Analysis Of Aldous Huxley s Brave New World - 1287 Words

The constant development of society is faulted with the advancement of technology. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World presents a controlled society which creates a faulty idea of perfection to be obtained. The theme of technology being used to control society is faulted. The attainment of perfection is faulted through symbolism with the assembly line producing children, the taking of the drug soma, and the changing of one s individual appearance to have all people look alike. The assembly of children takes away the individual process of birth. Escaping one’s harsh, cruel reality by taking soma gives the user a false sense of happiness.The changing of one’s appearance so that most of the people all look alike takes away individuality. For†¦show more content†¦Children are no longer needed to be developed with a mother. The parental unit of a child is no longer needed since children are now being hatched from eggs. It takes away the purpose of two people who love each other, joining together to create a new generation of children for the future. Most of the children hatched from eggs look identical to each other. Since they are all mostly clones, there are no individual differences between them. No differences mean no unique individualities. The people are all alike which makes the society feel dull. The Director tells his students that, â€Å" He let out the amazing truth. For a very long period before the time of Our Ford, and even for some generations afterwards, erotic play between children had been regarded as abnormal †¦ and not only abnormal, actually immoral : and had therefore been rigorously suppresses† ( Huxley 31). This Brave New World’s society is different from what modern society’s morale are. The Director talks about how in the past, society was completely different that what it was originally before the World State. He tells his students about the past which is already abnormal. People of the World State do not dwell on the past and move on with their lives. The â€Å"erotic play† between children is highly accepted in the World State. While in modern society, it is no approved of. Abnormal means undesirable or different. The World State takes what is valued in modern society like having children, a long- lasting

Embarrassment Of The Family Name - 902 Words

embarrassment to the family name. Akhmatova seems to have a struggle though. She complains that her and her husband, Nikolay, cannot have a normal life due to their careers, and she longs for a normal family life. This is something that is commonly seen today, where working mothers must struggle between making money and having a career and devoting time to their families. Nikolay blames Akhmatova’s career on their abnormal family life, and she complains that he does not give her enough affection. He openly admits that he cheats on her and claims that his affairs are part of her muse. Later, it is also revealed that she has written a poem praising Stalin in order to save her career. She has conflict in both her personal life and her art. She appears to be somewhat unreliable and unsure of what she wants. She cannot decide if she wants a family or a writing career, and she gives up her independence as a writer to please Stalin. Stalin eve apparently refers to her as his â€Å"w horish nun,† clearly showing no respect for her as a person or an artist. Akhmatova is placed in many unfair circumstances, but it is hard to admire her when she changes positions and complains about choices she has made. Ludo is Alexei’s current wife in the 1930’s play, and she appears to be a superficial character who submits to her husband in most situations. She praises her husbands works greatly, and mainly cares about his works to ensure that they will maintain their wealth. Ludo claims to have noShow MoreRelatedShame, By Dick Gregory847 Words   |  4 Pageszoom lens on a camera. When we are feeling shame, the camera is zoomed in tight and all we see is our flawed selves, alone and struggling. (Goodread)† The author of Shame, Dick Gregory, experienced some aspects of shame through family, school, and society. Dick Gregory’s family experienced financial struggle, especially with no father figure in his life. The only income he received was from shining shoes and selling papers. He lacked attention at home because of the competition from six siblings. WhenRead MoreHow I Am A New World1489 Words   |  6 PagesHowever, I am struggling with the moral values I have. As Martin Luther King, Jr puts it, â€Å"Any law that degrades human personality is unjust† (228). With this in mind, I am having a war in myself in my own bedroom. If I don’t go, I would dishonor my family and wouldn’t be able to face them nor my friends and even let down the country that I’m born and raised in. The people in school might mock me, the next-door neighbor would look me in the eyes disdainfully, and even the teachers in high school thatRead MoreThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde884 Words   |  4 Pagesfact, is able to accurately describe Mr. Hyde’s appearance, Mr. Enfield noted, he must be deformed somewhere. He gives a strong feeling of deformity, though I couldn t specify the point. 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Westpac An Analysis

Question: Discuss about the Analysis for Westpac. Answer: Introduction Headquartered in Westpac Place, Sydney Westpac is an Australian bank which is also engaged in the provision of financial services. Founded in the year 1982 the organization has come a long way to become one of the four largest banks in Australia. The organization commands a base of more than 13 million customers and operates with over 1429 branches and 3850 ATMs across the globe and is the second largest bank in New Zealand. The primary objective of this report is to analyze the performance of the organization over a period of five years while analyzing the performance of the share of the concern. Banking Industry The overall picture of the Australian banking system is not pretty. The banks in Australia and few of the other parts of the world are struggling considering the downturn in the economy. Specifically in Australia where the banks had primarily lend or forwarded loans to the steel and coal industry are struggling as these industries have not done well for quite some time now. Recently the earnings were missed by Westpac, one of the largest banks in the world as of 1st of May 2016. The profits reported for the 6 months ending March were approximately $0.125 lower than the expected amount (StreetAuthority, 2016). The bank in addition to the same reported its biggest impairment loss in the previous six years. As a consequence of the same the price of the share of the organization went down from $23.59 to $22.71 on Monday. This does not look very good for the organization and the overall industry as the results of the other banks were yet to be reported. It is understood that the others ar e in the same boat as Westpac and that more bad news awaits the investors and the shareholders. In addition to the same four of the largest banks of the continent posted bad debt charges in excess of $3.8 billion. However, in spite these figures the banks in Australia are performing much better than the banks in USA, England, France and other parts of the world and the situation in expected to even out in the next few years (Keating et al., 2008). The fall in the profits of the coal and steel organizations is primarily due to the fall in the demand levels of China which is the worlds largest consumer of these materials. However the biggest plus or the motivating factor is that the Australian economy has not been impacted by recession for the last 24 years and the same will provide a steady environment for the banks to operate. Share price movement In the last one year the share of the organization has not performed well. The same has gone down by approximately 7%. It is not just Westpac which has felt the heat but the share prices of other banks such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Australian and New Zealand Banking Group have also gone down by approximately 8% and 11% respectively (Mickleboro, 2016). Westpac has been paying healthy dividends over the years and in the last year the organization paid dividends yielding around 6% fully franked. In addition to the same the organization also has a payout ratio of approximately 73% which is quite healthy. This is supposed to create a buying pressure in the market and stop the fall of the shares further. Hence from the investor point of view the same should provide a good opportunity and should be a good buy. Even though the cash earnings of the organization have increased with an increase in the revenue the return on equity has not particularly been that good which one of the primary reasons is for the fall in the share price of the organization (Canavan, 2016). As is evident from the ratios in the appendices the organizations ROE has fallen from 15.91% in the year 2014 to 15.77 in the year 2015. As compared to the year 2011 the performance of the organization has dipped. In the year its return on equity was 17.47 while in 2015 it is 15.77 which is almost a fall of roughly 2%. This has adversely impacted the price of the share of the organization. The table below indicates the price of the share of the organization over a period of 2 years. Since February 2015 the price of the share of the organization has fallen by over $10 which is quite astounding (Davidson and Salsbury, 2005). Date Close Date Close Date Close 01-06-2016 28.8 03-08-2015 30.8897 01-10-2014 34.5448 02-05-2016 30.7 01-07-2015 34.6243 01-09-2014 31.9227 01-04-2016 31.05 01-06-2015 31.9326 01-08-2014 34.8031 01-03-2016 30.35 01-05-2015 33.3331 01-07-2014 34.376 01-02-2016 28.75 01-04-2015 36.2135 02-06-2014 33.6509 01-01-2016 30.85 02-03-2015 39.1137 01-05-2014 34.1872 01-12-2015 33.56 02-02-2015 37.743 01-04-2014 34.8825 02-11-2015 32.15 01-01-2015 34.227 03-03-2014 34.3263 01-10-2015 31.38 01-12-2014 32.9358 03-02-2014 33.2437 01-09-2015 29.4992 03-11-2014 32.3299 01-01-2014 30.6613 The graph above indicates the fact that price of the share of the organization has moved upwards and downwards. Since 2015 the price of the organizations share has shown a drastic fall as has been mentioned previously. Analysis of the income statement An analysis of the income statement of the organization over a period of 5 years indicates the fact that the Interest income of the organization has reduced over a period of five years. The same has reduced from $38098 million to $32307 million. Even though the income of the organization has fallen the organization has also been able to bring about a reduction in the interest expenses (Berk and DeMarzo, 2007). The interest expense of the organization has reduced from $26102 million in the year 2011 to $18028 in the year 2015. The same is evident from the table below which indicates the reduction in the expenses and income but an overall increase in the net revenue as compared to the year 2011. Interest income 2011-09 2012-09 2013-09 2014-09 2015-09 Loans and Leases 34530 33238 29781 29104 29307 Deposits with banks 83 123 23 243 12 Securities 789 1116 1386 2666 Trading assets 2356 2091 1665 1407 Other assets 340 305 1550 119 322 Total interest income 38098 36873 33019 32259 32307 Interest expense Deposits 14682 14602 12555 11499 10669 Short-term borrowing 5738 454 529 490 535 Long-term debt 4578 4388 4008 3813 3908 Other expense 1104 4927 3052 2904 2916 Total interest expense 26102 24371 20144 18706 18028 Net interest income 11996 12502 12875 13553 14279 The basic earnings of the organization have also increased from $2.31 in the year 2011 to $2.55 in the year 2015. The same is the case with the diluted earnings of the organization which has increased from $2.22 in the year 2011 to $2.48 in the year 2015. Even though the income of the organization has increased in absolute terms the same is lower in terms of percentage and has fallen as compared to the previous year (Broadbent and Cullen, 2003). The recent scandal The recent scandal discovered could be a big blow to the organization. It was found that millions of dollars in loans were approved on basis of Chinese documents which were fraud. These documents were prepared by phony mortgage brokers. Considering the same the banks policy and levels of internal control are a big question as a proper internal control should have prevented the same. In addition to the same a few other incidents have surfaced indicating wrong overdraft credit limits being sanctioned to people (La Berge, n.d.). This definitely indicates the concern over the use of technology and system in place. According to the AFRs report approximately $1 Billion of the loans of the bank might have affected by the scandal and might have to write them off as bad which will drastically reduce the profits if the bank was to restate the income statement (Fund, 2012). Fixing Swap Rate Accusation The bank has recently been accused of fixing the swap rate illegally. It has been alleged that the bank was involved in fixing the swap rates between April 6 2010 and June 6 2012. In a statement the ASIC claimed that Westpac intended to create an artificial price for the bank bills. It also claimed that Westpac had a large number of products which were priced or valued off BBSW and that it traded in the bank bill market with the intention of moving the BBSW higher or lower. If the same goes against the bank it can prove to be very costly and humiliating. The bank might be fined billions of dollars and might even be barred from trading on Australian Stock Exchange for a while (Shanahan, 2016). Financial Ratios This segment of the report analyzes the performance of the bank with the help of the tool of ratio analysis. The tool of ratio analysis enables the users of the financial statements to analyze the performance of the organization in a short while without having to refer to the entire set of annual reports of the organization. As a consequence the tool of ratio analysis is easy to employ and can be understood with easy as the user of the same does not need to a master in accounts or finance. The various ratios of the organization have been explained below: Net profit: The net profit ratio of the organization is used to analyze the overall performance of the concern. This is an overall measure as the same takes into consideration the overall incomes and expenses of the concern unlike the gross profit ratio and the operating margin ratios which do not consider all the incomes and expenses of the organization and hence do not present the picture of the overall performance of the concern (Financial performance, 2011). The net profit ratio or net profit margin of Westpac has reduced over a period of 5 years starting from 2011. The ratio has reduced from 41.34% in the year 2011 to 36.99% in the year 2015. The net profit percentage decrease can be primarily because of the fact that the rise in the expenses of the organization was more than the rise in the revenue of the concern (Fridson and Alvarez, 2002). This has primarily been the case with the organization whose revenue has not shown or indicated a great deal of improvement. Considering t he same the organization should consider reducing the operational and other costs associated with the organization as the same is bringing down the performance of the organization. The operating margin of the organization has also declined from 57.1% in the year 2014 to 52.7% in the year 2015 though over a period of five years the operating margin of the concern has improved from 50.3% in the year 2011 to 52.7% (Lee, 2005). Return on asset: This ratio indicates the return earned by the organization by employing the overall assets or the average assets of the corporation. The higher the ratio the better it is for the organization as the same indicates the increased efficiency of the concern (Mattern, 2002). The return on assets for Westpac has depleted over the years as the same has come down from 1.09% in the year 2011 to 1.01% in the year 2015. As a consequence of the same the share price of the organization has also taken a hit and the same has gone down by approximately by $10 over a period of 2 years (McKeown, 2012). Debt to Equity: The debt to equity ratio as the name suggest indicates the proportion of the organizations debt to its equity (Pratt and Grabowski, 2008). Though a higher debt implies that the organization has a higher leveraged earning the same can be bad during the times of recessionary pressure. However considering the fact that the Australian economy has not been hit by recession for a period of 24 years the same can be considered to be safe (Westpac, 2016). The debt to equity ratio of the organization has increased over a period of 10 years but the same has reduced over a period of 5 years wherein the same has come down from 3.96 in 2011 to 3.48 in the year 2015 (Shim and Siegel, 2000). P/E Ratio: This ratio indicates the price of the share in regards to the earnings made. The price earnings ratio of the organization has fallen over a period of 5 years. Specifically over the last three years the same has come down from $12.64 to $11.80 as of 2015 (Temte, 2004). This indicates a fall in both the price and earnings per share of the organization over this period. Profitability 2011-09 2012-09 2013-09 2014-09 2015-09 Tax Rate % 17.09 31.89 30.16 29 29.33 Net Margin % 41.34 33.2 36.57 37.92 36.99 Asset Turnover (Average) 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 Return on Assets % 1.09 0.89 0.99 1.03 1.01 Financial Leverage (Average) 16.02 15.25 14.94 15.91 15.3 Return on Equity % 17.47 13.87 15 15.91 15.77 Even though the same is easy to use the same does not take into consideration the impact of qualitative information and other basic concepts of finance such as inflation and time value of money (Worthington, 2006). Hence an informed decision can only be taken in the light of the quantitative and qualitative information in the light of the current environment surrounding the organization. According the constant dividend growth rate model the price of the share is as follows: P= D/K-G Where, P= Price of the share D=Dividend paid by the organization K= Return expected by the equity holders G= Rate of growth Applying the above formula the theoretical share price of the organization is as follows: =1.76/9%-4% =1.76/5% =$35.2 The current market price of the share is $28.8 as of 1st of June 2016 which is lower than the theoretical price of the share. Considering the same the share should be bought by the investors. Recommendation It is evident from the analysis above that over the last five years the organization has not performed really well and the profitability and other key aspects of the financial performance and financial position have taken a hit. The net profit of the organization has reduced in addition to the increase in the debt level of the concern. The share price of the concern has also taken a hit in the light of the reduced earnings and return on assets of the organization. However considering the fact that the Australian banking sector has been performing well when compared with the banking sectors in the other parts of the world the same is expected to improve over the course of time. As has been previously mentioned the Australian economy has not been impacted by recession for quite some time now indicates the sound financial and economic environment which should provide a steady base to the banks in the nation. In light of the same the investors should purchase the share of the organizatio n. References Berk, J DeMarzo, P 2007,Corporate finance, Boston: Pearson Addison Wesley. Broadbent, M Cullen, J 2003,Managing financial resources, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Canavan, G 2016,Why the Westpac Bank Share Price Dropped Today The Daily Reckoning Australia, viewed on 29 June 2016, https://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/why-the-westpac-bank-share-price-dropped-today-asxu/2016/05/02/. Davidson, L Salsbury, S 2005,Australia's first bank, Sydney, NSW: UNSW Press. Financial performance, 2011, London: BPP Learning Media Ltd. Fridson, M Alvarez, F 2002,Financial statement analysis, New York: John Wiley Sons. Fund, I 2012,Australia, Washington: International Monetary Fund. Keating, B, Quazi, A, Kriz, A Coltman, T 2008, In pursuit of a sustainable supply chain: insights from Westpac Banking Corporation.Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 13(3), pp.175-179. La Berge, L (n.d.), Scandals and abstraction. Lee, C 2005,Advances in quantitative analysis of finance and accounting, Singapore: World Scientific. Mattern, C 2002,Handbook of investment research, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. McKeown, W. 2012.Financial planning. Milton, Qld.: John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd. Mickleboro, J 2016, Is now a good time to buyWestpac Banking Corpshares?, viewed on 29 June 2016, https://www.fool.com.au/2016/01/18/is-now-a-good-time-to-buy-westpac-banking-corp-shares/ . Pratt, S. and Grabowski, R. 2008.Cost of capital. Hob Add Free Sample oken, N.J.: John Wiley Sons. Shanahan, L 2016,Westpac accused of fixing market. Viewed on 29 June 2016, https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/financial-services/westpac-accused-by-asic-of-fixing-bank-bill-swap-rate/news-story/3b832d0e86f76c8b97821bc8db0328bc. Shim, J Siegel, J 2000,Financial management, Hauppauge, N.Y.: Barron's. Shim, J, Siegel, J Shim, A 2012,Budgeting basics and beyond, Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. StreetAuthority, 2016,Is Australia's Banking Industry Going Under?, viewed on 29 June 2016, https://www.nasdaq.com/article/is-australias-banking-industry-going-under-cm616312. Temte, A 2004, Financial statement analysis, La Cross, WI: Schweser Study Program. Westpac, 2016,Annual reports 2014, viewed on 29 June 2016, https://www.westpac.com.au/about-westpac/investor-centre/financial-information/annual-reports/. Worthington, S 2006,Equity, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Section 6 Juliet is alone on stage Essay Example

Section 6: Juliet is alone on stage Essay Juliet is petrified of the potential dangers she may encounter while imprisoned in the vault. She thinks she could be stifled, as there is no healthsome air to breath and she might die strangled before Romeo arrives.Juliet considers two possible scenarios she may face while in the tomb. She thinks that she can either suffocate, or will be scared to death as a result of the terror of the place. She is also aware that her ancient and buried ancestors will be present in the vault and that the vault will be packd. She knows that she will be trapped and crammed into a very small space. This creates a dark image of restriction and isolation. Shakespeare uses vocabulary such as strangled, horrible, terror and packd to build a sinister and dark image of the tomb. This in turn creates more tension and produces sympathy from the audience for Juliet.Juliet also reiterates the phrase where frequently (where refers to the tomb). Shakespeare uses it to emphasise the tomb and secure the image in th e audiences minds. An image of death and horror is built up and thus creates a lot of drama and tension. She is frightened that Romeo will arrive before she awakens. She remembers that bloody Tybalt will be present in the tomb and that he had only been placed in the tomb recently.The usage of the word bloody depicts a very deathly location. Juliet knows that Tybalts body will be rotting, smelling and festering in his shroud. As well as this, his body will be in full view, as it is not fully buried, merely covered in a shroud. Another factor that alarms Juliet is the stories, which Juliet has heard about. She has heard that there are spirits which reside in the tomb that apparently come out at some hours in the night. This frightens her considerably.Juliet expects that if she wakes too soon, the loathsome smells will make Juliet shriek like mandrakes. (Mandrakes were plants which when pulled out of the earth, screamed and it was thought that if a human heard these screams, they would lose their senses). This section of the play is very sensory, as there are numerous references to sight, smell and now, sound. Shakespeare does this to appeal to the audiences senses.Shakespeare wants to draw out emotions and for the audience to sympathise with Juliet in her dire situation. This reinforces the fact that the plan is a desperate one and that Juliet is prepared to go through a lot for Romeo. Juliet declares that she will be distraught if she wakes up to early. She will be feeling stressed, depressed and in a bad state of mind. Unfortunate that it could never work out because their physic like premonition says that a least one of them will die, if not both.

Cultural Intelligence by Earley, P. Christopher and Elaine Mosakowski

From the reading, there is compelling evidence demonstrating that cultural intelligence is defined as an individual’s capability to deal effectively in culturally diverse settings, that culturally intelligent individuals engaged in global assignments understand what constitutes intelligent behaviors in different cultures through their emotional, cognitive, motivational and behavioral cultural intelligence, and that a propensity to suspend judgment or to think before acting is required to achieve cultural intelligence (Earley Mosakowski 139-141).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cultural Intelligence by Earley, P. Christopher and Elaine Mosakowski specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The authors present a self-assessment tool consisting of three typologies and scores of cultural intelligence, namely cognitive cultural intelligence, physical, cultural intelligence, and emotional/motivational cultural intelligenc e (Earley Mosakowski 143). Upon completing the self-assessment, it is evident that my level of cultural intelligence is as follows: cognitive cultural intelligence = 4; physical cultural intelligence = 4.5; and emotional/motivational intelligence = 2.25. Consequently, upon reflection, it is clear that efforts need to be undertaken to develop the emotional/motivational cultural intelligence component, especially in having confidence to deal with people from a different culture (score = 2), befriending individuals whose cultural backgrounds are different from mine (score = 2), and having the capacity to adapt to the lifestyle of a different culture with relative ease (score = 2). All the limitations described above are emotional/motivational oriented, hence the need to develop and strengthen the amount of energy that can be proactively directed at cultural learning and adjustment, with the view to improving the confidence to deal with people from a different culture. Additionally, th ere is need to focus attention to developing intrinsic motivational faculties geared toward engaging in interactions with individuals from a different culture, and also improving the level of emotional competence required to interact effectively in a culturally diverse environment (Earley Mosakowski 140-143). It is believed that emotional/motivational cultural intelligence not only facilitates the possibility of people on international assignments to proactively engage in experiential learning and become more productive but also drives these individuals to internalize further behavioral cultural intelligence, which then facilitates them to act according to culturally accepted rules and actively adjust to culturally diverse environments.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Another area of development aimed at enhancing the emotional/motivational cultural intelligence component resid es in facilitating the attainment of a propensity to suspend judgment or to think before acting, with the view to using senses to register all the ways that individuals in global contexts may be different from those in home environments yet similar to one another (Earley Mosakowski 140). According to these authors, it is essential to observe the conduct of individuals up until a point whereby the observation begins to settle into patterns to develop anticipatory faculties of how these individuals will react in the next situation, and also draw inferences that will be free of the routine hazards of stereotyping. This way, it would be easier to befriend individuals whose cultural backgrounds are different, have the confidence to deal with them, and also develop the capacity to adapt to the lifestyles of these people. Lastly, in light of the limitations noted, it would be plausible to develop the body, heart, and head, with the view to understanding the impulse behind the observed shi fts in cross-cultural contexts, facilitating the capacity to alter appearance and emotions as the situation may demand. Enhancing the emotional capability to effectively deal and interact with people whose cultural backgrounds may be different from our very own (Earley Mosakowski 142). The efficient combination of the three components (body, heart, and head), given the authors, is of paramount importance in the development of a well-rounded cultural intelligence capability. Works Cited Earley, P. Christopher and Elaine Mosakowski. â€Å"Cultural Intelligence.† Harvard Business Review. 83.1 (2004): 139-146. Web. This essay on Cultural Intelligence by Earley, P. Christopher and Elaine Mosakowski was written and submitted by user Jaxen Rose to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Resistance to Organizational Change

Resistance to Organizational Change The inclusion and acceptance of change have significantly featured in the present organization operations. User acceptance of change is vital for its implementation.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Resistance to Organizational Change specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Perceived utility and simplicity of use is one factor that motivates individuals towards its acceptance. For a leader to guide, initiate, and implement change, he/she should have a good understanding of factors that reinforce or wane the workers. The reasons as to why people resist change varies from both internal, individual initiated to external environmental factors. Losing something worth is something employees fear. This comes because of focusing on internal interest instead of organization’s interest (Kotter Schlesinger, 2008). However rational the change could be, people will anticipate loss of things that they value if they accept change. When people perceive that change may cost them much or misunderstand its implications, they may resist it. A situation like that arises when there is no trust between individuals involved in the change process. Besides, when employees believe that they do not have the required skills or may not develop them with respect to the change to be initiated, they may not tolerate it at all. Peer pressure and attitude that supervisors may have towards change also contributes to low tolerance for change. If the nature of the change involves new processes, it may cause the need for new behavior and relationships resulting from new recruits. Low tolerance of such by employees may impact the intended new change.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Other resistances to change factors includes individual’ routine seeking and short term focus. This is explaine d in terms of preference to oppose or adjust to change, whereby some people are more inclined to change than others are (Nov Ye, 2008) depending on the use of technology and personal behavior. Individuals who are routine seeking relate change to negative outcomes and do not tolerate uncertainty. For this reason, therefore, they would rather continue with their daily routine and focus than incorporate new ones. Disagreements within the management over the pros and cons of change can also cause resistance. The risks that may be involved may far outweigh benefits proposed. The tension that results may cause its implementation difficult for employees to understand especially if it is not communicated out well or due to inadequate information. Loss of income, jobs and breakup of work groups also contribute to resistance within the firm. External factors may involve the culture that the organization perceives its operations run. These may involve the basic norms and beliefs that employee s and outsiders have on how a firm operations are controlled. This may determine its survival and success in the market (Handler Kram, 1988). The contingency perspective also affects change implementation. Firms in complex environments would require unrefined structures with many liaisons through amalgamations, collisions and mergers unlike those in simple environments in order to initiate change. For ecological reasons, some firms may be influenced by external factors in terms of survival or annihilation depending on the nature of services they provide to the market and the necessity of demand for them.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Resistance to Organizational Change specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Self-interest After experiencing growth for quite some period, The CEO of a local company decided that he needed to introduce a new product different in nature from the one they offered before to the market . This would mean new processes and people would be needed to initiate the change because of the unique product nature and the technological advancement it needed. The CEO eliminated the advice of other operating managers and grew the concern on a few. The operations manager and the procurement department were not involved though they were to help in determining effective production strategies. The CEO tried for several months to initiate the change until when the operations manager and head of procurement approached him with protest as to why they thought the change would not be successful. Objections from other departments also grew until the CEO finally abandoned the idea. The resistance rose from within the company. It had not reached the market where the firm marketed its products. The CEO focused most on his own interest in the expense of interest of the firm. Because of personal behavior and attitude, new ideas may come up which may need to be put into trial. However, attempt ing to put them into operation without involving the norms that other people are used to would most obviously cause turmoil in the organization. This was the practical aspect of the resistance due to exclusion from decision making. As a course of resistance, the users might have been worried or feared that the new change would not work. Subconscious thought or feelings of users have the tendency of diverting energy elsewhere from the change being initiated (Bovey Hede, 2001).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The people who are to promote change should have the same interest and not divided attention otherwise the process may not go through the transition. In order to overcome the resistance, it is imperative to educate the managers and communicate to the users the need for change. This requires a good relationship, time, effort, and involvement of everyone (Baack, 1999). The CEO should involve the resistors in the process of designing and putting the product into the market. This can motivate them to work towards the same desired direction (Kotter Schlesinger, 2008). He should then support the process through facilitation of new skills that could be required to produce a product. This can help in reducing fear and anxiety among employees. The CEO should offer incentives to potential resistors and negotiate with them. To manipulate them, he should give them desired roles to play through co-optation failure to which he can try coercion, both implicit and explicit only for the interest of the company. To follow Kotter’s model effectively and initiate change, one must establish a communication ground from which they will lay down information for change to the employees. They should establish a long lasting relationship with available employees, giving them offs and time to think about the change and accepting their opinion in the implementation process. It should be based on willingness to contribute to change through accepting responsibility. Give them freedom to choose ways or methods of working out solutions geared towards the same goal (Oreg, 2003). The CEO should empower all departmental heads and give them a chance to do what they can do. Their unique intellects and thoughts should be stimulated provided that they conform to the desired direction of change. Confirming that resistance has reduced is a process that requires the willingness of all employees. When leaders from other departments are able to see and understand that resistance results from thei r actions and they take measures to reduce them, it becomes a clear indication that change is being taken care of. Some other indicators include all employees accept responsibility for their actions, people work hard to meet targets without complaining among others. Everyone seems to be guided by the same goals and objectives the firm tries to achieve. References Baack, D. (1999). Organizational behavior, 3rd edition. Mason: Thomson South-Western. Bovey, W., Hede, A. (2001). Resistance to organizational change: the role of defense mechanisms. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 16 (7), 534-548. Handler, W., Kram, K. (1988). Succession in family firms: the problem of resistance. Family Business Review, 1(4), 361-38. Kotter, J., Schlesinger, L. (2008). Choosing strategies for change. California: Harvard Business School. Nov, O., Ye, C. (2008). Users’ personality and perceived ease of use of digital libraries: the case for resistance to change. Journal of the American society for Information Science and Technology, 59(5), 845-851. Oreg, S. (2003). Resistance to change: developing an individual differences measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88 (4), 680- 693.

Cultural Group of a Barber Salon Research Paper

Cultural Group of a Barber Salon - Research Paper Example raphic trends had a negative impact on these businesses which faced a decline after a loss in their target customers due to the war recruitments, depression era recession and the development of convenient home based grooming tools such as the Gillette disposable razor and mass produced home hair cutting kits (Brett, 2008). The traditional barber shops catering to only male staff were largely replaced in the 1970’s and 80’s by uni sex cosmetic centers like â€Å"SuperCuts† which had none of the culture aimed specifically at the male customers. However, this is not to say that these establishments vanished from social centers completely, a combination of nostalgic and cultural attachments as well as a basic service needs have allowed niche shops and centers to operate. Now, the rise in male grooming culture has created a revival of modern barber shops in the past few decades. While the conventional Barber Salons, personified by their 3-4 chair lineup, broad window displays and wood furnishings and all male staff are no longer the most popular form of the business set up, vestiges of the traditional set up can still be found in the new service centers. Modern Barber Salons can be now be divided into several sub-cultures, each with its own unique offerings, culture, ambiance and target customers. The first category belongs to Barber shops owned and operated by African American businessmen and catering mainly to the black populations. The barber shop has an intertwined history with the slave age and segregation era, where black slaves were trained with the skills to provide grooming services to the colonial land owners and plantation families (Holliday, 2013). With the evolution of civil rights and changing cultural ideologies, these black barbers became the country’s first business owners in their segregated neighborhoods, providing necessary services to the men of their communities. Even today, there are Black barber shops in inner city areas which act as

Issues and Challenges in Integrating Information Technology into the Essay

Issues and Challenges in Integrating Information Technology into the Curriculum - Essay Example As a result, ICT and its capability in improving student performance have been marginal as well. How then, should these new technologies be implemented by teachers in order to successfully integrate them into the curriculum As this essay will argue, the successful integration of information technology into the curriculum requires a paradigm shift from the teachers perspective, together with their acquisition of the technical skills required to use ICT, and a good support system from the school to create a contextually relevant environment that will make teachers more receptive in using new technologies and encourage learning from students. As Jonassen, Peck, and Wilson (2003) claim, ICT today is not simply a medium where information is transferred, but a tool that students learn with, assisting the learning process itself. At the very least, one could infer that ICT is changing the nature of education today - from the school, to its curriculum, each facet of education is being revised to cope with the fast development in ICT in an effort to effectively integrate such new technologies (Williams and Price, 12). However, it is imperative to note that the implementation of ICT is just a single aspect within the larger context of school reform. Thus, it is important to understand that school reform today, insofar as ICT is concerned, places emphasis not just on quantifiable outcomes, such as an increase in the amount of ACT available in schools, but on the quality of learning experiences for students - the degree that ICT enriches students' learning experiences (Godfrey, 2001, p.15). Unfortunately, most teachers do not fully comprehend such relationship between ICT and education. According to a study conducted in Australian schools, the purpose of ICT in the curriculum continues to be ill defined and poorly understood by teachers (Fifoot, 2000). An implication of such is that ICT causes frustration among teachers, which eventually forces them to abandon it altogether. If not, they just end up using it ineffectively, as a tool to substitute typewriters and calculators, for example. Using ICT in such ways do not only waste valuable investments made for the improvement of learning, but it can also have negative effects in the student's learning process because it leaves them incapable of integrating ICT effectively in their daily lives as well. Teachers, therefore, need to know how to use technology to successful use it in the classroom. However, it is imperative to differentiate between knowing how to use technology for its sake from knowing how to use technology for the sake of improving student learning (Fishman, et. al, 2001). As Tiene and Ingram (2001, p.xv), puts it, teachers "need to expand their awareness of ... educational technologies [and] the critical issues associated with the effective utilization of these technologies." Aside from understanding ICT implementation within the context of school reform, it is also imperative to understand the changes and trends surrounding ICT and school reform. Grabe and Grabe (2004, pp.35-39) outlined this shift in terms of changes in student and teacher roles,

The International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The International Business - Essay Example For instance, fluctuating exchange rates occurring over a stable period could lead to domestic manufacturing slowdowns, thus giving foreign competition more opportunities to outperform domestic firms. When local currency depreciates, it creates many disadvantages to the host country economically. Furthermore, enterprises that are prone to engage in corruptive activities, such as offering bribery payments for industrial protection, further erode potential revenue gains in the host country. This paper describes the costs and benefits of foreign direct investment as it pertains specifically to the host country. The impact of corruption on revenue One benefit of FDI is that host countries often promote foreign direct investment through the provision of tax incentives as a short-run strategy, due to the potential labour, capital and welfare improvements that a multi-national enterprise can provide the host country. However, in the short-run, governments are limiting their revenue-building capacity until these tax incentive programmes run their course. Further, in some nations, especially those with more power distance as measured by Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions framework, corruption is a commonplace activity that occurs between government and the foreign investor. Corruption is measured by situations such as offering bribes to government to improve their political and contractual connections as a means to gain favour (Ionescu 2010) and also for the provision of lessened tax assessments, investment licensing and specialized permits (Al-Sadig 2009). Why is corruption a concern for the host country over the long-term? Less-developed countries that rely on foreign direct investment in order to sustain their long-run economic needs gain the benefit of capital from corporate taxation and the provision of permits and licensing contracts. When a foreign investor is able to procure special favours from governmental officials through direct bribery payments, this red uces the foreign direct investor dependency on the tangible revenue-building structure associated with these allowances. As identified, this is more commonplace in nations where there is a high power distance. Power distance is defined as social or political inequality within a nation (Mathis and Jackson 2005). Countries such as France, Mexico, Brazil and India maintain high power distance which tends to segregate higher levels of authority from lower-level employees and citizens. Nations that have political and social autocratic systems provide ample opportunities for foreign investors to engage in corruption activities which can severely reduce revenue over the long-term associated with taxation and other fees for operating business. Host countries need to consider the potential capital losses that can occur as a product of foreign direct investment and the nature of the political relationship with the investing firm before promoting its widespread encouragement. Though it is poss ible that these factors can be mitigated through more control-minded political policies, it is still a risk issue for the host country that can deplete significant capital production. The impact to local producers Foreign direct investment is generally considered by firms in developing nations due to the disparities that exist in talent

Marketing Strategy For Hotel Brand Radisson

Marketing Strategy For Hotel Brand Radisson Tourism is defined by Burkart Medlik as: the phenomenon arising from temporary visits(or stay away from home)outside the normal place of residence for any reason other than furthering an occupation remunerated from the place visited Lickorish and Jenkins credit the sustained grouth of tourism to the grouth in disposable income and paid holiday;it is now the one of the fastest growing industries in the world.the world Tourism Industry expects international tourist arrivals worldwide to rise from 456m in 1990 to 660m in 2000 and 937m in 2010.(World Tourism Organization(WTO)1986). 1.1 Company Overview Radisson is one of the worlds leading global hotel brands. It delivers vibrant, contemporary and engaging hospitality that is characterized by its unique Yes I Can!SMservice philosophy. First-class, full-service hotels with a range of World of Radisson features that have been created specifically to be empathetic to the challenges of modern travel, including its 100% Guest Satisfaction Guarantee. Worldwide Portfolio Radisson has a strong worldwide portfolio and continues to grow with a focus on adding key hotels in major cities, airport gateways, leisure destinations and other important locations. Radisson currently has over 430 hotels operating throughout the world with 103 contracted properties under development. Radisson is expanding as a powerful, globally consistent, full-service hotel brand, offering vibrant, contemporary and engaging hospitality that is defined by its distinctive Yes I Can! service philosophy. All of our hotels and resorts offer a range of World of Radisson features that are empathetic to the challenges of modern travel. Expanding global presence Radisson continues to expand its presence in key destinations in The Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, reaching new markets and customers in major urban and suburban locations, as well as near airports and business districts around the world. Yes I Can! training program delivers As part of its focus on guest satisfaction, Radisson offers one of the hospitality industrys most dynamic guest service training programs calledYes I Can! This program translates the core of the companys service philosophy for hospitality excellence to the front-line service employees in Radisson operations worldwide. Celebrating its 20 year milestone in 2007,Yes I Can!has become a central part of the Radisson culture, creating a point of difference for the brand. Our goal at Radisson is 100% Guest Satisfaction. If you are not satisfied with something, please let one of our staff know during your stay and well make it right or you wont pay. Its Guaranteed. 2.0 Concept of Marketing Carlson Sets New Marketing Strategy for its Radisson Brand: New Guest Room Concepts, New Restaurant Concepts and New Service Concepts ORLANDO, Fla. (March 3, 2010) As part of its Ambition 2015 plan, Carlson today unveiled a comprehensive strategy for its Radisson brand. As one of the worlds leading brands, Radisson is being positioned to deliver vibrant, contemporary and engaging hospitality characterized by the Yes I Can! service philosophy. The positioning is being supported by a series of innovations including new room concepts, new restaurant concepts and a series of new service concepts focused on the guest experience. The strategy for Radisson will entail an investment program of up to USD 1.5 billion in North America, focused on establishing flagship hotels in key U.S. cities and on upgrading the existing portfolio. It aims to expand its portfolio by at least 50 percent by 2015 to more than 1,500 hotels in operation. We believe this is a great time to invest in the hotel business. With Ambition 2015, we have a comprehensive and compelling strategy to build the business, said Hubert Joly, president and chief executive officer, Carlson. Ambition 2015 will focus on four priority growth initiatives including: Expanding Radisson as a powerful, globally consistent first-class brand. Accelerating the growth of Country Inns Suites By Carlson in four key markets: United States, Canada, India and Mexico. Growing Park Inn as a winning mid-scale brand across theaters in key countries. Continuing to grow in key emerging markets, with greater emphasis on mid-scale. The strategy entails continuing the growth in key emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, where it has gained significant strength. For example, Carlson is the largest and fastest growing international hotel company in India with 79 hotels in operation or contracted at the end of 2009. These strategies will be supported by investments in marketing, sales, distribution and technology. As part of its Ambition 2015 strategy, Carlson Hotels expects to increase the contribution from brand websites to 30 percent of revenue and to double the number of members in its goldpointsplusSM loyalty program. With 422 hotels in operation and 90 in the contracted pipeline, Radisson is one of the most well-known and fastest-growing brands in the world, delivering market leading guest satisfaction and achieving superior RevPar penetration internationally, said Hubert Joly, president and CEO of Carlson. We have crystallized the success formula for the brand, improved it and are using it as the foundation for its future development. As part of this strategy, Carlson announced the global roll out of five new room concepts And Relax, Naturally Cool, New York Mansion, Ocean and Urban. All of the concepts share a vibrant and contemporary design, the use of bold colors and lighting, and a comfortable feeling. The global strategy also includes two new restaurant concepts. Filini will offer an upscale, sophisticated Italian cuisine, while rbg is a bar-and-grill concept in an inviting, contemporary setting. The strategy also introduces a range of service concepts covering the key touch points of the guest experience including, for example, Business Class and three-hour laundry. Business Class will offer customers the best available room, breakfast, turn-down service, upgraded bathroom amenities, a daily newspaper and other amenities depending on the market. As part of this strategy, the Radisson brand will be tiered across the upper upscale and upscale segments. Radisson Blu will be applied to the upper upscale segment and Radisson Green will be applied to the upscale segment. Both will share the same brand essence vibrant, contemporary and engaging the same style and many of the service concepts. The differentiation will primarily be location based key location in a primary city versus a secondary market. It will typically be reflected in the level of investment that goes into the property. The strategy will include the implementation of the brands new global standard operating procedures, a new quality assurance program and intensive training programs. The strategy will be supported by investments in marketing, sales and distribution as part of the overall Carlson Ambition 2015 plan. 2.1 Marketing Strategy of Radisson Under the leadership of its former president, Radissons strategy focused on growth and the firm added hotels at the rate of about one hotel every seven days. By 1997, Radissons growth at any cost strategy left Radisson with a significant diversity in hotel quality and an unfocused brand image. Alignment with hotel owners (more than hotel guests) also seemed to cause Radissons customer service and hotel management expertise to atrophy. In 1997 and 1998, Mr. Brian Stage, Radissons President, and Ms. Maureen OHanlon, Radissons Executive Vice President, took several initiatives to drive the organization towards becoming a more customer-focused brand. In their words, they re-discovered that their primary customers should be the guests not the owners. Some of these initiatives included a service guarantee, a guest satisfaction measurement program, an employee satisfaction measurement program, and an information technology initiative. Stage and OHanlon were committed to creating the systems and programs that would bring Radisson into the 21-st century as a truly customer-driven learning organization. Their goal was to make Radisson the most trusted and respected brand worldwide. They were hopeful that these initiatives would make a significant contribution to helping Radisson achieve these goals. Service Quality Performance Metrics Radisson uses four service quality performance metrics based on room comment cards solicited from hotel guests: Willingness to return percent of customers who indicate that they are willing to return. Percent advocates percent of customers who indicate a willingness to recommend Radisson Hotels to others. Percent defectors percent of customers who indicate that they are unwilling to return. Percent complaints ratio of complaints to room nights. Information systems, under the leadership of Radissons Vice President of Knowledge Resources, Mr. Scott Heintzeman, produces a dashboard for each hotel that includes these and other more financial measures. The one-page dashboard is Radissons balanced scorecard for each hotel. These measures are often supplemented with ad hoc marketing research. This paper focuses on the service guarantee initiative, the four strategic service quality performance metrics that support the implementation and evaluation of that initiative, and a new measure called employee motivation and vision that was found to correlate highly with Radissons service quality performance metrics. RADISSONS SERVICE GUARANTEE The Service Guarantees Concept Hart2,3, Hill4, and others5,6 have argued persuasively that service guarantees can help many firms to position themselves in the market by clearly defining their value proposition to customers and employees. Service guarantees also stress front-line workers to deliver high-quality service the first time, encourage customers to voice their complaints to the firm, and motivate and enable workers to quickly discover and recover dissatisfied customers. Hays and Hill7 at the University of Minnesota developed a model (Figure 1) to show how service guarantees affect service quality and, ultimately, business performance. In this model, they argue that a strong service guarantee improves customer satisfaction, service quality, and customer loyalty through three intervening variables: Marketing Communications Impact, Employee Motivation and Vision, and Organizational Service Learning. These are defined in the following paragraphs. Figure 1. Service guarantees and business performance Marketing communications impact (MCI) Business performance (BP) Employee motivation and vision (EMV) Service guarantee strength (SGS) Customer satisfaction Service quality Customer loyalty (SQL) Organizational service learning (OSL) Marketing Communications Impact (MCI) A strong service guarantee will have both offensive and defensive marketing impact. Offensively, firms can use a service guarantee to proclaim the reliability of their high quality service and thus attract new customers. Defensively, a service guarantee not only enables companies to recover unsatisfied customers but also encourages dissatisfied customers to complain, thus allowing the firm to recover those customers. Employee Motivation and Vision (EMV) A strong service guarantee motivates employees to fulfil the guarantee and to satisfy customers. The guarantee clearly defines the employees job as satisfying customers not just taking reservations, checking out customers, or cleaning rooms. It can also inspire a new vision for service quality when employees are challenged to really satisfy customers true needs. Hill8 quotes one senior European executive who proclaimed that our service guarantee defines the mission for our firm. Organizational S ervice Learning (OSL) A strong service guarantee can help organizations discover dissatisfied customers and learn from them in order to improve service quality. Organizations with a strong service guarantee will tend learn how to satisfy customers faster than organizations without one. When marketing communications impact (MCI), employee motivation and vision (EMV), and organizational service learning (OSL) are improved, then service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty (SQL) should also improve. Business performance (BP) will improve as a result of improved SQL. 2.1.1 Guerrilla Marketing When using social media for marketing it is not about broadcasting its about engaging. The most successful campaign is the one that engages and activates the most people to become the brands ambassador. The Radisson Blu Hotel brand with hotels in over 200 locations world-wide has started such a campaign. It seems to have started mid-May but is reaching its tipping point these days and is spreading fast. Its actually a very simple competition. They are giving awaythe greatest holiday in the world, probably inspired by the best job in the word. And the greatest holiday on Earth is 365 free nights at any Radisson Blu hotel in the world that the winner can use over the next five years. All you have to do to participate is signing up and telling the world why you should win. Its then up to the users to get as many people as possible to vote for them but each person can vote once every day. The one with the most votes at the end of the competition on July 24th will be the winner of the 365 free nights at any Radisson Blu. Simple and effective. Last Sunday night about 1500 people had signed up and now, on Wednesday, there are about 3000 people competing. And those 3.000 people are now all actively promoting their spot in the competition and the hotel brand at the same time. Not bad! To encourage people further Radisson has enabled sharing options for twitter, face book and a number of other social networks and lists ideas on how people can promote themselves offline. One important thing is lacking though, which is a badge to put on a blog that automatically updates the ranking and encourages people to vote. 2.1.2 Viral Marketing Radisson Hotel is providing the Best Online Rate Guarantee for their customers. Radisson.com, their homepage is customers home base for the best savings. they deliver customers best online rates guaranteed.Customers can get the best online rate for their stay and they will get the best rate online they guarantee it. When customer books their reservation on Radisson.com, they can be confident they have gotten the best rate for their next visit. HowIt Works If you find a rate on another website that is lower than the bestrate on Radisson.com and the rate is for the same date(s), same room type, same number of guests, at the same hotel and same rate termsor restrictions- let them know andthey will honour the lower rate AND discount that rate by 25%. Qualifying Rates Radissons Best Online Rate Guarantee applies only to online rates available to the general public. Group rates, corporate rates, wholesale rates, affinity/association rates or rates which are part of a travel package do not qualify. Radisson Customer Service will verify the rate meets all of the Best Online Rate Guarantee terms and conditions. Once confirmed you will receive the lower rate and 25% discount. Radissonguarantees that Radisson.com will have the best online rate available to their guests. 3.0 Public Relation Method March 24th, 2008, Radisson Hotel, Effective Business Solutionsseminar On 24th of March, the Bulgarian Cash newspaper arranged the Effective business solutions seminar in Radisson Hotel. The event was focused on ERP and CRM systems in order to help managers of trading and production companies raise the efficiency of their business processes. The top IT leaders were invited to present their products and Neme schek Bulgaria was one of them. In their exposition, the specialists of Nemetschek Bulgaria emphasized on the simple adaptation of their system ( Customer Center) to the customers needs. Radisson Hotels Reviews Public Relation Prior To Launch Radisson Hotels is reviewing PR for its main hotels brand and is in the advanced stages of hiring an agency to launch a five-star hotel in Manchester. PR manager Jacquiline Willers said the company had seen pitches from four agencies and settled on a shortlist of two for the Manchester brief, with local agency Mason Williams and London-based Pineapple PR in contention. Willers refused to discuss fees for the two briefs, but said: We have budgets for the Manchester project and for a two-year contract to help the Radisson Edwardian brand. It may be that one gets the Manchester job and the other the wider brief. At the moment, were not looking at other agencies for the two-year contract, but that may change, she added. Radisson Edwardian has previously used Brighter PR for its PR work. The agency is not involved in the current pitch process. Willers said the brief for the Radisson Edwardian Hotel Manchester will involve activity to drive bookings and awareness ahead of its opening in June 2004. The company claims the Manchester hotel will be the first five-star hotel in the centre of the city. However, Manchesters Lowry Hotel which falls just outside the city centre in neighbouring Salford and accommodated the England football team last weekend for its friendly against Denmark currently dubs itself the citys only five-star hotel, sparking speculation of a feud between the two hotels. But, Rocco Forte Hotels UK marketing director, Murray Thompson, played down talk of a spat, saying the opening of the Radisson in the city would make life easier for the Lowry: Manchester is saturated with three- and four-star hotels and it will no longer be just us saying its worthwhile to pay for luxury, he said. Radisson SAS Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek, has appointed Stephanie AbouJaoude as its Public Relations and Communications Manager. The property is an established landmark on the Deira Creekside and was re-branded Radisson SAS this month. Lebanese-Canadian, AbouJaoude, takes up her new role following three years as Public Relations and Communications Executive at the InterContinental Hotel, Dubai where her main duties involved media relations, advertising and maintaining the corporate identity of the brand. Stephanie will spearhead all elements of internal and external communications. She will also oversee the propertys marketing programmes, said Andreas Flà ¼ckiger, General Manager, Radisson SAS Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek. Her comprehensive knowledge of this property is a real asset to us and she will play an integral part in establishing this hotel under the Radisson SAS brand. Radisson SAS Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek has 287 guest-rooms, including 39 suites, 16 food and beverage outlets as well as meeting and events facilities. 3.1 Relationship Marketing Radisson is part of the Carlson Hotels Worldwide system of hospitality properties which include Regent International Hotels, Radisson Hotels Resorts, Park Plaza Hotels, Country Inns Suites By Carlson, and Park Inn hotels. The parent company, Carlson Companies Inc., also owns and operates Radisson Seven Seas Cruises and T.G.I. Fridays restaurants. A world leader in Relationship Marketing, Carlson maintains a consumer loyalty program known as Gold Points Rewards. As one of the leading global hospitality companies, Radisson operates, manages and franchises 435 full-service hotels and resorts, representing more than 102,000 guest rooms in 61 countries. From its franchise partners and strategic allies, to every manager and employee at every hotel, the Radisson organization is committed to providing personalized, professional guest service and Genuine Hospitality With its focus on total guest satisfaction, Radisson employees undergo one of the hospitality industrys most dynamic guest relations training programs calledYes, I Can!This program translates the core of the companys service philosophy for hospitality excellence to the front-line service employees in Radisson operations worldwide. After more than a decade,Yes, I Can!has become a central part of the Radisson culture, creating a point of difference for the brand in the manner with which customers are served. Radisson hotels are named after the famous French explorer, Pierre Esprit Radisson, who visited many parts of the Upper Midwest and Canada during the 17th century. Radisson Gold Rewards offers guests the opportunity to earn and redeem Gold Points ® within an exclusive network of leading brands. Members who earn Gold Points can redeem them for free night stays, airline miles, luxury cruises, merchandise, meals, and more. In addition to all of Carlsons brands, other major national partners in the Gold Points Rewardsnetwork include Thrifty Car Rental, The Flower Club and FTD.com. Currently, Gold Points are earned at all Radisson hotels in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. Residents of these countries can earn points at Radisson SAS and Radisson Edwardian hotels in Europe as well. Members of Radisson Gold Rewards earn 1,000 Gold Points per night, up to 10,000 points per stay. Radisson is continuing to add new hotels and resorts in key international business and leisure destinations. Examples of the companys highly successful partnerships include the development of Radisson SAS hotels and three other Carlson hotel brands in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Radisson Edwardian Hotels in the United Kingdom. Global presence and expansion into new markets is a key part of Radissons heritage. Radisson opened the first American-managed hotel in Moscow and today has several locations throughout Eastern Europe. Radissons recent entry into the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia in December 2002, expanded the brands global presence to 61 countries. 3.2 Customer Loyalty At Radisson, they are always looking for ways to give customers that little something extra. Thats why they offer Goldpoints Plus (goldpoints plusSM). Its the rewards program thats tailor-made for customers and their needs. goldpoints plusSM Free nights à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Enjoyfree hotel nightsstarting at just 15,000 points. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Combine a fewPoints + Cashfor an Award Night. Miles à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Exchange yourpoints for mileswith over 20 airlines. Prepaid Cards à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Cash in your points for Visa ®or MasterCard ®Prepaid Cards. Express Awards à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Redeem points at the hotel forExpress Awardslike movies, room upgrades and more. Make a Donation à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Gift your points to theWorld Childhood Foundationor to offset yourCO2 emissions. And some more attractive programmes those are really help them to get a loyal customer. 100% Satisfaction If you arent satisfied with something, please let one of our staff know during your stay and well make it right or you wont pay. Its guaranteed. Global Locations With over 400 Radisson locations worldwide, our doors are always open to you. Ready to greet you with our signature Yes I Can!TMservice. Free High-Speed Internet We dont just want you to stay with us, we want you to connect with us. Thats why unlimited high speed Internet is free with your stay. Full Service Restaurant and Room Service Hungry for satisfaction? Youll get it when you enjoy a meal in one of our full service restaurants. If you prefer to stay in, help yourself to something from our room service menu! Business Centers Its easy to stay on the job even when youre traveling. Our business centers are fully upgraded to fit the way you work today. Pool and Fitness Centers Spend your downtime shaping up in our modernized fitness centers or take the plunge poolside and stay fit when youre on the go. Meeting and Banquet Facilities Whether youre planning a business meeting or a family celebration, were here to help. With the space and the services that will make your event special in every way. 4.0 Effectiveness of Marketing and Public Relation strategy Hotels Resorts is committed to change and innovation in all key areas including its growth strategy ,operations, franchising, sales and marketing and technology, to operate with maximum effectiveness in a highly competitive business environment . Technology will undoubtedly continue to develop andRadisson Hotels should continue to progress along with it to stay on top of the service industry as one of the best global hotelcompanies out there. ORLANDO, Florida As part of its Ambition 2015 plan, Carlson today unveiled a comprehensive strategy for its Radisson brand. As one of the worlds leading brands, Radisson ® is being positioned to deliver vibrant, contemporary and engaging hospitality characterized by the Yes I Can! service philosophy. The positioning is being supported by a series of innovations including new room concepts, new restaurant concepts and a series of new service concepts focused on the guest experience. The strategy for Radisson will entail an investment program of up to USD 1.5 billion in North America, focused on establishing flagship hotels in key U.S. cities and on upgrading the existing portfolio. With 422 hotels in operation and 90 in the contracted pipeline, Radisson is one of the most well-known and fastest-growing brands in the world, delivering market leading guest satisfaction and achieving superior RevPar penetration internationally, said Hubert Joly, president and CEO of Carlson. We have crystallized the success formula for the brand, improved it and are using it as the foundation for its future development. As part of this strategy, Carlson announced the global roll out of five new room concepts And Relax, Naturally Cool, New York Mansion, Ocean and Urban. All of the concepts share a vibrant and contemporary design, the use of bold colors and lighting, and a comfortable feeling. The global strategy also includes two new restaurant concepts. Filini will offer an upscale, sophisticated Italian cuisine, while rbg is a bar-and-grill concept in an inviting, contemporary setting. The strategy also introduces a range of service concepts covering the key touch points of the guest experience including, for example, Business Class and three-hour laundry. Business Class will offer customers the best available room, breakfast, turn-down service, upgraded bathroom amenities, a daily newspaper and other amenities depending on the market. As part of this strategy, the Radisson brand will be tiered across the upper upscale and upscale segments. Radisson Blu will be applied to the upper upscale segment and Radisson Green will be applied to the upscale segment. Both will share the same brand essence vibrant, contemporary and engaging the same style and many of the service concepts. The differentiation will primarily be location based key location in a primary city versus a secondary market. It will typically be reflected in the level of investment that goes into the property. The strategy will include the implementation of the brands new global standard operating procedures, a new quality assurance program and intensive training programs. The strategy will be supported by investments in marketing, sales and distribution as part of the overall Carlson Ambition 2015 plan. We have seen the power of the brand internationally and the very attractive return from renovating to the new standards, Joly said. The brand is poised for significant growth around the world and we expect to grow the portfolio to at least 600 hotels by 2015. Media interested in getting insight into Carlsons new global vision and corporate strategy are invited to view the live webcast of Hubert Jolys opening keynote atwww.carlsonhotelsmedia.com/ambition2015at 4:30 p.m. ET. A replay of this webcast will be available starting at 8 p.m. ET, Wednesday March 3, 2010. Effective Integrated Marketing Strategy Integration marketinghappens when two different, but complementary offers are made in succession, or when a Unit of Marketing Value is placed in front of an existing traffic stream. Radisson offers sleep number beds in many of their rooms. These beds allow guest to adjust the firmness to their liking. In this case, the integration is that, as a Radisson customer, they are entitled to receive Free home delivery, setup and removal OR $150 worth of accessories on select Sleep Number beds. The promotion is co-branded to reinforce that being a Radisson client has its special perks and privileges that they are looking out for customers well-being even when they are not staying at their hotel. In fact, they want the experience of sleeping in customers own bed to mimic the experience of sleeping in their bed. Integrated marketing is happening all around the guest all they have to do is look for it. 5.0 Recommendation and conclusion References www.radision http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2010_1st/Mar10_RadissonPlans.html http://www.greatestholiday.radissonblu.com/ http://www.nemetschek.bg/press/index.htm http://www.discoverfrance.net/Boutique/Travel/Hotels/Chains/Radisson.shtml SERVICE GUARANTEES AND STRATEGIC SERVICE QUALITY PERFORMANCE METRICS AT RADISSON HOTELS WORLDWIDE Arthur V. Hill * , Susan Geurs, Julie M. Hays, George John, David W. Johnson, and Richard A. Swanson Case Analysis: Customer-Driven Learning at Radisson Hotels Worldwide ReferencesAl, L. (1993). Service guarantees in outpatient clinics: a case study. Health Care Management Review, 18 (3), 59-65. Cahill, D. J., Warshawky, R. M. (1995). Beyond competence: unconditional guarantees as a customer-service tool. Journal of Customer Service inMarketingand Management, 1 (3), 67-77. Hart, Bibliography http://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-360091-radisson_ambassador_plaza_hotel_and_casino-i

Word Recognition for the Journey of Life :: Education, Phonics

Most adults are able to see words and instantly know their meaning. For example, we will see the word futon and associate it with furniture and not foods. Word recognition is a skill that is developed over years and occurs in stages. It is important for teachers to recognize these stages and Jennings, Caldwell and Lerner (2010) stress that knowing those stages will allow teachers to help those students with reading troubles (pg. 191). The first stage Jennings, Caldwell and Lerner (2010) mentioned is Logographic or the visual cue reading stage. You will often hear a mothers say that her child can read because he or she recognizes words of famous landmarks. This is because they recognized word using only visual cue (pg. 191). They then shift to the second stage of partial alphabetic stage or phonic cue recoding stage. In this stage, children have a working knowledge of the alphabet. Jennings, Caldwell and Lerner (2010) made clear that children are not reading whole words but are only looking at the first and last part of words and also mostly relying on pictures and context (pg. 192). From this stage, children move into the full alphabetic stage. Jennings, Caldwell and Lerner (2010) say by then they are paying attention to the pattern of words and how vowels are situated (pg. 192). The last stage is big accomplishment in reading. Known as the sight word reading stage children automatically recognize words w ithout chunking or sounding out. It is within this stage that comprehension takes place. Phonics help children learn to read. It is the first step in decoding or sounding out words. The first step in teaching phonic is to teach children how to identify each letter by its name and their sounds. Flashcards are great to use in this process. The letters can be shown and students say the sounds. As they progress I would implement phonogram as described by Jennings, Caldwell and Lerner (2010). Children need to know how combinations of letters make sounds. For example ck say k as in clock. I would teach this through word games. I would also show them that they can change letters to make new words e words such as cat into hat. Jennings, Caldwell and Lerner (2010) went on to say that it is also effective to read a book with decodable words and manipulate letters in words to make other words (pg.

Masanobu Hirasawa

EXPERIENCE SUMMARY Extensive experience in mortgage origination, warehousing, securitization, market-making and risk management industries.   Demonstrated success in developing new businesses, expanding client base, controlling costs and improving profitability.   Highly-skilled in a full spectrum of mortgage-backed functions, including sales/trading, risk management, investment analysis, client presentations, cash flow modeling and performance analysis.OBJECTIVEBank management position supervising mortgage-backed properties division.EXPERIENCETOKYO STAR BANK, LTD., Tokyo, Japan  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mar 2006-PresentGeneral Manager, Business Strategy & CoordinationBegan the first private mortgage conduit in Japan.   Created third-party origination (correspondent l ending) and securitization platform during my first eight months.   Identified unique emerging market opportunities in Japan and founded program to provide specialized long-term financing support in the mortgage banking industry.   Developed and launched innovative business concept to address under-served niche market and integrated new model with existing franchise.Created â€Å"Mortgage Banking & Conduit† in Corporate Finance Group and recruited professionals to underwrite, purchase and accumulate mortgage assets for re-packaging.Developed and launched two new loan products on time, including prime ARMs & hybrid ARMs and prime piggyback seconds (onto the Japanese conforming loan, â€Å"Flat 35†), which have been well received in the primary market.Established exceptional correspondent relationships with major mortgage lenders, such as SBI Mortgage, Toshiba Housing Loan, Mortgage Services of Japan, Family Life Service and Yuryo Housing Loan.   Successfully funde d 2 billion yen in new loans in 10 months.Directed the across-the-board project to create and implement a streamlined origination process.Led the team to execute all documentations for acquisitions and resolved critical legal issues including Bank Agency Law.Developed pricing methodologies, optimized profitability and controlled budget.Oversaw underwriting guidelines and maintained the quality of acquired assets.Led the project team to create loan databases, which enabled the Bank to readily off-balance its assets.SHINSEI BANK, LTD., Tokyo, Japan  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Feb 2002-Mar 2006Manager, Capital Markets DivisionDirected the team managing risks of the division’s conduit businesses, including mortgage loans and securitized loan po rtfolio.   Created and reported detailed P&L, including key items like positions, hedge mark-to-markets and funding costs.   Played a key role in acquiring residential mortgage loans from the secondary market and established a mortgage-banking platform such as SBI Mortgage, Shinsei Property Finance and Rakuten Mortgage.Independently managed the division’s portfolio, worth over 1 trillion yen in market value, and hedged its interest rate and prepayment risks primarily using swaps, caps and swap options.Instrumental in growing assets from 20 billion yen to over 1 trillion yen in 3 years.   Achieved 20% annual net increase in investment income during that time.Developed a complete cash flow pricing model using INTEX and MIAC analytics to successfully acquire over 2 trillion yen of mortgage portfolios from regional banks.Set up and implemented secondary marketing functions for five mortgage correspondents, which added 15 billion yen new originations to the mortgage conduit annually.Created business plans, budgets and forecasting and made presentations to investment committees.Successfully managed a team of three pricing and risk management professionals and oversaw numerous loan database projects.MERRILL LYNCH JAPAN CO., LTD., Tokyo, Japan  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sep 2000-Aug 2001Assistant Vice President, MBS/ABS Trading and SyndicationTrader and marketer of global securitized products for Japanese and Asia-Pacific investors.   Managed trading books by way of hedging trading positions and prepared a daily offering sheet with market comments and data.   Attended sales meetings on a regular basis and extensive client management.Executed trades on U.S. pass-throughs, CMO and credit card and auto loan ABS with a volume in excess of $1 billion for the year 2000-2001.NOMURA SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL, INC., New York, NY  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   July 1998-August 2000Assistant Vice President, MBS ResearchResearch analyst for the U.S. residential MBS markets and assisted traders and sales force in assessing relative value, documenting trade strategies and generating investment ideas.   Regularly wrote commentaries on market events, prepayment speeds and housing indices.HSBC SECURITIES, INC., New York, NY  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jan 1998-Jun 1998Associate, Mortgage-Backed ResearchThe firm closed down its mortgage business in 2/98.   Moved to Nomura Securities along with my supervisor.BLACKROCK, INC., New York, NY  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dec 1996-Jan 1998Analyst, Portfolio AdministrationLiaised with accounting agents of the firm’s institutional clients, participated in reconciliation with custodians and monitored portfolio compliance with investment guidelines and regulatory parameters.   Worked as an intern between 12/96-4/97.EducationCOLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, New York, NYM.A., Statistics, 1996STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, BINGHAMTON, Binghamton, NYB.A., Mathematics, 1994Professional LicensesNASD Series 7 & 63 and JASD Level 1 & 2

Pride and Prejudice Intro Summary Essays - Pride And Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice Intro Summary Essays - Pride And Prejudice Set in the country village of Longbourn in Hertfordshire, the story revolves around the Bennet family and their five unmarried daughters. They are the first family of consequence in the village, unfortunately the Longbourn estate is entailed by default to a male heir, their cousin Mr. William Collins. This is distressful to Mrs. Bennet who knows that she must find husbands for her daughters or they shall all be destitute if her husband should die. Mr. Bennet is not as concerned and spends his time in his library away from his wifes idle chatter and social maneuvering. The second eldest daughter Elizabeth is spirited and confident, wanting only to marry for love. She teases her eldest sister Jane that she must catch a wealthy husband with her beauty and good nature and support them. The three younger sisters Mary, Catherine and Lydia hinder their sisters chances for a good match by inappropriate and unguarded behavior. When Mr. Bingley, a single man of large fortune, moves into the ne ighborhood with his fashionable sisters he attends the local ball and is immediately taken with Jane Bennet. His friend, Mr. Darcy, is even richer with a great estate in Derbyshire, but is proud and arrogant giving offence to all including Elizabeth by refusing to dance with her. The whole community declares him the most disagreeable man, eaten up with pride.

Perseverence Essay Essays

Perseverence Essay Essays Perseverence Essay Essay Perseverence Essay Essay Rachel Summer 2006 Honors English Perseverance Essay In My Sister’s Keeper and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, characters demonstrate the quality of perseverance. To persevere is to â€Å"persist in a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement†, according to The American Heritage College Dictionary. Characters in each book go about different ways showing perseverance throughout their lives. Yet no matter what, perseverance in the characters always comes down to the bottom line of never giving up. My Sister’s Keeper is filled with examples of perseverance. Anna, the main character, is a matched donor for her older sister Kate who was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) at a young age. Throughout her whole life, Anna has gone through numerous blood donations, bone marrow donations, and surgeries so that Kate has a chance at survival. After Kate’s kidneys start to fail, Anna’s parents want her to donate a kidney to her sister. Therefore, Anna files a lawsuit against her parents for medical emancipation so she can make her own medical decisions. Throughout the book, the reader is led to believe that Anna is pursuing this lawsuit because she has gotten fed up with being the one to donate parts of her body such as lymphocytes and bone marrow for her sister’s well being, but in the end the story twists. It turns out that Anna has gone against her parents wishes because her sister asked her to. Kate is sick of having to be in the hospital and doesn’t want to have to go through yet another surgery, she has accepted death. Anna showed perseverance because she never gave up in supporting and loving her sister. Even when Anna’s mom was upset with her about the lawsuit and even when Anna had to sell her most prized possession, the locket her dad gave her that she never took off, in order to hire a lawyer, she continued to do what she felt was right. The whole time Anna never lets out that it was Kate who convinced her to file the lawsuit in the first place. Other characters in My Sister’s Keeper showed perseverance in their actions too. Kate showed perseverance in how she faced the challenges of dealing and living daily with a serious illness. Kate loved her family and wanted to reduce the impact her illness had on her sister and family thereby asking Anna to file the lawsuit. Anna and Kate’s parents showed perseverance by constantly pursuing new treatment options to help cure Kate or prolong her life. No matter how many surgeries or transfusions it took, they wanted to try everything. Even Campbell, Anna’s lawyer, showed perseverance. He would tell people ridiculous lies about what his service dog, Judge, did for him, never letting anyone know that it was for his seizures. Campbell didn’t want people to feel sorry for him or treat him any differently than anyone else. Therefore, characters in My Sister’s Keeper showed the quality of perseverance. The Five People You Meet in Heaven has the quality of perseverance in it too. The main character, Eddie, shows it throughout the whole book. The book starts with Eddie at an old age working at Ruby Pier. He is a hard worker, checking rides and their parts, always making sure that everything is safe with Ruby Pier as the head of maintenance. Then, when a ride breaks down after one of the cables snap, Eddie dies trying to save a little girl who would have been hit by the falling ride. After he goes to heaven, he meets and spends time with five people who affected his life and died before him, reliving his past and the pasts of others. As he relives his past, he struggles with remembering and discovering some hardships that he and others had to face throughout their lives. Yet with every person, he tries to find out whether or not he saved the little girl, never giving up on his question. As he goes from person to person, we are shown flashbacks of Eddie’s life that are filled with perseverance. One example is during his time as a soldier in a war. Eddie and the captain and some of his fellow soldiers were captured and taken as prisoners. The living conditions were horrible for them for months on end. They had to work in a mine, eat bug infested food, never shower, sleep in dirt and grime, and were at risk of being killed. One of Eddie’s comrades was even shot and killed after he got so sick that he couldn’t work in the mine. However, Eddie always looked for ways to escape. Finally, one day he saw one of his captors trying to juggle. Eddie took this as an opportunity, even though it was very risky, for escape. Eddie eventually got them all out of there after showing the guards his juggling skills and tricking them. No matter how tough life got for Eddie, he never gave up. Even after his father died and he was stuck working at Ruby Pier, he persevered. He continued to help support his mother and wife until they died. Even after his beloved wife died, he carried on, no matter how painful life was without her. Eddie showed great qualities throughout his life and afterlife, including that of perseverance. Both books have characters showing perseverance in the sense that they get on with their lives, never giving up and never giving in no matter how hard it gets. Also, in both books, it becomes clear in the end why the characters kept on going and didn’t stop, and how their perseverance affected others. In My Sister’s Keeper, Anna died in the end of the book in a car accident, and her kidney ended up being donated to Kate anyways. Yet Anna’s actions in life showed how much she loved her sister. Anna did want to donate her kidney to Kate in the first place because she would do just about anything to save her sister. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Eddie finds out in the end that all life stories are intertwined. People died instead of him and he died instead of the little girl. When he finds out he saved the little girl, he thinks his death wasn’t for nothing after all. In the end, Eddie discovers that his life did have a meaning, despite what he had thought. He worked so hard at Ruby Pier, and by keeping the rides safe, he helped so many people stay safe while riding them. Eddie thought that he had lived a pointless life that had no value, but instead he had saved many lives without even realizing it. Both My Sister’s Keeper and The Five People You Meet in Heaven show characters persevering through life, and never giving up or giving in, no matter what.