Ryanair Dogfight over Europe

Dogfight over Europe: Ryanair (A) 1) What is your assesment of Ryanair? s launch strategy? The Ryanair's launch strategy was not the best for that moment. They began flying between Ireland and London, in a very saturated market, which competed with two strong companies owned by the government and with great experience: Aer Lingus and British Airways (who also had come together to improve their perform). And also entered the market independent carriers Such as British Midland.Another important factor was that the Dublin-London route was the only one that provided reasonable returns for Aer Lingus, so it was not going to let customers easily take him by force, and Ryanair will be difficult without a really differentiating strategy. Ryanair's differentiate notion was delivering first-rate customer service â€Å"with lower fares†. But for a new company as Ryanair would not be able to compete in prices following the same strategy as other companies in the market focus on meals and amenities and good service.Ryanair also has high fixed costs (characteristic of this industry) and has enough volume in order to face a price war (economics of scale). Although the market was saturated, Ireland is a small country with a small population and the two big companies were operating at 60-70% capacity. If since 1986 was using new Boeing 747s with room for nearly 400, means that every plane carried 360 passengers on average, which was down the performance of the planes.But on the other hand, Ryanair could only get a license for aircraft with room for 44 Passengers, so it had to make eight flights, with the maximum capacity to carry the same number of passengers than BA or Aer Lingus. This could decrease the efficiency of Ryanair and increase the cost per flight management. Although it also because of the low initial demand Ryanair (only 4 flights per day to 44 passengers, 176 passengers) can be a good strategy to distribute the flights throughout the day and get more custo mers.Moreover this market consists mostly by Irish emigrants who resided in the UK. These clients are marked by strong seasonal character, and the most important, the majority of customers traveling in economy class and they are very price sensitive, so we are going to be interested in low prices and discounts and are not interested in great facilities and services. Again we see that Ryanair's idea was not the most appropriate for this market, ecause although Ryanair turn down the price, customers will be more interested in large decreases in the price. Meals also make little sense in a flight of one hour duration. In favor of Ryanair we have to say however, that it test the initial service between Waterford y ? Gatwick Airport, which was a small service, in order to prove the company? s ability to operate. So if the company had problems or losses would be on a large scale and this would give you the ability to identify problems and improvements.Similarly, although Ryanair did not g et expected outcomes, with their low prices, I think it would get take away some customers to the other companies and have started to consider the proposal in the market. To sum up, The Ryanair? s launch strategy wasn? t successful from my point of view because it did not do a good analysis the market to which was coming and did not calculate the chances of success between these two great companies.They were strong companies with experience and great brand recognition, so if prices dropped to the level of Ryanair and Ryanair provides the same service to the market, customers will continue to use the companies that are already used. 2) How do you expect Aer Lingus and British Airways to respond? Why? As I said earlier, the only differentiation of was in the price Ryanair, therefore the immediate reaction of Aer Lingus and British Airways will be reduce the price. If these two companies started a price war, Ryanair would have no chance.They were flag carriers and they had the support of the government, so they can have loses during a while of time, at least until they get Ryanair out of the market. On the other hand, B. A was one of the biggest aircraft of Europe and it has an operating margin of 6. 9%, because of B. A can decreased the price at Ryanair level (? 98). While, the Dublin- London route was the only for Aer Lingus, with reasonable return of capital. Therefore is not going to let easily Ryanair steal their clients. ) How costly is it for Aer Lingus and British Airways to retaliate against Ryanair? s launch? Even though, as we think the launch of Ryanair was not successful or at least the outcomes did not reach the expected ones, was a new competitor in the market and also with a more competitive price than theirs so it is threat their capability to meet demand.. With price-sensitive customers such as travelers between Ireland and UK I believe that the two companies would lose customers. Furthermore, a price war is never good for any company, even if i t will be winner.These two companies would have to reduce their prices to more than half the normal price, which would generate losses until they get Ryanair out and this would weaken the two companies. If these companies reduce so much the price, once they get Ryanair out of the market, they can not automatically raise the price to the previous number because customers would feel cheated and companies would lose their credibility. If Aer Lingus and British Airways didn? t get Ryanair out with the war of Price, they would get only weaken themselves and lose the most profitable route for Aer Lingus.

Four Learning Styles Essay

1.Sensing-Thinking or Mastery Learners What Motivates Mastery Learners? Master learners rely on sensing as a mode of perception and thinking as a means of judgment or decision making. They prefer well-organized, highly-reutilized classrooms where expectations are clearly described and strongly related to practical outcomes such as good grades, things they can make or do, and practical connections to jobs and careers. More than anything else Mastery learners want to appear competent, able to complete the work assigned as well or better than other students in their classrooms or grade levels. How Mastery Students Learn Most Easily The combination of sensing with thinking creates students with a strong need for purposeful action. They are frequently uncomfortable with both reading and lecture and prefer to learn from brief demonstrations followed by immediate opportunities to practice what they have seen or heard. They learn most easily in skill-based content areas where each step is modeled in a step-by-step manner, and where practice is followed by immediate feedback on how well they have done. They also look for clear instructions on how they can improve their performance. They prefer work that calls for short, right or wrong answers, and they learn most easily where there is a physical object they can manipulate or a visual diagram they can follow. 2.Intuitive-Thinking or Understanding Learners What Motivates Understanding Learners? Understanding learners rely on intuition as a mode of perception and thinking as a means of judgment or decision making. Intuition focuses the learners’ attention on ideas rather than details, abstractions rather than facts, patterns rather than components, forests rather than trees. The thinking function creates a strong need for logical consistency, a commitment to thinking things through, a preference for reason and discovery over demonstration and modeling. Though some Understanding learners share with Mastery students a desire for efficiency, they are motivated largely by a need to understand and question what they learn rather than simply accept and record what the textbook or the teacher claims. How Understanding Students Learn Most Easily The Understanding learner thrives in an intellectual atmosphere and has a strong drive for perfection. Rigorous texts, demanding and complex ideas, well-organized but provocative lectures stimulate Understanding learners’ brains to action. But this intellectual atmosphere needs to be balanced effectively with opportunities for them to develop their own ideas and to question, revise, and criticize the ideas of others. They may grasp a new concept with frightening speed and lucidity but may require more time to think things through and put the new learning into action. The demand for logical consistency means they have a strong need to question and test ideas. Finally, their concern with intellectual content and reasoning sometimes causes them to undervalue the need for routine work and practice resulting in boredom when teachers insist on drill and practice. 3.Intuitive-Feeling or Self-Expressive Learners What Motivates Self-Expressive Learners? Self-Expressive learners rely on intuition as a mode of perception and feeling as a means of judgment or decision making. The intuition of Self-Expressive learners uses hunch, guessing, and insight to organize the world into shifting patterns of possibility. Meanwhile, their feeling function applies association, memory, and emotion to the task of turning these patterns into concrete images they can use to understand what they are learning, and to create meaningful products. It is through these processes of imagination, creativity, personal expression, and communication that Self-Expressive learners become excited and motivated in the classroom. How Self-Expressive Students Learn Most Easily Self-Expressive learners need stimulation and surprise to engage and focus their attention. They thrive on imaginative literature and provocative prose in science and social studies. They master content when they can add a personal, creative hook to lessons or create a project to stimulate their imaginations: in social studies, they might look to bring in dusty diaries of ancestors or to write a history of the America Revolution through the eyes of a slave or Native American; in science class they might push for a  trip to the local pond that’s been carved in the woods by a glacier; they might use their knowledge of statistics and percentages to create a business plan. They also need sustained, quieter times to work through and implement their ideas. 4.Sensing-Feeling or Interpersonal Learners What Motivates Interpersonal Learners? Interpersonal learners rely on sensing (focus on the physical nature of the world) as a mode of perception and feeling as a means of judgment or decision making. But, unlike Mastery learners who transform the data into separate details, Interpersonal learners look to extend these physical sensations into images and emotions and strive to connect this new information to their own body of personal experience. What Interpersonal students seek that Mastery students don’t is a sense of belonging and a reason to believe they are part of a team or cooperative group. Interpersonal students are strongly motivated by the quality of their relationships to the teacher, to the other students, and to their parents and friends. How Interpersonal Students Learn Most Easily The combination of sensing and feeling provokes in the Interpersonal student a strong need for conversation. The Interpersonal student best confirms and reinforces new learning through conversation, personal connections, and shared projects. When it comes to skills, both Mastery and Interpersonal learners need modeling and demonstration, but Interpersonal learners prefer a more personal approach where feedback and correction are carried by the human voice of the teacher or another student. Though they show some preference for short answer work, they are quite comfortable with work that asks for their thoughts, feelings, and personal opinions .Physical objects and visual diagrams can aid in their learning, but it is the quality of the social content, learning partner, cooperative group, or relationship with the teacher that drives them to do their best work.

College Essays vs. Scholarship Essays: 4 Key Differences

Applying to college is a huge amount of work. On top of that, you may be applying for scholarships to help ease the financial burden of your tuition and other expenses. Many scholarship applications require essays—and these are in addition to the essays you’re already writing for your college applications. So, what’s the difference? Can you use the same essay or parts of it for both purposes? Read on to find out. College essays help adcoms get a sense of students’ personalities. They want to see whether you’re a good fit with their institution and student body and what you will contribute. That’s why tone is so important—you need to convey that you’ll mesh well with the school and understand what that means. Find out more in What Is a College Personal Statement? . Meanwhile, scholarship committees are looking for students who stand for the interests of the organization and will represent it well. These organizations often align with and support particular talents, industries, demographics, or causes, so the students to whom they award scholarships must embody these ideals as well. For example, there are scholarships for first-generation students , Hispanic/Latino students , and STEM scholars . Your essay must demonstrate that you believe in the mission the organization represents. Many colleges use the Common or Coalition applications, and their prompts are often very broad. You’ll also have a choice of topic. Many colleges also have school-specific supplemental essays , whose topics can be a bit more narrow, such as asking you why you want to attend that particular school . Scholarship prompts tend to be more specific and focused on the organization and its mission. For example, Digital Responsibility’s Don’t Text and Drive Scholarship asks you to complete the statement â€Å" I pledge to not text and drive because†¦ † in 140 characters. Since college essays are about you and how you’ll fit in at the school, you’ll need to do some brainstorming to generate broad ideas around which to center your statement. Check out Where to Begin: 3 Personal Essay Brainstorming Exercises for ideas. For scholarship essays, you want to demonstrate that you agree with the company philosophy. That means you need to do some research to understand what that philosophy is and incorporate the organization’s ideals. Often, you can find out a lot by simply browsing the organization’s website and social media accounts and finding stories and examples of current and past projects. College essays tend to be on the longer side. The Common App has a 650-word maximum for its main essay, while the Coalition Application allows 300-550 words. Scholarship essays tend to be shorter, usually under 500 words. Sometimes the essays are even shorter still, as with the Don’t Text and Drive example. And, of course, some scholarships don’t require essays at all. Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. Both your college essays and scholarship essays should represent you and what you stand for. Even though scholarship essays are usually about a cause that the organization sponsoring the award supports, if you’re applying for it, you should believe in that cause as well. Of course, it goes without saying that you should be the one actually writing the essays as well. Your essays need to be well-written. You should make use of rhetorical devices and other language tools, as well as follow grammatical rules . Make sure to read over all your essays and get second opinions. At the end of the day, both adcoms and scholarship committees want to get to know you through your writing. Taking care to understand the institution or organization and truly representing your authentic self will come through, so put in the effort. It really counts! Looking for help with your college applications? Check out our College Application Guidance Program . When you sign up for our program, we carefully pair you with the perfect admissions specialist based on your current academic and extracurricular profile and the schools in which you’re interested. Your personal specialist will help you with branding, essays, and interviews, and provide you with support and guidance in all other aspects of the application process.

Heroes Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Heroes - Term Paper Example Let us discuss two main features that help heroes bring a successful change in social, political, or organizational conditions. All heroes have a clear vision. They are involved in bringing changes (Rock, 2007). They can predict future scenarios and conditions that can affect them, as well as their followers. Based on that prediction, they shape their strategies accordingly by bringing suitable changes to their strategic approach and way of doing things. They analyze things, create a vision, and communicate that vision to their followers to inject awareness in their followers regarding the need of change. Heroes usually set large-scale goals based on the benefits of their followers (Tollefson, 1993). They think from a broad perspective and set long-term milestones to achieve. They explore novel techniques to analyze and model their strategies regarding accomplishment of goals. Their level of confidence in very high as compared to other people because of which they are able to take control of different matters of life instead of letting life take control of them. Another common trait of all heroes is their willingness to sacrifice. Heroes do not hesitate from sacrificing their own wishes and desires for the benefits of others. They are willing to help others while putting their own needs at risk (Tollefson, 1993). Let us discuss how heroes put their money, life, and time at risk for their cause or for pleasure of others. Heroes are more emotional as compared to others. They are concerned about the fulfillment of their goals and missions, and for this, their put their beloved things at risk including money (Tollefson, 1993). When they want to achieve something, they do not care about the amount of money they need for that purpose. They just go for it at any cost. For example, Abdul Karim who was a national hero of Bangladesh sold his own house to arrange money for launching campaign against corruption. Heroes are very concerned about doing things

Brain-computer interface Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Brain-computer interface - Essay Example The study starts by having a hypothesis on the continued growth in technology as the main approach is ensuring continuity in Brain-computer interface. The first experiment on Google was to determine if Brain-computer interface is accompanied by an easier platform in the working conditions or harder. Installing the use of Brain-computer interface infrastructure, matches recommended infrastructure such as that of IBM, HP, Microsoft, Sun, EMC and Oracle (Tan and Nijholt 13). Brain-computer interface refers to the virtual delivery of computing technology as a service as opposed to being a product. According to Tan and Nijholt (26), with the use of Brain-computer interface, shared resources such as software and information is shared through interlinked networks on the internet. Studies on Amazon and sales force adopt the nature of working with the application of the new technology. The networks operate on a virtual platform assuring displacement of information in all the connected networks. Data warehousing is a database that organizations use for analysis and reporting. Data stored in the ware house is uploaded from operational systems, which may pass through operational data store to gain additional information before stored in the Data warehouse for reporting usage. In the research analysis by Tan and Nijholt, a simple data warehouse uses staged data to integrate and access layers in housing key functions. In the staging process, raw data is stored. In tegration involves layer integration where data is placed in hierarchical groups. The access layer is hence used by the user to retrieve data. The linkage between the two systems is applicable in many levels (Tan and Nijholt 26). The 21st century has been converted with the emerging effect displayed by the brain-computer interface environment creates an interesting merge of information. Data warehousing performs the same effect of what is does to the web server. It will raise the

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Dissertation

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises - Dissertation Example 5.0 Analysis 63 5.1 Organisation Effectiveness 64 5.2 Entrepreneurial Orientation 65 5.3 Market Orientation 68 5.4 Sales Force Performance 70 5.5 Sales Organization Effectiveness 74 6.0 - Conclusion 80 Bibliography 84 TABLES AND FIGURES TABLE Table 1 - Features of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods 15 FIGURES Figure 1 - Hypothesized Model of Venture Capital FirmPerformance with Regard to Selected EntrepreneurialOrientation Dimensions 33 Figure 2 - Market Orientation Matrix 37 Figure 3 - Top Business Objectives Stemming from Sales 41 Figure 4 - Sales Representative Time Allocation 44 Figure 5 - Average Sell Cycle Length... According to the paper findings in order to better understand the rationale of the preceding statement, the definition of organization is integral. The basic definition describes an organization as â€Å"†¦a group of people intentionally organized to accomplish an overall, common goal or set of goals†. As the discussion declares the preceding offers a mental as well as visual conception that is expounded upon by another definition that states that an organization is a â€Å"non-random arrangement of components or parts interconnected in a manner as to constitute a system identifiable as unit†. The second definition offered by the BusinessDictionary provides an even clearer picture of the workings of organizations in that it states that they are a â€Å"Sequential or spatial (or both) from in which a body of knowledge, data, people, things, or other elements is purposefully arranged†. The organizational unit represents a grouping of people that are brought together to achieve goals, through combined efforts. The foregoing have been brought forth to indicate the complex as well as synergistic relationships that exist in organizations of all sizes, which is even more important in SMEs, due to their size and thus lack of resources to absorb mistakes and problem issues in the highly competitive business arena. Entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation, and sales force performance represent the areas that shall be explored in this study, which shall also seek to address the nature of these relationships, and their impacts in SMEs.

Write a report assessing the feasibility of different water techniques Essay

Write a report assessing the feasibility of different water techniques for providing fresh water to arid regions of the world - Essay Example anagement is required along with the implementation of specific techniques for providing fresh water particularly to the arid and semi-arid regions of the world (Kundzewicz & Mata 2007). â€Å"Only 2.5 percent of water on earth is fresh water, the remaining 97.5 percent is brackish or saline water† (Ragheb 2011: 1). The fresh water is present 0.4 percent in lakes and rivers, 30.9 percent as ground water, and 68.7 percent as snow and ice. A major requirement for water is in agriculture and food production, using three-quarters of the fresh water from rivers, lakes and aquifers. Further, water is essential in the production of energy by power plants which use billions of gallons of water per year to produce steam to power its turbines. There are over 21,000 desalination plants across About one-third of the land surface on earth is either arid with less than 250 mm of annual precipitation, or semi-arid with precipitation between 250 mm and 500 mm. The lack of freshwater resources hamper sustainable development in these regions. On the other hand, â€Å"growing population, increasing standard of living, and expanding opportunities exert increasing demands for varyied needs for water† (Singh, Sherif & Al Rashid 2002: ix) for agriculture, industry, waste disposal, power generation, navigation, transportation, recreation and other requirements. As a result of greater oil revenues, unprecedented economic and social transformation have taken place in the countries belonging to the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) which include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. On the other hand, these Gulf Cooperative Council countries face major challenges in water resource management. The main reasons include unsustainable use of ground water resources, lack of urban water demand management, institutional and legal constraints, and limited role of private sector. To address these issues, the government has formulated policy recommendations that includes

Human resource management strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human resource management strategy - Case Study Example The author has rightly presented that in the past two decades, there has been a trend towards employee relations where businesses are turning towards maintaining good relationships with their employees. The modern business environment demands that an organisation have a good relationship with the employees in order to be competitive in the market. In the earlier days, employees were treated like they did not matter to the firm and the employer had all the power. The modern business environment has given power to the employee, leaving the employer to have to reconsider the way he or she treats the employees. Organisations which are good at treating their employee in a positive way are able to gain a competitive edge in the market and those which are not able to develop a good relationship with the employees are left behind and eventually pushed out of the market. Firms have to know how to engage the employees. Engaged employees are those employees who are willing to go the extra mile with regard to the services they offer the firm. Employee engagement leads to a psychological contract that the employee feels obliged to fulfil. This psychological contract is what makes employees be creative and innovative and help the firm to be competitive in the market. As a result, many firms have tried to develop strategies to increase and maintain employee engagement as well as manage the psychological contract.... This psychological contract is what makes employees to be creative and innovative and help the firm to be competitive in the market (Banfield & Kay, 2012). As a result, many firms have tried to develop strategies to increase and maintain employee engagement as well as manage the psychological contract. Advice to McBride Offering Equity in the Firm The many solutions that have been offered are all useful in managing such a situation. However, there are other ideas for managing the situation that may be more applicable to the situation. As discussed above, the main issue is managing employees’ engagement and psychological contract. One of the main ways of doing this is offering employees equity in the firm. By offering the employees equity in the firm, McBride will not need to increase their salary, yet the employees will have been motivated because they will know that any expansion in the business will lead to them benefiting in the long run. This will also increase the employe es’ engagement since they will feel that they are working for themselves and not for the firm. Offering autonomy Giving the employees autonomy in what they do will also be an easy way to increase their morale. Although this may not work so well on itself, when applied together with giving the employees equity in the firm, it can result in a highly motivated and engaged workforce. This will be more applicable with the older employee who have been in the firm and are looking for personal growth than salary increment. Question three Training The first area would be on training. As Sharma (2009) says, training is a very good investment for any business and also helps in motivating the employees. In other

Working capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Working capital - Essay Example Accounts receivable analysis is very important for cash is the lifeblood of the company. Accounts receivable must be converted to cash as soon as possible. This is where the AVERAGE COLLECTION PERIOD financial management tool is used regularly. The longer the average collection period, the lesser the liquidity ratio will be. The average collection period is dependent on the accounts receivable customers' ability to pay. To go deeper into the analysis, Ability to pay is dependent on the accounts receivable clients' liquidity. A client that has just lost his or her job will have difficulty to pay your accounts receivable. A customer that has just run away because such customer has not intention of paying you when you will both meet will also affect the average collection period. When the average collection period is decreased, then the availability of the cash will increase liquidity. The increase in liquidity will result to a better financial statement. A better financial statement picture will increase the company's probability for the bank's approval of its long-term loan. It also follows that sales are generated through the use of two methods. Cash sales are the first method of sales generation. Cash is received in exchange for goods that are sold to the company's customers.The second method (credit or account sales) will generate twice or even thrice the total amount of cash sales that the business produces. Are the sales on account Customers are allowed to take home the products they want to buy and the cash payment will be received either a few days or a few months or even a year or more from the customers' actual taking possession of the products sold. It is also common knowledge, from personal experiences since our childhood transactions that not all things borrowed will be returned.Therefore, since some of the objects like books, pencils, bikes, or car, cash and others will be borrowed, we have accept the fact that there is a fine line between borrowers where companies are at risk of not being paid and the borrowers who are of good standing bec ause they pay their monthly dues on time. One of the criteria that the banks and other business institutions approve the sale to clients ON CREDIT is to determine, based on the CREDIT customers' work related data, that there is a probability that the customers will pay their dues on time.Allowance for Doubtful accounts is the accounting title for the estimated amount of accounts receivables from customers, subsidiary companies, branches and others that has a high probability of not being paid. The average collection period is the average length of time that the accounts receivables will not be paid by accounts receivable customers. It is simply the quotient when the total outstand accounts receivable is divided by the average daily sales. Another term for this is the collection ratio. The main headache of the finance director of Raphael limited is that the company had

The multicultural Effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The multicultural Effect - Essay Example (Silko 1996, 43) These words f Leslie Marmon Silko describe aptly what this ReVision issue is about: storytelling. Indigenous conversations. Recovering indigenous conversations. Remembering stories. Putting them back together. Cherishing the fragments we find. Exchanging stories. Finding ways to bring the immediacy and presence f the stories told in front f a group f people onto paper and between journal covers. Sharing stories between groups f people, Sami siidat, German Sippen--communities (some f these groupings are now called cultures, or societies, or nations, or tribes). The primary focus f the contributions is not agreement or disagreement with Eurocentered views on narrative knowing. Instead the articles, taken together, walk their own path, affirming an ancient way f being present to knowing. That is all. This issue is an invitation to remember that practice and to participate in it--today--with all that that might mean in our contemporary situation. Within the Eurocentered context, the concern would be with the defense, explication, placement, or support f narrative knowing within the edifice that Eurocentered thinking tries to maintain, even as it crumbles and disintegrates at the external and internal margins. Much f what has been written about narrative knowing presents such amendments, usually framed as advances. Progress f thinking. A contribution on the evolutionary trajectory. This is the stage set by Eurocentered thinking for the justification and defense f narrative knowing. That stage matters not in an indigenous or a remembered indigenous context. The stakes are much higher. There are many more criteria. They are in the landscape. In the ancestry. In history. In what is commonly called myth. In gossip. In the narrative plot provided by the stars. In the remembrance f the pain f what people have done to each other and are doing to each other. Individuals all. In the rejoicing about the beautiful things people have done. Because these kinds f criteria elude Eurocentered thinking to a large extent, they cannot--and should not--be justified in that context. Pressures for such justification arise from the need to the maintain the social construction f whiteness. Though it may seem extraordinary to the Eurocentered mind, in the indigenous context, one fact stands out as a simple truth that native people live by: "Whether we know the stories or not, the stories know about us" (Silko 1996, 150). We may not remember our ancestry or honor it, but the ancestors remember us. There is hope in this. Storytelling is allowing completeness in a nutshell: hologrammatically. Here we don't find philosophy apart from the cycles f the seasons--yet we find science. Here we don't find agriculture separate from the local narratives--yet we find astronomy and agroastronomy. Here we don't find navigation apart from star and weather lore--yet we find nautical science. In the narrative universe f these worlds, story is not an individualistic or existential project. It is the survival f the self woven inside, outside, and in between through precise presence. There is no possibility f standing apart or objectifying or dissociating. What an advance to remember such pr actices. The current issue started out with a different design in mind: I was in the process f inviting several authors and informing them to assume the importance and validity f narrative knowi

The Coca-Cola Company Essay Example for Free

The Coca-Cola Company Essay The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. The company and bottling partners are dedicated to the 2020 Vision, a roadmap for doubling system revenues this decade, focused on five key areas—profit, people, portfolio, partners and planet. Vision It represents what they need to accomplish in order to continue achieving sustainable, quality growth. People: Be a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be. Portfolio: Bring to the world a portfolio of quality beverage brands that anticipate and satisfy peoples desires and needs. Partners: Nurture a winning network of customers and suppliers, together we create mutual, enduring value. Planet: Be a responsible citizen that makes a difference by helping build and support sustainable communities. Profit: Maximize long-term return to shareowners while being mindful of our overall responsibilities. Productivity: Be a highly effective, lean and fast-moving organization. Living their Values Their values serve as a compass for their actions and describe how they behave in the world. Leadership: The courage to shape a better future Collaboration: Leverage collective genius Integrity: Be real Accountability: If it is to be, its up to me Passion: Committed in heart and mind Diversity: As inclusive as our brands Quality: What we do, we do well Focus on the Market Focus on needs of their consumers, customers and franchise partners Get out into the market and listen, observe and learn Possess a world view Focus on execution in the marketplace every day Be insatiably curious Work Smart Act with urgency Remain responsive to change Have the courage to change course when needed Remain constructively discontent Work efficiently Act Like Owners Be accountable for our actions and inactions Steward system assets and focus on building value Reward our people for taking risks and finding better ways to solve problems Learn from our outcomes what worked and what didn’t Be the Brand Inspire creativity, passion, optimism and fun FOCUS ON CONSUMER Responding to consumers` needs with innovation Consumer needs and demands are constantly evolving throughout markets. In order to remain relevant to their consumers they establish clear category and brand priorities and define focused objectives. They drive innovation by continuously building on their strong family of brands and introducing new flavors and packages in specific markets. Part of their innovation process,  they are launching existing brands in new markets and re-launching or reinvigorating existing brands where appropriate. In many of the markets where adults are a growing segment of consumer base, they have launched several product innovations to ensure they meet their expectations and their increased interest in reducing their sugar and calorie intake. In 2008, they launched Coca-Cola Zero, a full-flavor no calorie Coca-Cola beverage highly popular among adult consumers, which is available in 20 out of 28 markets. They have progressively reformulated Fanta, Sprite and Nestea so they now contain up to 30% fewer calories than in 2010. This has been a gradual process to enable the consumers to adjust to the reduced sugar content. The average calorie content of beverages is now 31Kcal/100ml, representing a 16% decrease since 2011 and supporting their commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles. They are also innovating in the use of natural sweeteners, Stevia, a plant-based extract that has zero calories. In 2012, they launched Sprite with Stevia in Switzerland, and it’s mainly used in Nestea range available in 12 markets. Nutritional labelling information Key nutritional information is on front-of-pack labels of bottles and cans. In Europe, they have pioneered the use of Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) on front-of-pack labels since 2009. These show calorie, sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt content in absolute values and as a percentage of daily intake. These are reported per serving and as a proportion of a healthy diet, the most important piece of information needed to control weight. Additionally, no- and low-calorie beverages are clearly labelled on front-of-pack, so that consumers can identify them more easily. In 2012, they were one of 12 companies that signed up to the new EU Regulation on Food Information to Consumers, a voluntary framework for labeling of Guidelines Daily Amounts. Making packaging more sustainable While the content and origin of products are the basis, their packaging in a range of sizes and material types is also vital in meeting consumer needs. Packaging comprises an average of 22% of the cost of goods sold, a percentage they aim to reduce through minimizing raw materials used. They focus in particular on reducing the amount of packaging, known as light-weighting and on increasing the recycled and renewable content of  cans and bottles. They also work with suppliers to increase the recycled content of packages as using recycled instead of virgin material reduces the carbon footprint of packages. Recycling of metal and glass is already well established, with recycled content accounting for around half of the material in cans and bottles. Their focus is on the recycled content of our PET bottles. In 2013, their use of recycled PET rose by 23%. They also use refillable packaging, equating to 10% of volume. As well as recycled content, The Coca-Cola Company advances plant-based packaging innovation for the Coca-Cola System. For example, a plant-based PET – Plantbottleâ„ ¢ – developed by The Coca-Cola Company, was the first fully recyclable PET bottle made with up to 30% plant-based material( the bottle of Dorna in Romania). Marketplace execution Five core principles: Availability means placing the range of products within easy reach of consumers in the right package, in the right location, at the right time. Affordability means offering a wide variety of desirable, premium quality products, in packages appropriate for the occasion, at the right price. Acceptability means supplying an extensive and growing range of products that meet the highest quality standards in each country, enhancing their acceptability to consumers. Activation means motivating consumers to choose their products by improving product availability and attractiveness at the point of purchase and by building brand strength in their local markets. Attitude is about the way sales representatives and their people behave every day in their interactions with customers ensuring that they meet their needs with an objective to become the preferred supplier of choice. Customer care centers They established customer care centres that provide a single and efficient point of contact between the customers and themselves leading to improved satisfaction scores. To track the overall performance, they have employed the independent external organization GfK to provide a measure of customer satisfaction across markets. Hellenic Good Morning Meetings The ‘Hellenic Good Morning!’’ meetings enhance execution in the marketplace  whereby the sales force teams in each country meet on a daily basis, set key targets for each day, review results from the previous day and reward best performers. Marketing and merchandising They develop strong relationships with customers by focusing on execution of customer marketing promotions and merchandising at the point of sale. They support it by conducting regular customer satisfaction surveys and by developing innovative materials for retail sales activation, including new racks, point-of-sale visuals and sales aids for customers. They also conduct market analyses to better understand unique shoppers and purchase occasions in different trade channels. This information is used to develop all of non-alcoholic ready-to drink beverage categories at every point of sale. They sponsor significant sporting, cultural and community activities across all countries. They seek to integrate consumer marketing and sponsorship activities with retail promotions. In conjunction with the global sponsorship of the Olympic Games by The Coca-Cola Company, which dates back to 1928, they engage in a range of promotions. The Coca-Cola Company’s association with international sporting events such as the Olympics, the Football European Cup and the Football World Cup also enables them to realize significant benefits from the unique marketing opportunities of some of the largest and most prestigious sporting events in the world. PERPETUAL INNOVATION Joe Tripodi, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer of The Coca-Cola Company laid out his company approach to brand reinvention and the strategy it adopted to winning over â€Å"Millennials†, those crucial consumers born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. Millennials are digital natives, having been born into a world dominated by the Internet. According to Tripodi, â€Å"They expect unlimited choice, personalized and delivered through multiple channels at maximum speed.† Millennials are striving to change their world to align with a new set of values. In this new world order the spark of an idea can ignite a flame across an entire region in seconds, thanks to modern technology. The individual has incredible power to sway opinion, start a movement, and even topple governments. The key to any brand staying relevant  is to constantly innovate and evolve by being nimble and progressive, and to share the same values that Millennials respect. There are 5 specific areas where Coke is focusing on innovation: Packaging, Partnerships, Products Equipment, Consumer Provocations, and Cultural Leadership. Innovation at Coca-Cola means that good ideas and best practices can be scaled globally and can travel. This is not easy in a huge multinational corporation, with a market cap of $175 billion, but it is possible. Creativity, asserts Tripodi, is essential to drive innovation, as is courage, risk taking, and reinvention. This is not limited just to how Coke goes to market. It means having to reinvent the company and the way it’s it is structured and networked internally and externally. â€Å"It is our ability to adapt, to participate in, and even lead in culture, that will allow us to achieve our business goals†, he says. And those business goals are extraordinarily ambitious. Coke’s goal, known as its 2020 Vision, is to double its business by the end of the decade or, in other words, to double what it took 125 years to create! 1. Packaging For Coke, packaging has been a defining aspect of its essence and a key part of its engagement strategy. The contour-shaped Coca-Cola bottle will be 100 years old in 2015. Its shape is iconic, and totally synonymous with the brand. Coke has experimented, and had success, with a variety of packaging innovations over the years, but when sales and brand equity suddenly declined in Australia a couple of years ago, Coke needed to find relevance with Millennials. The solution was an ingenious, if risky, packaging idea: Customizable packaging by replacing the â€Å"Coke† branding with Australia’s most popular Teen first names. Instead of a â€Å"Coke† you could order and drink a â€Å"Mike†, â€Å"Dave† or â€Å"Suzy.† This was hugely successful Down Under: Sales spiked, with an incredible amount of social media impressions and expressions. Customized packaging has now been activated in 30 countries so far. In Japan, where customizing packaging by names could not be done, Coke found another ingenious way to deliver the idea. It partnered with Sony so its customers could download free songs that were tied to their birth year. 2. Partnerships Coke looks at its partners as co-creators of its Portfolio of Innovation. It  dynamically manages the partnerships as assets and Tripodi emphatically states, â€Å"We’re better and stronger with the capabilities of our partners.† 3. Products equipment Critical to Coke’s future is keeping its pipeline full. This past year it introduced over 500 new beverage products around the world. One exciting innovation is the FreeStyle machine, a new generation of fountain dispenser. Offering over 100 products, it enables any kind of flavor mix, creating new and unique flavor combinations. It’s a big shift: out of manufacturing and into equipment innovation to enable consumer co-creation and customization. The individualized consumer experience with the products is a key Millennial expectation. A new mobile app lets consumers save all their blends, so any Freestyle machine will know their favorite flavor combo. Data based on user feedback on the Freestyle, combined with technical monitoring which provides Coke with insight on product, consumer engagement and new dispenser opportunities. It is real-time consumer co-creation with the potential to develop completely new markets for the company. 4. Consumer provocations Part of Coke’s engagement strategy, he explains, is to move away from being a brand that promotes happiness, to a brand that provokes happiness. The heart of Coke’s engagement program is social platforms that provokes experiences through stories that are sufficiently powerful and share worthy to fuel conversations with many. 5. Cultural leadership As the most recognized brand in the world, it is a known fact that Coke has a position in the global cultural consciousness. To stay relevant in a marketplace that is being reordered by Millennials, it has to engage itself in active conversations with this generation. And sometimes those conversations can be awkward, but they are important to take on. Like, for example, the subject of obesity. To that end, Coke has developed what they have termed a 360 degree Engagement Plan, that includes low and no calorie beverages, transparent nutrition information, inspiring well-being and encouraging people to get active and moving by supporting physical activity programs, together with a commitment of not advertising to children under the age of 12. The manager warns that marketers should not be seduced by  technology alone. Without creativity, a strong story, one can’t make a strong connection. Using all of the tools of innovation and storytelling gives Coke the opportunity to spread their brand of happiness around the world and stay relevant. MARKETING MIX Segmentation Market segmentation is the process of portioning market into groups of potential customers with similar needs and/or characteristics who are likely to exhibit similar purchase behavior. Objective of such a process is to analyze and understand market, identify opportunities and use or develop competitive edge to capitalize on those opportunities. The Coca Cola Company segments the customers based on the following criteria: Geographic segmentation: Coca Cola has segmented the worldwide market on the basis of geographies. There are various divisions created for major regions of the world and heads of each division report to the parent company. Lot of autonomy is given to each division to run the operations. Place of consumption: Coca Cola segments the market on the basis of the place of consumption of the beverage. Most of consumption takes place on premises such as bars, restaurants, cinemas etc, while the rest takes place in homes. Product type: Coca Cola segments the market on the basis of the type of products bought by customers. The market is divided into Cola products and non cola products. Cola products currently provide majority of the revenues, but the proportion of non cola products is increasing. Demographics: The segmentation is done on the basis of age, as well as income. Targeting Coca Cola targets different segments with different ads. Primary market is represented by young people, aged between 12 and 25 years old, with people from 25-40 comprising the secondary market. Cola products are targeted towards people who want strong flavor, while Diet Coke and its variants are targeted towards the sub segment that is health conscious. The health conscious segment of the market is targeted also by the non cola beverages. Some of the products, such as Sprite, specifically target teens and college students, while others, such as Limca, target young working population. Positioning Coca Cola positions its products as refreshing and thirst quenching. The products are said to bring joy: Open Happiness. The products are associated with having a good time with friends and family and enjoying everyday life. They are also marketed as consistent and of high quality. ROMANIAN MARKET Coca-Cola HBC Romania is the biggest company in the non-alcoholic beverage industry in the country and is a franchised bottler of The Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola HBC Romania (410 billion Euro turnover in 2013) started operations in Romania in 1991 and now it employs 1,700 people. They operate three bottling plants across the country and channel products through 14 warehouses and distribution centers. The product portfolio consists of: leading brands Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite local brands such as the natural mineral waters: Dorna, Dorna Izvorul Alb, Poiana Negri brands licensed by other companies, such as Nestea and Illy. ADVERTISING Share a Coca-Cola campaign For the 1st time in brand’s history, Coca-Cola offered its logo to its consumers and told them to surprise the loved ones offering them a Coca-Cola bottle with their own name on it. The campaign was firstly launched in Australia in 2011 with the purpose to bring back the consumers` interest. The result was a 7% increase in the consumption among young people. From that moment on, the campaign expanded in more than 80 countries. The idea proved to be very successful on the Romanian market too, where it was launched in 2013. Andrei, Ana or Maria had their own Coca-Cola bottles because during that period, the most popular 150 Romanian names replaced the known brand logo. Also, Coca-Cola let its consumers share with friends also, with â€Å"Share a Coca-Cola with a gamer† or â€Å"Share a Coca-Cola with a biker†. The cans and bottles of Coca-Cola also included a series of other words used to define someone like â€Å"lover†, â€Å"your half†, â€Å"the sexy girl†, â€Å"VIP†, â€Å"Diva†, ‘Star† and so on. Say it with a song campaign The idea of having your bottle personalized was continued in 2014 through music. During summer, the Coca-Cola logo was accompanied by the lyrics of  famous songs. Besides lyrics, the bottles had on their labels a QR code, which could be scanned, allowing the consumers to listen to a fragment of the chosen song, before sending it to friends. Moreover, the initiative encompassed a smartphone application through which the consumers could make new friends by identifying people with the same musical preferences in their proximity. Banner Duet Campaign Launched in July 2013, Coca-Cola Banner Duet Campaign is one of the most innovative digital campaigns of last year: the campaign offered users the opportunity to record a personalized digital duet with Adi Despot, the famous lead singer of „Vita de Vie† rock band. In banners across the web, the musician invited the users to call him using their phones. Once they call the number shown, the banner recognizes the call, Adi answered and offered to sing the famous song Praf de Stele together in a duet with him. Adi sang in the banner and the users used their phone as the microphone, and all the singing voices were recorded as a personal duet with him. Besides being part of a unique experience, the users had the chance to win tickets to one of the most important music events in Romania BESTFEST and a meet and greet with the artist. In the 2nd stage of the campaign, all the participates that recorded duets with Adi, were rewarded for the effort: Best voices got a personal YouTube video of their duets On MTV, voices of the recorded users were integrated in the official clip of Praf de Stele At B`ESTFEST, Adi Despot shared the stage with all the voices recorded, and played them as his chorus connecting his fans from digital to the ones from the event. Let`s eat together campaign (2013) The beverage brand combined live tweets with pre-recorded spots in an effort to help people rediscover the happiness of eating meals together. In fact, a whopping 60% of Romanians do not eat meals together, instead opting to live a solitary culinary life in front of their TV sets. Coca-Cola Romania enlisted MRM Worldwide to help Romanians rediscover the happiness of sharing a meal together, of course in hope of associating it with a Coke. They ran a typical ad showing family and friends coming together with the help of  Coca-Cola. However, unlike any other spot ever created, this one integrated live tweets on national television. At the bottom of the ad, there was a text bar that hosted tweets from fans featuring the hashtag #LetsEatTogether. MRM live-edited the tweets as they flowed in and chose up to seven tweets to show each time the ad was played. Most of the tweets were addressed to specific people, with friends inviting friends to have a meal together and enjoy each other’s company. As a result, Coke’s Twitter base in Romania increased 15% and the ad garnered over 1 million social media impressions. Placing live Twitter mentions into a pre-recorded ad presents an incredibly innovative way to combine traditional advertising formats with today’s social media, and proves that you can really invite someone over for a meal through your TV. Radar for good App Campaign (2014) As part of the Crazy for Good initiative, a global project dedicated to people doing good for random strangers, Coca-Cola Romania via MRM Bucharest created Radar For Good, the first mobile platform for close range volunteering, to support the people who want to do good in the society right now. The app shows you where, near you, you can do something good at the moment. This is a good use of locational data for a specific cause. A spokesperson at McCann lets us know: The campaign generated much buzz in Romania, converted over 21.000 volunteers. Also, over 130 NGOs enrolled their causes in â€Å"Radar for Good† and reported an increase in volunteering numbers to up to 50%. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSABILITY Improving water efficiency In their bottling plants, they closely monitor water sources, minimizing the amount of water they withdraw. By incorporating water saving technologies in their production lines, they have managed to improve the efficiency with which they use water. For example, in Romania two new technologies have been implemented in recent years: †¢ dry lubrication technology eliminates substantial water consumption as gel instead of water moves the beverages along the conveyors on their PET production lines †¢ ionized air technology washes PET bottles, instead of water. Working in partnership â€Å"The Green Danube† is their most longstanding partnership. Together with the  International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, they conduct conservation and awareness-raising activities in Romania and nine other countries lying in the river basin. These include annual Danube Day celebrations, which see the participation of tens/hundreds of thousands of people. In 2008 and 2009, â€Å"Tasuleasa Social† and â€Å"Mai Mult Verde† organizations conducted a large-scale reforestation event in Vatra Dornei and a cleanup of the Siret riverbanks from Vatra Dornei to Galati, including nine cities. At the same time, 200 children from 65 high schools in the area participated in multiple training sessions on volunteering and civic responsibility, leadership, project management, survival skills and first aid. 250 training hours were made possible thanks to volunteer specialists and public figures such as Marcel Iures, Ada Milea and Catalin Stefanescu. SMURD, Romania’s Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication, joined the program and offered first aid and survival trainings, alongside the volunteers at the Siret river banks clean up. An additional 2,500 teens participated. As part of the â€Å"Adopt a river from its spring to its mouth† (Golden Award at European CSR Awards 2013), water protection and conservation platform, they set up a â€Å"Water Educational Center† in one of their former plants in Dorna Candrenilor. Here local teenagers can learn about biodiversity, pollution and ways to address it, responsible tourism, best practices in volunteering. The project was carried out in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Environment and Forests, Calimani National Park and Tasuleasa Social organization. At the center and through a series of other educational and ecological campaigns developed over time in Dorna Candrenilor, they are contributing to the long-term protection and conservation of natural riches and water resources in the area where their mineral waters spring. The results of the â€Å"Adopt a river from its spring to its mouth† integrated program, from north of the country, where they bottle the mineral waters to the Danube Delta are: 32,500 trees planted, 70 tonnes of waste collected, 2.5 million euros accessed by local authorities for sewage system and filtering stations for Dorna inhabitants, adopting a law for forbidding the industrial fishing, adopting the urbanism plan in Danube Delta. Energy and climate protection They are accelerating their efforts in the parts of the business that use the most energy: the bottling plants, fleet and cold drink equipment. In bottling plants, they are building combined heat and power units. They are also expanding energy-savings programs. In their fleet, they are exploring and expanding the use of hybrid vehicles and alternative fuels. They are also changing driver behavior with the Safe and Eco-Driving program. Their new energy-efficient cold drink equipment emits up 50% less CO2 emissions than 2004. Packaging and recycling They are working to reduce the environmental impacts of their packaging at every stage of its lifecycle. The integrated approach includes: Reducing the amount of packaging they use Increasing recycled content Promoting recycling and recovery Sport and physical activity Approximately 1,900 people actively participate in their sports and fitness activities each year: The Red Bike contest and tour. Promoting the Active Lifestyle principles is one of the many ways Coca-Cola HBC in Romania brings together its two major commitments: towards people and towards the environment. â€Å"Go green with the Red Bike!† was an event whose concept was launched by Coca-Cola HBC Romania and Green Revolution under the patronage of Bucharest City Hall and the Romanian Cycling Federation. The main objective of this program is to encourage Bucharest’s citizens to adopt a healthy lifestyle. For the second consecutive year, over 1,200 Bucharest citizens have gathered in Izvor Park to take part in the biggest cycling tour for amateurs, the â€Å"Red Bike†. CONCLUSIONS Coca-Cola†¦More than a Product? In fact, it’s not just about the product any more. It’s about stories, memories, associations, and human connections (although of course, these connections would have been very carefully and deliberately engineered by talented marketers over many years and countless board meetings). This is something that Coca-Cola have been the masters of for over 100 years. Even if you duplicated the entire Coca-Cola production process and produced a drink that tastes identical, (or better for that matter!), you could not duplicate the memories people have of the brand, and therefore their connection to it. The secret recipe of Coca-Cola may no longer be secret. It may not even be unique any more. But the memories associated with the brand are, and that is what makes the brand so much more valuable than other colas. Tangible and intangible assets combine to create financial brand equity. This equity is derived from people’s willingness to pay a premium for the brand and an unwillingness to accept substitutes. Like the Tiffany bracelet, people would rather pay more for the recognized brand due to the (deliberately engineered) feelings and identity they associate with it, which have been nurtured by the company over many years. Coca-Cola’s marketing strategy has always been to associate happiness, positivity and the good life with their products, from 1906’s rather officious and puritanical ‘The National Temperance Beverage’ slogan, to 1971’s slightly more idealistic ‘I’d like to buy the world a Coke’, which despite not actually being the official slogan, became so successful that it’s still remembered fondly to this day. Their secret is the focus on: stories, memories, connections, events, positive associations, positive experiences. Without these, a brand will forever remain just one of many options. Coca-Cola have a history of fascinating the public with their marketing campaigns. Except Coca Cola don’t call marketing campaigns ‘marketing campaigns’, rather a â€Å"system wide collaborative effort to engage with consumers in a meaningful and effective way†. An example of this attempt to increase the romantic associations with the brand is the recent ‘Share a Coke’ campaign. This was an attempt to create positive connections between people with Coke at the center that according to their figures created an increase in volume of sales, household penetration and brand love scores. Having such a dominant brand that it eclipses any other in general conversation and becomes synonymous with that particular product provides the strongest possible competitive advantage and is the holy grail of brand equity.

Biological Explanations of Addiction Essay Example for Free

Biological Explanations of Addiction Essay The biological model of addictions basic premise is that addiction: is an illness; that it is irreversible; that you are either addicted or not (there are no slightly addicted individuals) and that treatment must be medical.  There are many models of biological addiction mainly because current psychological research suggests that different areas of the brain are involved in different addictions (quashing the idea of an addictive personality per say). In this essay two biochemical theories will be discussed, plus the genetic model. The latter theory should not be seen as distinct from the biochemical theories as biologists would propose that any biochemical abnormalities that may predispose an individual to addiction are probably inherited. Thus studies looking at concordance rates of addictions in families, twins and adopted children would support all three of the models being discussed. One of the most popular theories of addiction is to do with the neurotransmitter Dopamine. Dopamine is involved with our pleasure/reward system. Anything we do of our volition that is pleasurable increases Dopamine. It is the release of dopamine that makes us feel Euphoria/pleasure. Drugs such as Cocaine, Alcohol and Heroin make Dopamine receptors release enormous amounts of Dopamine, so the user may feel intense pleasure. This however, does not explain addiction as many people drink or recreationally use cocaine and dont become addicts. The main idea of the theory is that individuals biologically susceptible to addiction have more sensitive Mesolimbic/ reward pathways in their brain, e.g. drugs may have a more profound (wow factor) on their Dopamine receptors. Another theory that may work alone or in conjunction with the Reward theory is that individuals with addictions may naturally produce low levels of Serotonin. Serotonin is thought to be a major factor in controlling our behaviour. So most of us can get drunk overeat etc but not repeat the behaviour compulsively. This is because our Serotonin levels are stable. It is thought that individuals with low levels may not be able to exercise control. There is support for this idea, e.g. low levels of serotonin are correlated with compulsive suicide, homicide, Bulimia and ADHD. Another suggestion has been that there is a genetic basis for developing an addiction. Although a specific gene has not been found, there is plenty of research that shows high levels of concordance between families who are addicted to: alcohol (Sarafino), Nicotine (Agrawal and Lynskey, Heroin (Devaux and Krebs) and Fowler (see Erika Cox book). However like all correlational studies this kind of research cannot imply cause. The concordance could be caused by environmental factors or social learning.  Additional support for the biochemical theories comes from MRI and PET scans, animal studies using agonists and antagonists and invasive brain techniques on animals, such as neuro toxins where Dopamine receptors are removed.

Halfway House Allows People Criminology Essay

Halfway House Allows People Criminology Essay Institution based correction is largely practiced in the American correctional systems. Institutional confinement has been used in America since the ancient times as history describes it. Early punishments for criminals were directed more at the criminal`s body and property as well. The main goals were to humiliate the offender, inflict pain and also deter onlookers from crime. Modernity in incarceration strives to change the character of the offenders and this takes place away from the public view. Sentences are majorly imposed upon offenders and range from probation to serving a time in prison. Intermediate sanctions include sentences to a halfway house. Sanction use can be described as either positive, which is known to be rewarding or, negative which is a punishment. This forms the basis of all criminal theory alongside the main goals of social control and deviant behavior deterrence. Facilities operating in the United States of America, many of them adhere to certain correctiona l theories (Byrne and Taxman, 2005). Halfway house allows people to start off a period of reintegration with the society. The primary function of halfway houses is to provide criminals who have no place to go and also those who have no one at their backs to support them. The halfway house there caters for all their needs as inmates. They are offered food and a place to rest their bodies. It is important to note that the halfway is not a dormitory despite its primary functions states above. It must facilitate discharged offenders. The halfway staffs, together with officers who are on probation provide the inmates with instructions and guidance on various programmes undertaken (Latessa and Lowenkamp, 2006). Halfway house residents are divided into two different groups. The first group is composed of the supervisees meaning probationers and parolees. The second group is composed of the discharged offenders who are not under supervision. This is the group of criminals who left prison when their term expired or their execution sentence was suspended. The first group of halfway house residents is required to live in such facilities by the requirements of the parole or probation. They have no obligation to change their residence without the permission of the relevant probation office director. Individuals of the latter group are free to go anywhere they feel like going. Non-supervisees are known to stay in the halfway house for six months after release. The period can still be extended if necessary for additional six months (Bussert, Golderger and Price, 2006). Treatments of different nature are offered in a halfway house. Each house bears its on way of practice in offering the various treatments as required by the needs of its residents. The social Skills Training (SST) and Substance Abuse Programme, for example, are the popular kinds of treatments offered in most of the American halfway houses. These two kinds of treatment address the major needs of the criminal residents of the facilities. The two biggest needs are those of interactive skills and substance addiction. Interactive skills include the tactics of finding a job and retaining it while substance addiction involves alcohol addiction. Some of the halfway houses go to an extent of inviting external speakers, supervisors of facilitators to take part in some of these treatment interventions. A variety of other programmes also exist in these facilities. Some of the houses give some kind of financial diary to monitor the way the handle their finances; others provide health education, h ygiene education while others provide collage therapy (Bussert, Golderger and Price, 2006). Halfway houses are generally overlooked as facilities that are an important part of the safety of the public. They serve to offer crime prevention efforts and it is also hard of members of the public to describe the activities that take place in their various communities. This paper will stress on the fact that, halfway houses are a requirement in presenting a transitional environment for individuals initially involved in criminal offenses, have finished their sentence term and are ready to join the rest of the community as well as ensuring public safety (Byrne and Taxman, 2005). Dramatic growth in the number of inmates has brought forth a large increase in the number of individuals legally entitled to receive various services. This dramatic growth has also created changes in the characteristics of inmate population that are of relevance to the programming decisions. Emphasis on the safety of the public point out that the scarce program resources are concentrated on a certain group of offenders. Such are those inmates that present a threat to the society outside prison and posses treatable crime related problems. This has led to a wide variety of initiatives. The most notable initiatives have been the evaluation of program effectiveness and privatization of some of the correctional activities. Programs have also been developed and their strategies implemented towards addressing the ways of holding offenders such that future crimes are prevented. This specifically, after the detainee is released form detention (Bussert, Golderger and Price, 2006). The past decade has seen live debates covering the importance of halfway houses as a measure of controlling crime cases in America. These debates have focused their purposes on investigating and assessing the effectiveness of these facilities. Debates on the effectiveness have been largely related to the intended impact of a criminal punishment, the necessity of improving the safety of the public and reduction of future crimes and lastly the requirements of the states and localities in ensuring cost-efficient correctional programs. Many of these debates bring out several points inclined to the positive side of these facilities as a component of American correctional agencies (Latessa and Lowenkamp, 2006). Regarding punishment, most individuals think that halfway houses are less punitive as compared to prison or jail. Research tends to prove these groups of persons by revealing that most offenders view halfway houses as very stringent and more punitive since they require changed behaviors. Some of the criminological debates have diverted their focus to determining whether involvement of halfway houses in correcting offenders is effective. The findings in many of the researches prove the effectiveness of such facilities as potential intermediate punishment. Offenders make public preparations, resolve the conflicts with other victim, and undertake public services and stay connected to their communities without the isolation of punishment based in prison (Bussert, Golderger and Price, 2006). Halfway houses shorten prison terms and also help to alleviate pressure on crowded jails and prisons belonging to states and various localities. This transitional programming can also be followed by a home detention period and the offender is carefully monitored for compliance (Bussert, Golderger and Price, 2006). Most evaluations of impact of halfway houses to the rehabilitation of the offenders focus on program components regarding their relationship with recidivism. The Massachusetts Furlough and Pre-release Program evaluation of over 15 years demonstrated that returns to custody were reduced. This was deduced from a study of 13,000 cases of placements of persons who were returning from prison. Recent research findings underscore the existence of benefits for a certain group of offenders rated high or medium risk based on the risk predictive screening. A large case study was once conducted by the Federal Bureau of Prisons on the offenders released through halfway houses in the United States of America. The findings of this study revealed that the residential as well as the employment components of halfway houses were related to the improvement in recidivism (Latessa and Lowenkamp, 2006). Many of the halfway houses share information on case management with their referral and oversight agencies. Ways of attaining client health care and behavioral attention have been developed. This has been done with much consideration towards respecting confidentiality if the clients and the needs of the oversight agency. Integrated case management systems and electronic networking has had several advantages in this institutional based correction facility. This is because; the transfer of information is accurate and more efficient between the programs serving halfway house clients and the agencies (Byrne and Taxman, 2005). Researches on impact of halfway houses have, over a along time have proved that, halfway houses have no negative impact towards crime. They have always pointed out that they are of advantage to the neighborhood safety incase a person that was under detention is released back to the community (Byrne and Taxman, 2005). Halfway houses are known to be developed in the response to a need for stable housing for persons involved in the criminal justice systems. Criminal justice professionals have also deduced that there is need for certain services more than stable housing. These services are aimed at reducing criminal behaviors in future. Agencies collaborate to come up with a target group of offenders. These group can be screened and identified incase they have contact with other criminal justice agencies and police. Criminal justice agencies have developed a screening process used in the selection of persons who are more likely to benefit from a halfway house situation. More often, they examine histories of repeated crimes related to alcohol or drug. This is an indication of the need to stay in a more structured living situation. Focus on the mental needs of an offender, special assistance in the cognitive skills and addressing the victim`s impact are also among the criteria for isolating offenders f or placement in halfway house facilities. Courts consider such cases as where there is need to garnish wages in order to pay fees, fines, restitution and child support. Halfway programs act as a funnel of the payments earnings belonging to the offender and advisors to help him or her stabilize financially at the end of their supervision period (Latessa and Lowenkamp, 2006). In conclusion, several trends have been seen to affect the correction systems in the United States of America. The unprecedented growth in the populations of inmates owe to changes in police practices and sentencing practices. The society has become of much concern with regard to the type of inmates released from prison or jail to join the other members of the community. The dark side of the offenders poses worrying situations about possible future harms. Halfway houses are facilities of great importance in ensuring the safety of the public. It is also important to remember that they are of positive impact to the offenders life after finishing the sentence term. They are able to go through at transitional stage through which they experience a different life from that in prison in preparation for the real life in the world outside jail or prison (Byrne and Taxman, 2005).

The life and death of Ernesto Guevara de la Serna :: essays research papers

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna the future Che Guevara was born on June 14 in Rosario in Argentina. At the age of two Che had his first asthma attack, a disease that he had to suffer with right up until he was shot to death by Barrientos’ troops in the forests of Bolivia. His father Ernesto Guevara Lynch, an engineer, was from a family of Irish descent, and his mother, Clia dela Sena, was an Irish-Spanish descent. When Che was three his family moved to Buenos Aires. His asthma attacks had gotten so worse that the doctors advised him for a drier climate. So once again Guevara family moved, this time to Cordoba. The Guevara’s were a typical bourgeois family, and in terms of their political inclinations they were known to be liberal closer to left. During the Spanish civil war they had supported the Republicans. Ernesto followed the war very closely, as his uncle had gone to Spain as a reporter Ernesto knew all about the war. In time their financial situation worsened. Che started Dean Funes high school where he was being educated in English. In the meanwhile, he was also learning French from his mother. In 1944 Guevara family moved to Buenos Aires. They were having serious financial problems now so Che started working while he was a student. He registered to medical school. In the early years of his study at the medical school he travelled throughout the northern and western Argentina, studying on leprosy and tropical diseases in the villages. In his last year at the school, Che went on trip through the Latin America by motorbike with his friend Alberto Granadas. This gave him the chance to get to know better the exploited villagers of the Latin America. Che graduated from medical school as a doctor in March 1953 and decided to work in a leper colony in Venezuela. He was on his way to Venezuela when he was put to jail in Peru because of his earlier publication on the natives. When got out, he stayed in Ecuador for a while, where he met Ricardo Rojo, a lawyer. Meeting Ricardo turned out to be a turning point in Che’s life. He changed his mind of going to Venezuela, and instead went to Guatemala with Ricardo Rojo. When revolutionary Arbenz government was overthrown by a rightist coup, he took refuge in Argentina embassy.

US Government Misinterprets Ugandan HIV/AIDS Success Story :: Essays Papers

US Government Misinterprets Ugandan HIV/AIDS Success Story The United States Government should embrace a comprehensive HIV prevention policy that emphasizes condom use, rather than the current policy which is largely based on misinterpretations of the Ugandan HIV success story. According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)—which manages most of President Bush’s â€Å"Emergency Plan for AIDS†Ã¢â‚¬â€in 1991, 15 percent of Ugandans were infected with HIV. By 2001, the rate was 5 percent, a drop unmatched anywhere in the world. How this was done and what this means for the shape of Washington’s programs to fight AIDS overseas has been tragically misinterpreted by the US Government. According to Dr. Justin Parkhurst, who wrote his dissertation on Ugandan HIV prevention policy at the University of Oxford, Uganda was successful for reasons different than the US Government officials would have you believe. A frequent mistake, he said, is the notion that declined prevalence was due to a few specific interventions by the Ugandan government. He emphasized that the government was but one player—among numerous NGOs, church groups, community activists—in the fight against the virus. He also emphasizes that condom use, rather than abstinence and being faithful, was the most important behavior change that influenced declined HIV prevalence. â€Å"Unfounded claims of Ugandan success have persisted in international policy discourse,† he noted. Although the Ugandan experience could provide invaluable information to other nations in their prevention efforts, he said, â€Å"inappropriate recommendations based on poor interpretations of evidence must not be used as the basis for policy.† Such misguided policy pervades the US Government’s HIV prevention activities. While the Director of UNAIDS-Uganda, Dr. Ruben de Robiene, commented, â€Å"I don’t know what the Uganda Model is, no one knows,† the religious right within the US Government is convinced that it knows Uganda's secret: abstinence and being faithful. According to a USAID report, â€Å"Condom social marketing did not play a major role† in Uganda’s relative success. Dr. Anne Peterson, a physician and the USAID director of global health who is responsible for overseeing US anti-HIV programs, says, â€Å"Kids are willing and able to abstain from sex. The core of Uganda's success story is big A, big B and little C.† Dr. Peterson said the US’s HIV prevention policy is not an ideological balm for religious conservatives or any other group beholden to the Bush administration.

Cholesterol Essay examples -- essays research papers

Cholesterol is a soft, fat-like, waxy substance found in the bloodstream and in all your body's cells. It's normal to have cholesterol. It's an important part of a healthy body because it's used for producing cell membranes and some hormones, and serves other needed bodily functions. But too high a level of cholesterol in the blood is a major risk for coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack. It's also a risk factor for stroke. Hypercholesterolemia is the term for high levels of blood cholesterol. You get cholesterol in two ways. Your body makes some of it, and the rest comes from cholesterol in animal products that you eat, such as meats, poultry, fish, eggs, butter, cheese and whole milk. Food from plants — like fruits, vegetables and cereals — doesn't have cholesterol. Some foods that don't contain animal products may contain trans-fats, which cause your body to make more cholesterol. Foods with saturated fats also cause the body to make more cholesterol. Cholesterol and other fats can't dissolve in the blood. They have to be transported to and from the cells by special carriers called lipoproteins. There are two kinds that you need to know about. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, is known as the "bad" cholesterol. Too much LDL cholesterol can clog your arteries, increasing your risk of heart attack and stroke. High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, is known as the "good" cholesterol. Your body makes HDL cholesterol for your protection. It carries cholesterol away from your arteries. Studies suggest that high levels of HDL cholesterol reduce your risk of heart attack. What's the Difference Between LDL and HDL Cholesterol? Why LDL cholesterol is considered "bad"? When too much LDL cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. Together with other substances it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can clog those arteries. This condition is known as atherosclerosis. If a clot forms and blocks a narrowed artery, it can cause a heart attack or stroke. The levels of HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in the blood are measured to evaluate the risk of having a heart attack. LDL cholesterol of less than 100 mg/dL is the optimal level. Less than 130 mg/dL is near optimal for most people. A high LDL... ...ce the risk of coronary heart disease as people whose cholesterol level is below 200 mg/dL. Half of all Americans age 20 and older have cholesterol levels that are too high (200 mg/dL or higher). The good news is you can make many lifestyle changes to lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. To reduce cholesterol in your blood, eat foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol, lose weight if you need to and exercise for a total of at least 30 minutes on most or all days of the week. Some people may also need to take medicine, because changing their diet isn't enough. If you've been prescribed medication or advised to make lifestyle changes to help manage your cholesterol, carefully follow your doctor's recommendations. Learn the facts about cholesterol have regular screenings and, if you need to lower your cholesterol level, work with your healthcare professionals to set up a plan. Reduce your risk of heart attack — take responsibility for managing your cholesterol levels. By lowering your blood cholesterol level, you'll cut your risk for heart disease, heart attack and stroke! Understanding And Controlling Cholesterol By Shelton Davis

Reflection Paper In Philosophy Of Man Essay

I found out that the written article (Existentialism and man’s search for meaning) by Eduardo Jose E. Calasanz are incredibly fascinating and mind blowing. As Aristotle quoted â€Å"all men desire to know.† And as one entity quench for knowledge about the mystery of our embodiment. Calasanz spread to us the table of an unsophisticated and different tenet of the classical and the modern philosophers. Admittedly, I do not agree to the philosophers about their theories in such that it is hard to believe to their theories because of lack of sense and feasible proof but even if I do not believe to the great philosophers I still consider Gabriel Marcel’s tenet to be the most outstanding among the six philosophers have mention in the Article. She said that the existence of life to human in answering the question â€Å"for what I am living for†. To able me to defend my own opinion, I will relate this Gabriel Marcel’s theory to my own story of life. I am always asking to myself â€Å"for whom am I living for?† and â€Å"who are the person who am I live with?† I study here at University of Makati for me to fulfill my dream to become a teacher someday but the real question is for who am I living for? For studying more? For me to be able to reach my goals in life. I think yes, because if I do not study right not I will not able to achieve my goals and I will stay as I am right now. Standing and sitting here in our house waiting for some grace to come. to depend on others who are in capacity to support me and depend to the people that I know never live me even if I do not do something to change my life But if I study, I can able to fulfill it and share my knowledge to the other people. I can be independent on my own. I can have a permanent job that may support all my expenses and able buy anything all that I want. This dream of mine may help also my family in terms of financial. I know that dream of mine is very hard t o reach but I will strive more and face the challenges in life, I can  achieve the goal that I wanted to achieve and that is to become a teacher. And after reading this article, I consider myself as existentialist thinker because I have characteristics that the existentialism have. For example, existentialist thinkers attempt to philosophize from the standing point of an actor rather than of specters just like me that can stand whatever the situation is. Even we do not have money to support my studies I strive to find a job that will support my studies and after finding the job, I talk to myself â€Å"you do the right thing to fulfill your dreams good job†. There are more characteristics of a existentialist thinkers that may help their way of thinking something about something but the real thing is if this characteristics may help the other people the way they think. I think yes, because this is a guide to the people in handling their own problems in life. For an instance, a student that are hardly to understand mathematics. The student always got lower scores in their quizzes and examinations in mathematics. the student realize that his/her score is very low and the grade that he/she may got is very low. So he/she study hard and make the difficult thing more easier and finally he got a high grade because he/she strive to study hard and get his/her goal and that is to got a high grades in Mathematics. Phenomenology of love When we hear the word â€Å"Love† we always think that is relationship but if we will see in our environment, all the people that we belong with even the people that we hate much is what you call Love. If you are asking me why? I will answer it like this. No among us never felt that they did not feel that they are in love or we are being love by other. Even when we are in womb of our mother, our parents are very excited to see us, they are so careful on what they do specially our mothers to make us being safe. After we given birth all the people that surrounds us are very happy and that is the sign of love. And after so many years, their are so many people that express to us how love it is? Even our enemy, we able to express love to them even we hate them we already express them love by giving them mercy when they do wrong and that is the sign of love. But when the philosophers spoke about they are so incredible. For an instance, a famous Book Publisher Erich Fromm write a book â€Å"the Art of Loving†. In his book, He says that the popular notion of love at the present is â€Å"Falling in Love† but there are also reasons that I have read in the article. First the â€Å"Love is equated with Romance†; love has something to do with romance. Because love without romance is just like you are holding a match box without match stick. The match box there will never spark without that match stick. Second is the Love is a many splendored thing, love can do many things just what had said in the song â€Å" I can do anything for love†. All of us can do something that can make our love once a certain happiness and enjoyment when they see us. And the last one is â€Å"love hurts†, no one in the world are experience that they are not felt hurt after they are in love. Many of us experience being hurt by the person that we love.

Forward the Foundation Chapter 7

18 Raych sat in the anteroom of a public building in Dahl into which he had never ventured-never could have ventured-as a ragamuffin youth. He felt, in all truth, a little uneasy about it now, as though he were trespassing. He tried to look calm, trustworthy, lovable. Dad had told him that this was a quality he carried around with him, but he had never been conscious of it. If it came about naturally, he would probably spoil it by trying too hard to seem to be what he really was. He tried relaxing while keeping an eye on the official who was manipulating a computer at the desk. The official was not a Dahlite. He was, in fact, Gambol Deen Namarti, who had been with Joranum at the meeting with Dad that Raych had attended. Every once in a while, Namarti would look up from his desk and glance at Raych with a hostile glare. This Namarti wasn't buying Raych's lovability. Raych could see that. Raych did not try to meet Namarti's hostility with a friendly smile. It would have seemed too artificial. He simply waited. He had gotten this far. If Joranum arrived, as he was expected to, Raych would have a chance to speak to him. Joranum did arrive, sweeping in, smiling his public smile of warmth and confidence. Namarti's hand came up and Joranum stopped. They spoke together in low voices while Raych watched intently and tried in vain to seem as if he wasn't. It seemed plain to Raych that Namarti was arguing against the meeting and Raych bridled a bit at that. Then Joranum looked at Raych, smiled, and pushed Namarti to one side. It occurred to Raych that, while Namarti was the brains of the team, it was Joranum who clearly had the charisma. Joranum strode toward him and held out a plump, slightly moist hand. â€Å"Well well. Professor Seldon's young man. How are you?† â€Å"Fine, thank you, sir.† â€Å"You had some trouble getting here, I understand.† â€Å"Not too much, sir.† â€Å"And you've come with a message from your father, I trust. I hope he is reconsidering his decision and has decided to join me in my great crusade.† â€Å"I don't think so, sir.† Joranum frowned slightly. â€Å"Are you here without his knowledge?† â€Å"No, sir. He sent me.† â€Å"I see. Are you hungry, lad?† â€Å"Not at the moment, sir.† â€Å"Then would you mind if I eat? I don't get much time for the ordinary amenities of life,† he said, smiling broadly. â€Å"It's all right with me, sir.† Together, they moved to a table and sat down. Joranum unwrapped a sandwich and took a bite. His voice slightly muffled, he said, â€Å"And why did he send you, son?† Raych shrugged. â€Å"I think he thought I might find out something about you that he could use against you. He's heart and soul with First Minister Demerzel.† â€Å"And you're not?† â€Å"No, sir. I'm a Dahlite.† â€Å"I know you are, Mr. Seldon, but what does that mean?† â€Å"It means I'm oppressed, so I'm on your side and I want to help you. Of course, I wouldn't want my father to know.† â€Å"There's no reason he should know. How do you propose to help me?† He glanced quickly at Namarti, who was leaning against his desk, listening, with his arms folded and his expression lowering. â€Å"Do you know anything about psychohistory?† â€Å"No, sir. My father don't talk to me about that-and if he did, I wouldn't get it. I don't think he's getting anywhere with that stuff.† â€Å"Are you sure?† â€Å"Sure I'm sure. There's a guy there, Yugo Amaryl, also a Dahlite, who talks about it sometimes. I'm sure nothing is happening.† â€Å"Ah! And can I see Yugo Amaryl sometime, do you suppose?† â€Å"I don't think so. He ain't much for Demerzel, but he's all for my father. He wouldn't cross him.† â€Å"But you would?† Raych looked unhappy and he muttered stubbornly, â€Å"I'm a Dahlite.† Joranum cleared his throat. â€Å"Then let me ask you again. How do you propose to help me, young man?† â€Å"I've got something to tell you that maybe you won't believe.† â€Å"Indeed? Try me. If I don't believe it, I will tell you so.† â€Å"It's about First Minister Eto Demerzel.† â€Å"Well?† Raych looked around uneasily. â€Å"Can anyone hear me?† â€Å"Just Namarti and myself.† â€Å"All right, then listen. This guy Demerzel ain't a guy. He's a robot.† â€Å"What!† exploded Joranum. Raych felt moved to explain. â€Å"A robot is a mechanical man, sir. He ain't human. He's a machine.† Namarti broke out passionately, â€Å"Jo-Jo, don't believe that. It's ridiculous.† But Joranum held up an admonitory hand. His eyes were gleaming. â€Å"Why do you say that?† â€Å"My father was in Mycogen once. He told me all about it. In Mycogen they talk about robots a lot.† â€Å"Yes, I know. At least, I have heard so.† â€Å"The Mycogenians believe that robots were once very common among their ancestors, but they were wiped out.† Namarti's eyes narrowed. â€Å"But what makes you think that Demerzel is a robot? From what little I have heard of these fantasies, robots are made out of metal, aren't they?† â€Å"That's so,† said Raych earnestly. â€Å"But what I heard is that there were a few robots that look just like human beings and they live forever-â€Å" Namarti shook his head violently. â€Å"Legends! Ridiculous legends! JoJo, why are we listening-â€Å" But Joranum cut him off quickly. â€Å"No, G.D. I want to listen. I've heard these legends, too.† â€Å"But it's nonsense, Jo-Jo.† â€Å"Don't be in such a rush to say ‘nonsense.' And even if it were, people live and die by nonsense. It's not what is so much as what people think is. Tell me, young man, putting legends to one side, what makes you think Demerzel is a robot? Let's suppose that robots exist. What is it, then, about Demerzel that makes you say he is a robot? Did he tell you so?† â€Å"No, sir,† said Raych. â€Å"Did your father tell you so?† asked Joranum. â€Å"No, sir. It's just my own idea, but I'm sure of it.† â€Å"Why? What makes you so sure?† â€Å"It's just something about him. He doesn't change. He doesn't get older. He doesn't show emotions. Something about him looks like he's made of metal.† Joranum sat back in his chair and looked at Raych for an extended time. It was almost possible to hear his thoughts buzzing. Finally he said, â€Å"Suppose he is a robot, young man. Why should you care? Does it matter to you?† â€Å"Of course it matters to me,† said Raych. â€Å"I'm a human being. I don't want no robot in charge of running the Empire.† Joranum turned to Namarti with a gesture of eager approval. â€Å"Do you hear that, G.D.? ‘I'm a human being. I don't want no robot in charge of running the Empire.' Put him on holovision and have him say it. Have him repeat it over and over till it's drummed into every person on Trantor-â€Å" â€Å"Hey,† said Raych, finally catching his breath. â€Å"I can't say that on holovision. I can't let my father find out-â€Å" â€Å"No, of course not,† said Joranum quickly. â€Å"We couldn't allow that. We'll just use the words. We'll find some other Dahlite. Someone from each of the sectors, each in his own dialect, but always the same message: ‘I don't want no robot in charge of running the Empire.'† Namarti said, â€Å"And what happens when Demerzel proves he's not a robot?† â€Å"Really,† said Joranum. â€Å"How will he do that? It would be impossible for him to do so. Psychologically impossible. What? The great Demerzel, the power behind the throne, the man who has twitched the strings attached to Cleon I all these years and those attached to Cleon's father before him? Will he climb down now and whine to the public that he is, too, a human being? That would be almost as destructive to him as being a robot. G.D., we have the villain in a no-win situation and we owe it all to this fine young man here.† Raych flushed. Joranum said, â€Å"Raych is your name, isn't it? Once our party is in a position to do so, we won't forget. Dahl will be treated well and you will have a good position with us. You're going to be Dahl's sector leader someday, Raych, and you're not going to regret you've done this. Are you, now?† â€Å"Not on your life,† said Raych fervently. â€Å"In that case, we'll see that you get back to your father. You let him know that we intend him no harm, that we value him greatly. You can tell him you found that out in any way you please. And if you find anything else you think we might be able to use-about psychohistory, in particular, you let us know.† â€Å"You bet. But do you mean it when you say you'll see to it that Dahl gets some breaks?† â€Å"Absolutely. Equality of sectors, my boy. Equality of worlds. We'll have a new Empire with all the old villainies of privilege and inequality wiped out.† And Raych nodded his head vigorously. â€Å"That's what I want.† 19 Cleon, Emperor of the Galaxy, was walking hurriedly through the arcade that led from his private quarters in the Small Palace to the offices of the rather tremendous staff that lived in the various annexes of the Imperial Palace, which served as the nerve center of the Empire. Several of his personal attaches walked after him, with looks of the deepest concern on their faces. The Emperor did not walk to others. He summoned them and they came to him. If he did walk, he never showed signs of haste or emotional trauma. How could he? He was the Emperor and, as such, far more a symbol of all the worlds than a human being. Yet now he seemed to be a human being. He motioned everyone aside with an impatient wave of his right hand. In his left hand he held a gleaming hologram. â€Å"The First Minister,† he said in an almost strangled voice, not at all like the carefully cultivated tones he had painstakingly assumed along with the throne. â€Å"Where is he?† And all the high functionaries who were in his way fumbled and gasped and found it impossible to manage coherence. He brushed past them angrily, making them all feel, undoubtedly, as though they were living through a waking nightmare. Finally he burst into Demerzel's private office, panting slightly, and shouted-literally shouted- â€Å"Demerzel!† Demerzel looked up with a trace of surprise and rose smoothly to his feet, for one did not sit in the presence of the Emperor unless specifically invited to. â€Å"Sire?† he said. And the Emperor slammed the hologram down on Demerzel's desk and said, â€Å"What is this? Will you tell me that?† Demerzel looked at what the Emperor had given him. It was a beautiful hologram, sharp and alive. One could almost hear the little boy-perhaps ten years old-speaking the words that were included in the caption: â€Å"I don't want no robot in charge of running the Empire.† Demerzel said quietly, â€Å"Sire, I have received this, too.† â€Å"And who else has?† â€Å"I am under the impression, Sire, that it is a flier that is being widely spread over Trantor.† â€Å"Yes, and do you see the person at whom that brat is looking?† He tapped his Imperial forefinger at it. â€Å"Isn't that you?† â€Å"The resemblance is striking, Sire.† â€Å"Am I wrong in supposing that the whole intent of this flier, as you call it, is to accuse you of being a robot?† â€Å"That does seem to be its intention, Sire.† â€Å"And stop me if I'm wrong, but aren't robots the legendary mechanical human beings one finds in-in thrillers and children's stories?† â€Å"The Mycogenians have it as an article of faith, Sire, that robots-â€Å" â€Å"I'm not interested in the Mycogenians and their articles of faith. Why are they accusing you of being a robot?† â€Å"Merely a metaphorical point, I'm sure, Sire. They wish to portray me as a man of no heart, whose views are the conscienceless calculations of a machine.† â€Å"That's too subtle, Demerzel. I'm no fool.† He tapped the hologram again. â€Å"They're trying to make people believe you are really a robot.† â€Å"We can scarcely prevent it, Sire, if people choose to believe that.† â€Å"We cannot afford it. It detracts from the dignity of your office. Worse than that, it detracts from the dignity of the Emperor, The implication is that I-I would choose as my First Minister a mechanical man. That is impossible to endure. See here, Demerzel, aren't there laws that forbid the denigration of public officers of the Empire?† â€Å"Yes, there are-and quite severe ones, Sire, dating back to the great Law Codes of Aburamis.† â€Å"And to denigrate the Emperor himself is a capital offense, is it not?† â€Å"Death is the punishment, Sire. Yes.† â€Å"Well, this not only denigrates you, it denigrates me-and whoever did it should be executed forthwith. It was this Joranum, of course, who is behind it.† â€Å"Undoubtedly. Sire, but proving it might be rather difficult.† â€Å"Nonsense! I have proof enough! I want an execution.† â€Å"The trouble is, Sire, that the laws of denigration are virtually never enforced. Not in this century, certainly.† â€Å"And that is why society is becoming so unstable and the Empire is being shaken to its roots. The laws are still in the books, so enforce them.† Demerzel said, â€Å"Consider, Sire, if that would be wise. It would make you appear to be a tyrant and a despot. Your rule has been a most successful one through kindness and mildness-â€Å" â€Å"Yes and see where that got me. Let's have them fear me for a change, rather than love me-in this fashion.† â€Å"I strongly recommend that you not do so, Sire. It may be the spark that will start a rebellion.† â€Å"What would you do, then? Go before the people and say, ‘Look at me. I am no robot.†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ â€Å"No, Sire, for as you say that would destroy my dignity and, worse yet, yours.† â€Å"Then?† â€Å"I am not certain, Sire. I have not yet thought it through.† â€Å"Not yet thought it through? Get in touch with Seldon.† â€Å"Sire?† â€Å"What is so difficult to understand about my order? Get in touch with Seldon!† â€Å"You wish me to summon him to the Palace, Sire?† â€Å"No, there's no time for that. I presume you can set up a sealed communication line between us that cannot be tapped.† â€Å"Certainly, Sire.† â€Å"Then do so. Now!† 20 Seldon lacked Demerzel's self-possession, being, as he was, only flesh and blood. The summons to his office and the sudden faint glow and tingle of the scrambler field was indication enough that something unusual was taking place. He had spoken by sealed lines before but never to the full extent of Imperial security. He expected some government official to clear the way for Demerzel himself. Considering the slowly mounting tumult of the robot flier, he could expect nothing less. But he did not expect anything more, either, and when the image of the Emperor himself, with the faint glitter of the scramble field outlining him, stepped into his office (so to speak), Seldon fell back in his seat, mouth wide open, and could make only ineffectual attempts to rise. Cleon motioned him impatiently to keep his seat. â€Å"You must know what's going on, Seldon.† â€Å"Do you mean about the robot flier, Sire?† â€Å"That's exactly what I mean. What's to be done?† Seldon, despite the permission to remain seated, finally rose. â€Å"There's more, Sire. Joranum is organizing rallies all over Trantor on the robot issue. At least, that's what I hear on the newscasts.† â€Å"It hasn't reached me yet. Of course not. Why should the Emperor know what is going on?† â€Å"It is not for the Emperor to be concerned, Sire. I'm sure that the First Minister-â€Å" â€Å"The First Minister will do nothing, not even keep me informed. I turn to you and your psychohistory. Tell me what to do. â€Å" â€Å"Sire?† â€Å"I'm not going to play your game, Seldon. You've been working on psychohistory for eight years. The First Minister tells me I must not take legal action against Joranum. What, then, do I do?† Seldon stuttered. â€Å"S-sire! Nothing!† â€Å"You have nothing to tell me?† â€Å"No, Sire. That is not what I mean. I mean you must do nothing. Nothing! The First Minister is quite right if he tells you that you must not take legal action. It will make things worse.† â€Å"Very well. What will make things better?† â€Å"For you to do nothing. For the First Minister to do nothing. For the government to allow Joranum to do just as he pleases.† â€Å"How will that help?† And Seldon said, trying to suppress the note of desperation in his voice, â€Å"That will soon be seen.† The Emperor seemed to deflate suddenly, as though all the anger and indignation had been drawn out of him. He said, â€Å"Ah! I understand! You have the situation well in hand!† â€Å"Sire! I have not said that-â€Å" â€Å"You need not say. I have heard enough. You have the situation well in hand, but I want results. I still have the Imperial Guard and the armed forces. They will be loyal and, if it comes to actual disorders, I will not hesitate. But I will give you your chance first.† His image flashed out and Seldon sat there, simply staring at the empty space where the image had been. Ever since the first unhappy moment when he had mentioned psychohistory at the Decennial Convention eight years before, he had had to face the fact that he didn't have what he had incautiously talked about. All he had was the wild ghost of some thoughts-and what Yugo Amaryl called intuition.