Twelve Keys to Answered Prayer

TWELVE KEYS TO ANSWERED PRAYER Why does God not answer most people’s prayers? Do you know how to pray in a way that will get real results? Here are 12 practical steps that will help secure the favor of God for answered prayer! Key #1—Pray Sincerely to the True God It is absolutely vital that you pray to the very real God of the Bible if you expect genuine answers to your prayers. He reveals Himself to mankind in many ways—in creation, in the Bible, in His foretelling specific divine intervention in world affairs and in direct ANSWERS to those who seek and obey Him through fervent holy worship. In our modern, ecumenical (worldwide) approach to religion, we may think that praying to some vague â€Å"blob† in the sky or to an idol of Buddha is just the same as praying to the CREATOR—the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel and Jesus Christ, but it is not the same at all! The true God was revealed by Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:27). To one of His disciples, He said, â€Å"Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known ME†¦? We read of Jesus Christ acknowledging that God was a loving, divine Person—a â€Å"Father. And we see the Father acting through Christ to heal the sick, to comfort the downcast and to teach those whom He calls to keep not only the Ten Commandments, but all of His words as a way of life (Matthew 19:17). Christ also set an example for us in praying to the Father: â€Å"Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify Youâ€⠄¢Ã¢â‚¬  (John 17:1). We serve an awesome God, with limitless power and glory! When you get down on both knees and lift up your hands in prayer to the great CREATOR of the universe, you should think of to whom you are praying. Remember that He is not only the Creator, but also the active Sovereign ruler of the entire universe and the Bible says that it is God’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom and all that is contained in it. Be sure you always pray specifically to This God—the true God—and to no other. As you begin your prayer, think about whom you are praying to and consciously worship this Great God who gives you life and breath. Key # 2—Study the Bible It naturally follows that praying to the true God involves believing what He says. And we find His words—instructing human beings how they should live—in the Holy Bible. It reveals essential knowledge that we could not acquire in any other way. It is God’s â€Å"Instruction Manual† for humanity. It tells us who God is what He is like and how we ought to serve Him. In its pages we find God’s own instructions (not suggestions) as to how we ought to live for and pray to Him. You will not receive this full instruction by just â€Å"going to church† or by carelessly reading bits and pieces of the Bible for comfort or inspiration. God commands us in His Word, â€Å"Earnestly study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman unashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth† (2 Timothy 2:15). To know God, to understand His will and to believe in His promises, one needs to regularly study His inspired Word in an orderly way—just as you might study a science textbook or a volume on history. A good place to start is the book of Matthew. Read this through slowly and carefully—noting what Jesus actually said, paying particular attention to the many examples of answered prayer. Key #3—Deeply Repent of Your Sins Although from time to time God hears the prayers of anyone who sincerely cries out to Him in time of need, He is not bound by His Word to do this. God’s Word says, â€Å"Behold the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear dull, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear† (Isaiah 59:1-2). It is not our job to psychoanalyze or â€Å"spiritually dissect† those who have not had their prayers answered in the past. But we have a duty to ask ourselves: â€Å"Do I worship the true God? Do I do His will? Please be honest with yourself. It is easy to rationalize or to reason around this very clear scriptural teaching about obeying God’s law for having your prayers answered. As you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18), He will live His life in you more and more fully over the course of your Christian life. Certainly you will not be perfect (mature) all at once, and no human being has ever been perfect (spotless) except Jesus Christ Himself. But you will be walking in the way of the Ten Commandments by surrendering to Him. By walking with Christ in this manner, you can be assured of having more powerful answers to your prayers than ever before. Key #4 Forgive Others Another vital key to answered prayer is our willingness to truly FORGIVE others. Frankly, our loving Father in heaven simply does not hear those who come to Him in a spirit of revenge, bitterness or hatred. Immediately after giving us the â€Å"Lord’s Prayer†Ã¢â‚¬â€the outline prayer describing the right general approach to talking with God—Jesus went on to instruct His followers: â€Å"If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also for give you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses neither will your Father for give your trespasses† (Matthew 6:14-15). And Psalm 66:18-20 says, â€Å"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: but verily (truly) God hath heard me: He hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be the God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me. † Key #5—Seek God’s Will Another key to successful prayer is to be absolutely sure that—as far as possible—you align your will and your requests with God’s will. As you zealously study the Bible and yield to let Christ live within you, His will increasingly replaces your own. It affects how you pray. You come to realize that God has made all men and women in His image—that He will call all mankind to understanding and repentance in His own time. With this in mind, you will not be praying just for your own good, but for the good of others as well. Then you can sincerely say to God, as Jesus did: â€Å"Not My will, but Yours be done† (Luke 22:42). Remember this key phrase from the outline prayer of Jesus in Matthew 6, â€Å"Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven† (v. 10). We all need to focus on this as we pray. What is really best for us and everyone concerned in the long run—only God knows for sure! On the other hand, the Bible contains literally dozens of promises and/or direct indications of what God has done or will do in regard to answered prayer. If we pray in faith that God will hear us—and in accordance to His will—we may be sure that He is listening. â€Å"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him† (1 John 5:14-15). Key #6—Have Faith in God The more you drink in of the Bible, the more deeply you will realize the importance of FAITH. But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him† (Heb. 11:6). The bottom line is that you cannot please God without Faith, and generally speaking, the Bible makes it crystal clear that God will not hear and answer your prayer s unless you come to Him in faith. â€Å"But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord† (James 1:6). We need to take careful note of this vital teaching of Jesus Christ with respect to prayer and faith: â€Å"Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say unto you, whatever things you ask when you pray, BELIEVE that you receive them, and you WILL have them† (Mark 11:22-24). By continually drinking in of the Bible and praying for faith, you will find that your faith will increase more and more. Understand that living faith is produced by God’s Holy Spirit within us, and Jesus said, â€Å"If you then, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy spirit to those who ask Him! † (Lk. 11:13). God wants to give us those things we ask for if we humbly ask for them and our motives and priorities are not selfish ones. So we need to pray to Him continually to give us the FAITH we need. We need to learn to BELIEVE in the promises of God. We need to learn to believe that God is REAL—that He has perfect wisdom, perfect love and perfect POWER. Realize that He will KEEP all his promises! We need to learn to imitate Abraham, the father of the faithful (Romans 4:16), for he â€Å"did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also ABLE to perform† (Rom. 4:20-21). This is real faith. This is the attitude you must have to receive genuine answers to your prayers. Key # 7—Be Persistent If your child asks you just once for a bicycle and then seemingly forgets about it and never brings the subject up again how deep is his or her desire for it? How much do you think they would appreciate it if they did get one? And so it is when we ask for something from our Heavenly father. Before He supernaturally intervenes, God wants to know that we deeply desire whatever we ask for, and that we will respect and worship Him for answering our prayer. In other words, God uses our need or desire as a vehicle to draw us closer to Him, spiritually—to cause us to focus on His will and on what is really best for us and for any others who might be involved. If we carelessly ask for something, and then virtually forget that we ever did, what would that indicate? It might tell God that we are not all that interested in His doing what we ask! Or it could be that all our desires are shallow, perhaps constantly changing, and that we would not feel a deep sense of appreciation and worship even if He constantly answered such shallow prayers! (See Luke 18:1-8). God wants us to be persistent. He wants us to walk with Him, talk with Him and commune with Him continually—day after day in this age, and ultimately throughout eternity! The Apostle Paul instructs us to â€Å"pray without ceasing† (1 Thess. 5:17). David said in Psalm 55:16-17, â€Å"As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. † So pray regularly. Spend plenty of TIME communing with Jesus Christ and your Heavenly Father. And never—EVER—stop praying to God! For, in more ways than one, your very life depends upon this contact! Key #8—Pray Fervently In Hosea 7:14 God cites as one of the reasons He did not hear the prayers of ancient Israel was that â€Å"and they have not cried unto Me with their heart. The Moffatt translation of this same verse reads, â€Å"They never put their Heart into their prayers. † What about us? Do you and I pray with our entire being? Or do we just rattle off a memorized prayer like some pagan chant or perhaps sleepily mumble a few half-hearted requests to God just before drifting off to sleep? Again, remember Jesus’ example of getting up early to pray to the Father. For prayer was vitally important to Christ. That is why He apparently put it first on His schedule—before anything else could interfere. And he probably came back to God repeatedly as the day progressed. The Book of Hebrews tells us about Christ’s passionate, heartfelt prayers: â€Å"Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear† (Heb. 5:7). It is good to go to a private place to pray as Jesus instructed in Matthew 6. Alone, we can occasionally cry out to our temptations or difficulties where only the help of God Himself can fully take care of the situation. In Luke 22:44 Jesus was crying out to His Father in such an intense and passionate manner that some of His capillaries may have literally burst—filling certain sweat ducts with blood. In our modern secular, hedonistic, laid back society, we need to grasp that the truly vital issues of life are not material. Rather, they are spiritual—having to do with our Creator and with all eternity. They are certainly worthy of getting excited about. So let us put our hearts into our prayers. Let us be fervent! Let us be passionate as we pour out our hearts to the awesome Personality who wants to be our real Father: the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity† (Isaiah 57:15). Key #9—Ask God to Fashion and Mold You A genuine man or woman of God is one who has totally surrendered to the will of the Creator. Through the Prophet Isaiah God tells us: â€Å"But on this one will I look: on Him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word† (Isa. 66:2). This attitude of seeking God’s will rather than our own—of total submission to our Heavenly father—is vital to our prayer life if we are to receive constant and powerful answers. Do you want to truly grow spiritually? Listen to Ephesians 4:13: â€Å"Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. † If you’re serious about growing and becoming mature then we need to all â€Å"wrestle with God† in our prayers as Jacob literally wrestled with Him and prevailed (Gen. 32:24-32). We need to engage Him in long, thoughtful conversation about how we can more fully yield to Him, walk with Him in our lives. We need to constantly ask God to help us fulfill the great PURPOSE for which we were born. It is fine—within limits—to pray for physical things. BUT THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF PRAYER IS TO HELP US FOCUS ON GOD, YIELD TO HIM AND SURRENDER OUR WILL TO HIS AS WE CULTIVATE A VITAL INTERACTIVE RELATIONSHIP. In this way He becomes increasingly real to us. Through constant and heartfelt Bible Study and prayer we must seek God’s will. We must grasp that our past ideas and attitudes about God and religion in general need much improvement. This process will bring us to a point in our lives where we learn to walk with Him, talk with Him, quietly commune with Him off and on all day long. Sincerely ask Him to mold you into His own image. The approach of yielding to God as you pray, of asking Him to rebuke and chasten and fashion you, is one of the vital keys to really powerful prayer. Key #10—Give Praise and Thanks to Almighty God Another of the qualities that made King David a man after God’s own heart was the sincere love, worship and adoration that he continually expressed toward the great creator who blessed him, sustained him and guided him. The entire Book of Psalms is literally filled with David’s prayers of worship and adoration. Listen to Psalm 18:1-3, â€Å"I will love you, O Lord my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. † Fifty (50) verses and David never asked for one thing! All he does is give God praise and thanks for what He has already done. When was the last time you got down on your knees or walked on your feet and just gave God continuous repetitious praise and thanks for what He has already done? We need to constantly thank and praise God for every good gift and for His help and blessing in every situation (1 Thess. 5:18). Instead of losing control in our enthusiasm for sports figures, rock and rap stars or any other human idols, let us unashamedly pour out our whole being in thanking, praising and worshiping the God who made us and who gives us life and breath. This is the God who forgives us time and time and time again, who guides and blesses us, and who in the end—plans to share His eternal glory with us if we will only respond and learn to love Him as He loves us. Key #11—Pray in the Name of Jesus Christ To truly and correctly use Jesus’ name in prayer we must OBEY Him and again ask according to His will. Remember that in the Sermon on the Mount, Christ warned: â€Å"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Those who do not really know the true God or His way are simply not capable of properly coming before Him in the name of Jesus Christ. To pray in the name of Jesus is to approach the throne of God through the name—the office and authority of Jesus Christ who gives us access to the very throne room of God. So as you approach God in heartfelt, regular prayer, be sure you are obeying your Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Though He does not expect instant spiritual maturity, He does want us to walk in His way through the help of the Holy Spirit. When we do we can then come to the Father through Christ alone to make the direct contact of effective prayer. And remember, James said, â€Å"the effectual (unceasing) fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much† (James 5:16b). Key #12—EXPECT AN ANSWER!!!!!!!!!!!

Corrections Purpose and History Essay

The history of punishment is a unique one, since the dawn of man human kind has punished one another. Man did not merely throw someone in a chamber and let them contemplate their crimes such as we do in today’s society; rather, during those early times, punishment was harsh and swift. Criminals were not drawn through the litigation processes; instead, they were found immediately guilty of a crime and brought forth to be punished in an open forum, serving to the masses as an example of the consequences of crime. The early forms of punishment in Europe varied greatly but all forms were meant to inflict unimaginable pain upon the recipient, and it is from the European methods of imprisonment from which the U.S. drew inspiration. Punishment such as crucifixion, burning on pyres, guillotines, and gauntlets are but a few examples of what methods were utilized as early methods of punishment in early Europe. This illustrates the underlying ideology that punishment should be administer ed with two principles in mind, deterrence and retribution. Purpose and History Methods of imprisonment introduced near the turn of the eighteenth century England inspired and revolutionized the way we punish and house inmates. In England during the fifteenth and sixteenth century’s corporal punishment reined supreme. Public beatings were carried out in the streets with whips; beheadings and torture were the norm for serious crimes; and enslavement was common for petty offenders. During the seventeenth century in England and other European countries, imprisonment for lesser offenses started to occur but conditions were less than desirable or humane. These facilities were overcrowded, unsanitary, and, worst of all, gender/age neutral, which meant that male felons frequently took liberties with incarcerated women and children (â€Å"Incarcerated: The History of the Penitentiary from 1776-Present†, 1997). The American Colonies quickly embraced the idea of imprisonment, because of the religious freedoms English settlers sought when they colonized this nation. The Quakers were a religious group that settled in the northeast United States and they developed new laws to govern punishment and incarcerations that focused on prolonged imprisonment to serve as retribution for crimes committed. The Quakers belief system focused on of morality, peace, non-violence, and humanity. As such they showed mercy on offenders by allowing them to shed their anti-social behaviors through long term incarceration and a penance of hard labor. It is from this that modern the concept of reformation was established. Since this form of incarceration gained popularity, it has held onto two core principles: that a criminal can make restitutions for his/her crimes and that a convict can be eventually reintegrated back into society. The new form of punishment provided an alternative to the implemented punishments of yesteryear. Auburn versus Cherry Hill Pennsylvania System This reformation of how society punished criminals served as the foundation for new and competing theories on incarceration and punishment. In America around the early 1800’s, two prison systems were the dominant models of confinement: the Pennsylvania and the Auburn State. The first model was the Pennsylvania model, which was first used at Cherry Hill prison. This model used solitary confinement as its primary tool: convicts were perpetually detained without interactions with other individuals or time outside of confinement. The idea was that solitary confinement would lead to inward reflection and religious motivation and result in a penitent convict. In fact the word penitentiary actually comes from the Pennsylvania model of perpetual confinement because it had religious implications. At first, particularly in Cherry Hill, a Bible would be left in the solitary confinement cells in the hopes it would help prisoners repent. The second model was the Auburn State prison system, which supported the labor penance model. It operated under the assumption that hard, physical labor could not only serve as restitution but as a means of helping a convicted criminal reintegrate into society fully reformed. Often, prisoners worked during the day in total silence and would be hosed down them at night. A main criticism of the Auburn system was that prisoners were being used essentially as slave labor. Inmates were being farmed out to private business owners, who had contracts with the state, which in turn lined the pockets of the private businesses and cut costs for the state. As such, the Auburn model became the popular model, because states faced significantly less prison and prisoner care costs. Businesses paid a fee in order to use the prisoners and the prisoners acted as unpaid labor for the businesses. The state prisons pocketed the fees thus creating a revenue stream that could be used to support the prisons, rather than tapping into state funds, i.e. tax payer dollars (Colvin, 1997). Around the 1920’s to 1930’s many changes occurred due to the state of the economy and activists pressing the government for prison reform. One of the main changes occurred when Congress enacted the Hawes Cooper Act, which effectively stymied the sale of prison-made goods or the us e of prison-labor by making such goods subject to state punitive laws. This act was passed in no small part due to the jobs that were needed by good upstanding citizens—jobs that were being taken away during extremely tough financial times by cheap prison labor. Congress had the authority to pass such a law thanks to its power to control and tax interstate commerce. The Ashurst-Sumners Act was the final nail in the coffin by prohibiting transport companies from accepting prison-made products (McShane & Williams,1996). The changes that stemmed from the Depression helped shape the correctional system into the rehabilitation-oriented program we have today. Prisoners are now classified into the likelihood of rehabilitation and the type of crimes that were committed, and this determines what type of facility an offender is incarcerated. Since 1935, the government made it clear that prisons must separate prisoners on the basis of gender and age. Now, facilities specifically for juvenile offenders have been established and the handling procedures for yo unger offenders have been defined. Furthermore, there are programs to rehabilitate all types of offenders whether their needs are as simple as talking to someone during counseling sessions or educational opportunities. In some ways this system has been detrimental to corrections as a whole because it arguably results in overcrowding and a more lenient attitude: if you commit a crime then you will only have to contend with years off your life rather than hard labor and making reparations for the crime (Seiter, 2011). Over-population has resulted in more money taken from the taxpayers because if there are more people in the correctional system, more facilities and care are needed. Crime levels have dissipated over the years but not dramatically enough to really prove that this system is the true solution to our problems. Conclusion Modern principles of rehabilitation and reform have brought about the institution of facilities to incarcerate convicted individuals; these structures are called penitentiaries, jails, and prisons. Current prisons are more aptly concerned with long-term detention rather than a temporary housing prior to punishment like it was used as in the past. Today’s Prisons are a shell of the former institutions. Inmates in facilities today would never allow themselves to be used for labor outside prison walls it would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. For now the correctional system work, but soon it could be on the verge of collapse and any moment the flood gates could burst and the concept of rehabilitation could come to an end. References: Mcshane, M. D., & Williams, F. P. (1996). Encyclopedia of American Prisons (2nd ed.). Taylor and Francis. INCARCERATED: THE HISTORY OF THE PENITENTIARY FROM 1776- PRESENT. (1997). Retrieved from http://www.richeast.org/htwm/jails/Jails.html Colvin, M. (1997). Penitentiaries, Reformatories, and Chain Gangs: Social Theory and the History of Punishment in Nineteenth Century America. : St. Martin’s Press. Seiter, R. (2011). Corrections an Introduction (3rd ed.). Upper saddle Hall, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Ryanair’s Strategic Issues and Suggestion

Ryanair (0704007 business ) their strategy Ryanair's strategy is to offer their services with cheap price. So their competitive advantage is â€Å"Cheaper price† than other rivals. To maintain cheaper price than other rivals, they faces several problems. facing problems There were several challenges faced by low cost carriers in Europe like rising aviation fuel costs, ensuring staff productivity and maintaining a large fleet for expansion. 1. There are lots of airways which is provide cheap fare of flight such as easyjet, Virgin express, Air Berlin and so on.As minor airways use the same routine, minor airports get a purchasing power from the airlines competition. It is hard situation for Ryanair to minimize the fare. 2. The aviation turbine fuel costs fluctuated as economic and political situation changes and increasing demand of fuel. Also, the fuel should be paid by US dollars, so change of exchange rate affects to the fuel cost. Ryanair had not added surcharges like other airlines so that they could maintain lower fares.But increasing fuel cost makes hard to maintain lower price for Ryanair. 3. As I mentioned earlier, there are so many airlines offer cheap fares in Europe. The major competitors of Ryanair were easyJet, bmibaby, Air Berlin, SkyEurope, Wizz Air and Aer Lingus. Also, there were other low cost substitutes like train and tram services in Europe. 4. Ryanair want to expand their business in the European continent as it was becoming popular tourist destination. Also it is planning to expand its network to North Africa.It requires more aircraft, human resources, and agreements with airport authorities and governments. But the incidents of terrorism in UK and Europe, requirements from airport authorities and governments is hard for them. providing solutions 1. As there are quite lots of airlines which offer low fare of flight, they can be united and make a union of lower fare flight. Then they can have a purchasing power to local airports. 2. When the CEO judges the fuel cost goes up and thinks the time of low cost of fuel, CEO can make a long term contract with oil supplier.At this strategy, CEO's judgement is really important. Also, the company can do Forward Trading of oil. 3. Customers choose some airlines by fare and service. As the automatic devices are developed fast, they can reduce the cost by replacing from human resources to automatic devices. But the part of offering services, employees should be focused. 4. Do negotiation with the countries such as North Africa, US etc , then try to be liberalization. After the negotiation, business expansion will be easier.

Role of Relationship Marketing in Online and Traditional Marketing Dissertation

Role of Relationship Marketing in Online and Traditional Marketing Approaches - Dissertation Example This research will begin with the statement that with the introduction of new technological platforms in which to attract customers, the use of online marketing strategies has increased exponentially in recent years. However, there is no clear evidence of how this transition from traditional marketing to online marketing is affecting the telecommunication industry of the United Kingdom. Moreover, the role of relationship marketing in both online and traditional marketing is yet to be explored. Popularity of online marketing has increased in the recent years. With the increase in the numbers of internet users, marketers are more inclined to approach consumers using online sources. Online marketing is providing businesses with an opportunity to attain more with given level of inputs. There is a clear shift from traditional marketing to online marketing however it is yet to be explored how this transition is affecting the telecommunication industry of the United Kingdom. In a comparativ e sense, there are questions of how different online marketing strategies vary from traditional marketing and in what ways they relate to each other. Clearly, there is a link between the two forms of marketing but less evidence exists on the role of relationship marketing in both traditional and online marketing approaches. This study will explore how these two approaches of marketing are similar or different and what is role of relationship marketing in enhancing the effectiveness of these modes.... using the focus group interview methodology has identified major trends and themes in online and traditional marketing techniques used by Virgin Mobile, UK. These results present implications for the players in the telecommunication industry. 1. INTRODUCTION Popularity of online marketing has increased in the recent years. With the increase in the numbers of internet users, marketers are more inclined to approach consumers using online sources. Online marketing is providing businesses with an opportunity to attain more with given level of inputs (Haegele, 2001). There is a clear shift from traditional marketing to online marketing however it is yet to be explored how this transition is affecting the telecommunication industry of the United Kingdom. In a comparative sense, there are questions of how different online marketing strategies vary from traditional marketing and in what ways they relate to each other (Mirzaei, 2012). Clearly, there is a link between the two forms of marketin g but less evidence exists on the role of relationship marketing in both traditional and online marketing approaches. This study will explore how these two approaches of marketing are similar or different and what is role of relationship marketing in enhancing the effectiveness of these modes. 1.1 Research Aims and Objectives The aim of the research is to â€Å"examine the differences and similarities between online marketing and traditional marketing while exploring the role of relationship marketing in both these forms; UK's telecommunication industry (specifically Virgin Mobile) is selected as a case for the assessment†. Following are the objectives of this study: 1 To compare traditional marketing and internet/social-media marketing approaches used by Virgin Mobile, UK from a

How Tai Chi Chan can improve performance in sport activities Research Paper

How Tai Chi Chan can improve performance in sport activities - Research Paper Example Sports personalities often engage in different exercises in order to strengthen their physical and mental health. For example, running, weight training etc are some of the exercises used for strengthening physical health whereas Yoga, deep breathing etc like exercises used for improving the mental health. The advantage of practicing Tai Chi Chuan for sports personalities is the fact that it can provide both physical and mental strength at the same time. It is not necessary for the sports people to practice different exercises to improve their stamina and will power, if they practice Tai Chi Chuan. In short, â€Å"Tai Chi is all about balancing and harmony† (About Tai Chi). It helps people not only as a defense mechanism, but also as an effective tool for improving physical and mental health. In short, Tai Chi originated as a martial art; however, it is currently used extensively for improving physical & mental health and also in improving the performances in sports events. Bas eball, Running, Golf, tennis etc are some of the popular sports events in which Tai Chi Chuan helps the sports people. This paper analyses the positive effects of Tai Chi Chuan upon our health and its role in helping sports personalities in improving their performances. ... The following illustrations provide a brief idea about the extent to which stress can cause physical and mental problems. (Dr. Babu) â€Å"Daily practice of Tai Chi promotes mental clarity and a healthy body, assists with balance and helps the circulation of the blood† (What is Tai Chi Chuan?). Tai Chi Chuan can reduce the stress levels of a person immensely and thus it can prevent stress related diseases up to certain extent. Deep breathing is one of the major exercises included in the tai chi exercises. Deep breathing is accepted globally as the major mechanism for stress reduction. Deep breathing helps the people to absorb more oxygen to their body which will enhance the brain activities. Enhanced brain activities will help a person to think more rationally and to eliminate the stress. Thus, the deep breathing techniques used in Tai Chi can help people to reduce their stress. Blood pressure, sugar level and cholesterol levels in the body can be adjusted to the optimum level , if Tai Chi practiced regularly. â€Å"Tai chi is often described as "meditation in motion," but it might well be called "medication in motion† (World Tai Chi & Qigong Day). Tai Chi exercises can be practiced even while a person is in motion. For example, while travelling in a vehicle, the person can practice deep breathing exercises as advised by Tai Chi Chuan. Attention deficit disorder (ADD) is one of the major health problems in many countries. Even though, it is seen more often among the children, it can cause problems to the adults also. ADD prevents a person from giving attention to a particular subject for longer periods. â€Å"Tai Chi may be a wonderful adjunct therapy for treating ADD because it augments

Employment and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Employment and Society - Essay Example Employment and workplace have several issues attached to it. Here we will be discussing those issues and solutions for them. Before that we will talk on some topics related to employment. With inflation on the high people are going towards better paying jobs each day. To keep their families intact they have to improve the standards of living and that requires some good money. Employees keep switching jobs whenever they get an opportunity. It can be safely said that money is the key to happiness these days and being employed is the source for money, thus it can be concluded that, employment is the key to happiness. But on the same time seeking employment is not an easy task, especially with the increase of experienced manpower and increase in expectation in terms of money. The problem faced by the organization as a result is the increase in turnover rate. Organizations are finding it difficult to contain their skilled employees. In these circumstances adding to the miseries of the organizations is demand for wage growth. Does a person loves his job or is he just stuck because he doesn't have another option In today's competitive environment the answer most of the time would be the latter. Whatever it may be the person should be fair to the job. People most of the time pose to be happy about their job. ... "To do something well you have to like it. That idea is not exactly novel. We've got it down to four words: "Do what you love." But it's not enough just to tell people that. Doing what you love is complicated." (How to Do What you Love, 2006). The sentences above explain my point of view. It's very difficult to find a job that you love, so compromise is the word for us, the working class. And I don't think compromise is too bad either if its not affecting the outcome of the job. Turnover Dilemma The organizations are finding it difficult to keep their employees intact. The turnover rate according to Recruitment, retention and turnover survey for UK this year is 18.3% (cipd, 2006). With the turnover rate being high there is a need to take a look at the factors causing it. It is devastating for a company when an experienced frontline employee leaves. Employee's turnover is costly. Employees are a source for business for an organization and when people start leaving, it will have an effect on the business. The reasons for leaving can vary, but most can be prevented if found out. The most common reason for leaving is money and position. Most of the employees leave the job because the wage other company is offering is more or the company is giving a higher rank. This problem if not totally prevented can be cured little by raising the valued employees salary on an annual basis and giving promotions when they deserve it. Lack of management skill can also be the reason for high turnover. Often overloading of work is seen, other than that favoritism and lack of trust in employee's decision-making can be some results of careless behavior by the management (Smith, n.d). Unemployment When we are talking about employment and the society there is a

Review of three political classic film Research Paper

Review of three political classic film - Research Paper Example With the fall of Berlin Wall, Capitalism had been advanced in East Berlin and Alex becomes unemployed only to meet Denis Domaschke, a filmmaker who becomes his ally. Christiane recuperates after eight months in grave health still traumatised from the events that she had faced. To protect her mother, Alex attempts to conceal the newly presented unjust Germany from her mother who had been emotionally affected. Christiane had been the victim in the movie who underwent a series of tragedies after her husband abandons her. Ariane, Alex and his girlfriend Lara had formulated the plan to conceal the changes that had occurred in the government into a dictatorial regime, when they had confined her to her bedroom. East Germany had been connected with the West on the fall of the Berlin wall, and capitalism shaping the society that the families dominated (Becker, 2003). The movie depicts the contradiction of the expected life by personalities like Alex who experienced an oppressive society after advocating for the demolition of the Berlin wall. The unity in the two regions had been presented in the movie using Christiane who died after the official reunification of Germany (Becker, 2003). Western Germany had been considered the venue that presented more challenges to individuals and Christiane evaded transporting his children to the state joining, the Socialists to offer protection to her family. Even with the unity, variable rules are still prohibited, and the family has to break the law in spreading Christiane’s ashes in the wind. The battle of Algiers 1966 The movie had been created to suggest the tension that had existed between Algerians and the French in the quest to articulate justice. This action had been the norm presented in the nations that had the desire to achieve self-governance and liberation. However, with the dominant nations, the challenge presented had been in the expertise and the skills available to achieve the witnessed victory. The Algerians h ad opted to use massive tactics and bombs as compared to the ruling French who included torture as a means in exerting their dominance. The events in the story are told through the memory of Ali, who had been a key member within the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN). He had been captured in 1957 following the attempt by the French to impose their rule (Pontecorvo, 1996). Earlier, Ali who had been a criminal within his society joined the group in the attempt to obtain liberalization. The rebel groups formed led to a national movement that saw unity developed in the attempt to rid the foreign rule. The majority of the casualty had been French police officers that saw retaliation of the massive massacre of Algerians. The events led to revenge killings that summed in Colonel Mathieu leading the efforts to destroy NFL. Ali remained the last NFL member to be captured, and he had been assassinated after the flashback. The NFL efforts had been noticed in 1962, when Algerians mana ged to be self governed. Dr. Stangelove The movie suggest the bureaucracy that had existed within the United States and the Soviet Union with the inclusion of the nuclear technology. The commanding General, Jack Ripper ordered his B52 squad to overturn the agreement and attack the Soviet Union. The events see the General protect the base through formulating a barrier against the external environment. The other participant in Leper Colony failed to acknowledge the actions that ordered the attack until the

The America Story Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The America Story - Term Paper Example There are also other stories like the slave trade and it abolishment, the confrontation that existed between the Southern and the Northern States as well as the civil war of 1861-62. Moving into the nineteenth century, there are a plethora of stories about America, Their involvement in the First and Second World War and later Cold War with Russia, the civil movement in the US over discrimination led by Martin Luther and on the other front by Malcolm X (Foner and John 46). The spread of capitalism ideology to counteract the Communism spread by the Russian, there rise to World super power and the ensuing rivalry with USSR. These are just some of the stories that make part of the American story, throughout the movie reviews in our learning modules; I have considered some of the reviews to be American history by virtue of their contents. One of the movies that were reviewed had its central theme being the slavery in America, in deed, slavery is one of the stories America is widely known for, it explains the presence of the Blacks in most of the southern States of the US. During the Agrarian and industrial revolution, there were high demands for raw materials and labor to meet the escalated demands at the time. The US then engaged in slavery to obtain extra human resource that would be working in the farms and the industries, this activity continued in the US until mid of the nineteenth century when others considered it unproductive. The different views that were held in regard slavery necessitated the civil war in the US that was fought in 1862 between the Southern and the Northern States. Historically, Northerners were industrialist while the Southerners were agriculturalist; this classification made the Southerners to engage in slavery that the northerners, slaves were used in the farms as well as to run other errands that were related to agriculture, land was owned by few people while the rest were landless and had no right to own land. This meant that there was a few demand for the industrial goods that were made then, this did not augur well with the Northerners who wanted the feudal land policy to be done away with and slavery stopped in the hope that market for their products will be enhanced (Foner and John 56). From the movie review, it can be seen that Thaddeus Stevens were against the new rule that stopped slavery since it was going to hinder his progress economically, they wanted to prolong slavery, but Johnson’s plan to stop slavery could not be avoided. This move was vehemently resisted by pro slavery and sparked a fight between the Northern states and the Southern States popularly known as the civil war. Even Lincoln himself before being elected vowed not to stop slavery in the US but later while serving as the president, he saw the need to facilitate its abolishment. Like in the movie Kate Stone and her mother were almost rendered bankrupt after the war that fought slavery, they had about one fifty slave but were eventu ally left with none. It was a protracted struggle to abolish slavery and even after the abolishment, blacks were still being discriminated against and this led to the rise of civil movement in the US. Slavery and its consequences are part of the rich American story that cannot be avoided; in fact, the history of the US is not complete without talking about the slavery and the later civil movement that was witnessed in the nineteenth century. Following slavery in the US, it is interesting to note that other states did not approve it and was thus outlawed. In some cases when one moved from one state that approves slavery to the other that do not, they were forced to free the slaves. In the constitution of the US, slavery was not

Mapp v. Ohio and Miranda v. Arizona Supreme Cases and their Effects on Assignment - 3

Mapp v. Ohio and Miranda v. Arizona Supreme Cases and their Effects on Interaction of Criminal Suspects and Law Enforcement Officers - Assignment Example Miranda vs. Arizona Miranda was arrested due to circumstantial evidence that accused him of kidnapping and raping an 18-year –old woman, 10 days before his arrest. He signed a statement pleading guilty of the offense without knowing his right to counsel. The supreme court of Arizona affirmed the court’s decision to admit the confession. However, Earl Warren, the chief justice ruled that due to the interrogation nature, where he was not informed of his rights by the police, such evidence of his confession could not be used against him, since he was not aware of his rights and hence, he had waived them (Brooks 177). From the Miranda vs. Arizona case, police advertisement of the rights of the criminal suspect before the start of questioning was brought about by the Miranda warning. The court has since reiterated the Miranda ruling that all case questioning must cease if a suspect in custody is being questioned when he has requested a lawyer. The 1992 Miranda rights have ef fectively been extended to US immigrants. Since then, illegal aliens who are arrested each year must read the Miranda warnings and be ready for their rights (Leo and George, 325). Legal officers have to arrest a suspect and listen to them without asking them questions while talking. On the other hand, police may question the suspect without the warnings of Miranda even in the confines of a police station. This is however only applicable when the police officer is questioning a person who is neither a suspect nor under arrest. Since all suspects must be read for their individual rights, the court has subsequently ruled that any waiver of the same rights must be voluntary, knowing and intelligent (Gerald 243). Mapp V. Ohio Prior to the 1960s, the United States Supreme Court only infrequently intruded on all criminal justice system’s operations at the local and state levels (Bloom 245). In 1961, Earl Warren, the chief justice of the supreme court made a decision about a case tha t forever changed the face of law enforcement in America (Brooks 12).        

Murder of Santiago Nasar in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Chronicle of a Essay

Murder of Santiago Nasar in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Essay Example Since Santiago was responsible for Angela’s loss of virginity, his death would be expected to be caused by a member or members of the Vicario family; more precisely, Santiago Nasar was killed by two brothers, Pablo and Pedro, from the Vicario family.  Santiago Nasar was going to be killed according to Marquez (67). The two brothers from the Vicario family had vowed to avenge their sister’s virginity since it robbed their family of honor. A bishop’s visit to the town threw the events of the day into disarray and shifted the attention from the foretold murder. The bishop decided, at the last minute, to stay on the boat on which he had travelled rather than get in town. Santiago Nasar was a member of the ruling class, together with his friends’ family. The family of the narrator in the story was close friends with Santiago’s family, which gave the narrator the expectation that before the bishop left the town; he would have personally paid them a visi t. Everyone, for sometime forgets about the saga that involved the return of Angela to her home after the wedding. The Vicario brothers were going to kill Santiago. Except few people, almost all the dwellers of the town including the priest and the mayor were aware that two identical twin brothers, Pablo and Pedro Vicario, were in a mission to find Santiago Nasar with the intention of killing him (Marquez 163). Santiago Nasar remained unaware of the plot by Vicario brothers to kill him until the time they accosted and attacked him. The manner in which the story unfolds is inverted, hence does not give very clear evidence of the murder at first. The story unfolds backwards rather than forwards. The possible reasons for the murder, the circumstances surrounding the murder and the motivation behind it are traced. The evidence that the Vicario brothers were going to kill Santiago is built from the importance they give to accomplishing their revenge mission. Angela Vicario was married by Bayardo San Roman in a flamboyant wedding ceremony. Barely five hours later, Bayardo returned her to her parents. The consequences of not being a virgin were potentially dangerous, a fact that Angela was very much aware. She, in fact, wanted to stop the marriage knowing very well that there existed no love between them. The Vicarious family, were so much impressed by Bayardo’s wealth and were, therefore, opposed to the decision by their daughter to stop the marriage. Her brothers were particularly not pleased by the incident and had vowed to kill whoever had deflowered their sister. Bayardo did not love Angela and neither did she love him. Rather, Bayardo was excited about the idea of marrying a beautiful woman. Bayardo San Roman used the wedding ceremony as an excuse to show off the power and wealth he wielded. According to the narrator’s comment, Bayardo San Roman could marry any woman he wanted to. His wealth and power came from the fact that he had been born of a decorated hero, the only one to defeat Colonel Aureliano Buendia, in a civil war fought in the nineteenth century. Lack of love may not have been a reason good enough to stop the marriage between Angela Vicario and Bayardo San Roman. However, the fact that Angela had lost her virginity to somebody other than her proud husband, Bayardo, was a reason enough to make her return to

What does the nature of statebuilding in Bosnia tell about sovereignty Essay

What does the nature of statebuilding in Bosnia tell about sovereignty during its post war reconstruction - Essay Example Earlier in the process of state building, there was an understanding that non-western states were autonomous and independent entities, and did not require western interference. However, in the post-Cold war era, in cases of domestic conflict, the issues of development and security have broadened to such an extent that non-western states cannot prevent the interference of foreign bodies in their domestic processes (Chandler, 2006). Bosnia, after the end of the civil war, was a transition state, and hence fragile in nature. In such cases, while helping to rebuild a fragile nation, the response from the international communities is often based on the establishment of new political orders and a new constitutional mechanism. Not promoting notions of state fragmentation through secession, the global community looks to pacify all parties that were at strife during the civil war by advocating agreements that make sovereignty a shared right amongst the existing warring factions within the sta te. Those in the arena of international relations often term this form of state sovereignty as internal self-determination (Cassese, 1995). This comprises the rights of different nationalistic groups within the realms of a multi-ethnic state that aims at preserving all the existent socio-cultural, language and religious identities, equal participation of these groups in state politics, with even a certain extent of regional autonomy (Hannum, 1990). Thus, to bring in peace initiatives for helping states in transition, experts in the line of international relations bring forth the notions of ‘consociational democracy’ that advocate a moderate form of political attitude (Lijphardt, 1969, 207). In real practice, various instances have shown that post-conflict reconstruction cannot be based only on establishing a new constitutional mechanism. In a fragile state, when a new constitutional mechanism is place, there are chances that the newly formed social and cultural institut ions and political framework may fail to form a sustaining framework. According to a report by the World Bank, chances of a conflict breaking out again after the close of a civil war, in a fragile state, is nearly 40 % (Collier, 2000, 6). Even with extensive negotiations with various concerned parties, undertaken by any international peace mission to prevent a fragile state from regressing back into armed conflict, there are substantial barriers in establishing an effective sovereign state. In case of Bosnia, we find that even after 16 years of large-scale efforts from the global community to reconstruct Bosnia and bring in socio-political stability in the country, the state is yet to achieve an established form. In 2009, after 14 years since the Dayton treaty (1995) heralded the end of a near four yearlong violent ethnic civil war, Bosnians again faced a serious threat of another civil war (McMahon and Western, 2009). In this context, keeping Bosnia as a frame of reference, this pa per will explore concepts associated with modern notions of state building, whether international form of state building is actually a way of assuming control over state functioning, the differences between peace building and state building, and viable alternatives to the current form of international state building. Discussion Viewing state building as regards its effectiveness in case of post-war Bosnia The Dayton peace agreement signed in 1995 is often viewed as a treaty, which was â€Å"designed to end a war, not build a state† (Ashdown, 2004, 15). Various scholars contend that leaders of ethnic

Article Analysis Essay Example for Free

Article Analysis Essay The article entitled â€Å"The Last Frontier† is a discussion of China in the past decades that had been known as a Communist country wherein all the people must follow the rule of the government so that wealth is equally divided to all, which the Capitalists have no voice to the economic stand of the government. That is why people had no right to criticize the rule which freedom of expression is limited only to those who are in authority. Only those who are in position are the ones who have the access on government transactions. If you were caught opposing an issue about a transaction in the government, they will be caught and put into jail without a fair trial. That is how they perceive justice during those days. However, Chinese people today can do what ever they want from choosing what they wish for themselves like finding the right job, to even do marry-making on wherever they wanted and even having an organization to which they can look after their environment. There was also an instance that where in a group of people decides to take its ground against the ruling power but failed because their stand does not have a favor for the government. Even though thousands of protesters flocked the streets of China, the government still did not let anyone use this as a tool to overthrow their government. The very example on the futile rule happened during the massacre in Tiananmen Square wherein thousand of protesters where they call for democracy and stop to corruption had made paid for their lives. Thus, the government made a deal with its people â€Å"we will give you freedom to make money, but politics is off limits (67),† giving them a little access to whatever transaction that the government is into. Reference Author. Date. The Last Frontier. Publisher

Capacity Planning And Decisions

Capacity Planning And Decisions Capacity planning is one of the key aspects of operations management as it determines the amount of goods or services which can be produced within a given time duration. Too less capacity indicates that customers wont be satisfied and too much capacity would result in the operation being under-utilized with resultant high fixed costs and also affecting breakeven and profitability. A company, when it has to increase its capacity it has various options to consider, from working overtime to building a new facility or a plant. Forecasting demand is critical to capacity planning and companies can adopt different strategies of capacity planning, to ensure customer satisfaction and maintain the operations well within their budget and other constraints. Short term capacity planning is very important for any company be it a product based or a service based company especially when there are seasonal demands, as those demands are totally unpredictable and there cant a permanent plan in place fo r short term capacity planning for seasonal demands. Momentary plans like employee overtime, subcontracting have to be considered and the best among them and that incur least cost have to be selected and implemented and this has been discussed in detail in this project. Chapter-1 Capacity Planning Decisions 1.1 Capacity Planning Firstly, Capacity of any facility is said to be the rate of productive capability of it. Capacity otherwise can be assumed as the rate at which a facility produces or in simple words, it is the ability of a facility to produce a certain level of output within a specific time period. When a firm decides to produce more of a product or plans to produce altogether a new product, it always starts with deciding how much capacity is needed considering the factors that affect capacity such as number of workers and machines, skill set of workers, defects, suppliers, government regulationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc. This is termed as Capacity Planning. 1.2 Need for Capacity Planning A firm can determine its facility location and choose the process technologies only after it has found out a need for new or expanded facilities by evaluating the capacity or capacity planning. Lack of capacity planning can result in under or over capacity and would incur unnecessary costs in exploring ways to reduce or increase capacity. Lack of capacity planning can also trigger a series of undesirable events such as poor delivery services, an increase in work-in-process and bring about dissatisfaction in the minds of the sales personnel and the team involved in manufacturing. Decision making such as producing new products, expanding productionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc can be difficult without proper capacity planning. 1.3 Determinants of Capacity The determinants of capacity are: Facilities Product and Service Factors Process Factors Manpower Factors Operational Factors Supply Chain Factors External Factors 1.4 How important are capacity decisions? Capacity decisions have its impacts on many different verticals of a firm. Firstly it affects the ability to meet future demands, as without capacity planning if not done keeping in mind the future demands leads to a shortage of products. If capacity is underestimated or overestimated it directly affects the operating costs as if capacity is overestimated the operating costs involved would get wasted and if underestimated the measures taken to fix it may cost a lot and so is the way it affects the initial costs too. And all these factors affect many other factors such as the competitiveness, managementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc. 1.5 How are Capacity Decisions made? Assessment of Existing Capacity Forecasting Future Capacity Needs Identification of Ways to Modify Capacity Evaluation of Financial, Economical, and Technological Capacity Alternatives Selection of a Capacity Alternative most suited to achieving strategic mission 1.6 Measuring Capacity Measuring capacity is simple for certain organizations. Reynolds, can use number of ballpoint pens produced per year, Hyundai Motors can use number of automobiles per year. But for organizations whose product lines are more diverse it is difficult to find out a common unit of output. As an alternative, capacity can be expressed in terms of input. A consultancy can express its capacity in terms of the number of consultants employed per year. A lathe shop may express capacity in terms of available labor hours or machine hours per week, month, or year. Following table shows some examples of capacity measures. Measures of Operating Capacity Output Organization Measure Automobile Manufacturer Number of Autos Brewery Barrels of Beer Cannery Tons of Food Steel Producer Tons of Steel Power Company Megawatts of electricity Input Organization Measure Airline Number of Seats Hospital Number of Beds Job Shop Labor and/or machine hours Merchandising Square Feet of Display or Sales Area Movie Theatre Number of Seats Restaurant Number of seats or table Tax Office Number of Accountants University Number of Students and/or faculty Warehouse Square or cubic feet of storage space Source: Productions and Operations Management, Text Book Day to day variations such as employees being absent or late, breakdowns of machines, downtime required for facility maintenance and repair make it often difficult to measure capacity realistically. A facility can in some cases operate at more than 100% capacity. Chapter-2 Estimating Future Capacity Needs 2.1 Capacity requirements can be evaluated from two different perspectives viz. short term and long term. 2.1.1 Short-Term Requirements Managers often use forecasting of product demand for estimating the short term work load the facility should be handling. By looking forward up to 12 months, managers expect output requirements for different products or services following which they compare requirements with currently existing capacity and find out when capacity adjustments are to be made. 2.1.2 Long-Term Requirements Long term capacity requirements are tougher to determine as future demand and technologies are uncertain. Forecasting five or ten years into the future is a risky and a tough job. A product existing today may not even exist in the future. It is easily visible that long range capacity requirements depend on marketing plans, product development, and the life cycles of the products. Changes in process technology should also be expected. Even if products remain unchanged, the methods for generating them may change drastically. Capacity planning should be involving forecasting of technology as well as product demand. 2.2 Strategies for Modifying Capacity After currently existing and the future capacity requirements are determined, alternatives ways of modifying capacity must be found out. 2.2.1 Short Term Responses For short-term periods of up to one year, basic capacity is fixed. Majority of the facilities are rarely opened or closed on a regular monthly or yearly basis. Many short-term adjustments for increasing or decreasing capacity are possible anyway. The adjustments to be made depend on if the conversion process is mostly labor or capital intensive and if the product is one that can be stored in the inventory. Capital-intensive processes depend a lot on physical facilities, plant, and equipment. Short term capacity can be modified by operating these facilities more or less intensively than normal. The costs of setting up, changing over, and maintaining facilities, procuring raw materials and manpower, managing inventory, and scheduling can all be modified by making such capacity changes. 2.2.2 Long Term Responses From World War 2 through the 1960s, the US economy was booming and scaling great heights. Since the 1970s, the United States has faced problems of scarcity of resources and a more competitive economy. Organizations today cannot be constrained into thinking only about expanding the resource base; they must also consider appropriate approaches to contracting it. Example: A warehousing operation foresees the need for an additional 100,000 square feet of space by the end of the next five years. One option is to add an additional 50,000 square feet now and another 50,000 square feet after two years. Another option is to add the entire 100,000 square feet now. Estimating costs for building the entire addition now are $50/square foot. If expanded incrementally, the initial 50,000 square feet will cost $60/square foot. The 50,000 square feet will cost $60/square foot. The 50,000 square feet to be added later are estimated at $80/square foot. Which alternative is better? At a minimum, the lower construction costs plus excess capacity costs of total construction now must be compared with higher costs of deferred construction. The operations manager must consider the costs, benefits, and risks of each option. Source: Productions and Operations Management by Everett E. Adam, Jr. Ronald J. Ebert 2.3 Classification of Capacity Planning based on Time Long Term Capacity Planning Short Term Capacity Planning 2.3.1 Long Term Capacity Planning Long Term capacity planning solves strategic issues involving the firms major production facilities. Also, long-term capacity issues are interrelated to location planning. Technology and the ability to transfer the processes to other products are also interrelated to long-term capacity planning. Long-term capacity planning may come in to the picture when short-term amendments in capacity are scarce. For instance, if a firm adds a third shift to its present two-shift plan and if the output is still insufficient, and also if subcontracting options are unavailable, one practical alternative is adding capital equipment and modifying the layout of the plant. An additional space or constructing an additional facility can also be alternatives. 2.3.2 Short Term Capacity Planning In the short term, capacity planning concerns issues related to scheduling, labor shifts, and balancing resource capacities. The goal of short-term capacity planning is to manage unexpected shifts in demand in an efficiently economic way. The time frame for short-term planning is often only a few days but may go on as long as six months. Alternatives for making short-term changes in capacity are numerous and can even take decisions to not meet demand at all. A very easy and most commonly-used method to increase capacity in the short term is working overtime. This is a very flexible and least expensive alternative. While the firm has to pay one and one half times the normal labor rate, it is saved from the expenses of hiring, training, and paying additional benefits. When not used abusively, most workers welcome the opportunity to earn extra wages. If overtime does not provide enough short-term capacity, other alternatives are also available. These include adding shifts, employing cas ual or part time workers, the use of floating workers, leasing workers, and facilities subcontracting. Firms may also increase the capacity by improving the use of their resources. The most common alternatives in this category are employee/labor cross training and overlapping or staggering shifts. Most manufacturing firms inventory some output ahead of demand so that any need for a capacity change in future is absorbed by the inventory buffer. From a technical angle, firms may initiate a process design aimed at increasing productivity at work stations. Manufacturers can also shift demand to avoid fluctuations in capacity requirement by backlogging, queuing demand, or lengthening the firms lead times. Service firms achieve the same results through scheduling appointments and reservations. A more creative approach is to modify the output. Standardizing the output or offering complimentary services are examples of the same. In services, customers might be allowed to do some of the process work themselves (e.g., self-service fuel pumps and fast-food restaurants). Another alternative reduc ing quality is an undesirable yet possible trick. Finally, the firm may take steps to modify demand. Changing the price and promoting the product are common. Another alternative is to split demand by initiating a yield or revenue management system. Utilities also report success in shifting demand by the use of off-peak pricing. 2.4 When capacity doesnt meet demand? When capacity doesnt equal demand, then in short term capacity planning, it can be managed by temporary measures such as increasing or decreasing the labor force or creating and carrying inventory in the lean period to be used in the peak demand period. If there happens to be a mismatch between demand and capacity in long term capacity planning, it can be handled by changing or modifying the capacity. If the capacity is short then a new facility can be built or expand the existing facility. In case of an excess capacity then a temporary shutdown/sale/consolidation of facilities would help. 2.5 Best Operating Level Source: Operations Management by William J Stevenson The term capacity means an attainable rate of output but mentions nothing about till what point of time that rate can be sustained. Thus, if we say that a given plant has a capacity of x units, we do not know if it is a one-day peak or a six-month average. To avoid this issue, the concept of best operating level is brought into being. This is the level of capacity for which the process was designed and thus is the volume of output at which average unit cost is at a minimum. When the output of the facility falls below this level (underutilization), average unit cost will increase as overhead must be allocated to fewer units. Above this level (overutilization), average unit cost also increases-here due to overtime, increased equipment wear, and heightened defect rates. 2.6 Capacity Planning Models Present Value Analysis: It is used to evaluate the time of capital investment and fund flows. Aggregate Planning Models: It helps in examining the way of using the existing capacity for short term planning. Break Even Analysis: It determines the minimum break down volumes of production. Linear Programming: It helps in determining the optimum product mix for maximizing contribution, considering the constraints imposed by capacity. Computer Simulation: It is helpful in determining the effects of various scheduling policies. 2.7 Economies of Scale This well known principle of Economics illustrates the relationship between cost and capacity in an operating system. When output increases in an operating system, the system is likely to experience cost benefits on various factors. Due to the following reasons the average unit cost begins to fall with the rise in output level: Spreading the fixed costs of capacity over a larger output. Improved utilization of several resources in the system. Cost benefit in procurement on account of increased volume. Efficient use of supervisory and management staff. The economies of scale cease to occur beyond a level of production or output. This is called Diseconomies of Scale. There can be several reasons for this: Inefficient management due to large size of operation and the resulting lack of coordination. Overuse of machines and break down of material handling equipments. Over hiring of employees, or overtime exceeding justifiable limits. Service slows down due to increasing complexities. Increase in quality degradations because of mismanagement and lack of focus. An Example for Economies of Scale: Economies/Diseconomies of Scale Source: Microeconomics by Robert S. Pindyck, Daniel L. Rubinfeld, Prem L. Mehta Chapter-3 Capacity Planning Techniques 3.1 Capacity Planning Techniques There are four procedures for capacity planning; capacity planning using overall factors (CPOF), capacity bills, resource profiles, and capacity requirements planning (CRP). The first three are roughly cut approaches that involve analysis to identify potential bottlenecks that can be used with or without manufacturing resource planning (MRP) systems. CRP is used along with MRP systems. Capacity using overall factors is a simple and a manual approach to capacity planning that is based on the master production schedule (MPS) and production standards that convert required units of finished goods into historical loads on each work station. Bills of capacity are a procedure based on the MPS. Instead of using historical ratios, it uses the bills of material and routing sheet that shows the sequence or work stations required to produce the part, as well as the setup and run time. Capacity requirements can then be determined by multiplying the number of units required by the MPS by the time required to manufacture each. Resource profiles are the same as bills of capacity, except lead times being included so that workloads fall into the correct periods. Capacity requirements planning (CRP) is applicable only in companies using MRP or MRP II. CRP uses the information from one of the previous rough-cut methods, plus MRP outputs on existing inventories and lot sizing. The result will be a tabular load report for each work station or a graphical load profile for helping plan-production requirements. This will tell where capacity is not adequate or idle, allowing for imbalances to be corrected by shifts in personnel or equipment or the use of overtime or added shifts. Finite capacity scheduling is an extension of CRP that simulates job order stopping and starting to produce a detailed schedule that provides a set of start and finish dates for each operation at each work station. A failure to understand the very nature of managing capacity can lead to disorder and serious cus tomer service issues. If there is a mismatch between available and required capacity, adjustments should be made. However, it should be taken care that firms cannot Have perfectly-balanced material and capacity plans that easily accommodate emergency orders. If flexibility is the companys competitive priority, excess capacity would be appropriate. 3.2 Utilization and Efficiency Utilization is the percentage of design capacity achieved. Utilization = Actual Output/Design Capacity Efficiency is the percentage of effective capacity achieved. Efficiency = Actual Output/Effective Capacity Bakery Example: Actual production last week = 148,000 rolls Effective capacity = 175,000 rolls Design capacity = 1,200 rolls per hour Bakery operates 7 days/week, 3 8 hour shifts Design capacity = (7 x 3 x 8) x (1,200) = 201,600 rolls Utilization = 148,000/201,600 = 73.4% Efficiency = 148,000/175,000 = 84.6% Efficiency = 84.6% Efficiency of new line = 75% Expected Output = (Effective Capacity)(Efficiency) = (175,000)(.75) = 131,250 rolls 3.3 Managing Demand There are three cases in which demand has to be managed and they are: Demand Exceeding Capacity Control demand by raising prices, scheduling longer lead time Long term solution is to increase the capacity Capacity exceeds demand Stimulate market Product changes Adjusting to SEASONAL DEMANDS Produce products with complimentary demand patterns Capacity planning in short time or short term capacity planning to meet seasonal demands is explained in detail in the following sections. Chapter-4 Seasonal Demands 4.1 Seasonal Demands Seasonal Demands are those demands those cause unusually large ups or downs in demand. Seasonal demand occurs in a number of different scenarios; most frequent of them is listed in the following: Natural seasonal variations (e.g. greater demand for ice cream in summer and for cold remedies in winter). Specific calendar linked Events like Diwali (Crackers, sweets), Mothers Day (e.g. greetings cards and flowers), and Christmas. Regular every day Promotions that can happen frequently and semi-randomly throughout a year. 4.2 Impacts and Challenges of Seasonal Demand Managing seasonal demand getting a good forecast done, planning production and procurement and managing the fulfillment process introduces considerable additional challenges into the process that is already complex. For most manufacturers, the two key and important planning processes are Forecasting Demand Planning, and Production Planning Scheduling. The challenge in Forecasting and Demand Planning is mainly handling the high demand volatility and variability, and unexpected demands. Specifically, promotions events tend to cause most of the issues, and result in much larger and more frequent demand spikes and dips than natural seasonal variations. If these are not planned well in a timely fashion and introduced into downstream production and distribution plans, the result can be significant reduction in manufacturing and distribution efficiencies, increase in costs, lower customer service levels and satisfaction and all these ultimately can result in a lost business. In Planning and Scheduling, the greatest of problems is dealing with frequent changes in forecasts and orders. The ability to react swiftly while making the best decision on the way of satisfying demand is often the desired strategy of Make to Order manufacturers. For manufacturers who are unable to meet peak demand because of capacity constraints, and for those that Make to Stock or use a combined MTO/MTS strategy, tactical planning requires careful tweaking of demand and production in order to plan for a suitable pre-building of inventory and to ensure that the long lead time items are purchased in synchronization with the modified production plans. Manufacturers, of course, may, to solve some or all of their capacity issues, resort to sub-contracting. The recent upward trend in contract manufacturing, and the increase in virtual manufacturing, that is, purchasing and distributing products from foreign countries significantly add to the overall supply chain complexity. In this, with very long supply lead times, accuracy of forecast is again paramount, and, the ability to give your suppliers precise projections of your requirements in a timely manner is one of the most critical factors. Despite the push of lean strategies and principles of customer driven supply chain, one of the most common ways of dealing with any type of demand uncertainty in many of the companies of today still appears to be to insure against the uncertainty by holding an extra inventory across the supply chain which is an expensive and unacceptable solution. 4.3 Focus on Customers and Demand Getting the demand right approach benefits every subsequent supply chain planning and execution processes from production planning, through sourcing and procurement to fulfillment and this result in reduced costs as well as improvements in the top line sales and market share. On the other hand, getting the demand wrong adds cost to almost all downstream processes, severely affecting competitiveness and again ultimately results in losing the business. In forecasting and demand planning, one very much visible guideline is to focus more on the abnormal than the normal. This does not mean not paying attention to natural seasonal variations, but paying more attention on promotions and events as these are the things that almost cause the highest volatility in demand always and are the most tough to handle. Putting in extra efforts to ensure you understand your customers and the authentic sources of demand can also pay very good dividends. Many manufacturers still use their customers demand from on their warehouses but frequently, their customers ordering process is not that good and is a poor source of history of demands or demand trends. Wherever possible, its a lot better to have eyes on the actual source of demand, namely the consumer. Using their customers POS data as part of the demand planning process often gives much better idea of the actual demand. The ability to maximize and continuously improve forecast accuracy is very important. Increasing sales and market share with the help of improved perfect order performance and influencing and creating demand is equally important. Focusing well on demand and getting nearer to your customers is an essential requirement to achieve these goals. Chapter-5 Conclusion Conclusion Short term capacity planning to meet seasonal demands, thus is critical for any company and proper forecasting of seasonal demands and a proper plan to meet all those seasonal demands should be in place. Any flaw in this, can lead to high inventory costs, employee dissatisfaction, deteriorating customer service levels and high customer dissatisfaction that leads to losing the customers and ultimately losing the business. A firm should be at vigil all the time to see the changes happening in demands and should keep changing its strategies of short term capacity planning and achieve and sustain an outstanding business value. Appendix

The Information Technological Human Resources Management Techniques Commerce Essay

The Information Technological Human Resources Management Techniques Commerce Essay The information technology in human resources management application, will be helpful for the re-definition and optimizing human resources management operation flow.This also raises the working efficiency, improves the grade of service, and thus increasing the information and professional human resources management platforms productivity. Certainly, in as much as information technology has contributed to the growth of human resource management, it is also important to highlight that human resource management will continually to grow in all ramification. But the information technology also to a certain extent steady developed certain function for the human resources. This research will analyze all aspect of the usage of technology in human resource management and how opportunities are still there to aid the advance of human resource. LITERATURE REVIEW Understanding of HRM De Cenzo and Robbins (1996: p8) defined HRM as the part of the organization that is concerned with the people as a whole and renders support in all aspect to them. Sequel to this, is the definition given by Bratton and Gold (2003: p7), that HRM is the strategic approach to managing employment relations with emphasis to the capability of the employees so as to sustain competitive edge. Lastly, Alan Price (2004: p32) gave a rather accurate HRMs definition as that part of the organization responsible for recruiting capable, dynamic and committed people, so as to manage and reward their efforts which will lead to competencies for the organization. The most important part of the organization is human resource management. Having a human resource management is not just the fact but having an effective one tat is able to align the organization goals into action is the most important thing. Finding revealed by Evan et al (2002) shows that human resource management is a core part and asset of any organization because it is very important in the sustaining of business success. Cross (2000), shows that human resource management inter-connects all people in the management and development of the organization. Likewise, human resource management is the driving force of the organization. According to the business dictionary, human resource management is defined as an administrative activity associated with planning, recruitment, selection motivation as well as developing people through work. (http://www.businessdictionary.com) Information technology on the other hand takes a proactive definition which looks at the Today, human resource management is now faced by many problems which is fast making it less effective in many ways. PRESENCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN HRM The importance of technology cant be ignored wisely because of the many advantages it gives to employees as well as the overall success it provides for human resource management which equally translates to the overall organizational structure in a positive way. Information technology, by no doubt has helped to value the workforce as a relevant asset that defines the overall organizations culture and philosophy. The use of information technology in human resource management can be seen visibly in the mode and operation of human resource management. Today, the training and selection method is done via the use of information technology and this is fast making the overall process more effective than ever as a whole. Jerman-Blazic, (1996) stated that the use of internet and information technology offers much quicker access to latest scientific and technological innovations of the companies and research institution. This particular true because human resource will continually pay attention to transformation of employees in the organization just as technology would be driving tool to accompany this objective. Acquiring and gathering fresh knowledge whether supplementary or existing ones can only be attained via information that is technological in nature. Further to this, this researcher feels that information technology offer awareness and it is the driving force of changes as well. This observat ion can be seen by the research conducted by Lindstrom, Moberg Rapp (1997) which says: With Internet and (more broadly) Information-and-Communications-Technology (ICT) development in the full swing for the last two decades, organizations have been provided with a whole range of new possibilities for performing work and structuring organization In another review, new technology may also be required for implementing a low cost strategy if the technology can improve efficiency (Mondy, Noe Premeaux 1999, p148). The adoption of information technology assists closely in the cost analysis of any intending project that the human resource is undertaking since there are improved efficiency in all ramification. The process of human resource planning requires some level of technological application which will be incorporated into the overall strategic implementation of the company. Mondy, Noe Premeaux (1999) also concluded that aligning information technology to human resource management supports the overall implementation of plan as well as conducting analysis. Likewise, in time and labor management, the use of information technology cant be ignored because it is advantageous. IT enables the gathering and application of employee time and work information. It enables the tracking of employee in a scientific way that allows for easy analysis. It also enable human resource managers or senior personnel to know which employee is actually performing and the ones that are not performing and show improvement. Druckers work (2001) also added to this view by supporting that IT tracks employees performance.. It is a known fact that many organization differ in their approach to human resource planning and practices. E-HRM IN THE TODAY ORGANIZATION Ernst finds that electronic human resource management (e-HRM) is a web-based tool to automate and support HR processes. The implementation of e-HRM is an opportunity to delegate the data entry to the employees. eHRM facilitates the usage of HR marketplaces (e-recruitment) and offers more self-service to the employees (http://www.thestep.gr) The need to gather and have conceptual knowledge in this modern world is fast becoming a necessity and thus the adoption and use of information technology in human resource is no longer a new thing. When human resource and information technology are brought together, we see that there formulation leads to what we call e-HRM. A term used to denote the adoption of information technology in the human resource management department or policies. Information technology and human resource management is now known as e-HRM (Zhang Wang). IT has brought about revolution in organization through the adoption just as firms are now having corporate website which is now shifting the manual form of doing job to the computerized one such that mistake are eliminated to the minimal level. Consequently, the process of hiring new employees has been challenging and quite tasking. Tim Knox, in his article entitled expert strategies for hiring best employees suggests the use of information technology of hiring potential candidates to the job. The traditional view should be discarded and give way to the claims of Tim. Today, many companies through the human resource department are now employing employee through the Internet and other technological means. This is helping to reduce the demanding circle of having to be so physically in all the process that requires attentions. Kanungos (2006) work can be used to support this argument as he labelle d out that IT is so relevant and important also in the profit accumulation of the company. Knowledge management is very crucial and important for gathering knowledge that will be useful in all ramifications and surfaces of the organization. Since human resource department works with all departments, there is a need to understand that information technology is very essential and important as well. Likewise, recalling Jens et al (2010) work, one is able to see that HRIS and eHRM is used only at the professional and bureaucracy level. This view is thus misleading because not all human resource managements are operating at the bureaucracy level. Supporting this claim is the work of Mukama (2003). HRIS would only benefit the organization and has nothing to do with bureaucracy. CONCLUSION Information technology in human resource management plays a major role not only by the usage but also by the implementation and evaluation. It is a know fact that IT has helped to move human resource management forward to a level in which organizational activities are now less demanding and easy to use. There is now a pressing need to understand the role and use of information technology in all aspect of the organization as well. This is because many literature reviews on this research topic focused on information technology in the overall organizational context while others focused on Human resource information system (HRIS) and e-HRM. The human resource management has more than enough functions and thus the use of information technology should applies; researchers on this topic should bear this on their mind always. This research focused on all areas that information technology is making impact in the human resource management, however, there is still a need to further research on impact of IT in developing nation as it is obvious that are not adjusting fast to this trend. Word counts excluding references: 1,589. BIBILIOGRAPHY REFERENCES De Cenzo David A. and Robbins Stephen P. (1996) Human Resource Management 5th edn, John Wiley Sons Inc, Canada Bratton John and Gold Jeffrey (2003) Human Resource Management: Theory and practices, 3rd edn, Palgrave Macmillan, London Alan Price (2004) Human Resource Management in a Business Context, second edition, John Wiley Sons Inc, Canada Evans, P, Pucik, V, and Barsoux, JL (2002)  The Global Challenge. Frameworks for International Human Resource Management, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York Cross, E (2000) Managing Diversity-The Courage to Lead, Quorum Books, Westpoint, CT, USA Business dictionary.com human resource management http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/human-resource-management-HRM.html. Accessed on 10th October 2010 Jerman Blazic, B. (1996). Internet. Ljubljana: Novi Forum Lindstrom, J, Moberg A. Rapp B. (1997), On the classification of telework. European Journal of Information Systems 6, pp. 243-255. Mondy RW, Noe RM Premeaux SR(1999) Human resource management 7th edn Prentice hall international, USA Kanungo, RP (2006) Cross culture and business practice: are they coterminous or cross-verging?  Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 13: 1, 23-31 Drucker, P. (2001). The Essential Drucker, Butterworh-Heinemann Oxford, UK   Zhang, Li1; Wang, Hong, Intelligent information processing in human resource management: an implementation case in China Blackwell Publishing Expert Systems, Volume 23, Number 5, November 2006 , pp. 356-369(14). Tim Knox expert strategies for hiring best employees Mama http://www.timknox.com/amazon. Accessed on 23rd October 2010 Ernst Biesalski knowledge management and e-human resource management http://www.thestep.gr/trainmor/dat/%7B0aa92187-62c6-4b0e-ad94-c71652d05db8%7D/article.pdf. Accessed on 24th October 2010 Jens Kaasbà ¸ll and Marlen Stacey Chawani, Gro Alice Hamre Jon Sandvand Competencies and Learning for Management, Information Systems Journal of Information, Information Technology, and Organizations Volume 5, 2010 Mukama, F. (2003). A study of health information systems at local levels in Tanzania and Mozambique.Improving the use and management of information in health districts. Unpublished Master, University of Oslo, Oslo.

Pragmatism, Empiricism and David Hume :: essays research papers

Pragmatism, Empiricism and David Hume   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pragmatism is based on the philosophy that ideas must be tested and re-tested, that experiences dictate reality. Pragmatists also believe in no absolute truths or values existing. David Hume argues that, â€Å"no proof can be derived from any fact, of which we are so intimately conscious; nor is there anything of which we can be certain, if we doubt this† (Treatise 2645). Hume’s empiricist ideals were roots to early pragmatic thought, by way of the theory that, in our reality, nothing is certain and everything that can be sensed must be constantly qualified to find a place in reality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hume’s position on our experiences deciding our veracity follows the school of pragmatism by staying away from any conclusive ideals. Thus, his angle on empiricism melds with pragmatism on the level of determining one’s self’s existence. Similar to Descartes, he explains that even, and more often than not as per constant perception, metaphysical experience can mold one’s identity. â€Å"And were all my perceptions removed by death . . . I should be entirely annihilated, nor do I conceive what is farther requisite to make me a perfect nonentity† (2645). Based so heavily in perception, he further deduces that when â€Å"insensible during sleep† and all perception of environment lies dormant, existence may halt (2645).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hume speculates most closely on miracles and opens his essay with the stance that, â€Å"A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature . . . the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined† (Enquiry 2647). He continues throughout his essay, supporting his claim and also breaking down Christianity, highly-based in such phenomena, proving the impossibility of the existence of miracles. This trend is something a pragmatist would argue against, firmly believing in there being nothing absolute. Yet, despite his resistance he concludes, â€Å"whoever is moved by faith . . . is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person . . . and gives him a determination to believe what is most contrary to custom and experience† (2650). This statement, although a bit contradictory to his thesis, appeases to pragmatist thought, allowing for an explanation to those who are still det ermined to believe in miracles and the like and allows for them to own an identity under his definition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is at this end where his level of pragmatism veers from Charles Peirce to William James’ end of the spectrum.

Essay on Character Parallels in To Kill a Mockingbird :: Kill Mockingbird essays

Character Parallels in To Kill a Mockingbird  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      In real life there are many different types of people, some of them are similar to one another, while others can be opposite/different, just like in the book To Kill a Mocking Bird, by Harper Lee. There are many people in the book, some people are contradictory to one another (character foils), while others resemble each other (character parallels) in both good and/or bad ways. Atticus Finch and Aunt Alexander is an example of a character foil in the book. Even though they are brother and sister and grew up together, they are two people with very different views. Atticus is more easy going when he raises up Jem and Scout, for example he lets his kids call him Atticus, and let's Scout dress with the clothes that she feels comfortable in. While on the other hand Aunt Alexander is more strict, she cares a lot about family background and she wants Scout to act and dress more "lady like". Atticus views that it is his duty to do his best in the Tom Robinson trial and feels no prejudice against Tom, because he is black. While Aunt Alexander doesn't like Atticus taking the case because Tom is black, and wants Atticus to go and fire Calpurnia. Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell is another example of a character foil in the book To Kill a Mocking Bird. Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson are two completely different people in the story. They both don't have a lot of money, but Tom Robinson chooses to work hard for his money, while Bob Ewell lives off welfare and sqaunders all his money on booze and whiskey. Bob Ewell beats up on his daughter Mayella, while Tom tries to do all that he can in order to help her out. Tom says that he did not beat and rape Mayella, while Bob Ewell says that he did. Two characters that are similar to each other are Tom Robinson and Boo (Arthur) Radley. These two are similar in that there are false rumors going on about them. People accused Tom of beating and raping Mayella Ewell, and people talk about Boo, and say that he is a very violent person, when those things are both false.

Part Three Chapter IV

IV ‘Very sad,' said Howard Mollison, rocking a little on his toes in front of his mantelpiece. ‘Very sad indeed.' Maureen had just finished telling them all about Catherine Weedon's death; she had heard everything from her friend Karen the receptionist that evening, including the complaint from Cath Weedon's granddaughter. A look of delighted disapproval was crumpling her face; Samantha, who was in a very bad mood, thought she resembled a monkey nut. Miles was making conventional sounds of surprise and pity, but Shirley was staring up at the ceiling with a bland expression on her face; she hated it when Maureen held centre stage with news that she ought to have heard first. ‘My mother knew the family of old,' Howard told Samantha, who already knew it. ‘Neighbours in Hope Street. Cath was decent enough in her way, you know. The house was always spotless, and she worked until she was into her sixties. Oh, yes, she was one of the world's grafters, Cath Weedon, whatever the rest of the family became.' Howard was enjoying giving credit where credit was due. ‘The husband lost his job when they closed the steelworks. Hard drinker. No, she didn't always have it easy, Cath.' Samantha was barely managing to look interested, but fortunately Maureen interrupted. ‘And the Gazette's on to Dr Jawanda!' she croaked. ‘Imagine how she must be feeling, now the paper's got it! Family's kicking up a stink – well, you can't blame them, alone in that house for three days. D'you know her, Howard? Which one is Danielle Fowler?' Shirley got up and stalked out of the room in her apron. Samantha slugged a little more wine, smiling. ‘Let's think, let's think,' said Howard. He prided himself on knowing almost everyone in Pagford, but the later generations of Weedons belonged more to Yarvil. ‘Can't be a daughter, she had four boys, Cath. Granddaughter, I expect.' ‘And she wants an inquiry,' said Maureen. ‘Well, it was always going to come to this. It's been on the cards. If anything, I'm surprised it's taken this long. Dr Jawanda wouldn't give the Hubbards' son antibiotics and he ended up hospitalized for his asthma. Do you know, did she train in India, or – ?' Shirley, who was listening from the kitchen while she stirred the gravy, felt irritated, as she always did, by Maureen's monopolization of the conversation; that, at least, was how Shirley put it to herself. Determined not to return to the room until Maureen had finished, Shirley turned into the study and checked to see whether anyone had sent in apologies for the next Parish Council meeting; as secretary, she was already putting together the agenda. ‘Howard – Miles – come and look at this!' Shirley's voice had lost its usual soft, flutey quality; it rang out shrilly. Howard waddled out of the sitting room followed by Miles, who was still in the suit he had worn all day at work. Maureen's droopy, bloodshot, heavily mascara-ed eyes were fixed on the empty doorway like a bloodhound's; her hunger to know what Shirley had found or seen was almost palpable. Maureen's fingers, a clutch of bulging knuckles covered in translucent leopard-spotted skin, slid the crucifix and wedding ring up and down the chain around her neck. The deep creases running from the corners of Maureen's mouth to her chin always reminded Samantha of a ventriloquist's dummy. Why are you always here? Samantha asked the older woman loudly, inside her own head. You couldn't make me lonely enough to live in Howard and Shirley's pocket. Disgust rose in Samantha like vomit. She wanted to seize the over-warm cluttered room and mash it between her hands, until the royal china, and the gas fire, and the gilt-framed pictures of Miles broke into jagged pieces; then, with wizened and painted Maureen trapped and squalling inside the wreckage, she wanted to heave it, like a celestial shot-putter, away into the sunset. The crushed lounge and the doomed crone inside it, soared in her imagination through the heavens, plunging into the limitless ocean, leaving Samantha alone in the endless stillness of the universe. She had had a terrible afternoon. There had been another frightening conversation with her accountant; she could not remember much of her drive home from Yarvil. She would have liked to offload on Miles, but after dumping his briefcase and pulling off his tie in the hall he had said, ‘You haven't started dinner yet, have you?' He sniffed the air ostentatiously, then answered himself. ‘No, you haven't. Well, good, because Mum and Dad have invited us over.' And before she could protest, he had added sharply, ‘It's nothing to do with the council. It's to discuss arrangements for Dad's sixty-fifth.' Anger was almost a relief; it eclipsed her anxiety, her fear. She had followed Miles out to the car, cradling her sense of ill-usage. When he asked, at last, on the corner of Evertree Crescent, ‘How was your day?' she answered, ‘Absolutely bloody fantastic.' ‘Wonder what's up?' said Maureen, breaking the silence in the sitting room. Samantha shrugged. It was typical of Shirley to have summoned her menfolk and left the women in limbo; Samantha was not going to give her mother-in-law the satisfaction of showing interest. Howard's elephantine footsteps made the floorboards under the hall carpet creak. Maureen's mouth was slack with anticipation. ‘Well, well, well,' boomed Howard, lumbering back into the room. ‘I was checking the council website for apologies,' said Shirley, a little breathless in his wake. ‘For the next meeting – ‘ ‘Someone's posted accusations about Simon Price,' Miles told Samantha, pressing past his parents, seizing the role of announcer. ‘What kind of accusations?' asked Samantha. ‘Receiving stolen goods,' said Howard, firmly reclaiming the spotlight, ‘and diddling his bosses at the printworks.' Samantha was pleased to find herself unmoved. She had only the haziest idea who Simon Price was. ‘They've posted under a pseudonym,' Howard continued, ‘and it's not a particularly tasteful pseudonym, either.' ‘Rude, you mean?' Samantha asked. ‘Big-Fat-Cock or something?' Howard's laughter boomed through the room, Maureen gave an affected shriek of horror, but Miles scowled and Shirley looked furious. ‘Not quite that, Sammy, no,' said Howard. ‘No, they've called themselves â€Å"The Ghost of Barry Fairbrother†.' ‘Oh,' said Samantha, her grin evaporating. She did not like that. After all, she had been in the ambulance while they had forced needles and tubes into Barry's collapsed body; she had watched him dying beneath the plastic mask; seen Mary clinging to his hand, heard her groans and sobs. ‘Oh, no, that's not nice,' said Maureen, relish in her bullfrog's voice. ‘No, that's nasty. Putting words into the mouths of the dead. Taking names in vain. That's not right.' ‘No,' agreed Howard. Almost absent-mindedly, he strolled across the room, picked up the wine bottle and returned to Samantha, topping up her empty glass. ‘But someone out there doesn't care about good taste it seems, if they can put Simon Price out of the running.' ‘If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, Dad,' said Miles, ‘wouldn't they have gone for me rather than Price?' ‘How do you know they haven't, Miles?' ‘Meaning?' asked Miles swiftly. ‘Meaning,' said Howard, the happy cynosure of all eyes, ‘that I got sent an anonymous letter about you a couple of weeks ago. Nothing specific. Just said you were unfit to fill Fairbrother's shoes. I'd be very surprised if the letter didn't come from the same source as the online post. The Fairbrother theme in both, you see?' Samantha tilted her glass a little too enthusiastically, so that wine trickled down the sides of her chin, exactly where her own ventriloquist's doll grooves would no doubt appear in time. She mopped her face with her sleeve. ‘Where is this letter?' asked Miles, striving not to look rattled. ‘I shredded it. It was anonymous; it didn't count.' ‘We didn't want to upset you, dear,' said Shirley, and she patted Miles' arm. ‘Anyway, they can't have anything on you,' Howard reassured his son, ‘or they'd have dished the dirt, the same as they have on Price.' ‘Simon Price's wife is a lovely girl,' said Shirley with gentle regret. ‘I can't believe Ruth knows anything about it, if her husband's been on the fiddle. She's a friend from the hospital,' Shirley elaborated to Maureen. ‘An agency nurse.' ‘She wouldn't be the first wife who hasn't spotted what's going on under her nose,' retorted Maureen, trumping insider knowledge with worldly wisdom. ‘Absolutely brazen, using Barry Fairbrother's name,' said Shirley, pretending not to have heard Maureen. ‘Not a thought for his widow, his family. All that matters is their agenda; they'll sacrifice anything to it.' ‘Shows you what we're up against,' said Howard. He scratched the overfold of his belly, thinking. ‘Strategically, it's smart. I saw from the get-go that Price was going to split the pro-Fields vote. No flies on Bends-Your-Ear; she's realized it too and she wants him out.' ‘But,' said Samantha, ‘it mightn't have anything to do with Parminder and that lot at all. It could be from someone we don't know, someone who's got a grudge against Simon Price.' ‘Oh, Sam,' said Shirley, with a tinkling laugh, shaking her head. ‘It's easy to see you're new to politics.' Oh, fuck off, Shirley. ‘So why have they used Barry Fairbrother's name, then?' asked Miles, rounding on his wife. ‘Well, it's on the website, isn't it? It's his vacant seat.' ‘And who's going to trawl through the council website for that kind of information? No,' he said gravely, ‘this is an insider.' An insider †¦ Libby had once told Samantha that there could be thousands of microscopic species inside one drop of pond water. They were all perfectly ridiculous, Samantha thought, sitting here in front of Shirley's commemorative plates as if they were in the Cabinet Room in Downing Street, as though one bit of tittle-tattle on a Parish Council website constituted an organized campaign, as though any of it mattered. Consciously and defiantly, Samantha withdrew her attention from the lot of them. She fixed her eyes on the window and the clear evening sky beyond, and she thought about Jake, the muscular boy in Libby's favourite band. At lunchtime today, Samantha had gone out for sandwiches, and brought back a music magazine in which Jake and his bandmates were interviewed. There were lots of pictures. ‘It's for Libby,' Samantha had told the girl who helped her in the shop. ‘Wow, look at that. I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating toast,' replied Carly, pointing at Jake, naked from the waist up, his head thrown back to reveal that thick strong neck. ‘Oh, but he's only twenty-one, look. I'm not a cradle-snatcher.' Carly was twenty-six. Samantha did not care to subtract Jake's age from her own. She had eaten her sandwich and read the interview, and studied all the pictures. Jake with his hands on a bar above his head, biceps swelling under a black T-shirt; Jake with his white shirt open, abdominal muscles chiselled above the loose waistband of his jeans. Samantha drank Howard's wine and stared out at the sky above the black privet hedge, which was a delicate shade of rose pink; the precise shade her nipples had been before they had been darkened and distended by pregnancy and breast-feeding. She imagined herself nineteen to Jake's twenty-one, slender-waisted again, taut curves in the right places, and a strong flat stomach of her own, fitting comfortably into her white, size ten shorts. She vividly recalled how it felt to sit on a young man's lap in those shorts, with the heat and roughness of sun-warmed denim under her bare thighs, and big hands around her lithe waist. She imagined Jake's breath on her neck; she imagined turning to look into the blue eyes, close to the high cheekbones and that firm, carved mouth †¦ ‘†¦ at the church hall, and we're getting it catered by Bucknoles,' said Howard. ‘We've invited everyone: Aubrey and Julia – everyone. With luck it will be a double celebration, you on the council, me, another year young †¦' Samantha felt tipsy and randy. When were they going to eat? She realized that Shirley had left the room, hopefully to put food on the table. The telephone rang at Samantha's elbow, and she jumped. Before any of them could move, Shirley had bustled back in. She had one hand in a flowery oven glove, and picked up the receiver with the other. ‘Double-two-five-nine?' sang Shirley on a rising inflection. ‘Oh †¦ hello, Ruth, dear!' Howard, Miles and Maureen became rigidly attentive. Shirley turned to look at her husband with intensity, as if she were transmitting Ruth's voice through her eyes into her husband's mind. ‘Yes,' fluted Shirley. ‘Yes †¦' Samantha, sitting closest to the receiver, could hear the other woman's voice but not make out the words. ‘Oh, really †¦?' Maureen's mouth was hanging open again; she was like an ancient baby bird, or perhaps a pterodactyl, hungering for regurgitated news. ‘Yes, dear, I see †¦ oh, that shouldn't be a problem †¦ no, no, I'll explain to Howard. No, no trouble at all.' Shirley's small hazel eyes had not wavered from Howard's big, popping blue ones. ‘Ruth, dear,' said Shirley, ‘Ruth, I don't want to worry you, but have you been on the council website today? †¦ Well †¦ it's not very nice, but I think you ought to know †¦ somebody's posted something nasty about Simon †¦ well, I think you'd better read it for yourself, I wouldn't want to †¦ all right, dear. All right. See you Wednesday, I hope. Yes. Bye bye.' Shirley replaced the receiver. ‘She didn't know,' Miles stated. Shirley shook her head. ‘Why was she calling?' ‘Her son,' Shirley told Howard. ‘Your new potboy. He's got a peanut allergy.' ‘Very handy, in a delicatessen,' said Howard. ‘She wanted to ask whether you could store a needleful of adrenalin in the fridge for him, just in case,' said Shirley. Maureen sniffed. ‘They've all got allergies these days, children.' Shirley's ungloved hand was still clutching the receiver. She was subconsciously hoping to feel tremors down the line from Hilltop House.