so strong that he was able to crush those empires that went to war against him. Ashoka also planted trees in his empire and his neighboring countries. Ashoka was perhaps the first emperor in human history to ban slavery, hunting, fishing and deforestation. Ashoka also banned the death sentence and asked the same for the neighboring countries. Ashoka commanded his people to serve the orders of their elders parents and religious monks. Ashoka also recommended his people study and respect all religions. According to Ashoka, to harm another’s religion is a harm to one’s own religion. Ashoka asked people to live with harmony, peace, love and tolerance. Ashoka called his people as his children, and they could call him when they need him. He also asked people to save money and not to spend for immoral causes. short term effects: After his death the dynasty fell, creating a new dynasty in India. long term effects: Ashoka influence the spread of Buddhism thought India. Until today most of the Indian population still is Buddhists. View as multi-pages

Nectar in a Sieve Analysis

Ashley S. Dela Vina English Nectar in a Sieve Novel Analysis K(What I know about the novel)| W(What I want to know about the novel)| L(What I learn from the novel)| Nectar in a Sieve is an Indian novel written by Kamala Markandaya. It is about a girl who was married at a young age to a farmer. And faced a lot of challenges throughout her life. | I want to know how the protagonist of the story will live her life as a wife. Also the struggles she will face and the things she would do and sacrifice in order to overcome her hardships in life. Life is naturally hard and disastrous. We just have to learn how to face these disasters in order to succeed and survive. Giving up is not the solution to everything. Hope and perseverance will always stand against the odds in our lives. Rukmani shows the need to hold onto hope and the nectar of life despite all the overflowing tragedies. | The KWL Chart The novel started with the protagonist, Rukamani, narrating her own story in a first person poin t of view. Having a flashback of all the happenings in her life, Rukmani was able to analyze all the different events in her life.Rukmani is an educated woman who is married to a farmer named Nathan at the age of twelve. Her marriage is one of the greatest times in her life and she is thankful that her husband is kind to her. Rukmani wishes to raise a happy and healthy family while Nathan wishes to buy their own land. They had their first child Ira, and then followed by five sons; Arjun, Thambi, Murugan, Raja and Selvam. In Rukmani’s later years she gave birth to Kuti. The major conflict in the novel was the fight between life and death for the poor people of the small village.But when you go beneath the surface, you will see that it is not just a matter of life and death, but also a fight between the evil and the good that was challenged by the constant struggles that happened. The arrival of the tannery was a turning point in Rukmani’s life. Her restriction to Iraâ⠂¬â„¢s freedom from the tannery workers foreshadows the troubles her son will have with them. Two of her sons were dismissed at the tannery for leading the strike of workers after sometime of working there. She deals with losing her daughter because of her marriage that is too good to be true.Her marriage is also a form of foreshadowing in the novel. It foreshadows the future trouble with her fertility and security. Her husband returned her to her family because she cannot bear a child. Rukmani tried seeking for Kenny’s help but it was too late because Ira’s husband already found another wife. Rukmani’s sixth son, Kuti, brought Ira out of depression. She took care of the child until drought came and the family suffered hunger again. Kunthi’s prostitution foreshadows Ira’s similar fate. Ira turned to prostitution in order to feed Kuti. Kenny’s comeback symbolises hope for them.He returned from his long absence with the money he will use to pu t up a hospital. He offers help to Rukmani’s son, Selvam to be his assistant which Selvam quickly accepted. Kunthi’s blackmail attempt exposes Rukmani’s long held secret (her visit to Kenny’s clinic) and reveals that Nathan fathered Kunthi’s sons. Just as Nathan and Rukmani’s marriage survived Kunthi’s storm and became stronger, the family survives the drought and dares to hope once again. Ira had an albino child from prostitution but the family welcomed the child wholeheartedly despite what the villagers think.Just when it seems that the family had overcome everything, the biggest of the challenges came. They were told that they have to leave their land immediately because it was already sold to the tannery. Their decision to go to the city marks as the climax because this will change the direction of their lives. In the city, they found Puli, an orphan who helped them look for their son. During their travel at the city, they found o ut that their son left his wife and child and moved to some other place. They were also robbed at the temple and Rukmani wanted to go back to their village.When Nathan died at the temple in Rukmani’s arms, she went back home with Puli. Rukmani is a very strong woman. She has undergone so many struggles but yet, she doesn’t lose hope. The novel has different themes: hunger as threat to dignity, knowledge as power, and importance of fertility. Hunger and poverty is a powerful enemy to someone. People will do everything for fear of hunger, even sacrifice their dignity. Rukmani lost her sons because of hunger. Her elder sons seek new lives in other land; another son was killed for stealing, leaving Rukmani grieving.For fear of hunger her daughter turned to prostitution. She herself almost killed someone for thinking the last piece of their rice was being taken. In the novel, hunger and poverty breeds people who has no dignity. People with knowledge hold power. The tannery won against the workers because they have more knowledge. For Rukmani, white men have power and so she turned to Kenny. Kunthi uses her knowledge of Rukmani and Nathan’s secrets to exercise evil power. Puli’s knowledge of the city helped Rukmani and Nathan to look for their son.The commendable characters in the novel were the ones who apply their knowledge to good deeds. Importance of fertility is shown throughout the novel. Not just the fertility of women but also the fertility of the land. She sought the help of Kenny for fear of infertility and this caused Kunthi to blackmail her. Ira’s problems were also caused by her barrenness. She lost her husband for not being able to produce him a child. The fertility of the land is a symbol of life, it is so important to the villagers for when the land does not produce, the people will starve.The bullocks were related to the peasants of the land. The bullocks highlight the harmony of nature. The bullocks, like the peas ants, suffered from the injustice of overwork. They overwork for their owners to earn a living every day. The sari is a sorce of dignity, status, and pride. Rukmani’s sari on her wedding shows that her father was the headman and that she comes from important people. The Hinduism belief, dharma was present in the novel. It was shown in the novel when Rukmani sold the sari together with their bullocks and other possessions to pay for the land they live.By selling her most prized possession, she reduces her attachment to worldly goods as an important step toward achieving the hindu virtue of dharma. Rukmani is a strong voice of the poor because she seaks with carity and truth. She gets stronger in every challenge because of her devotion to truth. With her, the Hindu belief that truth surpass all other moral values was shown in the novel. Sources: http://thebestnotes. com/booknotes/Nectar_Markandaya/Nectar_In_A_Sieve05. html http://www. sparknotes. com/lit/nectar/facts. html http ://www. enotes. com/nectar-sieve

Humans Are Naturally Evil

HUMANS ARE NATURALLY EVIL The question regarding to the nature of human beings being related to the word evil has been a topic for controversial discussion and debate among scholars and philosophers alike. According to the ardictionary. com, the word evil is defined as Having or exhibiting bad moral qualities; morally corrupt; wicked; wrong; vicious; as, evil conduct, thoughts, heart, words, and the like ,anything which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; anything which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings; injury; mischief; harm; opposed to good.It is natural that criminals and villains are presumed evil by the society as the bad deeds are indicated by their crimes. However, how far is the understanding of the society that actually everyone including priests, monks and even mothers are also evil? The word naturally suggest that evil is present in the human beings by nature and that the evil within someone is not influenced by any other factor s besides the natural existence. In other word, humans are all evil and are inclined to organise evil actions. Incomplete intro) The first proof to support the notion that humans are naturally evil is through the tendencies of human beings to commit crimes. According to Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who is credited with the development of psychoanalytic theory, all humans have criminal tendencies. Furthermore all humans have natural drives and urges repressed in the unconscious. Through the process of socialisation, however, these tendencies are curbed. http://criminology. wikia. com/wiki/General_Theory_of_CrimeThe primary evidence that people are generally evil is evident by the number of wars. Research discloses not only that the genocide was centrally conceived, planned and directed, but that there were some who worked at providing the intellectual rationale for the genocide and the propaganda which justified and rationalized the slaughter. Most countries have experienced their shar e of wars. World War One was the first war that affected many countries such as Serbia, Germany, Britain, France, and North America.It demonstrated for the first time how brutal people can be to each other. This war was fought because of tension between countries for years that blew up in 1914 with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. The quote, â€Å"Guns don't kill people, people kill people† highlights that machines did not kill all these people, people kill those from different countries in order to further their cause and do not stop unless they are successful. World War One was also known as â€Å"the war to end all wars† obviously this wasn't true. A few years later, another war took place.World War Two demonstrated that people will kill to satisfy themselves. Hitler in World War Two was the main aggressor. He wanted to make his people, the pure Germans, the master race. He was threatened by other countries and wanted his superior to all others. When other coun tries became aware of this, naturally, the war began, killing people by the millions. By the number of wars, we can conclude that the natural human reaction to the threat of war and great power released human evil. Another way to prove the existence of natural evil is via daily activities that humans do.According to Isaac Newton, every action has a reaction. This concept even applies to our daily activities. Humans always disregard the consequences that they consider to be trivial or do not affect them directly. In order to understand this statement, let us take a look at the McDonald – Israel relationship. According to the Chicago Jewish Community Online, McDonalds Corporation whose global headquarters is based just outside Chicago is a major corporate partner of the Jewish United Fund and Jewish Federation.Through its Israel Commission, the Jewish United Fund â€Å"works to maintain American military, economic and diplomatic support for Israel; monitors and, when necessary , responds to media coverage of Israel â€Å". Israel, as the world has already acknowledged, is a nation built illegally on the land of Palestine through wars with the support from United States of America. The rate of consumption of Israel’s product like McDonalds are exceptionally high even though society have acknowledged the evil that the Israeli have triggered upon the Palestinians through the countless wars and discriminations .By refusing to initiate the act of embargoing Israel’s products, the society are directly contributing monetary support for Israel to dominate Palestine and oppressing the Palestinians. People are actually practicing evil because they refuse to conceive the impacts of their actions. As the impacts are not visible, we tend to ignore them. This is clearly unacceptable as by supporting even in a small scale, we are actually permitting evil to be continuously ensued in the world. Humans take Mother Nature for granted. Mankind would take ever ything that she provides beyond their basic needs.In doing so, nature is being stripped to the barren bone in order man could satisfy their undying lust for wealth and power. Man is destroying nature along with the tranquillity and balance of the cosmos. For instance, everyone uses toilet papers. These uses of toilet paper are destroying nature evilly. As more and more companies are going paperless which is a good thing, there is less and less recycled material going into the production of toilet paper. As a result, pulp manufacturing is increasing, requiring the use of more virgin wood – a clean and untreated type that comes straight from forests.With a country using an average of 7 billion rolls of toilet paper a year and a typical tree provides about 1,000 rolls of toilet paper, man is using 7 million trees just to clean after themselves every year. This disaster is never considered as an environmental crime, due to the fact that toilet paper is a claimed necessity. In con trary, toilet paper is not used in required amounts. In fact, the wastage of toilet paper is far beyond the common lay man could comprehend. This monstrous wastage would eventually ravage the earth from its forests.This horrible act is an evil quality mankind towards nature. Some people would still view mankind with hope that man is not naturally inclined to become evil. These idealists would still fight to prove a utopian dream is not entirely impossible. Imagining a world without war, peace in the four corners of the globe and the earth occupied by people who are selfless and pleasant. The claim is that mankind is in fact not naturally evil. Mankind possess a common understanding about positive moral and a natural desire to do what is considered as morally right.Although the interpretation of what is morally good differs from the societies of the world, mankind still stand on common ground to consider that taking a life, lying and stealing is considered as bad. An individual is ob ligated, if not encouraged, to take the necessary precautionary steps to avoid committing such sins. Thus, the consciousness that exists within the social norms of mankind is pure proof that mankind is not naturally evil. However, it is undeniable that evil is still the product of mankind’s nature. A murderer may kill four different victims due to the product of stress and anger.The epic clash between the Trojans and the Greeks were due to the love of Paris, Prince of Troy towards Agamemnon’s sister-in-law. Both World Wars were caused by one man’s ambition to make the world organized under one political administration. The Zionist regime discriminated and denied the Palestinians their due human rights because they claim for compensation of their Jewish ancestors massacred in the Holocaust. The mentioned emotions are actually natural feelings that the common man would experience in everyday life. Many of the sins that man committed throughout history are the prod uct of his natural emotions and instincts.Despite the fact that mankind is capable of doing so much good, human beings are also capable of committing that is far worse. These actions prove that evil is the product of previous evil and genuine human emotions. Determinists have come to the conclusion that we are governed by the laws of science, that there is nothing we can do about ourselves being evil because we naturally are. Evil is simply the act of causing pain. Human beings are born with a natural reaction to â€Å"fear and chaos† to be instinctively evil. We live in a morally fragile world and our moral decisions do not only matter to us.They have consequences for everyone else, and for the world. We have to dig deeper to identify the real world. We are not good as a whole. We are mean to each other. We lie. We cheat. We steal. We don't seem to think this because we just dismiss these things as minor corruptions. Well minor after minor after minor combine, to become majo r. Unless something is changed soon, like we lose our natural instincts, then we always will be. No one wants to hear this, but it needs to be said by someone. Humans are naturally evil. That is what makes humans such fascinating creatures

The Link Between Employee Engagement and Organization Performance Literature review

The Link Between Employee Engagement and Organization Performance - Literature review Example From the research it can be comprehended that Employees Engagement is all about obtaining workers to ‘give it their all’. Employee engagement is a vast build that touches almost every areas of HRM. If all part of HR is not addressed in proper way, employees fail to completely engage themselves in their work in the reply to such kind of mismanagement. It is also stronger forecaster of positive organizational performance obviously demonstrating the two-way relationship among employer and worker compared to the three previous constructs: workers dedication, job satisfaction and organizational residency behavior. HRM is increasingly measured a contemporary expansion that carries on to reshape employment relations. An endeavor is made to believe it an instrument that may have successfully replaced other type’s management customs like Industrial Relations and Personnel Management. Another driver is to examine a bundle of most excellent practices for example high dedicat ion management and their impact on employment relations. What ever the route HRM remains a current but evolving science coping with complex beings, and in complex companies and surroundings. â€Å"Within the HRM tradition, HRM is strategy-focused and central to the corporate plan in the planning perspective. In the people management perspective, HRM views people as social capital, capable of being developed and committed at work†.... (Elizabeth 2008). â€Å"HRM us where by the management of people is read-off the broader objective of the organization† (Marchington & Wilkinson 2005. p. 5). Many contestants signified that they practice health-related struggle resulting from the stress they experience at job. The reasons behind the job stress of the employees in the organizations are conflict among work and family responsibilities, technical advance and regular interactions among the consumer and service industry. The symptoms of job stress are, physical illness, depression, family conflict, lack of mental concentration, anxiety, extreme anger, absenteeism, frustration, and stress. (Elizabeth 2008). Worker Burnout: It is emotional overtiredness and detachment from job. Pprofessionals as well as workers are affected by this phenomenon. Various causes that may lead to the worker burnout in the current HRM in organizations are, lack of family support and community support, lack of balance in work and life, lack of time for hobbies, and finally the workers are pushed to time limits by the company. (What Is Employee Burnout? 2009). â€Å"Burnout can be symptomatic of larger issues affecting staff morale, but there are simple ways to alleviate these realities that are cost-effective and sustainable. Keep in mind that there is no magic wand here and that material solutions are not always the best approach to addressing employee burnout† (Poland 2011). Safety: Safety deals with the condition of being safe in the organizations. It also consists of protection of people or possessions. Safety aspects of the individuals in the organizations are one of the major issues faced by the companies in the current HRM. Various ways to improve the safety in the organizations are, making

Community Service or Social Project Service Essay

Community Service or Social Project Service - Essay Example The information accessed by these people may take the form of case studies, theoretical literature and role plays, where their interactions with the members of the public improve their abilities, including their leadership outlook and overall leadership performance. This paper will use the case of leaders in Skid Row to explore the enhancing effect of community service on the leadership abilities and the leadership style of a leader. Lastly, the paper will discuss the ways in which the leadership of an individual reflects personal values and the ethical values of an organization. The ways in which community service enhances a leader’s leadership style Building sustainable peace and development in communities affected by crisis requires the leaders involved in the negotiation proceedings to be highly skilled, so that they can communicate their views to the groups in conflict. From the case of the Skid Row area of Los Angeles, the role of the leaders of the Skid Row Housing Trus t has remained critical to the resolution of the poverty and the housing crisis facing the area. The leadership structure of communities facing crisis situations plays an important role in worsening the situation or closing the gaps and addressing the crisis situation (Elliott & Kaufman, 2003). The area is known, since its history as the residential neighborhood for the poorest and the homeless. However, the formation of the Skid Row housing trust in 1989 set to address the problem of homelessness, through the development and the refurbishment of housing facilities. During the years between 1950 and 2000, the redevelopment of residential hotels led to the destruction of the highly affordable housing in Los Angeles, which threatened the areas’ residential community; redevelopment forced thousands of residents into the sidewalks and the city’s shelters. The crisis situation made business leaders and community activists respond to the alarming wash-away of permanent, affo rdable housing; the two groups formed the Skid Row Housing Trust (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013a). The leadership of the trust pushed for the mobilization of private equity, low income credits, conventional debt and public finance, which helped with the salvage of housing units that were on the verge of being lost. The work of the trust oversaw the transformation and the renovation of decaying hotels into attractive, safe and affordable permanent housing, which offered housing to the homeless and the low-income population (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013a). The initiative taken by the business leaders and community activists, through their respective leaders demonstrated the outlook of servant Leadership, which is contrary to the traditional leadership outlook of autocratic leaders (Greenleaf, 2002). Servant leadership is evident from the strategies adopted by the leaders, because instead of compelling the residents of the area to live on the streets or struggle to afford the redevelope d housing, they employed the moral power of guaranteeing the availability of affordable housing to the homeless and the poor (Greenleaf, 2002). The strategy offered them the platform to improve their living standards. The success of the leadership outlook of the leaders is evident from t

Political Rhetoric Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Political Rhetoric - Essay Example The Institute is a think-thank which offers its expertise and research to progressives to help the latter understand and learn how to communicate effectively their messages across. 1 Lakoff’s contribution to political rhetoric is his study of metaphors in relation to political discourse. Lakoff asserts that metaphors are not merely occasional figures of speech but is a cognitive phenomenon implying that language in itself is metaphorical. The ability to create metaphors is made possible by the use of a source domain as a reference to a target domain using areas of experience or semantic frames. Thus the metaphor war on terror and others like it coined to refer to the 9/11 incident was drawn from the war frame idea signifying a relentless battle against an enemy. 2 The function of metaphors in political rhetoric, according to Lakoff, is that they determine how people perceive phenomena and hence, how they act. Metaphors likewise act to highlight a particular aspect of a phenomenon whilst concealing some other aspects. In addition, Lakoff theorises that the processes of thinking are structured metaphorically which is turn is reflected by speech but when met aphors are used intentionally, they become debatable. 3 Murray Edelman (1919-2001) was a multi-awarded professor who taught at the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin until his death in 2001. He initially focused his attention in the field of labour-management relations but eventually turned to the subject of symbolic politics and the subjective part of politics and power, which would pre-occupy him in the next forty years of his life. Some of his works are: The Symbolic Uses of Politics in 1964; Politics as a Symbolic Action: Mass Arousal and Quiescence in 1971; Political Language: Words that Succeed and Politics that Fail in 1977; Constructing the Political Spectacle in 1995, and; The Politics of Misinformation in 2001. 4 Edelman’s books were seen as major

History of ISIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

History of ISIS - Essay Example The group’s origin dates back in 1999-2003 during the Iraq war, and a time when Sadam was under scrutiny by the US Government. The group was formed to promote the existing war in Iraq between Sunnis and Shiites, where Shiites were supposed to die because it was heretic. In addition, the group wanted to expand its control over Iraq and Syria. It emerged from Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which was a major character in Sunni insurgency. The group was then under the leadership of Musab al-Zarqawi then. However, after his death, the group merged with other extremist groups to form the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). However, in 2007, things lost balance in the group after many Iraq Sunni groups differed with ISI because of boundary disagreements. In 2011, the group emerged after foreign troops withdrew from Iraq and when Abu bakr al-Baghdadi was appointed the group’s new leader, who chose former Ba’athist military and intelligence officials as his personal assistants. However, in 2012, it adopted a new Moniker and branded itself the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The group has 7,000 members, 3,000 of whom are foreigners mainly from Britain and Belgium. According to reports published on CBS News website, ISIL (S) uses social media to recruit most of its members, especially from the west. In addition, it has a multilingual media group called Al Hayat, which specializes in printing and distributing glossy magazines and videos that aim at influencing people into being part of the group. Its main sources of finance are smuggling, extortion, and outlawed crimes. It is estimated that the group can make up to $8 million per month. The group’s organizational structure is composed of a supreme leader, wh o currently is Al-Baghdadi, who has two deputies, one in charge of Syria, and the other in charge of Iraq.  

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Assignment Example This is because in case Jill’s operating costs rise and is not able to sell product at high price in the market bank will have default risk and will also face potential payment risks by Jill. Second stakeholders are the employees which might be fired from job because the company might not need them for the more automated system of production. Also, employees with older skills of production might be affected as they will no more be suitable for the job of new production process. Next stakeholders to be effected are customers who might face the issue of high prices in case of high product cost to Jill. Company’s first aim is to cover their costs and hence if Jill’s costs rise with the new equipment it might price the product at a slightly higher price which might not be acceptable to the customers. Lastly, competitors would be affected by this action. This is because competitors might lack the new mode of production and hence they might not be able to produce effic iently compared to Jill’s company. At the same time competitors might also gain as in case Jill raises price of the product, competitors can increase their sales by keeping low price of their product. Changing production technology is what is of more concern and convenience to the internal management of any company and customers have nothing to do with it. So, Jill’s decision might have no effect on its reputation. Hence Jill should think of saving her costs rather than following her high cost passion blindly. (b) Ethics can be defined as any action which synchronizes with the generally accepted principles of right and abandons the wrong. Ethics in business follow the rule of true, accurate and complete information sharing among all the parties with the disclosure of benefits as well as risks of any project. In this case, benefits are being portrayed to the bank by Jill in a very reasonable manner but at the same time. CVP analysis and fixed costs control problem is hi dden by Jill because of the fear of not getting the loan from bank. Ethical concern in this case is the true and fair representation of information as the information provided by Jill to bank is not accurate and does not represent every side of the picture. Jill has highlighted the benefits of this project to the bank only in order to get the loan but has been hiding the information of high fixed costs due to this new production equipment. So, Jill has been showing the bank only the bright side of this project and ignoring the area which can bring concern to the management of bank. In this case, bank can be in trouble in future with a high risk of default in case Jill is not able to sustain profits with this new investment. So, Jill is unethically showing the wrong and incomplete side of the picture to bank. Â © I would think ethically and ensure that I share the full and accurate information with my bank. When we put a proposal in front of a third party who is going to put at stak e the money of another third party(bank’s customer) in our business, there is a need to be very sensitive towards all the two parties involved one directly and other one indirectly. So, I would ensure to share the complete results with my bank and appeal for loan. This is because being ethical is the major concern for any business and I would never like to be the reason of trouble for my stakeholders especially those who have invested their money and the

Collaborative Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Collaborative Strategies - Essay Example This also makes both the regions to have something to associate each other with, like a company having a head office in another place and operations in another place, makes people of the other country feel about the company more special, and thus it increases market share. It also gives an extra control to an origin or parent company over the collaborated company and its origin, also it plays some role in having better relations between not only two companies but also two countries and thus governments are involved in a positive manner. The collaborative arrangements abroad are to reduce overheads and costs, as initiating the operations on the personal expenses can bring a heavy investment and capital into action, which is also not secured, as no body knows what might be the preferences of the origin where the initiation would take place. The real problem that arises when the collaboration takes places between a local and international arrangement is that at times, the international arrangement becomes more prominent and beneficial where as the local starts suffering as there might be a possibility that due to high cultural values the firm makes fair reputation abroad while having similar or even poorer reputation in the origin, this can really affect the operations and can increase the worries of the decision makers. One of the widely most methods used for collaboration between two different companies or even parties is licensing, which after having more specialized form, known as franchising, however there are few differences between the two but they have more similarities as they both are used as a major form of collaboration. In licensing, the problem that occurs is on the side of the origin company, as if it would issue license to some other party than the party can start providing the service or products under the parent company's name, with having no concerns on following the instructions of parent company, they can also set the entire fixture and related things according to their own will, this can cause the parent company to have a poor image at times if the licenser has not taken any care of the original standards followed by the parent company. In franchising, the problem gets opposite, as now the franchisee has to follow the instructions of the parent company in a strict manner, even t he fixtures and the materials used in the product are same all around the globe in accordance to the parent company's will, in this case the franchisee gets worried as failure to maintain the real standards can lead to the cancellation of the franchise agreement. As long as we talk about business, than it automatically takes us to talk about individual objectives, which lead to problems. There are numerous problems occurring in the collaborative arrangements such as having more concerns on the partnership rather than private operations, controlling problem as both of the parties have merely some control on each others work which can result in change views, also the personal objectives come first which can make both the parties apart and also cultural differences can occur, which are a major issue as there have been various firms

Contracts Business Law Essay Example for Free

Contracts Business Law Essay Contracts are often viewed as unnecessary in the eyes of the public. Most people think that they live their lives doing what they want, when they want with little regard for contractual law. In reality, contracts bind the decisions that most people make on a regular basis. By writing this article I will demonstrate the usefulness of contracts and how they relate to everyday life. I also intend to provide a reasonable idea of what would happen if we did not have contracts guiding decisions made. Because without contracts, the law would not know who to rule in favor of should the need arise, which happens on a daily basis all around the world. The basic definition of a contract is an agreement between two or more parties. This definition encompasses a great many things. If you take a look at the life of an average consumer, from the beginning of their day to the end of it, they make decisions based on factors that have been put in place by contracts. Our consumer wakes up in his home, which was bought from K. Hovnanian, a company that is well known for the designing homes and making people’s dream homes come to life. That house was built by contractors. By definition a contractor is a person or firm who contracts to build things. Electricians, carpenters, stonemasons, plumbers, home audio technicians, Sheet-rockers, painters, and floor specialists are all examples of contractors that were involved in making the consumers dream home come to life. However, K. Hovnanian does not have a contract with each of these types of contractors. Instead, they have a contract with a general contractor, who has agreed to hire each of the other types of contractors to complete the work necessary to make the house come to life. Our consumer works out a deal with K. Hovnanian for a certain price, which becomes the binding contract that K.  Hovnanian agrees to build the house for. The trademarks that K. Hovnanian uses to define who they are, is bound to them by a trademark agreement with the United States. According to the Legal Information Institute of Cornell University, A trademark is defined as â€Å"Any word, name, symbol, or design, or any combination thereof, used in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from those of another and to indicate the source of the goods. † By registering this trademark our consumer is able to safely say that it is K. Hovnanian they are dealing and not someone who is pretending to be them. Once the home is completed then, the consumer would then bring in a third party, to the agreement: Bank of America. Bank of America has entered into an agreement with our consumer to pay K. Hovnanian for the home built. In turn, the consumer must pay back Bank of America over the next twenty years at a fixed interest rate the amount of money borrowed. This becomes a mortgage contract. According to the Legal information institute at Cornell University, â€Å"A mortgage contract, involves the transfer of an interest in land as security for a loan or other obligation. this is the most common method of financing real estate transactions. The mortgagor in this case K. Hovnanian is the party transferring the interest in land. The mortgagee, Bank of America, is the providing the loan given in exchange security. â€Å"Normally, a mortgage is paid in installments that include both interest and a payment on the principle amount that was borrowed. † Now that our consumer has bought his home and is moving in, a decision is made to buy items for the home that will be necessary for the consumer to live comfortably. Our consumer goes to Kmart and uses their Visa credit card to pay for a number of items such made by brand name companies such as Martha Stewart Living or Craftsman, the bill of sale, otherwise known as the receipt, is an agreement to pay the store for the amount of goods purchased. However, that is only the basics of the idea. The long process of agreements that we do not see and probably do not think about is there is a contract for every minor detail, allowing this transaction to happen. The consumer uses their Visa to purchase these goods up to a pre-determined dollar amount. Therefore, a request was made by the consumer to purchase the merchandise being sold by Kmart using Visa and, in turn an agreement was made with Visa to pay back in due time the amount for the goods purchased, plus interest of course. In turn, Kmart has agreed to honor Visa as per their contract with Visa. They worked out an agreement before hand to accept Visa, which would increase their sales and Visa would be allowed to keep a small percentage of the sale for the ability to use their services. However, to use the services provided by Visa, Kmart must have an agreement with a company that allows them to go beyond their store via electronic communications. The use of services through a company such as Verizon would be necessary. Verizon provides high speed internet as well as telephone services to companies like Kmart to allow them to access outside of the walls of the business. Therefore, Kmart enters into a binding contract with Verizon, for a pre-determined amount of time and a pre-determined amount of money allowing Kmart to use the services Verizon provides. Now that Kmart has the means to reach the outside world, they must purchase equipment, such as MagTek equipment, that would allow Kmart to use the Visa card allowing consumers to make a purchase on credit for goods that Kmart Provides. According to MagTek’s Website, â€Å"MagTek is a manufacturer of electronic devices and systems for the reliable issuance, reading, transmission and security of cards, checks, PINs and other identification documents. † Among the electronic devices, is a magnetic strip reader allowing consumers to use Visa credit cards to make purchases. Kmart also has an agreement with Omnimedia, the owning entity of the Martha Stewart living products, and Craftsman, a company that makes tools for everyday use. This type of agreement is known an exclusive dealing arrangement. According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University, â€Å"Exclusive dealing arrangements are, essentially, requirement contracts in which a seller agrees to sell all or a substantial portion of its products or services to a particular buyer, or when a buyer similarly agrees to purchase all or a portion of its requirements of a product or service from a particular seller. This means that Kmart buys all of its tools from craftsman or all of its household items from Omnimedia. The reverse to this, is that Craftsman or Omnimedia may have an exclusive dealing arrangement in which they agree not to sell their products to competing companies or franchises. As you can see, there is much more going on in behind the curtains of a typical day, so that the consumer is able to live their life. These are only a handful of examples of what parts of our lives contracts have an impact on. There are many more out there. The opposite of having a life filled with contracts, is having one without them, which would likely be a life filled with chaos. Imagine the same scenario in the last few pages, but without contracts binding the many parties involved. Our consumer would set out to buy a home which they decide to do business with K. Hovnanian. On a handshake and a smile K. Hovnanian agrees to build the home, but changes things that the consumer specifically said he wanted to alter the price of the home. After a couple of weeks K.  Hovnanian contacts our consumer to let them know that they were able to secure the land, but the price will be higher. Reluctantly, the consumer agrees, after all this is a dream home that is being built. Another two weeks goes by, and K Hovnanian calls and says construction is right on schedule and that the house will be completed within the next couple of weeks. K Hovnanian and our consumer come to an agreement of money and the consumer has his bank give the money to K. Hovnanian as agreed. After a couple of Months of communication silence, the consumer gets agitated and goes to the lot where his house was being built. There is no house and no construction crew. He goes to the location where K. Hovnanian was only to find out they have closed their doors and left. After contacting some sources to find out the whereabouts of K. Hovnanian, the consumer finds out that the company he has been dealing with was not K. Hovnanian at all, just someone taking advantage of people using the K. Hovnanian name to get money for free. The one contract in all of this that our consumer did setup was with Bank of America for his Mortgage, which is now legally binding. The consumer cannot pay the mortgage and therefore his credit gets destroyed because of a failure to pay and a foreclosure on a home he never saw, which makes it so he never had a Visa card to pay for the purchases from Kmart. Because there was no contract, there was no crime. The company doing business as K. Hovnanian was not wrong because there is no copyright or trademark contract protecting the K. Hovnanian name. The consumer gave them money even though nothing had been in writing and no formal contract was made. In the end, this consumer was taken advantage of because contracts for the situation did not exist. The United States has placed many laws to protect the rights of companies and the trademark they possess. â€Å"Section 1127 Construction and definitions; intent of chapter,† is the chapter in US Code that defines the parameters in which a company may define or lose definition of their trademark. In turn, â€Å"The Lanham Act† protects the owner of a federally registered trademark from anyone not authorized, to use it (http://www. gpoaccess. gov/uscode/). Also under United States Code under section 1454, is the protection of consumer’s rights when making purchases of land by obtaining a mortgage. These rights are put in place to protect the Bank issuing the mortgage, as well as, the consumer. All in all, Contracts are a part of our everyday lives whether we want it to be or not. They may not always be seen nor the effects of it so obvious, but they are there, and their purpose is to protect all parties involved from entering an agreement without understanding and respecting the rights of the other parties of the contract.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Reason Over Passion History Essay

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Reason Over Passion History Essay Pierre Elliot Trudeau was the most influential leader in Canadian politics. He was a charismatic, charming, honest and an intellectually brilliant individual. Trudeau inherently believed in a fair society where minority rights are protected and all citizens are treated equally. He used his unique skills to build a better Canada, where its citizens enjoyed a superior quality of life and standard of living. Elected in 1968, Trudeau was responsible for implementing landmark legislation, which significantly impacted Canadian lives in a positive way. In 1969, Trudeau enacted the official languages Act, which enabled both English and French speaking Canadians equal rights. In 1970, Trudeau implemented the War Measures Act for the safety of the Canadian people against terrorists acts. Furthermore, in 1982 Trudeau revamped the Canadian Charter of Right and Freedoms, which changed the shape of Canadian democracy  [1]  and gave Canadians a new outlook towards life. Trudeau allowed Canada t o evolve into what he perceived as a just society, which created personal and political freedom in addition to unity within the nation. 1969, a year in which Francophones (a term used to describe primary French speaking individuals) would be able to use their talents to the full,  [2]  as Trudeau enacted the Official Languages Act, otherwise known as Bill C-120. This act entrenched the rights of Francophones to their language wherever they lived and gave public servants the choice of their language of work  [3]  . Trudeau stated, Either one nation with two languages or ultimately two separate nations  [4]  . Trudeau, advocating Canadian unity aimed at opposing the concept of a French Canada  [5]  . The Trudeau government wanted to recognize French and English languages as equal. Trudeau, a francophone himself stated that he wanted increased identification of Francophones within Canada  [6]  ; Bill C-120 gave greater responsibility to French Canadians in the federal government, as section five declared that the decisions of the federal courts were to be issued in both English and French  [7]  . Section eight, which stated that, both English and French versions of a law enacted by the Parliament of Canada are equally authentic  [8]  , and section nine which assured that each agency of a Crown Corporation in Ottawa or in a bilingual district must ensure that services were available in both official languages  [9]  . Trudeau covered every aspect of ensuring equality and unity of both English and French speaking Canadians. Trudeau hoped to re-channel Quebec nationalism  [10]  and eliminate separatism in Quebec. Bill C-120 appeared promising as it has progressively more support throughout Canada. The Bill has been revised twice to strengthen some of its provisions  [11]  and in 1982 parts of Bill C-120 was constitutionalized by its placing in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Languages Act was appreciated by many Canadians however small minorities insisted on committing to the independence of Quebec. The Front de Liberation or the FLQ wanted to ensure greater participation of the French speaking public. In October 1970 the FLQ became known as Canadas Terrorist group  [12]  , as they kidnapped two public officials James Cross and Pierre Laporte. Roman Pearson of the Centre of Canadian Studies stated that terrorism was something that Canadians read about in the newspapers; it was not supposed to occur in Canada, but the FLQ changed all of that  [13]  . It was also reported that in August 1970 FLQ terrorist were training with Palestinian terrorists, and had vowed a series of political assassinations  [14]  . The FLQ were determined, in hopes that Quebec would somehow become independent; conversely Trudeau had a different mindset. He believed that no terrorist group should be able to roam free in the streets of Canada  [15]  . As he was be ing questioned by a local news reporter he stated that, as people are being abducted let them be protected, its only natural  [16]  In response to the FLQ on October 16th 1970, under the leadership of Trudeau, the Federal Government proclaimed the War Measures Act. This act allowed the government to assume emergency powers in the event of war, invasion or insurrection, real or apprehended  [17]  . Trudeaus reasoning suggested that his country was being attacked by a group of individuals who made wrong judgments. The media criticized Trudeau with phrases such as, Canada, a police state  [18]  . The media also took into consideration that some of the Canadian population were shocked in the decisions made. Trudeau replied, well theres a lot of bleeding hearts around who just dont like to see people with helmets and guns, all I can say is go on and bleed, but its more important to keep law and order in a society then to worry about weakly people who dont like the looks of so ldiers  [19]  a reporter commented stating at any cost?  [20]  Trudeau famously replied just watch me!  [21]  His determination and reasoning of FLQ extermination led to nearly over five hundred arrests, and a compromise, from a list of demands that was given to the federal government. The negotiation included the ending of police searches  [22]  , the liberation of twenty three FLQ political prisoners  [23]  and safe conducts out of the country  [24]  . Although Trudeaus actions were extremely controversial 87 % of Canadians were in support during what became known as the October Crisis  [25]  Trudeau received praise for his logical thinking and saved Canada from alleged terrorism. As the FLQ became a lessening issue, human rights became the focal point of the Trudeau administration. In 1982 Trudeau revamped the Canadian constitution combining the British North America Act of 1867 with several amendments in a process which was known as repatriating the constitution  [26]  . The constitution act of 1982 covered fundamental rights and freedoms of all Canadians. It covered such areas as democratic rights, mobility rights, legal rights and equality rights. Trudeau included amendments from the Official Languages Act and he gave minorities political freedom  [27]  within society. Trudeau believed that, a constitution can permit the co-existence of several cultures and ethnic groups within a signal state  [28]  , ultimately meaning unity within the population of Canada. Trudeau used the Constitution as a way of bringing Canadian together. We as the population of Canada are benefiting greatly from Trudeau as we live in strong and prospering country. The Con stitution Act gave Canadians and enlightening envision of the future with a feeling of prosperity towards oneself. For the minorities who were discriminated against such as women, aboriginal Canadians, African Americans and the disabled, the Constitution Act gave this part of the population a chance to live a life where they could be seen as equals. This was something Trudeau strongly believed in as he stated, Canada will be a strong country when Canadians of all provinces feel at home in all parts of the country, and when they feel that all of Canada belongs to them  [29]  . For the current population of Canada, we can safely say that this has been proven true. To the world Canada has been looked at as the safe country  [30]  it has been seen as the country that stays out of harms way  [31]  and protects rather than causes infliction upon  [32]  . Canada is a country of united multiculturalism, which as Canadians, we are proud of. Without Pierre Elliott Trudeau Canada would not hold this reputation. Trudeau once said, We peer so suspiciously at each other that we cannot see that we Canadians are standing on the mountaintop of human wealth, freedom and privilege  [33]  . Trudeau had great hopes for Canada. He believed in nation wide unity, and as a result he fought with solidity for the rights of minority groups, by implementing, manipulating and revamping procedures so that we can all live in a nation where we feel at home. Trudeaus way of thinking was based upon reason over passion  [34]  , he used Aristotles theory of rationalism to solve his countries dilemmas and therefore, Trudeau created an effective democratic nat ion. Endnotes

Ritz Carlton marketing analysis

Ritz Carlton marketing analysis 1. Introduction: Ritz Carltons marketing conduct is a true paradigm that follows root rudiments of Marketing as a management discipline i.e. recognising, anticipating and satisfying customer needs profitability as defined by Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK (Cited in Brassington Pettitt, 2001). At same point of time, the activities undertaken by Ritz Carlton under its marketing strategy not only contribute to overall brand development but rather also exemplify innovative methods to promote products or services and most significantly how to satisfy claims promised to customers as part of the strategy. This assignment focuses to reveal current positioning of Ritz Carlton in industry, and discuss in depth important factors responsible for success of company. At same point of time, assignment will also examine the imperative factors that contribute to Ritz Carlton quality of service as perceived by customers. Finally light would also be laid down on how company tries to provide consistent -universal experience to its customer all round the world and factors that act as obstacle against it. Company Overview: Ritz Carlton is one of the most well known luxury hotels company in the world. Right from inception, Ritz Carlton has brought significant innovation in practises of hospitality industry (See The Ritz Carlton, 2010a).With history of existence and success of over 100 years, Ritz Carlton as a company currently adopts Limited Liability Company nature of ownership. Ritz Carlton LLC is subsidiary company of Marriot Hotel Incorporation. The parent company, Marriot Hotels hold as many as 18 brands including Ritz Carlton. The Ritz Carlton at presents manages 72 luxury hotels in 24 countries located in 5 different regions in the world, the USA and Canada; Mexico, Caribbean and South America; Asia-Pacific; Europe; and Middle East. Besides, the company has a number of further expansion plans specifically concentrated towards eastern world with a view to take advantage of booming market. (See Worth, 2009) Service Marketing With development of marketing as a discipline, the scope of marketing has also enhanced. Jacques et al (2007) rightly points out that it is organisations self interest that decide its future course of it action. This self interest of any organisation largely depends upon nature of business it adapts and therefore, it is extremely important to recognize with what range of organisation we are dealing with beforehand, (Like Consumer, B2B, Service, Small Business, Web based and so on) so that its marketing strategy can be woven around core goals. Ritz Carlton test on product spectrum offered by Brassington Pettitt (2007) indicates that the product that they deal with is characterised by extremely greater level of service or in fact pure services. RITZ CARLTON ritz_carlton_logo.jpg Intangibility Perishability Lack of Ownership Heterogeneity Inseparability Different customer will opine differently on their experience at Ritz. Customer involvement plays vital role. Customer need to come in contact with hotel -Service provider. No Exchange of any Items takes place as part of primary offerings. Simultaneous process of producing and consuming service. Essence of Ritz Carlton success measure depends on Experience of customers Figure 1: Position of Ritz-Carlton in the Product Spectrum Assumptions: Ritz Carlton as discussed above is not only a subsidiary of Marriot Hotel Incorporation but also a LLC that deals with various type of accommodation. This does not just include hotels but rather also involves Clubs and residence properties. This assignment specifically focuses on Ritz Carlton as chain of hotels. Moreover, analysis is completely based on its worldwide presence and not limited to any particular geographic market. This is intentionally done so as to understand marketing of Ritz Carlton as chain of hotels rather any specific unit. However, for understanding and justification purpose, region specific examples are cited in certain parts of assignment. 2. Exploring Secret behind Ritz Carltons Success: Ritz Carlton as an organisation offers its services across five continents. Right from USA to Asia its hotels at first look give us experience of beyond imagination architecture and provides stereotype of luxury and elegance. There is no doubt to the fact that physical surrounding (which include premises) in case of service industry act as one of the most important element, that define success criteria for influencing consumer behaviour (Bitner M.,1992) and portray what it stand for. Physical evidences i.e. tangible items add value to service being offered. However, it can be argued that it is not the lone measure responsible for hotels success. The basic reason behind this is, a customer never judges a hotel solely on foundation of its tangible infrastructure (Building, Technological availability, Type of Rooms etc) but rather there are number of other elements that play vital role. This part of assignments will try to identify such important factors responsible behind Ritz Carlton success. Successfully Targeting Segmentation: The need of customers varies for various reasons and therefore it is very important to identify prospective strategic customer for organisation, (Johnson et al, 2008) at same point of time organisation must also have calibre to satisfy the targeted group of customers. Ritz- Carltons continued success, behind the scenes depicts its ability to successfully targets it segmentation, offering perfect Marketing Mix elements. Moreover, it also ensures that modifications are made in marketing mix elements with changing scenario in market trends and both these factors act as key elements. Kotler et al (2009) emphasise on a point that, marketing is all about forming strategy towards consumer and customer needs and thereby offering service or product that satisfy those needs. Ritz Carlton as an organisation in true sense is perfect at following and applying this basic ideology. This assignment aims to identify success factors of Ritz Carlton in light of marketing mix elements with a view to jus tify above argument. Identifying Market Focus (Segmentation): Marriot Hotels has divided their business to number of segments where Ritz Carlton serves as Luxury Lodging (See Marriot Hotel Incorporation, 2008) and hence it is very evident from this fact that Ritz Carlton as a company exists to serve luxurious hospitality Ritz Carlton hotels are located at more than 70 destinations, the basic customer segment which Ritz-Carlton targets is, people with rich lifestyle in all aspects of life. Irrespective of any geographic location on earth, age, social-cultural belief, opinion of an individual, the common element that Ritz tries to concentrate is People with Lavish living. Therefore, it can be invariably noticed that Ritz Carlton adopts concentrated targeting method towards Psychographic segmentation. As Brassington Pettitt (2007) rightly points that lifestyle segmentation is very difficult to define, we came up with following attributes that Ritz Carlton try to target. (See figure 1.1). Psychographic Segmentation Ritz Carlton Figure 2 Targeting Customer Segmentation Factors Defining Success of Ritz Carlton: Perfect Offerings (Product): The product anatomy (See figure 3) of Ritz Carlton illustrates that it is not just a customary hotel which satisfies basic needs but rather, it aspires to provide unforgettable experience to its customers, which perfectly matches its target market. Most importantly, providing value added services as personalised attention very well justify its marketing appeal to customer Experience The Ritz, enabling it to exceed customer expectations. Moreover, this value added services acts as source of tremendous additional revenues for Ritz Carlton. (Baxter J, 2007) One of vital point to focus is product development undertaken i.e. offerings of special packages, with a view to attract more customers and adapt to current market situations. (See Appendix) Furthermore in hospitality industry, locations act as products, as it creates value to selling points and influence buyers behaviour as well (Brassington Pettitt, 2007). All properties of Ritz Carlton are majority placed in USA, China and Europe an countries which are strategically located as it intends to focus on top most tourism and business destinations of the world. (See UNWTO, 2006) Moreover, Ritz Carlton has its hotels at New York, London, Paris, and Dubai which are strongest cities in terms of highest occupancy rates of rooms. (Worth S., 2009) ritz_carlton_logo.jpg Figure 3 Product Anatomy of Ritz Carlton Directly getting in touch with end Customer (Place) In service industry generally, there exist direct selling between service provider and end customer and the basic reason behind this is core characteristics of service products by nature (i.e. Perishability, Intangibility, Heterogeneity, and Inseparability) as discussed above. (Cowell, 1984) The activity of providing service for hotels initiates as soon as customer triggers its efforts for bookings. Ritz Carlton recognises importance of rise in online booking which almost doubled in 2007 (Research by Travelclick cited in Baxter J., 2007) and offers easy access to its customer to book from its own website. Ritz Carlton has also entered into best available rate programmes with website as (such as Thomson.co.uk, InspiredLuxuryEscapes.com) to play with consumer confidence to get cheapest rates on web. This evidently suggests that primary focus of Ritz Carlton is to directly contact the customer which is vital need of service marketing i.e. to reach out customer and influence their behavi our encouraging them to experience your service (Brassington Pettitt, 2007). Pricing Concentrating towards Sub-Segmentations (Price) Price must convince customers perception towards compensation of service offered and value paid against it (Jacques et al, 2007) and therefore it is vital to ensure that pricing strategy is in synchronisation with segment targeted. As Javalgi et al (2006) rightly indicates that Ritz Carlton extends it services to industry executives, meeting and corporate travel planners, and affluent travellers, targeting sub-segments also plays important role. Ritz-Carlton has carved niche for itself which is evident from various range of prices its offer. At Ritz London one night accommodation costs from about  £250 up to  £3500, while similarly in USA markets the range exist between 200$ to 3000$ (As on 10 march 2010). This suggests that Ritz Carlton concentrates on sub segmentation acts as an advantage. However, base pricing is one of the areas where Ritz Carlton needs to seek improvements (See Current Positioning part) to attract more customers. Brassington Pettitt (2007) also brings to notice important issue that price is an important tool to manage demand. Understanding this vital point, during recent tough time company brought out number of attractive packages to influence more customer (Like package of 2 nights stay at 449$ per family) (See Schultenover J; Strout E, 2002) and that defines companys ability to alter marketing mix elements as per relevant conditions. Balance Innovative Endorsement (Promotion): Ritz Carlton involves itself with both form of promotional activities as referred by Berkowitz et al (1992) i.e. product oriented and institution oriented. It adopts a balance promotional strategy ensuring that using product oriented approach it continuously communicates with customers regarding its USP (Unique Selling Point) and recent offerings on other hand it uses Institution oriented approach to preserve Ritz Carlton as a Unique brand with historical excellence influencing consumer behavior. Impact of Promotion on Consumer Perceptions towards Ritz Carlton: High Expertise Premium Brand Life Time Experience Symbol of Status Going Beyond Expectations Respect For Brand A matter of Pride Innovative and benchmark for Quality Figure 4 Impact of Promotion on Consumer In addition to this, Ritz Carlton adapts PULL strategy (Brassington Pettitt, 2007) using perfect medium to directly communicate with customer. With rise in concept of Social marketing Ritz Carlton has tied up with Travel Click to actively manage its promotion over web. (Hospitality.Net, 2009) To target business travellers, paper adverts are given in leading business magazines (e.g. Business Traveller) along with television adverts and advertising in airlines. One of the important observations is Ritz Carlton uses its own Website as major promotional medium. All package brochures, promotional videos, Ritz Carltons own magazine are uploaded to website. (See The Ritz Carlton, 2010) One of the significant points of observation is Ritz Carlton provides innovative edge to its promotion strategy. One of the classic examples is, it markets its biggest asset i.e. Employees. There is not a single promotional videos which fails to give importance to its own staff representing them as creators and followers of high quality standards in industry terming them as Our Ladies Gentleman (See The Ritz London, 2008; Ritz Culture, 2007). Apart from this, instead of using simple adverts Ritz Carlton has created short films which are aired on televisions, hotel rooms, and websites to make people understand what uniqueness of its services is. (See The Delay, 2008; The Last Night, 2008, New Gold Standards, 2010, Audi and Tarma, 2007). Hence innovative and a balance promotional strategy is one of the important factors responsible behind Ritz Carlton success. Staff- A Biggest Asset (People) March, J.G and Simon (1958) emphasise on vital point that organisations are primarily formed and governed by people and therefore image reflection of organisation largely depend upon actions of its staff and this is especially true in case of service industry as it deals with process of interactive marketing (Kotler P and Armstrong G, 2004; Brassington Pettitt,2007). Ritz Carlton understands this vital point and implements customer focused approach. It aims at hiring right people, providing best fit to organisations culture of Putting Customer First who are characterized with a strong sense of values and overall desire to go beyond the call of duty. (Emerald Database, 2003) Furthermore, Ritz Carlton goes step ahead, as an organisation, it strives to get known for its excellent service and that act as a key to its success. Organisation best at this must try to invest their money, talent, time and attention to strengthen their current positing (Ferrell O.C; Hartline M., 2006) and that what Ritz Carlton does by investing in its people. In this process, over the year Ritz Carlton has developed and raised bars of customer services with help of their staff which itself now act as their behavioural core competence that cannot be easily imitated by others. (Johnson et al, 2008; Bacon, 2005) Internal Values Operations (Process) It is important for service industry to pay attention to both, employees and customer to successfully implement process of service profit chain. Ritz Carlton as an organisation aims to take extreme care and respect for their employees, with an understanding that, in return they will put up efforts to fulfil even unexpressed wishes of their customer. (Kotler P and Armstrong G, 2004) The employees are empowered, trained to develop gold standards (See Emerald Database, 2002) and are considered biggest strength of the organisation which produces exemplifying services towards customer. Employees are trained motivated to develop relational exchange with customer with a view to increase loyalty and development of brand. (Jain R and Jain S, 2006) Creating Value Internal Process CUSTOMER FOCUS Figure 5 Service Profit Chain for Ritz Carlton Another important contributing factor is Ritz-Carlton has been successful in developing its own culture of servicing (Kent W, 1990) which is now considered as gold standards (Benchmark) towards quality development in servicing industry. Ritz Carlton also uses CLASS database with purpose of registering likes/dislikes, Interests, preferences, previous problems faced, attitude of every individual customer to provide personalised service. Hence, putting all together, these are innovative process that enables Ritz Carlton to fully engage employees and generate a creative delightful experience to its customer on one hand and simultaneously developing an unique core competence for itself at other hand.(Timmerman J, 2009) 2. Current Positioning According to Kotler et al (2009), all marketing strategy is built on STP Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning. A company discovers different needs and groups in the marketplace, targets those needs and groups that it can satisfy in a superior way, and then positions its offering so that the target market recognizes the companys distinctive offering and image. Positioning is process of analysing product or service, offered in context of competitive space (includes buyers and competitors) it works out. (See Brassington Pettitt, 2007; Kotler et al 2009) It is a way of creating and engaging a place in the mind of the target market by highlighting the companys offering, brand and image. The ultimate outcome of positioning is a flourishing establishment of a consumer focused value proposition, in other words a convincing reason why the target market should buy the product (Kotler, 2003) and therefore it act as base to companys success. This part of assignment aims to explore current positioning of Ritz Carlton in market. The basic idea is to understand customers perception towards our brand and towards our closest competitors. At same point of time identifying attributes that are responsible for creation of this illusion in minds of customer Identifying relevant attribute players: The various attribute offered by the brand represents its market position, which are viewed and compared against other brand. Brands that offer similar package of attributes are deemed to be in the same competitive set (Dev C.S et al, 1995) and therefore it is important to concentrate on direct competitors rather than industry as a whole. Efforts must be laid down to identify players with similar attributes competing on same values. (Johnson et al, 2007) It is a nature of the hospitality industry that most of the attributes offered are intangible which makes it tricky for the customer to differentiate the offerings of the competitor as such things can be experience only by staying in the hotel. A part of the positioning is also subjective, as it involves customers perception towards brand. Here, analysis is based on Marketing Metrix Hospitality Index* which reveals price and level of customer satisfaction from the feedback of more than 35000 customers across world. (See appendix) There are numerous players in hospitality industry targeting luxury segment and so it is decided to firstly filter relevant players on basis of tangible attribute i.e. area of market covered geographically, as analysis is based on worldwide scenario. This enables us to get core market competitors (See figure 2) (To an extent it influences customer choice of hotel, as it defines scope of service being provided and also impacts brand creation process in eyes of customer) Hotels Area Covered Number of Properties Ritz Carlton LLC Across 5 Continents 72 Fairmont Raffles Hotels International Group Across 5 Continents Around 65 Starwoods Hotel Resorts Le Meridien 16 Countries 116 Four Seasons PLC 35 Countries Across 5 Continents 83 InterContinental Hotel Group Across 60 Countries 166 (The Ritz Carlton, 2010; Four Seasons, 2010; InterContinental Hotels Resorts, 2010; Fairmont Hotels Resorts; Starwoods Hotel Resorts, 2010) Table 1 Identified Relevant Players on Basis of Geographical area The other two most important attributes identified from view point of customer are price and quality. Quality can be judged on several others important sub attributes (As Quality of food and beverage, physical appearance and in-room facilities, helpful and courtesy of staff, Technology etc.) and therefore this aspect is judged on basis of customer satisfaction index which provides comprehensive picture of it. About MMHI*: Based on 35,000 customer interviews conducted each quarter, the Market Metrix Hospitality Index (MMHI) is the largest and most in-depth measure of hospitality company performance available today. (MMHI, 2010) Taj Hotels Resorts rc_logo_en Industry Competitors Four Seasons Hotels PLC Starwoods Hotel Resorts -ST Regis Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group Fairmont Raffles Hotels International Jumeirah Hotels Resorts Pan Pacific Hotels Resorts Wyndham Hotel Group Market Competitors Marriot Hotels Incorporation* Oberoi Hotels Resorts Rosewood Hotels group Inter Continental Hotel Group Starwoods Hotels Resorts Le Meridien Figure 6: Competitors analysis of Ritz-Carlton Starwoods Hotel Resorts*: Its Brands, St. Regis Le Meridien targets luxury segment within total of 152 properties across world. Marriot Hotels Incorporation*: Although Ritz Carlton is subsidary of Marriot Hotel Incorporation, it has got more than 18 brands and there is defiante possiblity that these brand may compete amongst each other and therefore Marriot Hotel Incorporation is also considered as Industry competitor. Perceptual Mapping: The graph represents all the players targeting luxury segment with widespread presence all over the world under hospitality industry. Yet, it must be noted that level of quality, prices offered would differ under this banner as well and it is this factor that differentiates best in comparison to average player in eyes of customer which can be clearly identfied below. Ritz Calton fall under the segment of offering High Quality with High Price. High Quality Oberoi Hotels Ritz Carlton Low Price High Price Four Seasons Inter Continental Le Meridien Low Quality Figure 7 Perceptual Mapping of Ritz Carlton Perceprtual Map enales us to find out gaps and provide us inights towards undertaking competitive action needed.(Brassington Pettitt) Gaps to be filled Up: Customer needs to be satisfied. Pricing Strategy: As discussed above Ritz Carlton concentrates on sub-segments that act as advantage however the minimum base price it offers is subject to risk. Ritz Carlton price starts at about 200$ while that of Oberoi hotels reporting maximum customer satisfaction (93.7) offers base price at 85$.Although, Ritz Carlton brand value is quite high compared to Oberoi group yet, Its a huge gap and therefore it must revise its pricing strategy. Moreover, all of its market competitors also offers relatively too low price, closest being Intercontinental group offering 156$ (See appendix). At same point of time Ritz Carltons closest rival Four Season offers almost equal quality of service (86.6) at price of just 141$ which is matter of worry as well. Improving Loyalty programmes: Ritz Carlton understands that complete customer satisfaction is one of the vital strategic to retain and maintaining long term relationship with its customer and it is best practising at that. (Bacon, 2005; Emerald Database, 2004) However, there is scope for improvement in its loyalty programmes as recent data indicates its loyalty program strength of 5% compared to industry average of 10 %. (See appendix). This will enhance its potential to gain increased customer loyalty. Attracting New Market by adapting service innovations: Ritz Carlton is aware of the fact that the key to a hotels survival is its ability to cater services with changing needs and life styles of customers. (Min et al, 2002) There is no doubt that organisation completely understands changing taste of consumers i.e. people are now becoming more casual compared to traditional formalin approach.(Gunter and Heather, 2007) But this needs to be communicated to customers and therefore, there is need for Ritz Carlton to presents itself as modern, technological hotel group supporting needs of modern, young travellers. At same point of time, as recommended by Victorino et al (2005) company must move further towards service innovation with use of technology to differentiate itself from others. Ritz Carlton has already started implementing steps towards this approach; however there is need for rapid actions and wide promotions with intentions to quickly change consumer perception towards its brand. 2000 Euros for Managing Guest Grievance A Strategic Move! Ritz-Carltons employees are allowed to spend up to $2,000 to redress a guests grievance. The employees are entrusted to spend the money to make a memorable stay for the guest in the hotel. Employees are encouraged to solve the guests complaints immediately on the spot. Permitting the employees to spend a sum of $2,000 shows how much the company trust the judgement of their employees and employees can even spend more than $2,000 with the permission from general manager. The basic logic behind such action is, with existence of fierce competition within the market it is always difficult for firms to increase their market share and therefore key to continue successful growth lies in devoting larger part of firms resources on existing customers with intention to retain them and gain their loyalty (Tepeci M, 1999) Moreover, such act adds value to brand creation and customer satisfaction and that encourages customer to become brand loyal. (Kandampully J and Suhartanto D, 2000) Most importan tly, the question of such spending exceeds overheads does not arise as it is obvious that it doesnt get used on every customer. It acts as meaningful amount yet, used rarely. (Reiss R, 2009). Customer satisfaction is the key to customer retention. A greatly satisfied customer stays loyal longer with the company and talks favourably about the company. A loyal customer is less sensitive to price, pays less attention to the competitors brand and cost less to serve than new customer. From the customers who registered a complaint, between 54% and 70% will do business again with the same company if their complaint is resolved, these number could be pulled up to an overwhelming 95% if the customer experiences that their complaint is resolved quickly. Customers who have complained to an organization and had their complaints satisfactorily resolved tell an average of five people about the good treatment they received (Philip Kotler, 1977), which indirectly contributes to attract further new customer. Expanding the customer retention rate accumulates the customer lifetime value, and therefore this means life time revenue for company. On other hand company, attracting new customers are costly as that include cost of promotions, advertising and so on which can be avoided. Therefore such action is termed as strategic Move by Ritz Carlton. There is also another point of view to this scenario which impacts internal working culture of within organisation. Allowing such amount to spend makes Employee feel that company respect them, trust them, considers them responsible and valuable and this generates feeling of empowerment impacting concept of service profit chain as discussed above. Employees get more engaged with company and works more responsibly ultimately resulting to exceptional customer service, which is the core aim of organisation. Appendix: Product Development by Ritz Carlton (i.e. to offer Special Packages) aims to attract more customers by influencing their behaviour and encouraging them to celebrate this important occasion with them and turn them to Life time Memories. (Festive Season Packages during Easter; Christmas, Valentine Day at Ritz, Summer Break Packages, Weekends Special, and Family Packages) Ritz Valentine photo.jpg (Rogers; Mark, 2009) Along with these Ritz Carlton also developed special packages for companies during times of recession to provide luxury at budgeted economy. Packages were upgraded to more facilities at lower price. Significant efforts were also laid down in promoting it and communicating it to end customers as well. This indicates Ritz Carlton ability to act as per changing external situations (Schultenover J; Strout E, 2002) MMHI Results: Market Metrix Hospitality index indicating customer satisfaction and average price results for hotels under luxury segment and Up Scale hotels. page0001.jpg (Source: MMHI Results, 2009) Video Bibliography: Official Ritz Carlton Promotional Videos: 1. New Gold Standard (2010) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW70hBP5cIc (Promotional Videos at hotel rooms and Websites) 2. Ritz Culture (2007) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_iFSAAoQ-A (Interview of Diana Oreck, Vice President Global Learning and Leadership Center) 3. The Last Night (2008) http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2296201/7207129 (Ritz Carlton Short Film in association with America Express) 4. The Delay (2008) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oFz8E5fbJQ (Ritz Carlton Short Film in association with America Express) 5. The Ritz London (2008) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQGlyhlhcK0 (Documentary on The Ritz London)

Essay --

BIOT643 Spring 2014- Quiz2 (50 points) Due in TIN and Assignment folder before midnight Sunday Feb 23rd. Please provide short, but specific and complete answers. Q1) For each of the following components, briefly describe how each is used in the construction of DNA libraries. (5 points each) Reverse Transcription is an essential step in constructing a complementary strand, or cDNA library. DNA is converted into mRNA by transcription. In reverse transcription mRNA is incubated at 70 degrees with a primer to denature the structure. This will allow the primer to anneal to the mRNA. After dNTPs and buffer are added to the reaction. Then, transcription occurs at 37 degrees Celsius, followed by the temperature is increased 70 degrees Celsius to inactivate the enzyme (Life Technologies). A 3’ end polyA tail, is used to pull the mRNA from the cells and starting point for reverse transcription in order to make cDNA from the mRNA. Then, the ribonuclease breaks the mRNA to make a produce only a single stranded cDNA (Ebrahimian, 2014). The 5' cap of mRNA strand is replaced with a synthetic RNA oligonucleotide, called 5’-Oligo –Capping. The 3'end PolyA and the 5' Oligo cap are tags to make sure the ends of the mRNA molecule are present in the cDNA. The cDNA, with now a 5' Oligo cap and 3' end polyA, through DNA polymerase is entered into a vector to make cDNA clones (Ebrahimian, 2014). A way to chop an entire DNA of an organism is with restriction enzymes. A restriction enzyme makes small fragments. Two examples of these enzymes used MMLV and SSIII (Life Technologies). The small fragments are then cloned into a vector (Ebrahimian, 2014). In a genomic library, the vector creates a recombinant. Eventually the cloning of numerous recombinan... ...gical is used to identify the protein. You will not use hybridization if a DNA probes, such as homologous and heterologous gene probe is not available. In addition, hybridization screening will be used for large number of clones, if the cDNA clone is not at full length, and synthesized products in the host that are not antigenically of biologically active (Ebrahimian, 2014). Reference: Cloning and Molecular Analysis of Genes. (n.d.). North Dakota State University . Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~mcclean/plsc431/cloning/clone5.htm Ebrahimian, S. (Director) (2014) Definition of DNA Library. BIOT 643. Lecture conducted from University of Maryland, University College, Adelphi Life Technologies Corp (2012, December 6. Simplified RT- Reverse Transcription Animation. Retrieved February 21, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MJIbrS4fbQ

Free Macbeth Essays: The Role of Guilt :: Macbeth essays

The Role of Guilt in Macbeth Guilt plays a strong role in motivating Macbeth, and causes Lady Macbeth to be driven over the edge of sanity - to her death. Throughout the story, there are many different types of guilty feelings that play a role in Macbeth’s fatal decisions and bring Lady Macbeth to commit suicide. Although there are many instances that show the power guilt has played on the main characters, there are three examples that show this the best. One is, just after the murder of the great King, Duncan. Guilt overcomes Macbeth where he can no longer think straight. A second example is soon after that, where all the guilt Macbeth feels at first, changes into hate after he decides that Banquo must be killed as well. The last example is just about at the end of the play, when we see Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, and then later committing suicide; this all because of the burden of her guilt. All of these examples build the proof that in this play, guilt plays a very large role in the characters’ l ives. It all began really in Act II, Scene II after the murder of Duncan, when Macbeth returns to his room to join his wife. As any person would be, Macbeth is very shaken by his wrong act. Killing a man, not to mention a beloved king is a sin and Macbeth knows it very well! He truly believes he has murdered all innocence, and only worse things will follow. Throughout the scene there are several quotes that show this; " Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more," and " Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red." This shows the amount of guilt he felt. He describes this by saying that if he tried to wash his hands in the river, it would turn into the colour of the blood itself. Lady Macbeth attempts to make him stronger, " A little water clears us of this deed: How easy it is then!" But the guilt he feels just does not go away†¦At least for the time being. As soon as Act III is set up, we see Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and Banquo having a nice friendly conversation.

Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 5

Peter, Cody, and Hugh already had a table when I arrived at the Cellar. Tawny sat with them, much to my dismay. I'd completely forgotten about my apprentice. At least she didn't have Niphon in tow. I hoped that meant she'd finally bagged a guy, though her lack of a post-sex succubus glow suggested otherwise. Neither Carter nor Jerome had deigned to show. I recalled that Jerome was out of town and figured the angel was out with his colleagues. They could all still be at my apartment for all I knew. â€Å"Hey,† Cody called in greeting, making room for me beside him. â€Å"I thought you said you were busy.† â€Å"Yeah, well, plans change,† I grumbled. I gestured to Hugh. â€Å"Got a cigarette?† He tsked me. â€Å"No smoking in public places anymore, sweetie.† Groaning, I flagged down a waitress. Smoking was an ugly habit I'd given up for the sake of the mortals around me. Still, after smoking for over a century, I found I craved the occasional hit during stressful times. The city smoking ban was good for Seattle but damned inconvenient for me and my bad mood. Cody couldn't let my vague answer go. â€Å"How'd your plans change? Weren't you and Seth going out?† Hugh laughed when I didn't answer. â€Å"Uh-oh, trouble in paradise.† â€Å"He had things to do,† I replied stiffly. â€Å"Things or people?† asked Peter. â€Å"Didn't you give him the go-ahead to sleep around if he wanted?† â€Å"He's not doing that.† â€Å"Tell yourself that if it makes you feel better,† teased Hugh. â€Å"No one can write as much as he claims to.† Since my friends apparently had no lives of their own, I had to endure a number of other pokes and jibes. They probably didn't mean to do any real damage, but their words hurt anyway. Seth had already upset me enough without their help. Anger simmered within me, and I tried to channel it into my rate of gimlet consumption rather than my friends. The only person who looked more miserable than me was Tawny. She wore a strapless red dress, almost identical in cut to the satin sheath I still had on from the ballet. Unlike mine, hers was made of spandex – what was it with her and that fabric anyway? – and about six inches shorter. Mine also fit. â€Å"Why so glum?† I asked, hoping the others would find someone else to obsess on. Her lower lip trembled, either from sadness or an inability to hold its own massive collagen-filled weight. â€Å"I still haven't, you know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It was enough to allay my own distress. It also meant Niphon was still in town, as I'd suspected upon seeing her. â€Å"How? How is that possible?† She shrugged and leaned forward wretchedly, her elbows resting on knees that were spread open guy-style. With grace like that, no wonder she couldn't get laid. I waved my hand around us. â€Å"Well, go out there, young succubus. This place is a buffet. Grab a plate and take your pick.† â€Å"Oh, yeah, like it's that easy.† â€Å"It is that easy. You might not be up to scoring a priest or anything, but you can definitely get some sort of fix.† â€Å"Maybe you can. I don't†¦I don't really know what to say to them.† I honestly couldn't believe this conversation was happening. It was weirder than me trying to convince Dante I was a succubus. Maddie had trouble talking to guys too, but a giant, crazily proportioned blonde throwing herself at men could get someone to sleep with her. It was a basic law of the universe. â€Å"Well†¦if you really don't know what to say, just try going up and asking them if they want to have sex. Crass, but it'll probably work for someone.† She scoffed. â€Å"Right. That's all there is to it.† â€Å"That is all there is to it,† I said. Hugh returned from the bathroom, and I glanced over at him. â€Å"You want to go have sex?† He didn't even blink. â€Å"Sure. Let me pay my bill.† I turned back to Tawny. â€Å"See?† â€Å"Wait,† said Hugh, one hand on his coat. â€Å"Was that a joke?† â€Å"You were an instructive example,† Peter explained. â€Å"Fuck.† Tawny shook her head, tousled blond curls fluttering. â€Å"I can't do that.† â€Å"Oh my God.† I resisted rubbing my eyes, lest I muss the makeup. â€Å"Tawny, this isn't rocket science.† â€Å"Weren't you telling us how hard it was to do your job, back when your incubus buddy was around?† asked Peter. My friend Bastien's recent visit had elicited a veritable cheerleading squad of admirers for him and what my male friends deemed â€Å"the hardest job ever.† â€Å"Shut up,† I snapped. â€Å"You're ruining my mentoring.† â€Å"I don't want a bad one,† Tawny said petulantly. â€Å"I want to corrupt a good one. One that'll give me lots of energy.† â€Å"Start small. Don't worry about the good ones when you probably can't even pick them out in the first place.† â€Å"How do you find one?† â€Å"It's an art. One you'll learn. I'm telling you, though, just start small.† I did give her a few pointers, recalling my alleged role as mentor. We studied some of the men in the bar, spotting wedding rings and one bachelor party. A guy about to get married was a really nice hit. I also advised on demeanor, how a quiet man was often (but certainly not always) a better bet than a loud, obnoxious one – if you were going for good ones. Of course, serial killers tended to be quiet too. Really, it came down to reading people, which wasn't a skill she could learn overnight. Keeping this in mind, I tried to reiterate how she should just try easy fixes for now. â€Å"I really like how you've got the entire male population pegged,† said Peter when I'd finished lecturing. â€Å"I'm glad you don't believe in stereotyping or anything.† I shrugged. â€Å"I've been doing this for a while.† â€Å"Okay, prove it,† said Hugh. He and I were at about equal levels of intoxication now. â€Å"Find three decent souls in here.† I grinned. Imps could gauge the strength and goodness of a person's soul with a glance. Accepting the challenge, I scanned for a long time. When I picked my three, he shook his head. â€Å"You got two out of three. The two that are right are really good. The one you got wrong is pretty bad. At least you're dealing in extremes.† Tawny moaned. â€Å"You see? This is hard.† â€Å"For Christ's sake,† I exclaimed, finishing another gimlet. â€Å"It's not. Not in the rookie leagues you're playing in. Look, you want a tip? Go get a job that gives you easy access.† â€Å"I am not going to go stand on a corner,† she said huffily. â€Å"Then go†¦I don't know. Go to Hugh's date auction.† The imp glared at me. â€Å"Or go work at a strip club. It's about the easiest thing a succubus can do. Hang out at the bar after your number, and they'll come to you. A stripper's a hot commodity, particularly when a lot of those guys'll think you're a prostitute anyway.† â€Å"I don't know. It still sounds degrading.† â€Å"You're going to be fucking to sustain your existence for the rest of eternity! Get off your high horse. You wait much longer, and your first-one's-free energy stash will dry up. Stripping's easy. And fun. And you get to wear pretty costumes. Trust me, it's a good racket.† â€Å"I guess,† she said at last. She exhaled heavily, the motion pushing her breasts out even further than usual. â€Å"Georgina's a pro,† said Hugh, reaching over to give her a comforting pat. Considering he really wasn't a warm and fuzzy kind of guy, I suspected he just wanted to brush her breasts. â€Å"Or so I hear. I guess I'll never find out.† He gave me a bitter glance. â€Å"If that's true,† Tawny said, â€Å"then how come her own boyfriend blew her off?† The guys let out a collective â€Å"ooh† and glanced eagerly between the two of us, apparently in anticipation of the catfight they'd long predicted. All of my earlier fury resurfaced, fueled now by alcohol and Tawny's incompetence. Grabbing my glass, I strode up to the bar to get a refill in person. Hanging out with my friends was rapidly losing its charm. A newbie succubus didn't have any right to mock me about my dating difficulties, particularly when she couldn't land one guy. I could have landed a dozen if I'd wanted to tonight. At the same time. And, glancing over beside me, I realized I might very well have an easy score right here. The guy from the bookstore, the one with the fetish books, stood at the bar, talking to the bartender. He didn't appear to be with a group. Hastily, I turned away so he wouldn't recognize me. After I got my drink, I set it on my friends' table and retreated to the bathroom without another word to them. I'd had to use bathrooms as shape-shifting hideouts for years, but there was nothing to be done for it in these situations. Inside a stall, I changed into a long, graceful body with flowing gold hair – not unlike some of the ballerinas I'd seen tonight. I'd show Tawny how to do blond right. Walking back out, I caught Cody's eye. My friends could recognize me in any shape, of course, and he gave me a puzzled look as I strode back to the bar. Standing beside the guy from the bookstore again, I ordered another drink. This time, he turned and caught sight of me. I smiled. â€Å"That any good?† I asked, nodding to the red concoction he was drinking. â€Å"I guess.† He lifted up the glass and peered at it. â€Å"It's a pomegranate cosmo. I think. Kind of girly, honestly – no offense.† â€Å"None taken.† The bartender slid my whiskey on the rocks to me. The guy beside me laughed. â€Å"I suddenly feel emasculated,† he said. I grinned and extended my hand, speaking the first name that came to mind. â€Å"I'm Clara.† â€Å"Jude.† â€Å"Hey, Jude.† He sighed. â€Å"Sorry,† I said. â€Å"Couldn't resist.† â€Å"You and everyone else.† â€Å"You here alone?† I asked. He looked embarrassed and absentmindedly rubbed the empty finger his wedding ring had been on the last time I saw him. â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"Me too.† He looked me over, attempting covertness and not doing a good job. â€Å"I find that hard to believe.† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I looked down at my drink, playing with its edge. â€Å"It's kind of a long story†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And slowly, skillfully, I crafted a tale about how I'd come here to meet a guy and how he'd stood me up. He was supposed to go to a sex club with me, though I didn't come right out and say that immediately. That would have been too much for someone like Jude, someone who was intrigued but still nervous about the whole idea of exotic sexuality. So, I spoke vaguely at first, using innuendoes, hinting at my own interest in exhibitionism, how I just wanted to go see what a place like that was all about. As I concluded, I used the same line he'd used in the bookstore. â€Å"I feel like such a pervert. Honestly†¦I don't know why I'm telling you this. I don't even know you. It's just†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I looked up at him with big blue eyes. â€Å"You're easy to talk to.† A long silence followed as Jude held my gaze. â€Å"I don't think†¦I don't think there's anything wrong with what you're saying†¦what you want†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Snick! I started reeling in the line. â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Yeah†¦I mean, sometimes†¦I've kind of†¦you know, wanted†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Really?† He nodded. I allowed a five-second hesitation. â€Å"You want to go with me? Just to, you know, watch?† After a bit of rumination, Jude agreed. Unsurprisingly, he didn't know where any sex clubs were in the city. Also unsurprisingly, I did. I didn't even look back at my friends as Jude and I left the bar. I hadn't clocked it or anything, but I was pretty sure my solicitation had been accomplished in record time. That'd teach the gang to question my pro status. The club we went to was one I'd visited a number of times before. I'd been to better ones in my day, but I liked this one simply because of its name: Insolence. Establishments that catered to sex and fetishism all operated in different ways. In places where everyone expected to participate – like swingers' clubs – admission was strictly regulated. Single girls always got into places like that, and couples usually only had a few requirements. Single guys had a harder time. In a place like Insolence that was focused primarily on watching, admission was more lax. We simply had to pay our cover, and we were in. Mine was still cheaper, though. The place was packed and had a dance club kind of feel. Techno music pulsed through the darkened room, the only illumination coming from recessed lights that shone blue and purple. Most of this light focused down on roped off areas that were reserved for those who wanted to â€Å"perform.† They were like small stages that the club-goers could gather around. Some of the stages were themed – one with a doctor's office and operating table setup – while most were couches and beds. There appeared to be no system about who could use them. It was a first-come, first-served system, and since about half the platforms were empty, there didn't seem to be too much urgency. But the spectators eagerly crowded around those areas that were occupied, people craning their necks to get a better view. â€Å"There sure are a lot of guys here,† Jude told me as we pressed our way through the people. â€Å"It's the way of the world,† I told him. â€Å"You think guys are more interested in this stuff than women?† â€Å"To a certain extent, yeah. Guys tend to be more visual, so stuff like this is about as good as it gets. Plenty of girls are into it too – just harder to get them to come out to something like this.† I promptly shut up, immediately realizing I sounded a bit too knowledgeable for a shy novice. We finally made our way up to the edge of a roped-off area. There, we watched a man thrusting eagerly into a woman bent over an elegantly set dining room table. Jude and I studied them for a while, neither of us saying a word. We then moved on to the next couple, a man and woman going at it on an ordinary bed. She wore a shiny leather bustier and hiked-up skirt. After the third couple – pressed up against a wall – Jude finally spoke. â€Å"These people aren't what I expected.† â€Å"How so?† I asked. â€Å"They just look†¦ordinary.† I laughed. â€Å"Because they are. What'd you expect, porn star couples coming in off the streets?† â€Å"Well, no.† I suspected he was blushing in the darkness. â€Å"Everyone's entitled to do what's sexy to them. And really, when you see how they're getting into it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My gaze drifted to the couple going at it against the wall. Their eye contact was so powerful, so intense†¦you could totally see how much they aroused each other. I shivered. â€Å"Yeah, this is all sexy, even if it's not airbrushed. This is real. That's what gives it its edge.† He didn't answer but glanced around as though he was reassessing it all. As he did, I studied his profile. He wasn't quite six-foot, but he had a nice upper body and neatly styled, sandy blond hair. He turned toward me, sensing my scrutiny. â€Å"You know,† I said, â€Å"if you're so concerned about raising the bar around here†¦well, we're pretty attractive.† He didn't get it at first. â€Å"Yeah, I suppose we – oh. Oh.† His brown eyes went wide. I looked back at the wall couple. â€Å"We're already here. We could really give these people something to watch.† His eyes grew wider still, like they might pop out. â€Å"I†¦I couldn't. I mean. God. Not in front of all these people. And what if someone I know is here†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I doubt it. Besides, what are they going to do? If they tell anyone, they'd have to acknowledge that they were here too.† I caught hold of his hand. â€Å"Come on, I know you're interested.† â€Å"Yeah,† he admitted. â€Å"But I've never†¦I don't think I could†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I tugged him toward one of the stages. â€Å"You gotta start sometime. It's easy.† Jude looked terrified but let me drag him. â€Å"You act like you've done this before. I thought it was all new.† â€Å"It is.† â€Å"You sure? Maybe you just play innocent and then seduce random men into crazy sexual acts.† I scoffed. â€Å"That's ridiculous.† We'd barely ducked under the stage's ropes when a mob suddenly swarmed around us. I doubted this had as much to do with us in particular – yet – as it did the fact that we were a new couple. Ah, variety. The spice of life. Jude still looked terrified, but I didn't have the patience for his hesitancy anymore. The performer in me had clicked on. All those people were waiting and watching, and I had to deliver. One of our props was a chaise lounge covered in white velvet that glowed blue under the lights. White, I decided, probably hid certain stains better than other colors. â€Å"Come on,† I said, pushing Jude toward the chaise. â€Å"Lie down.† He did, but still looked panicked. â€Å"Clara – â€Å" â€Å"You're already here,† I said sharply. â€Å"What are you going to do? You going to slink off in front of all these people? You didn't strike me as a coward when I first met you.† I'd become someone else now, someone commanding and terrifying. He shook his head. I climbed onto the chaise with him, straddling his hips with my legs. The lack of energy within me suddenly burned and ached, and I didn't want to be gentle. Leaning down, I kissed him hard, my teeth scraping his lips as I thrust my tongue into his mouth. He let out a small sound of surprise that was lost in the kiss. Meanwhile, my hands were already frantically unfastening the buttons of his shirt. I think I ripped one of them off. Jude lay there limply, still in shock. It didn't matter to me, though, so long as he didn't fight me. And from the feel of him underneath my hips, not all of him was limp. I ran my fingers down his chest, digging my nails into the flesh there. A kindly part of me wondered how he'd explain scratch marks to his wife. The rest of me didn't care. I'd given â€Å"Clara† a black tank top and gray skirt – simple but sexy. I yanked the top off over my head, shaking my hair out afterwards like a golden veil. I contemplated taking off the black lace bra underneath but decided to leave it on. My mouth moved down from his lips, traveling to his neck and chest, pausing to tease one of his nipples. Then I kept going, down to the edge of his khakis. While there, I undid his belt and unfastened his pants in one swift motion. I pushed them and his underwear down to his knees, just enough to give me access to the erection underneath. I took it into my mouth, letting its long shaft glide into me, almost to the back of my throat. He gasped, a noise echoed by some of the appreciative spectators. I felt the early twinges of his life force. It twinkled like starlight, seeping into me. As it did, I got a taste of his thoughts and emotions, as well as his strength and character. When I'd gleaned enough of his energy to assess its quality, I almost laughed. This wasn't the first time he'd done anything like this with a strange woman. He'd actually done it twice before. He was still shy about it all, but some of his innocence had been faked, a lure for dominant women like me. Hugh had been right – I couldn't always gauge a soul. But, infidelity still didn't sit right with Jude, so he had enough goodness and life force to fill the void that the dream had left inside me. My mouth moved with more urgency, sucking and teasing. He groaned as my lips slid back and forth. His back arched, and I pulled away, fearing this might end right now if I wasn't careful. Climbing off him, I stood up and pulled my skirt off, letting it fall in a crumpled pile on the floor. Jude looked at me with pleading eyes, not proactive yet, but definitely wanting more. An ornate wooden chair stood near the chaise. I moved over to it and knelt on its cushioned seat, pressing my breasts up against its carved slats. I peered back at Jude over my shoulder. â€Å"Showtime,† I said. I expected hesitation or reluctance, but Jude had apparently overcome his initial reticence. Good. I didn't want to feel like I was raping him or anything. He clambered off the chaise and walked over to me. I had pushed his pants to his knees earlier, and now he finished the job, kicking the khakis off. Positioning himself behind me, he ran his hands along the sides of my hips, letting his fingers slide along the edges of the black panties I still wore. I shifted, pressing my ass up closer to him. He sighed. â€Å"You are so sexy.† â€Å"I know,† I told him impatiently. He pulled the panties down, letting them rest near my knees. I ground against him even more and felt him push into me, the penetration forceful and deep. Gripping my hips, he began moving in and out, shoving me into the chair's hard back with each thrust. I moaned loudly, but whether it was for his benefit or the crowd's, I couldn't say. And speaking of the crowd, I was now literally in a position to look at them, at the faces and eyes all directed toward me. I'd shed most of my self-consciousness over the years, and God only knew this wasn't the first time I'd had sex in public. Sometimes, I appreciated privacy, but tonight I loved being the center of attention. Maybe it was simply my longing for more life energy. I would have taken it under any conditions right now. Whatever the cause, I found myself getting turned on by making eye contact with different guys in the audience while Jude continued pumping away at me. As I'd noted earlier, eye contact was a powerful thing. It took you away from the realm of superficial study and moved you into something deeper and more intimate. I favored the guys watching me with a heavy, sultry look – the look of a woman being fucked within an inch of her life and who wanted nothing more than to do it with them next. It thrilled me to think of all the men I was arousing, of all of them aching for sex – of all of them aching for me. In meeting the gazes of my admirers, I almost forgot that it was Jude who was behind me. It could be any of these men, and their expressions clearly showed that they'd be happy to trade places with him. I looked from face to face, imagining what each man would feel like, how each one would fuck differently. The thrill of it was so arousing that my wandering mind soon fantasized about having more than one at the same time. One in back, one in front†¦ One of Jude's hands gripped my hair and jerked my head back while the other hand still steadied itself on my hip. The rough maneuver pulled me out of my daydreams, but I was so turned on now that I welcomed his aggression. He thrust harder, driving me painfully into the chair, and I hoped it wouldn't fall over. The sweetness of his life energy coming into me continued building, and I felt his thoughts stream into me as well. So good, so good, so good. And it was good. The voyeurs around us and him fucking me on my knees had aroused me to dizzying heights. The whole act was dirty and exciting and thrilling. â€Å"So good, so good,† I cried, echoing his thoughts. â€Å"Don't stop, don't stop, don't – oh.† Talk about irony. The trick I'd used on Bryce or Bruce or whatever his name was had worked here too. Only, I hadn't actually wanted it to end this time. Maybe this was Jude's normal style – short and sweet – and not actually my doing. Regardless, it was done, and I hadn't even come. Damn it. But I'd gotten my energy fix, a burst of life and wonder that had exploded into me with his orgasm. Ecstasy or no, he'd felt a pang of guilt at the last minute, regret over this continued desire to cheat on his wife. That guilt had been a bonus for me. Sin was subjective, and often, the magnitude of a sin was in the eye of the beholder. I'd gotten him to sin – which Hell always liked and gave me bonus points for – and I'd cracked his morals, giving me more energy than I would have stolen if he were completely corrupt. I felt that life reinvigorate my essence, fueling my immortality and ability to shape-shift. He pulled out. I stood up from the chair, catching his hand as he started to stagger. A few people whistled and clapped. Jude wore a look of wonder – and exhaustion. I handed him his pants. â€Å"Wow,† he gasped. â€Å"That was†¦wow.† â€Å"Yeah,† I said with a grin. â€Å"I know.†