Deception Point Page 25

Sexton hung up, looking pleased with himself. â€Å"New Sexton fan?† Gabrielle asked. â€Å"They're multiplying,† he said. â€Å"This guy's a heavy hitter.† â€Å"Must be. Meeting him in your apartment?† Sexton usually defended the sanctified privacy of his apartment like a lion protecting its only remaining hiding place. Sexton shrugged. â€Å"Yeah. Thought I'd give him the personal touch. This guy might have some pull in the home stretch. Got to keep making those personal connections, you know. It's all about trust.† Gabrielle nodded, pulling out Sexton's daily planner. â€Å"You want me to put him in your calendar?† â€Å"No need. I'd planned to take a night at home anyway.† Gabrielle found tonight's page and noticed it was already shaded out in Sexton's handwriting with the bold letters â€Å"P.E.†-Sexton shorthand for either personal event, private evening, or piss-off everyone; nobody was quite sure which. From time to time, the senator scheduled himself a â€Å"P.E.† night so he could hole up in his apartment, take his phones off the hook, and do what he enjoyed most-sip brandy with old cronies and pretend he'd forgotten about politics for the evening. Gabrielle gave him a surprised look. â€Å"So you're actually letting business intrude on prescheduled P.E. time? I'm impressed.† â€Å"This guy happened to catch me on a night when I've got some time. I'll talk to him for a little while. See what he has to say.† Gabrielle wanted to ask who this mystery caller was, but Sexton clearly was being intentionally vague. Gabrielle had learned when not to pry. As they turned off the beltway and headed back toward Sexton's office building, Gabrielle glanced down again at the P.E. time blocked out in Sexton's planner and had the strange sensation Sexton knew this call was coming. 27 The ice at the center of the NASA habisphere was dominated by an eighteen-foot tripod structure of composite scaffolding, which looked like a cross between an oil rig and an awkward model of the Eiffel Tower. Rachel studied the device, unable to fathom how it could be used to extract the enormous meteorite. Beneath the tower, several winches had been screwed into steel plates affixed to the ice with heavy bolts. Threaded through the winches, iron cables banked upward over a series of pulleys atop the tower. From there, the cables plunged vertically downward into narrow bore holes drilled in the ice. Several large NASA men took turns tightening the winches. With each new tightening, the cables slithered a few inches upward through the bore holes, as if the men were raising an anchor. I'm clearly missing something, Rachel thought, as she and the others moved closer to the extraction site. The men seemed to be hoisting the meteorite directly through the ice. â€Å"EVEN TENSION! DAMN IT!† a woman's voice screamed nearby, with all the grace of a chain saw. Rachel looked over to see a small woman in a bright yellow snowsuit smeared with grease. She had her back to Rachel, but even so, Rachel had no trouble guessing that she was in charge of this operation. Making notations on a clipboard, the woman stalked back and forth like a disgusted drillmaster. â€Å"Don't tell me you ladies are tired!† Corky called out, â€Å"Hey, Norah, quit bossing those poor NASA boys and come flirt with me.† The woman did not even turn around. â€Å"Is that you, Marlinson? I'd know that weenie little voice anywhere. Come back when you reach puberty.† Corky turned to Rachel. â€Å"Norah keeps us warm with her charm.† â€Å"I heard that, space boy,† Dr. Mangor fired back, still making notes. â€Å"And if you're checking out my ass, these snow pants add thirty pounds.† â€Å"No worries,† Corky called. â€Å"It's not your woolly-mammoth butt that drives me wild, it's your winning personality.† â€Å"Bite me.† Corky laughed again. â€Å"I have great news, Norah. Looks like you're not the only woman the President recruited.† â€Å"No shit. He recruited you.† Tolland took over. â€Å"Norah? Have you got a minute to meet someone?† At the sound of Tolland's voice, Norah immediately stopped what she was doing and turned around. Her hardened demeanor dissolved instantly. â€Å"Mike!† She rushed over, beaming. â€Å"Haven't seen you in a few hours.† â€Å"I've been editing the documentary.† â€Å"How's my segment?† â€Å"You look brilliant and lovely.† â€Å"He used special effects,† Corky said. Norah ignored the remark, glancing now at Rachel with a polite but standoffish smile. She looked back at Tolland. â€Å"I hope you're not cheating on me, Mike.† Tolland's rugged face flushed slightly as he made introductions. â€Å"Norah, I'd like you to meet Rachel Sexton. Ms. Sexton works in the intelligence community and is here at the request of the President. Her father is Senator Sedgewick Sexton.† The introduction brought a confused look to Norah's face. â€Å"I won't even pretend to understand that one.† Norah did not remove her gloves as she gave Rachel's hand a half-hearted shake. â€Å"Welcome to the top of the world.† Rachel smiled. â€Å"Thanks.† She was surprised to see that Norah Mangor, despite the toughness of her voice, had a pleasant and impish countenance. Her pixie haircut was brown with streaks of gray, and her eyes were keen and sharp-two ice crystals. There was a steely confidence about her that Rachel liked. â€Å"Norah,† Tolland said. â€Å"Have you got a minute to share what you're doing with Rachel?† Norah arched her eyebrows. â€Å"You two on a first-name basis already? My, my.† Corky groaned. â€Å"I told you, Mike.† Norah Mangor showed Rachel around the base of the tower while Tolland and the others trailed behind, talking among themselves. â€Å"See those boreholes in the ice under the tripod?† Norah asked, pointing, her initial put-out tone softening now to one of rapt fervor for her work. Rachel nodded, gazing down at the holes in the ice. Each was about a foot in diameter and had a steel cable inserted into it. â€Å"Those holes are left over from when we drilled core samples and took X rays of the meteorite. Now we're using them as entry points to lower heavy-duty screw eyes down the empty shafts and screw them into the meteorite. After that, we dropped a couple hundred feet of braided cable down each hole, snagged the screw eyes with industrial hooks, and now we're simply winching it up. It's taking these ladies several hours to get it to the surface, but it's coming.† â€Å"I'm not sure I follow,† Rachel said. â€Å"The meteorite is under thousands of tons of ice. How are you lifting it?† Norah pointed to the top of the scaffolding where a narrow beam of pristine red light shone vertically downward toward the ice beneath the tripod. Rachel had seen it earlier and assumed it was simply some sort of visual indicator-a pointer demarking the spot where the object was buried. â€Å"That's a gallium arsenide semiconductor laser,† Norah said. Rachel looked more closely at the beam of light and now saw that it had actually melted a tiny hole in the ice and shone down into the depths. â€Å"Very hot beam,† Norah said. â€Å"We're heating the meteorite as we lift.† When Rachel grasped the simple brilliance of the woman's plan, she was impressed. Norah had simply aimed the laser beam downward, melting through the ice until the beam hit the meteorite. The stone, being too dense to be melted by a laser, began absorbing the laser's heat, eventually getting warm enough to melt the ice around it. As the NASA men hoisted the hot meteorite, the heated rock, combined with the upward pressure, melted the surrounding ice, clearing a pathway to raise it to the surface. The melt water accumulating over the meteorite simply seeped back down around the edges of the stone to refill the shaft.

The Nature of Construction Problems: Past and Present

Abstraction: This paper aims at deducing a comprehensive apprehension refering to the different building troubles that have been faced in the yesteryear and are being faced now in the present besides. It provides a graphic analysis of why the jobs were faced, the nature of the jobs and how they were dealt with. It has been a long clip since the first origin of architectural thoughts that had crept into our ancestors’ heads. Right from the Stone Age, adult male has really been into this act of building material for doing his life easy. At the really occasion of the Metal Age, he got a farther encouragement with the coming of new stuffs and building techniques. Furthermore, came the times when architecture was at its extremum. Everywhere in the universe there was ardor to build constructions that non merely made life comfy for adult male, but besides soothed his eyes. The classical orders of the Greeks packed the clout of functioning as better structural members along with being a ocular dainty. The Romans had been articulate in building an efficient system of H2O supply in the signifier of a series of arches together being called as aquaducts. It still stands as an illustration people look up to plan urban infinites. Egyptians were no less. They were meticulously building pyramids and mortuary graves that were manner beyond the human graduated table. They had designed the first signifiers of conveyer systems in edifice building. Similarly, India saw the building of a batch of architectural admirations. Right from the building of the massive rock constructions of the Ajanta-Ellora caves and the temples of Mahabalipuram to the Islamic constructions of Taj Mahal and the Humayun’s grave it had been a fantastic spring in the signifier of architectural advancement. Finally came the times of contentions about architecture when Gustav Eiffel proposed the building of an all metal construction now called the Eiffel tower. There was a batch of noise about the fact that how it would eventually look when it was constructed in Paris. Many people said that it might turn out to be a cicatrix on the face of the metropolis. But, now fortuitously it is known as the first thing that helps us place the metropolis of Paris. There have besides been contentions about Zaha Hadidà ¢â‚¬â„¢s designs. She is one of the innovator designers every bit far as the usage of fluidic signifiers is concerned. Her designs have about ever been at the helm of unfavorable judgment by the senior designers of her times. But, she has been articulate in put to deathing her ain designs. Similarly, in the recent times Frank O’ Gehry had faced a batch of challenges in conveying up his work called Bilbao museum. He has been criticised like snake pit up to the degree of being called the mad designer. Now as we come up to the fact of such advancement in the field of building, can we deny that there have been no troubles in the building of these age old constructions? No will be the reply. As we go back to the times when the massive rock constructions of the Kailasa temple was constructed, we get to cognize that no good engineering was available at that clip. However, they have managed to really do it possible to organize a monolithic temple out of a individual stone. Imagine that how the individual who started the building, really merely used a chisel and a cock to construct such a immense temple. It is said that he started from the top and maintain on cheating till the underside. It is apparent that this fantastic building must hold taken a long clip to come up. But, it has non been constructed by a individual sculpturer. Imagine the trouble in go throughing on the same cognition about the construction to so many craftsmans over the ages. There might hold been several alterations made to this temple construction during the building. This must hold made it even more hard for the sculpturers. Now raises the inquiry of pull offing the waste that was generated in this pr ocedure. How were all the cut out rocks used? Yes, they were used to do roads and for pety buildings. But wasn’t it truly hard to pull off these heavy multitudes? Yes, it must hold been boring. A similar construction had come up antecedently. The Konark temple in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa had a immense part in raising the architectural gustatory sensation of the people of the state. In this building, they used the method of building sand inclines as it was being constructed towards the top terminal. This had really ensured that the construction didn’t acquire decayed during the building procedure. However, this construction had made usage of a immense pole at the Centre in the signifier of a magnet that gave the monolithic rock construction all its strength. This had been acquired by the British during their reign in our state. But, subsequently on what it was used for cipher knows. Just conceive of how that immense magnet was made to stand merely by the usage of really bas ic tools. This speaks of the trouble in building constructions belonging to the typology of rock temples. Now, when the importance of Constantinople came into being, there was a sudden demand for the building of several public edifices. At that clip there was a immense recession in the field of building in Europe. There was a deficit of resources, financess, designers and even laborers. This thing gave rise to a new signifier of architecture. This signifier of architecture came to be known as Polymath Architecture. In this signifier of architecture the bing edifices were used to construct several other edifices. The Roman basilicas were used to construct the Basilican churches that formed the footing of Christianity. The columns of the condemned edifices were really truncated to acquire a unvarying size. As a consequence, the edifices were holding a size really near to the human graduated table. Explicitly or intentionally, this signifier of architecture happened to be more close to people. Even the foundations of several edifices were used to run into the demands of the times. The rotun da edifices were used to used to construct baptismal fonts when the inquiry of kid baptism came into being. These infinites required a sort of radiating edifice program in order to suit the needed activity. So, the inaccessibility of resources at that clip was addressed in such a manner. Now, when we come to building of edifices that are built with the on public money, the inquiry of minimal art comes into being. The use of minimal sum of resource and financess comes into being. Taking the illustration of a instance, when an designer is given undertaking of planing a public edifice, he has to do certain that he does non raise the cost of the edifice to the tallness of doing it impracticable. Presents, in instance of building of public edifices, the factor of stamp dads up. The individual coming up with the most disposed design within the least of cost frame normally gets the undertaking. Such a instance can be taken up when it comes to the Bilbao museum. It was designed by Frank O’ Gehry. He had gone through the unfavorable judgment of the full universe because of his design. His design was so complex that it made usage of aircraft design package. He had really gone to the point of overdriving resources. The frames of the edifice were made utilizing thick stee l subdivisions. A big bed of cloth was used to cover the edifice. Above this a bed of Ti sheets were used. Around twenty four 1000 square metres of such were used. As a consequence of this, he was criticised over the fact that a similar functionality and aesthetics was accomplishable with lesser usage of resources. But, he had paid no attentiveness to what the people said. He has a construct of a fish merely because he had memories of traveling to a fish market with his grandmother. This obscure justification brought about a batch of negotiations throughout the universe. Fortunately, the Ti monetary values had gone down at that point of clip. So, he had the privilege of non acquiring the undertaking cancelled. When residential undertakings are taken into consideration, there are several pety issues that come up. Fundss remain limited in most instances. There have been instances when building of a individual house has gone through a ceasework period of more than a twelvemonth merely due to the deficiency of financess. Other spiritual issues play a critical function in our state when it comes to building of abodes specially. Several people really back out when the designer is loath to listen to his specifications about how the edifice should be. Industrial edifices have challenges that are wholly different as compared to other edifices. They should hold the ability to really warrant all the authorities norms sing the minute points like waste coevals and hazard safety factors. They should hold particular anthropometric specifications but they should non utilize excessively much of infinite. So, as we come to reason this, we can really see that several issues are acquiring solved in this context. Several designers are coming up with advanced thoughts to really provide to the thoughts of the authorities and the environmental impact assessment organic structures to do a statement sing this affair. So allow us trust for a hassle free and green hereafter in front! ! ! Mentions: History Of Architecture by Sir Bannister Fletcher Construction Delaies: Extension Of clip and protraction claims by Roger Gibson

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

Research Paper Summary - Essay Example Similarly, new strategies can be integrated slowly with traditional methods that worked in order to arrive at the right product. This strategy is important to business organizations in the sense that it is responsive to the changes in the competitive, challenging modern environment of business. Secondly, the process of making strategy, according to Mintzberg, must be well choreographed and intended to herald action. Nevertheless, he suggests strategies can yield effective outcomes in their original status or when reformed. Thirdly, Mintzberg’s (1987) argument that strategists do not have to be senior members of the management is in line with the course readings. The sourcing of strategists from within an organization is particularly important because such individuals are well conversant with the inner-workings of the organization; they have the capacity to achieve the needed goals within the prevailing organizational culture. The course readings about strategy management are in line with Mintzberg’s analogy of a potter and how they are connected with their work in that, in both cases, the strategists must be individuals who have passion in pursuing the best for the company. Lastly, unfavorable conditions may prevent the ideal potter from creating a piece of art, despite having a mound of ready clay, but as a strategist, he or she may use the lump to make an equally important item that is different from the one planned before. In the same way potters do their job strategies do arise from time to time and anywhere (Mintzberg, 1987). As such, strategists must be prepared to postpone plans, create new products and have the capacity to turn errors into opportunity. By seeking the input of craftsmen and women who are devoted, passionate and intimately mesmerized by the materials they use to create an end product, the process

Vancouver Second Narrows Bridge Collapse Assignment

Vancouver Second Narrows Bridge Collapse - Assignment Example Several parties, both individuals and the government were impacted due to the occurrence of the collapse. The disaster cost the Canadian government a total of $16 million. The collapsed occurred at the time when construction work was in progress; as a result, 19 lives were lost including a diver who volunteered to retrieve bodies from the water. In 1958 at around 3:40 p.m. a loud sound reverberated across Vancouver and brought tragedy and non-forgettable memories that still haunt the thoughts of those that witnessed the incident. The massive bridge in Second Narrows in the Burrard Inlet which was under construction for two years, unexpectedly collapsed and tons of debris fell into the waterway. Dozens of laborers way swept away resulting in the tragic death of iron workers, painters, an operating engineer, two engineers and a driver who had embarked on a rescue operation. The bridge was constructed by the Dominion Bridge firm on the Burrad inlet. Its highest point was one seventy five feet above the water. It was later revealed that one of the steel plans in the structures had bucked making the whole structure to collapse. The workers were earning an average of $3.85 an hour equivalent to $25 in today’s currency. The six lane girder truss bridge was to link North Vancouver and the city of Vancouver. The key cantileve r structure about 620 meters long had a 335m cantilever span and two 467 feet anchor spans (Eric, 2011). The bridge also had four steel trusses measuring 285 feet and nine concrete made spans. The construction of the bridge had started in 1956 and was expected to be complete by1958 at a budgeted fee of about $16 million. The parts that fell were the newly built northern anchor spans and a truss span directly adjacent to it. The collapse occurred when the workers were just moving more steel to the pendent end. The bent that was

Role Identification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Role Identification - Essay Example It’s the duty of research assistant to contribute his/her help to the professionals to obtain maximum knowledge, organize, collect, compile and analyze data. They coordinate the trials and also make sure that all the procedures are followed properly. Research assistant also serves as coordinators, researchers, investigators, administrators, consultants or educators. It is also the reasonability of a research assistant to maintain discipline in following the rules and regulations in the industry and to maintain the safety and confidentiality in relation to the information. In a nutshell, we can say that the research assistant should be someone able enough to know how to improve the designs of new experiments; he should be able to keep all the records accurately and safely and present them when necessary. Also, supervision of the undergoing experiments and keeping the technicians busy with their work is the most important task required of him (Education Portal,

Jesus, Antigone and Augustine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Jesus, Antigone and Augustine - Essay Example This paper shall seek to look at the figures of Antigone, Jesus Christ and Augustine. These three figures fought against established forms of authority. What is significant about this collection of revolutionaries is that all three of them adopted methods that were not violent. All three of them were however, practitioners of very different methods and controversies remain as to the reasons as to why these three employed the methods of resistance that they employed. Antigone is a fictional character created by the great playwright Sophocles. His characterization of Antigone was meant to evoke strong reactions. On the other hand are Jesus and Augustine, both of whom are historical characters about whom most information is present, however, in the form of legends. Augustine is more of a historical character than Jesus, since information regarding him survives in the form of his writings. Jesus Christ was a person who lived during the times of the Roman Empire was a Jew who was consider ed to be the messiah of the Jews. The Jews in the Roman Empire lived under the control of the Roman Empire and were resentful of the control of whom they considered to be foreigners. Jesus, according to the Bible, was the Messiah (Mark 8: 27-32). He claimed to be the son of God and thus divine. He, according to the Bible, was the person who had taken on the form of man in order to wash off the sins of mankind and provide him with redemption. According to writers like John Milton, he was to be considered to have volunteered to save man from eternal perdition by laying down his own life voluntarily. By voluntarily undergoing a gruesome death at the cross, Jesus would act the role of the sacrificial lamb and thus free mankind from the original sin. Milton talks of the beginning of this story in his great work Paradise Lost (Milton). This account of the life of Jesus is however, not a strictly historical one. Historically, he is considered by many to have been a member of the Jewish com munity that was oppressed by the Roman Empire. He was a religious leader who sought to change the dynamics of power as they existed between the Roman officials and Empire and the Jews and the other original inhabitants of what is known today as Israel. Jesus’ contribution to the liberation of the people f Israel is considered to be seminal and this is considered by some to be the reason as to why he was deified by some. Antigone, on the other hand, is an almost completely fictional character. She is present in the work Antigone, by Sophocles. The importance of the character can be gauged from the fact that she is the titular character in the play. She also is the character who provides the play with its thematic thrust with an emphasis on the resistance to the established powers of the state. She is the daughter of Oedipus, who was once the king of Thebes and Jocasta, who was also the mother of Oedipus. The Oedipal tale is one of how man is unable to change his own fate. The tale of Antigone is however, that of one who makes an effort despite this knowledge, to change her fate. The very existence f Antigone is a challenge to the traditional social structures of her time, since she is the product of incest. Hers is a situation where her mother and her grandmother are the same person. This situation is according to conventional understandings of events, an unnatural one and Antigone is thus, a challenge to the

Ned Kelly Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ned Kelly Business Plan - Essay Example Budgeting in business is beneficial not only because it enables projecting the yearly expenses to be incurred while following a certain plan, but it also allows to determine how costs will incur and how can they be controlled resulting in efficient operations (Dury, 2008; Albrecht et al., 2008). As for instance, without doing any budgeting of the business activities, an entrepreneur may only be able to visualize to a certain extent that what expenses will be incurred and how they will be financed and what revenues would be required to keep the business profitable. But, on the other hand, with budgeting the entrepreneur is in fact able to foresee that what expenses will be incurred and how much revenues will be required to cover those expenses and at the end make profits. This in turn allows not only setting up targets for revenue generation, but also allows ascertainment of cost controlling techniques (Jiambalvo, 2010; Horngren & Harrison, 2009). In this regard, cash budgeting is con sidered as one of the most beneficial and important procedure to forecast the results of a certain business approach or plan on monthly basis (Horngren & Harrison, 2009). ... Keeping in view these benefits, cash budget can also be prepared for taxi business and revenues and expenses can be forecasted, which can be then used to ascertain the required working capital to be raised. Apart from this, as it has been noted that the owner of the taxi business requires the amount of money required to be taken from bank to be ascertained prior to starting the business. In this regard, it is pertinent to ascertain the cash inflows and outflows expected from a year’s operations and the net profit or loss which will be earned by the business. Having taken into consideration the information provided for the case, income statement and cash budget has been prepared and presented as follows for the business to be started by Ned Kelly. Income Statement The income statement forecasted for Ned Kelly’s business has been presented as follows: Forecasted Income Statement Amount Sales ? 417,312.00 Less: Â   Diesel (15 % of Total Sales Revenue) - ? 59,875.20 Mainte nance Costs (? 120 per taxi per month) - ? 4,320.00 Annual Road Tax and Licence Fee (3 x ? 600) - ? 1,800.00 Drivers' Salaries per Month (9 x ? 24,000 / 12) - ? 216,000.00 Drivers' Social Security (10 % of Gross Annual Salary) - ? 21,600.00 Cost of Sales - ? 303,595.20 Gross Profit ? 113,716.80 Depreciation - ? 12,000.00 Office Staff's Salaries per Month (4 x ? 16,000 / 12) - ? 64,000.00 Office Staffs' Social Security (10 % of Gross Annual Salary) - ? 6,400.00 Utility Costs - ? 6,000.00 Rent - ? 18,000.00 Local Property Tax Charges - ? 5,000.00 Drawings - ? 30,000.00 Advertisement - ? 6,000.00 Net Profit - ? 33,683.20 Sources: (Albrecht et al., 2008; Dury, 2008; Horngren & Harrison, 2009; Jiambalvo, 2010) It can be observed

SWOT anaysis and Financial anaysis for Breakthrough Miami Essay

SWOT anaysis and Financial anaysis for Breakthrough Miami - Essay Example Ratios can be used to analyze an organization financial statement. This can be done by comparing the financial statements with the competitors. Financial statements are easy to read. From the above financial statements, the current assets were 19.7 percent of the total amount of assets in 2003, and up by 19.1 percent in 2002. The current liabilities declined r\from 16.1 to 15.1 percent of the capital at that time. Financial analysis can be used to kick of the strategy formulation in a more sophisticated way as a serious strategy tool. The tool can be used to understand the competitors, which gives the insight needed to craft coherent and successful competitive position. Dealtry, T R. Dynamic Swot Analysis: Developers Guide : When Looking to the Future Look for the Opportunities and Threats and Consider Your Strengths and Weaknesses. Birmingham: Dynamic SWOT Associates, 2002.

Michael Eisner's Walt Disney company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Michael Eisner's Walt Disney company - Essay Example Based on his interest in cartoons, Walt entered into a partnership to form â€Å"Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists,† an initiative that made Disney develop an interest in the work of animation. To advance in his new career, Walt decided to borrow a camera from an advertising company, which encouraged him do develop further interest in Animation. Based on this drive, he managed to create the â€Å"Laugh-O-Gram Studios.† As his interest advanced in the field of animation, he opted to establish his firm after forming an agreement with Frank Newman to play the cartoons that Disney made in his theatre (Wasko, 2013). Initially, â€Å"Laugh-O-Gram Studios† became relatively big before going bankrupt in Kansas City. A mouse, Mickey, inspired â€Å"Oswald† creation later on. This resulted in the phrase â€Å"It All Started with a Mouse.† However, after Disney lost the rights he had in â€Å"Oswald,† he embarked on the road to creating his unique character, the â€Å"Mickey Mouse.† During this time, Technicolor was taking shape in the industry, making it possible for Walt to introduce additional characters in his work. He won an award in 1932 after Mickey emerged as the most common cartoon in the animation history (Wasko, 2013). Driven by the urge to create a full film, Disney initiated working on â€Å"Snow White† in 1934. He accomplished this initiative in 1937. This emerged as one of the highly successful film for 1938, which fetched more than $8 million for the company. Presently, this figure is equivalent to $132,671,390. After the success of â€Å"Snow White,† Disney embarked on a path to create Fantasia and Pinocchio. With the growth of Disney, Walt went to Hollywood and established the Walt Disney Studio before it went into debt. Here, although movies would not be considered as financially successful in the case of Disney, they had some degree of popularity (Wasko, 2013). Furthermore, during the World War II era, Disney was

The Guernica Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Guernica - Essay Example It projects a heavy emotion through its dismal, grim nature. The Guernica also shows the morphing of humans and animals - a clear opinion from the artist of how war creates a situation where humans and animals seem to be alike. The Guernica depicts a mood that is most likely to be associated with a house of horrors, full of distorted, morphed characters carrying a heavy, dark mood full of gloom and grim. Picasso's opinion of wars is clearly expressed through the Guernica. The complexity of its content makes it a unique work of art. Thus, I have always believed that a work of art is a reflection of how the artist sees the world. It is the artist's expression of the circumstances that occur around him. It is the artist's creation of something that holds underlying symbolisms and mysteries within it, that each person has their own view and opinions towards it. In my point of view, it is the Guernica that best represents a work of art. Its uniqueness is brought about by the unconventional style of depicting characters, and its symbolism cannot be interpreted in a single angle. It gives room for everyone to have their own interpretations and ideas formed - a true mark of a work of art. For me, that is what is considered to be a work of art; and the Guernica is absolutely one of its kind.

Implementation of an IT Project †A First Hand Account Essay Example for Free

Implementation of an IT Project – A First Hand Account Essay With innovation of computers, the business world is changing very fast as seen during the last 3 decades. Due to the advances in IT and Communications technology, the world has become a global village. The business opportunities have multiplied due to opening up of global markets. But so have the challenges. No economy is isolated or transparent from rest of the economies. Industries are expected to offer custom designed products at most competitive rates in shortest possible time. Even the multinational organizations operating in many countries across the world have been facing these challenges. One of the answers to these challenges they have been relying upon is to introduce Information Communications Technology in their organizations and leverage upon them to meet these challenges. In this document, we describe a case of one company in a country. This company was a part of a US based multinational group which decided to implement Oracle e Business 11i suite at all its units worldwide so as to consolidate required information at its headquarters at US. To comply with the requirement, this unit also decided to implement Oracle e Business Suite at its plant offices. How this implementation was planned, what were the objectives, what measures were taken to ensure conformity with the project plan, how the changeover to new software was planned, how the business associates were affected and what steps were initiated to ensure that the envisaged benefits actually accrue, is described in this document. Also various activities right from the initiation of the project, the project organization, roles and responsibilities, communications and reporting with the principals are also described. Implementation of an IT Project – A First Hand Account : EXCEL Auto Components Pvt Ltd EACL (a hypothetical name) is a part of a multinational EXCEL Group having its headquarters in US and group companies located all over the world. The Group is engaged in manufacture of engines, compressors, generating sets automobile components worldwide. EACL is engaged in manufacture of Automobile and engine components. Much of the orders received by EACL being repeat orders, are based on exiting design and technology. Besides these, there are sizable number of orders based on the same technology but involve a fresh design and prototype development, before the commercial production takes place. EACL is a subsidiary company of Excel Industries Ltd EIL which the main company of the group within the country. EIL centralizes many activities of the group and looks after these activities of the group companies in that country. Information Communication Technology is one of such activities which EIL handles for all group companies in the country. EIL handles IT Infrastructure management, Software Applications Management and other related activities for all group companies in the country. Recently the Corporate HQ at US has announced a decision to standardize on Business Application Software, directing all group companies worldwide to implement and switch over to Oracle 11i e Business Suite within a period of 18 months. Accordingly all companies had implemented and switched over to Oracle 11i except for EACL where the implementation had to be called of for various reasons, lack of in-house IT staff being one of them. Later on it was taken up once again. This time EIL Looked for an IT Consultant to be placed on site with the total responsibility of implementing Oracle 11i, with the help of Functional Consultants from EIL and a cross functional team of users from EACL. A person was found suitable and was placed on site at EACL to handle complete, end to end implementation of this project. He was to report to Lies Program Manager and was to be assisted by a Project Team comprising of 6 Functional Consultants from EIL and 5 Key Users from EACL, drawn from relevant functional areas. While EIL consultants had prior experience of Oracle ii1 implementation in their own company, EACL Consultants did not have any experience even of other ERP Products or any other applications. They – like most other users of EACL, had an exposure limited only to Microsoft Office Suite. However, most of them were young, fresh Mechanical Engineers very enthusiastic about the project. Similarly for EIL also this was their maiden experience to implement Oracle 11i at a company other than their own company. So everyone was totally charged up to take up this challenge. The assignment was clear for the Project Manager. Oracle 11i e Business Suite comprising of Financial, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management and Order Management Modules was required to be implemented within a time frame of 6 calendar months with the help of the Project Team assigned. CEO of EACL was fully backing this project and he had publicly instructed two senior most managers at the site – Plant Head and Finance Controller – to ensure full support resource commitments to the project. The Project implementation required to covered Plant as well as a Marketing office located in two different cities. CEO was also located in the Marketing Office. Objectives : The Objectives set out for the project included 20% reduction in investment in Inventory due to savings in inventory carrying cost and improvement in the planning process, Reduction in throughput time by 20% (increase i production sales and improvement in sales margins), Fast Order Execution with 90% on time delivery. Another significant objective was Confirming to standardization as laid down by the corporate group so as to facilitate group consolidation of information. Besides, the changeover was required to be transparent to the outside world i. e. the Business Associates. Investment : Since EACL was already running a home grown ERP Product, it already had in place the Client PCs, LAN, connectivity to EIL where Oracle 11i server was located. Some augmentation of resources like PCs printers, up-gradation of the bandwidth was required. EIL had already accounted for and arranged for the Software Licenses for ERP RDBMS Products for all group companies in the country. Fresh investment called for was related to the Fees payable to the Project Manager and the visits by the EIL functional team for implementation. How well the project met its investment objectives and what mechanisms would you suggest to allow ongoing evaluation of benefits realization? The Project Objectives were met very well. A fresh Bill of Materials was designed for regular items to be produced. Items requiring design development were defined separately in BOM. While this introduced some redundancy in the BOM, this resulted into reduction of many duplicated items from the BOM and thereby, from the stock. This drastically reduced the investment needed in Inventory. Items needed for development production were segregated such that production items do not get consumed in development vice-versa. The production cycle was mapped to a production process that had certain in-between milestones where items were issued and quality checks were performed. This resulted in reducing the number of days for which an item was stocked and also, control further movement of the semi finished product in case of a quality problem, such that the same could be reprocessed, rechecked for quality and forwarded only if the quality problem was resolved. Earlier the quality problem got detected only at the end of production cycle resulting in much more wastage of material, labor overheads. Marketing Manufacturing had more informed and accurate judgment of the cost and time estimates for a product at the time of accepting an order. Improved control over production process along with more accurate promise of delivery resulted in 90% on time deliveries. In case of a quality problem, only the immediately preceding steps needed to be repeated upsetting only that part of the process as against upsetting the entire process earlier. This also resulted in fewer rejections or defects in the production. Linking Sales Order right from planning stage till invoice dispatch advice virtually eliminated misplaced deliveries or wrong products being delivered. With more accurate accounting and posting of transactions, carrying out physical stock taking less frequently was also a possibility. All this was accompanied by a complete visibility over entire production process to the plant head. In this way, the project actually exceeded the anticipated benefits. Post implementation, certain benchmarks for performance were decided and periodically the cumulative actual performance was measured based upon these benchmarks. For example, Regular and extra hours needed for given quantum of production, reduction in inventory, on time delivery %, i. E delivery performance, value added during a period. Appropriate reports were designed and made available to the Finance Controller, Plant Head and the CEO. The effectiveness of stakeholder engagement activities during the project. Employees and Heads of all Departments including the Plant Head the Finance Controller were among the stakeholders. However, the main stakeholder was the CEO – he had sanctioned the investment, worked out what benefits to expect how, had a calculation of no of days within which the changeover had to be completed (termed Black Out period) and regular operations resumed on the new system. Business associates were not to be caused any disturbance due to the change over (excepting a blackout period of 5 days) and above all, a project of a given size and complexity affecting every employee in every corner of the organization had to be completed as scheduled with mathematical precision. The main stakeholder that is the CEO took a lot of interest and a keen interest in every aspect of the project. He participated in understanding, reviewing approving the requirements formulated, understood how the prototype presented offered to fulfill these requirements, he provided directions to the project team and other employees regards various activities related with the project, intervened whenever a help was sought in anticipation of a bottleneck or a deviation apprehended from the plan. He always had a positive contribution to offer in terms of identifying typical scenarios that might be encountered or regards the training of the end users or in ensuring 100% and timely attendance of the members in all project events. This propagated a clear message across that the project has to be completed, on time and with contribution from everyone with no exception and zero tolerance. He always supported implementation of new ideas like maintenance of Time Sheets for the Project Team or conducting tests to assess the learning of the trainees. He mandated the contribution to this project by an employee be counted during the periodic appraisals. In all his communications with the employees he never failed to stress the importance of the project, praising efforts of those who did well and pulling up the laggards, warning them to come up to expectations. He studied every fortnightly report with interest and took appropriate action based upon the same in time. He also attended every review presentation and tried to bring out the maximum from everyone. He ensured that not only he himself but also the Plant Head and Finance Controller provided immediate response to Project Team Members for any help or intervention desired. The same spirit was displayed both by the Plant Head as well as by the Finance Controller. They arranged for all required resources to be made available for the team. What provision was made during the development phase to facilitate roll-out during the implementation stage, and how effective this was ? Many provisions were made during the development phase to ensure a smooth roll out during the implementation stage. The provisions were related with the systems as well as with the operations. Systems : A training to the EACL Consultants was provided on the product right at the beginning of the project. Thereafter they were closely associated with the corresponding members of the CIL Team in related functions to learn from them. They were asked to take up the initiative to develop the Operational Manual for their functional area which was reviewed and finalized in consultation with EIL Consultants. They were made responsible for testing the prototype against the requirements by way of test data, preparing test data visualizing typical exceptional â€Å"scenarios† that might be encountered, carrying out an integrated testing covering certain transactions encompassing all functional areas and finally, the load testing to assess the capability of the infrastructure to sustain the number of concurrent users envisaged. They also imparted training to the end users so that they are better prepared themselves and develop a sound knowledge. They also assessed the performance of the end users by setting up question papers for these trainees. Hardware and Software requirements considering the eventual number of users was reviewed and necessary enhancements were carried out to make the infrastructure adequate for live run. Document forms and preprinted stationery in line with the standardization requirements were designed and procured in time before the switchover. Menu Access Permissions and Transaction Authorization Set Up was designed and set up in the software. Operations : There was a blackout period required to complete the processing in the old system, transfer the balances masters to the new system and resume operations in the new system. The CEO insisted that this must not exceed 5 days failing which the business may be adversely affected. As regards the provisions made in operations, certain actions were planned to be taken and completed before the commencement of the blackout period e. g. clearing deliveries against all sales orders. Certain actions were suspended for the duration of the blackout period i. e. placing fresh purchase orders or accepting deliveries. All Business Associates were informed about the changeover and the black out period preceding it to enable them to plan their activities accordingly. A detailed meeting was conducted between the Project Team, Finance Controller and the Plant Head along with all Departmental Heads and an elaborate plan of action naming the concerned responsible person was chalked out well before the beginning of the black out period. This eventually resulted into a smooth changeover with no adverse impact on the Business associates – all within a black out period of 3 days against the 5 days planned. How effective were the governance and reporting arrangements, particularly in assuring delivery to time, budget and quality, and how were key stakeholders involved – both formally and informally – in these arrangement ? There was plenty of information maintenance and reporting but the tempo set by the project never made it look like a burden. Plenty of reporting was carried out to different groups in different ways. Firstly the Project Team was made to sit close to each other to facilitate communication between them. There used to be a meeting among the team members everyday where required information on current status against the plan was exchanged. In addition, the Team Members submitted a Time Sheet giving hour wise break up of total activities planned for the day and actually carried out This constituted a critical input regards the progress of work and helped in promptly identifying potential bottlenecks and deviations for initiating suitable action. In addition, there was a meeting every day between the Project Teams of EACL CIL even if they were not at the same location. The Project Manager had a daily round of appraising the Program manager about the status of activities. In addition, Project Manager maintained a day wise information on different event / developments in the project and periodically shared the same in confidence with the Program Manager by way of an informal reporting. A weekly progress report was submitted by the Project Manager to the CEO, Plant Head, Finance Controller, Program Manager, Infrastructure Manager. Both the progress along with the anticipated bottlenecks along with remedial action planned were reflected in the report. Periodic Presentations were delivered to CEO in presence of all Departmental Heads including the Plant Head Finance Controller wherein the progress, forthcoming activities and anticipated problems and their solutions were discussed. A Centralized Project Database was maintained by IT Group at US for all IT Projects initiated worldwide. Periodically at the end of every milestone all relevant documents as prescribed in the Project Methodology were submitted to this database. This was followed by a presentation made to the Steering Committee Members comprising of senior personnel from EACL, CIL US HQ. Only upon receiving approval for a phase, the next phase was entered into. Daily interactions with Project Team with the help of Time Sheets led to assessment of the progress. Interactions between two Project Teams brought out further tasks to be initiated and provided an idea about the time estimates and criticality. Reporting to Program Manager, CEO Steering Committee resulted in receiving guidance regards the project and eliminating the bottlenecks and problems. Presentations with CEO ensured cooperation from all Departments. Thus every formal or informal communication or reporting had served its intended purpose. Besides this, there always was a freedom to make a need based call to anyone with appropriate response and action sure to come by. While the project involved a lot of work, called for detailed planning and close monitoring and had many complexities, it was also not without the lighter moments. Following every milestone, there was required to be a get together of the Project Teams and he Departmental Heads where a lot of formal and informal interaction used to take place making its own contribution to the success of the project. Scheduling such a get together following each milestone was also a part of the project plan and a subject of Project Review ! The project management methodology used and its contribution to the success (or otherwise) of the project. The Project Management Methodology followed was one that was developed by the IT Department of the Corporate IT Group itself and broadly, it was a prototype oriented methodology. It was a tried and tested methodology already put into practice at the group companies within the country. Among the very first activities in the project was to depute the Project Manager for undergoing a training on this methodology and specifically, the documentation which was standardized across all companies in the world within the group. This methodology made everything so simple to understand and help ensuring that once we start religiously practicing the methodology, we did not miss out on anything in the course of the project. Particularly noteworthy in the methodology was a process of IT Requests Management. It handled the entire process from initiating an it request to providing all required details about it to seeking and enabling required authorizations, assigning the work till completion, testing certification of the results, configuration management and finally, approving the satisfactory completion of the IT Request by the request initiator. Entire process was handled by a software, which facilitated electronic approvals to the requests. This process accepted only those IT Requests which were backed by relevant details, having appropriate authorization from the concerned departmental heads, feasibility assessment by the Functional Technical Consultants, approval by the IT Program Manager assignment of the same to functional / technical consultant for compliance. Once completed, the relevant software was tested on a separate system, approved by the IT Program Manager and only thereafter the software was allowed to be transferred to the production server. Finally the initiator of the request was required to confirm that the request has been complied with to his satisfaction – a precondition for treating it to be completed. Thus Change Management was appropriately controlled in the project. The Documents to be maintained for the project related with the quality aspects, risk assessment and mitigation, investments, benefits anticipated, project plan, impact on IT Infrastructure currently in use, manpower currently deployed so on – in short, touching all aspects that are concerning the project. The Group IT Dept at US had a Project Document Repository where the documents were required to be posted before each Steering Committee Meeting. This enforced appropriate handling of quality, risk, time, investment, benefits other aspects to be clearly defined beforehand and their achievement during the course of the project. The Project phases also included a Post Production Review phase where the post implementation benefits were compared with the anticipated benefits. As regards this project, requirements were collected and a prototype developed so as to fulfill the requirements. The prototype was demonstrated and further tuned based upon the feedback of the end users. Next, the prototype was given to the end users for testing – testing with test data, testing with specific â€Å"scenarios† prepared to test typical conditions or situations anticipated. This was followed by an integration testing i. e. testing encompassing multiple functions to test the integration and finally, the load testing to measure the adequacy of the infrastructure to support the given number of users as envisaged. After such exhaustive testing and based upon the feedback received, the prototype was fine tuned and the software set up for production. Conclusion : The Oracle 11i e Business implementation was already planned as to what needs to be implemented, how and within what time ! It touched almost all employees in all functions at all offices of the organization. The time allowed for changeover was limited to 5 days. The in-house Key Users were with no major exposure to IT and especially, ERP. Every milestone was required to be reviewed and approved by the IT Team at US the Steering Committee. All this called for a very detailed planning and an extremely time bound execution with hardly any scope for deviation. The eventual consolidation with Group Headquarters and visibility over complete data by them made it totally transparent to them, also making quality assurance a pre-requisite. Obviously with most of the major investment having already been made, the project was required to be completed within the budget. To ensure a smooth implementation, major thrust came from the CEO and continued throughout the implementation. The determining factor that led to the success of the project was the high motivational level of the project team which could be raised and sustained throughout the project. Once this was achieved, execution of every project activity became a simple affair. Another major factor was the anticipation of bottlenecks and problems raised by the Project Manager initiation of actions to control the same. Emphasis on preparation and testing of scenarios eliminated chances of facing any surprises after the implementation. Detailed planning carried out for the black out period was a significant step in ensuring a quick and smooth changeover. Thus the Project was a grand success story !

Component of Marketing Plan Essay Example for Free

Component of Marketing Plan Essay INTRODUCTION Marketing plan is the central instrument for directing and coordinating the marketing effort. The marketing plan operates at two levels: strategic and tactical. The strategic marketing plan lays out the target markets and the value proposition that will be offered, based on an analysis of the best market opportunities. The tactical marketing plan specifies the marketing tactics, including product features, promotion, merchandising, pricing, sales channels, and service. Marketing plan is a written document that summarizes what the marketer has learned about the market place and indicates how the firm plans to reach its marketing objectives. It contains tactical guidelines for the marketing programs and financial allocation over the planning period. It is one of the most important outputs of the marketing process. Marketing plans are becoming more customer and competitor oriented and better reasoned and more realistic than in the past. Marketing planning is becoming a continuous process to respond to rapidly changing market conditions. What is a Marketing Plan? A marketing plan provides direction for your marketing activities. Marketing plans need not be long or cost a lot to put together. Think of it as a road map, with detailed directions on how to get to your destination. Sure there may be a few bumps in the road, perhaps a diversion or two, but if the marketing plan is carefully researched, thoughtfully considered and evaluated, it will help the organization achieve its goals. The marketing plan details what you want to accomplish with your marketing strategy and helps you meet your objectives. The marketing plan: †¢ Allows the organization to look internally in order to fully understand the impact and results of past marketing decisions. †¢ Allows the organization to look externally in order to fully understand the market in which it chooses to compete. †¢ Sets future goals and provides direction for future marketing efforts that everyone in the organization should †¢Understand and support. †¢ Is a key component in obtaining funding to pursue new initiatives? Components of a Marketing Plan A marketing plan consists of following components: 1. Executive Summary 2. Situation Analysis 3. SWOT Analysis 4. Marketing Goals and Objectives 5. Marketing Strategies 6. Budget 7. Marketing audit 8. Evaluation and Control Executive Summary The executive summary is the first part of the marketing plan, but should be written after all other parts are completed. It is a brief overview of the entire plan and covers only the main points. It is useful to people you approach with your plan, such as investors, who may want to read a synthesized version to determine if they are interested in it before taking the time to read it in depth. The executive summary is also useful internally, as it helps to remind you and your employees of the organizations desired marketing goals and how to achieve them. Situation Analysis The situation analysis helps you to determine where your organization presently stands. It should examine whats going on outside of the organization, whats happening with consumers, and how the business is functioning internally. External Analysis What changes are taking place in your city, county, state, country and around the world that could potentially impact your business? Some things to investigate are: †¢ Changes in political positions and legislation at the local, state, and national level. †¢ Changes in technology †¢ Trends in societys values and habits †¢ Identify competitors and list their characteristics †¢ Economic conditions Customer Analysis Before developing a marketing plan its important to find out what consumers want and how they make purchase decisions. This may require some marketing research. Think about these factors: †¢ Current and potential customers †¢ Trends in consumer buying habits †¢ Why do consumers purchase this product or service? †¢ Why do others not purchase this product or service? Internal Analysis Knowing the state of the organization and its resources helps to determine where it is strong and what areas need attention. Include the following in the marketing plan: †¢ Current state of financial and human resources †¢ Anticipated state of financial and human resources †¢ Your businesss performance in relation to competitors The 5 Cs of Marketing can be summarized as: Company The product time line, experience in the market, etc. Collaborators (or Partners) Distributors, suppliers, and alliances. These are any companies that you work with on a day to day basis to help your company run. Customers This is your market. Ask yourself what benefits they are looking for. What motivates them in the purchase process? Where the customer does actually purchases your product? How the product is purchased (impulse buys, internet, etc)? Understand the quantity a customer will purchase and even trends in consumer tastes. Competitors Both your actual and potential competitors and those that directly or indirectly compete with you. Understand their products, positioning, market shares, strengths and weaknesses. Climate (or Environment) These are governmental policies and regulations that affect the market. It is also the economic environment around your company; which is the business cycle, inflation rate, interest rates, and other macroeconomic issues. Societys trends and fashions are found in the climate. The technological environment is creating new ways of satisfying needs (i.e. using technology to enhance the demand for existing products). SWOT Analysis Conducting a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis is essential in assessing the companys position and serves as a guide to developing marketing plans. Benefits of a SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis provides a fairly simple, low-cost way of assessing the company’s position. It presents information that is important in developing business and marketing plans, as well as setting organizational goals and objectives. It tells you where the company currently sits, and where it needs to go in the future. [pic] When conducting your SWOT analysis, you should: †¢ Examine your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats from a customers’ perspective. If you’re having trouble viewing issues that way, ask customers what they think or conduct surveys. †¢ Separate internal issues from external issues. The company’s strengths and weaknesses are internal; opportunities and threats are external. The key test to differentiate the two environments is to ask, â€Å"Would this issue exist if the firm did not exist?† If the answer is yes, the issue should be classified as external. Some things to consider about your company when determining your strengths and weaknesses are: †¢ Size and financial resources †¢ Scale and cost economies †¢ Customer Perceptions You will probably have to do some research on your competitors, your industry, and the environment in order to complete the opportunities and threats portion of your SWOT analysis. Here are some topics to consider: †¢ Trends in the competitive environment †¢ Trends in the technological environment †¢ Trends in the sociocultural environment Once you’ve finished a SWOT analysis for your company, include the resulting strategy in your business and marketing plans. Some key actions to take include: Transform strengths into capabilities by matching them with opportunities in the environment. Example Strength: The company has a very efficient order fulfillment and distribution process Opportunity: There is an unfulfilled need for the companys product in other countries Capability: The company is capable of distributing its products worldwide †¢ Convert weaknesses into strengths by investing strategically in key areas. Example Weakness: Employees are not familiar with the latest technology in the companys industry Investment: The employer sends employees to classes, workshops, and conferences Strength: Employees now have inside information on cutting edge technology relevant to the industry †¢ Weaknesses that cannot be converted into strengths become limitations. Example Weakness: A start-up company that has a tight distribution budget and no connections in the industry may have difficulty getting shelf space in stores Meaning to consumers: Consumers may not be able to find the companys products Minimization: Allow consumers to purchase products through other channels, such as a web site or mail order catalog. Marketing Goals and Objectives After determining your companys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, youll have a better idea of what marketing goals and objectives should be set. Goals are the overall accomplishments that youd like to make and objectives are benchmarks to meeting those goals. You might say that goals are more qualitative and objectives are more quantitative. For example: Marketing Goal: Increase awareness of Product X Corresponding Objectives: Increase last years direct mail distribution by 20% this year; develop a web site for Product X by June 1st; participate in five trade shows by the end of the year. Goals must be realistic and consistent with the firms mission. Objectives must be measurable and time-specific. You may also want to include the person responsible and the budget required for each objective. Marketing Strategies In this section, youll define your primary, secondary, and tertiary target markets and their purchasing characteristics. Next, discuss the marketing mix elements (product, price, distribution, and promotion) as they relate to your product or service. Some questions you may want to answer for each target market include: Product †¢ What are the features and benefits of your product? †¢ What is your competitive advantage? †¢ How will you position and differentiate your product? †¢ What complementary products are available? †¢ What customer services are available? Price †¢ What are the costs associated with the product or service? †¢ What will your pricing strategy be? †¢ Will you give discounts? Distribution †¢ Who are your suppliers and intermediaries? †¢ How will you make the product or service conveniently available to consumers? †¢ What partnerships can be developed to distribute the product? Promotion †¢ Where will you advertise? †¢ What public relations activities will be involved? †¢ If you will be involved in personal selling, what is your sales strategy? †¢ What types of promotions will you run? †¢ What sponsorship opportunities are available? Setting the Promotion Mix When deciding how to properly utilize the marketing communications mix to meet your marketing objectives, it is important to consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of each component of the mix. Further, you must always define your total budget first (generally defined in the Marketing and/or Business Plan) and then decide upon the best way to leverage the different elements of the mix to maximize the return on your investment. You will balance the various parts of the mix to not only create an integrated approach to your marketing communications but you must also devote enough resources for each component to be successful. Here are some things to keep in mind: [pic]Reaches large, geographically dispersed audiences, often with high frequency; Low cost per exposure, though overall costs are high; Consumers perceive advertised goods as more legitimate; Dramatizes company/brand; Builds brand image; may stimulate short-term sales; Impersonal, one-way communication; Expensive [pic]Most effective tool for building buyers’ preferences, convictions, and actions; Personal interaction allows for feedback and adjustments; Relationship-oriented; Buyers are more attentive; Sales force represents a long-term commitment; Most expensive of the promotional tools [pic]May be targeted at the trade or ultimate consumer; Makes use of a variety of formats: premiums, coupons, contests, etc.; Attracts attention, offers strong purchase incentives, dramatizes offers, boosts sagging sales; Stimulates quick response; Short-lived; Not effective at building long-term brand preferences [pic]Highly credible; Very believable; Many forms: news stories, news features, events and sponsorships, etc.; Reaches many prospects missed via other forms of promotion; Dramatizes company or product; Often the most under used element in the promotional mix; Relatively inexpensive (certainly not free as many people thinkthere are costs involved) [pic]Many forms: Telephone marketing, direct mail, online marketing, etc.; Four distinctive characteristics: Nonpublic, Immediate, Customized, Interactive; Well-suited to highly-targeted marketing efforts Budget: †¢ The goal of your marketing budget is to control your expenses and project your revenues. †¢ It also assists in the coordination of your marketing activities within your organization. †¢ A realistic budget establishes a standard of performance for your actions, and communicates those standards to others responsible for implementing your marketing strategy. †¢ A well-designed budget is also a tool to keep you on target and indicate when there is needed modification of your marketing plan, especially if something goes really right or very wrong. Budgeting Approaches Where do you get budget numbers? How do you set a budget and organize it? What are some standard ways to measure your budget? There are several approaches you can take to create your budget. Examples of these approaches may include basing your budget on: †¢ Percent of projected gross sales. †¢ Percent of past gross sales. †¢ Per unit sales. †¢ Seasonal allocation. †¢ Projected cash flow. Select a budget methodology that will work best for your business. You may want to make this choice based on how you track your sales and revenues, or based on industry standards. Marketing Audit The Marketing Audit is committed to improving strategic decision making when companies are faced with specific business challenges. Our market research studies provide clarity and insight, often on the most important questions faced by top executives, corporate managers, and strategy professionals. Here are 10 of 25 key dimensions a marketing audit should assess: 1. Key factors that impacted the business for good or for bad during the past year. Including an evaluation of marketing surprises—the unanticipated competitive actions or changes in the marketing climate that affected the performance of the marketing programs. 2. The extent to which each decision in the marketing plan—e.g. targeting, positioning, pricing, advertising, etc.—was made after evaluating many alternatives in terms of profit-related criteria. 3. Marketing knowledge, attitudes, and satisfaction of all executives involved in the marketing function. 4. The extent to which the marketing program was marketed internally and bought into by top management and non-marketing executives. 5. Customer, distributor, vendor, and intermediary satisfaction based on research among key target groups. 6. The performance of advertising, promotion, sales force, and marketing research programs in terms of ROI. 7. The performance of non-traditional programs, particularly digital offerings, in terms of ROI. 8. Whether the marketing plan achieved its stated financial and non-financial goals and objectives. 9. Which aspects of the plan that failed to meet objectives with specific recommendations for improving next years performance. 10. The current value of brand and customer equity for each brand in the product portfolio. Evaluation and Control Many business owners forget the importance of evaluating their marketing plan. This is extremely important, because it serves as a guideline for what to do or not to do in the next marketing planning period. It is also ensures that the plan will be implemented properly. Some questions to be answered include: How will employees be evaluated and compensated for their work? †¢ How can communication between employees be improved? †¢ Do the employees share the firms values? †¢ Is management committed to the implementation of the marketing plan? †¢ What can be done if the product or service does not meet performance standards? †¢ What corrections can be made if the pricing, distribution, and promotion strategies do not accomplish the marketing goals and objectives? †¢ How will marketing activities be evaluated?

Environmental Impact Of Leather Tanning Industry

Environmental Impact Of Leather Tanning Industry The global environment is gradually worsening as a result of the socio-economic activities of mankind. Leather tanning industry plays significant role in economy of a country through employment and export earnings; but resulting pollution from tanning process causing severe environmental degradation. Tanning is the process by which hides or skins are converted into leather. After removal of flesh and fur from the hide it is treated with chemicals which cross linked the microscopic collagen fibers to form a stable and durable leather product. A schematic diagram of tanning is presented and this indicates the type of waste stream generated from tanning process (Fig.1.1) (Harrison, 2001). Leather processing comprises of series of operations that can be classified as pre-tanning, in which hides or skins are cleaned; tanning process, which permanently stabilizes the hides and post-tanning or finishing operations, where final shape value is added for manufacturing of leather (Ramasami, Rao, Chandrababu, Parthasarathi, Rao, Gayathri and Sreeram, 1999). Production of leather from tanning of hides and skins has been an important activity since ancient times. For processing a ton of hide approximately 30-40 cubic meter (m3) of water is used (Suthanthararajan, Ravindranath, Chitra, Umamaheswari, Ramesh and Rajamani 2004). Currently, about 6.5 millions tons of wet salted hides and skins are processed worldwide annually. About 3.5 millions of various chemicals are used for leather processing. A considerable part of this amount is discharged into the effluent (Ludvik, 1996). Tanning of hides and skins by the usual tanning process is wholly a wet process from which a large volume of liquid waste is almost continuously discharged throughout the working hours of an industry. Usually soak waste, liming wastes and spent vegetable tan liquors are discharged intermittently (Song, Williams and Edyvean, 2000). It is approximated that 30-40 x 1010 liters of effluent is generated by worldwide annual processing of 9 x 109 kg hides and skins (Thanikaivelan, Jonnalagadda, Balachetran and Ramasami, 2004). Leather industry consumes a large amount of water so the availability of good quality water and the treatment of large amount of effluent are the two major issues. The tannery wastewater is a mixture of bio matter of hides and a large variety of organic and inorganic chemicals. Tanneries leave the wastewater usually contain organic and inorganic matter with high level of salinity, ammonia and organic nitrogenous pollutants and other toxic pollutants including sulphide and residues of chromium metal salt) (Ros and Gantar, 1998). Tannery effluents are characterized as highly colored, foul smelling with acidic and alkaline liquor (World Bank, 1998). Poor processing practices and use of unrefined conventional leather processing further aggravate the pollution problem. In tannery effluents presence of chromium and hydrogen sulfide formed due to sulfide are highly toxic to many living beings. Indiscriminate discharge of effluents into water bodies or open land causing contamination of surface and ground water in addition to degradation of flora and fauna of soil have direct impacts on agricultural land (Khawaja, Rasool, Fiaz and Irshad, 1995; Ramasami, Sreeram and Gayatri, 1997). The leather tanning industry significantly contributes to economy of a country. The major leather production centers in the world are found in Mexico, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, China, India and Pakistan. Leather tanneries generate three type of waste including wastewater, solid waste and air emissions. So far, wastewater is considered as the most important environmental challenge faced by Pakistans tanneries (Iqbal, 1998). In Pakistan, tanneries are established both in formal and informal sector presently over 596 tanneries are established in the formal sector and equally large number of tanneries exists in the informal sector (ETPI, 2001). Increasing number of tanneries in Pakistan is to be considered as the major cause of environmental degradation because untreated effluents from tanneries are released into environment. Kasur district has more than 350 tanning and it has become the mean livelihood of most of residents. The present study focuses on identification environmental problems related to tanneries wastewater in Kasur through participatory action and involve local communities for self managed collective actions for application of locally available and cost effective wastewater treatment technologies within their industry premises. In this process participants learn wastewater treatment technologies through social learning process which is based on the principle of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“learning by doingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Participatory research allows researchers to gain a better understanding of problem. Participatory GIS approach is used for the purpose of involving community and development of GIS database. Participatory GIS is a spatial decision making tool designed to utilize GIS technology with participatory approach in the perspective of needs and capabilities of communities that are involved through and affected by development projects. Novel community mapping and modeling methods linked to GIS for implementing community-based planning, have been studied and developed since the 1990s (Dunn, Atkins and Townsend, 1997; Abbott, Chambers, Dunn, Harris, DeMerode, Porter, Townsend and Weiner,1998; Sieber, 2006) and began to spread into China through international development projects (Cai, Zhu and Dai, 2001; McConchie and McKinnon, 2002; Wang, 2003). Participatory GIS technique encourages community participation and involves community in the production of GIS (Cinderby, 1999). Participatory GIS generally resulted from the combination of participatory methods i.e. Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) with geo-spatial technologies (Rambaldi, Kyem, Mbile, McCall and Weiner, 2005). Within this broad range of approaches different techniques have been employed in specific locations and projects to investigate specific issues or encourage participation from particular groups or stakeholders. It has been a commonality of many participatory GIS that the process of participation (including the collection and collation of information) has often been emphasized in the process more than the technical utilization of GIS which requires access to specific expertise (McCall, 2004). Geographic information system (GIS) is a computer-based system for capturing, storing, manipulating, analyzing, and displayi ng geographic data for solving spatial complex resource planning and management problems (Densham, 1991). In GIS framework data is categorized into spatial data and attribute data. The data is stored in current GIS within two separate databases one for spatial data and one for attribute data. In most GIS representation of spatial data is in vector (points, lines, and polygons) and raster (pixels or grids) forms (Burrough, 1986). These conventional vector and raster representation of geographic features in GIS focus on database management including query and spatial analysis (Rhind, 1990). In the development of a GIS database, different features are processed and stored in separate data layers representing geographic themes. All data layers in the same GIS database are required to be geocoded to a standard coordinate system such as State Plane coordinate system. Therefore, a GIS database can be conceptualized as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“sandwichedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  data layers containing different types of geographic features, registered to a common base map. GIS store, manage, and analyze geographically referenced data and devices that measure geographic location such as Global Positioning System (GPS) provides data on location in terms of latitude, longitude and altitude required for the GIS (Deichmann and Wood, 2001). Participatory action research combines aspects of popular education, community based research, and social action. Participatory action research is collaborative processes in which researchers work with community to identify an area of concern and community take part to generate knowledge about the issue, formulate plan and carry out actions meant to address the issue in substantial way (Brydon, 2001). Participatory research approach empowers community members to collaborate with researchers to better understand their own problems and to find effective and viable solutions. Participants in the research process can identify a problem, collect and analyze relevant information, and act upon it in order to develop solutions and to promote social and/or political transformation (Selener, 1997). Participatory research represents a distinct set of practices or approaches to generate knowledge, including a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods (e.g., participant observation, personal interviews, focus groups, and participatory needs assessment surveys). Treatment of tannery effluents has been searched for physical, chemical and biological methods. The biological treatment, especially the use of microorganisms to improve polluted water quality is effective and widespread due to environmentally and economically as compared to chemical treatment. Effective Microorganisms or EM Technology is selected for the treatment of tannery wastewater. The concept of EM Technology was developed by Professor Teruo Higa, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. EM consists of beneficial naturally occurring microorganisms that have a reviving action on humans, animals, and the natural environment. EM is a mixed culture of selected species of microorganisms including predominantly lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, photosynthetic bacteria, actinomycetes and other types of organisms which are mutually compatible and can coexist in liquid culture (Higa, 1991; Higa and Wididana, 1991). The ultimate goal of this research is to break psychological, social, technical and economic barriers in technology adoption by tanneries owners and workers. So that tanneries owners and workers are enabled for self organized collective wastewater management within their working environment. Through this process community participation is anticipated in all stages of action research including problem identification, data collection, participatory GIS and application of wastewater treatment technology. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The objectives of my study are as follows: Preparation of GIS database of small tanneries through participation of stakeholders in Kasur. Demarcation of small tanneries and wastewater channels discharging from tanneries through participatory GIS mapping. Identification and selection of locally available and effective wastewater treatment technologies. Laboratory experimentation to check the efficacy of selected wastewater treatment technology. Develop simplified methods to increase social acceptance of waste minimization techniques through community participation.

Prostitution, Motherhood, and Full Equality :: Essays Papers

Prostitution, Motherhood, and Full Equality Just as the needs of individuals change over time, so do the needs of social movements. Leaders come and go. Tactics change from time to time. But the goal always remains the same. While the movement to secure equal rights for the American Negro needed different leaders and different tactics at different times during its history, so it was with the women's movement in America. While the movement initially sought equal treatment for women in everything, the struggle required changes in both leadership and in tactics before the goal was achieved. Early in the history of the movement there was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Starting with a relative handful of elitist, well-educated female activists, they declared that the right to vote was necessary to make men and women equal under the law and in every facet of daily life. Later, when alliance with other political and social reform movements was made necessary to further the goals of the movement, there was Jane Addams. The argument changed to one of the American woman needing the vote in order to better the daily lives of their families, their friends, and their society. But the goal was always the same: equality for men and women. Equality eventually symbolized by the right to vote. The early women's movement was dominated by an uncompromising attitude of right versus wrong. This attitude came from the involvement of this same segment of society in the abolitionist movement. While intellectually appealing, in "Not Wards of the Nation: The Struggle for Women's Suffrage," William H. Chafe tells us that early women's rights advocates "were generally dismissed as a 'class of wild enthusiasts and visionaries' and received little popular support (Oates 153). One of the founders of this movement was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. At Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, Stanton helped draft a Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. In it, the advocates of women's rights accused "mankind" of "repeated injuries and usurpations" toward women. They said that men had "oppressed them on all sides." And they demanded equal access to education, the trades, professions, and an end to the double standards that existed for men and women. Only by doing away with laws that "restricted women's freedom or placed her in a position inferior to men" could women achieve equality (153). The daughter of a judge, Stanton had first hand knowledge of the plight of women in the judicial system of the United States.

Scarlet Letters Use Of Symbolism To Show Psychological Effects Of Sin :: essays research papers

"The act†¦gross and brief, and brings loathing after it." This was said by St. Augustine, regarding immorality. This is discovered to be very true by the main characters in The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne's story of a woman (Hester) who lives with the Puritans and commits adultery with the local minister (Dimmesdale). In his novel, Hawthorne shows that sin, known or unknown to the community, isolates a person from their community and from God. He shows us this by symbols in nature around the town, natural symbols in the heavens, and nature in the forest. First we see two symbols in the town that show how sin isolates people. In the first chapter we see a plant which stands out, "But on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rosebush, covered†¦ with its delicate gems" (Hawthorne, 46). This rosebush is like Hester, for it too stands out as wild and different. She wears her scarlet letter among the solemnly dressed Puritans as this rosebush wears its scarlet blossoms amidst a small plot of grass and weeds. They both stand separate from their surroundings. Later in the book we hear a conversation between Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth (Hester's unknown husband). They are discussing the origin of a strange dark plant that Chillingworth discovered. "I found them growing on a grave which bore no tombstone, nor other memorial of the dead man, save these ugly weeds that have taken upon themselves to keep him in remembrance. They grew out of his heart, and typify†¦some hideous secret that was buried with him†¦" (Hawthorne, 127). Here we have a special case of one who was not discovered by men to have sinned during their lifetime. However, having avoided punishment in life, this person has been isolated in death. This person tried to keep wrongdoing a secret, hiding it within himself. Yet the sins committed could not be kept secret, evidenced by their final disclosure shortly after death. There remains nothing honorable to show where this person lies, but rather mutant weeds that grew out of the blackness of the person's heart. The final resting place of the wrongdoer has now been separated from other graves as the sins are manifested by natural powers. The next area is symbols in the skies. Our first instance occurs during the second famous scaffold scene. Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl are atop the scaffold when, "a light gleamed far and wide over all the muffled sky.

Essay --

Materials: †¢ Yarn (1.5 feet) †¢ Water †¢ Cup †¢ Tablespoon †¢ Small plate †¢ Granulated white sugar (4 cups and 4 tablespoons) †¢ Wax paper †¢ Screws †¢ Popsicle sticks †¢ Marker †¢ Ruler (cm) †¢ 2 mason jars †¢ Bowl †¢ Stove †¢ Measuring cup †¢ Wooden mixing spoon †¢ Pot holders †¢ Paper towels †¢ Notebook †¢ Pencil †¢ Masking tap Procedure: 1. Gather all materials listed. 2. Cut two strings the same lengths that are about 1 centimeter longer than the jar. 3. Fill a cup with water and place the strings in the cup so they can soak for about 5 minutes. 4. While the strings are soaking spread out 1 tablespoon of sugar out on a piece of wax paper and leave one piece of wax paper with nothing on it. 5. Remove the strings and place one string on the wax paper with sugar and roll the string around until it is completely covered with sugar. 6. Set both strings on the blank wax paper, not touching, and allow them to sit overnight. 7. After the sugarcoated string has soaked for twenty-four hours take a screw and tie it to one end of the string. Do the same with the non-sugar coated string. 8. With the other end of the string tie it to a Popsicle sticks. Indicate by using a marker as to which string has the sugar coating on it. 9. Make sure both stings will be long enough so that they can be placed approximately one centimeter from the bottom of the jar. Then set them to the side. 10. The glass jars will need to be preheated. Place them next to the eye of a hot stove. (That is so the glass jars don’t shatter) 11. Next boil water for both of the jars. Once that has boiled pour the water into the warm jars. 12. Now put a cup of water into a pot and bring that to a boil. Turn the heat back down to low. 13. Put three cups of sugar into the boiling water... ...e and organization to how these molecules are aligned. For this process the jar must be left in an undisturbed setting where there is no sunlight beating on it. It takes approximately a week for the sugar crystals to be able to completely grow. As the water molecules evaporate into the air the dissolved sugar molecules will be left behind. The molecules will cling to any solid around them including the sides of the jar and the nail and string placed in the solution. Through the process of nucleation the crystal will begin to form. In conclusion, the result of the experiment is the savory taste of a rock candy. The sugar molecules that are dissolved in the solution, stick together in a repetitive pattern, forming a crystalline solid. Through the process of nucleation students are able to enjoy the sweet taste of sugar molecules bonded together. Essay -- Materials: †¢ Yarn (1.5 feet) †¢ Water †¢ Cup †¢ Tablespoon †¢ Small plate †¢ Granulated white sugar (4 cups and 4 tablespoons) †¢ Wax paper †¢ Screws †¢ Popsicle sticks †¢ Marker †¢ Ruler (cm) †¢ 2 mason jars †¢ Bowl †¢ Stove †¢ Measuring cup †¢ Wooden mixing spoon †¢ Pot holders †¢ Paper towels †¢ Notebook †¢ Pencil †¢ Masking tap Procedure: 1. Gather all materials listed. 2. Cut two strings the same lengths that are about 1 centimeter longer than the jar. 3. Fill a cup with water and place the strings in the cup so they can soak for about 5 minutes. 4. While the strings are soaking spread out 1 tablespoon of sugar out on a piece of wax paper and leave one piece of wax paper with nothing on it. 5. Remove the strings and place one string on the wax paper with sugar and roll the string around until it is completely covered with sugar. 6. Set both strings on the blank wax paper, not touching, and allow them to sit overnight. 7. After the sugarcoated string has soaked for twenty-four hours take a screw and tie it to one end of the string. Do the same with the non-sugar coated string. 8. With the other end of the string tie it to a Popsicle sticks. Indicate by using a marker as to which string has the sugar coating on it. 9. Make sure both stings will be long enough so that they can be placed approximately one centimeter from the bottom of the jar. Then set them to the side. 10. The glass jars will need to be preheated. Place them next to the eye of a hot stove. (That is so the glass jars don’t shatter) 11. Next boil water for both of the jars. Once that has boiled pour the water into the warm jars. 12. Now put a cup of water into a pot and bring that to a boil. Turn the heat back down to low. 13. Put three cups of sugar into the boiling water... ...e and organization to how these molecules are aligned. For this process the jar must be left in an undisturbed setting where there is no sunlight beating on it. It takes approximately a week for the sugar crystals to be able to completely grow. As the water molecules evaporate into the air the dissolved sugar molecules will be left behind. The molecules will cling to any solid around them including the sides of the jar and the nail and string placed in the solution. Through the process of nucleation the crystal will begin to form. In conclusion, the result of the experiment is the savory taste of a rock candy. The sugar molecules that are dissolved in the solution, stick together in a repetitive pattern, forming a crystalline solid. Through the process of nucleation students are able to enjoy the sweet taste of sugar molecules bonded together.

Part Two Chapter IV

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