Financial Performance Analysis Essay

This project work has not formed the basis for the award of any degree/ diploma by Bangalore University or any other university. Name of the Guide: Mr. Jagdish Designation: Place: Bangalore Date: Guide’s Signature. This is to certify that this project work title â€Å"A study on the financial performance of the A&S Inc. † is based on an original project study conducted by Monisha Tirkey (07JJC08051) of BBM under the guidance of Mr. Jagadish K. K. This project work is based on original and has not formed the basis for the award of any degree / diploma by Bangalore University or any other university. Monisha Tirkey hereby declare that this project work titled â€Å"A study on the financial performance of the A&S Inc. † is based on the original project conducted by me under the guidance of Mr. Jagadish K. K. This has not been submitted earlier for the award of the award of any other degree / diploma from Bangalore University or any other university. Student Name: Monisha Tirkey Registration Number: 07JJC08051 Place: Bangalore Date: The successful completion of this project would not have been possible without the guidance, help and timely assistance from a number of people. I should at the very outset express my gratitude to the almighty God for his wonderful plan that brought me into this institution for my studies and for helping me throughout the project. I also thank HOD, Mr. Surendranath Reddy, who encouraged me to undertake this project. I express my sincere thanks to Mr. Jagdish, my guide, for the valuable help he extended in carrying out this project.

Poor European and African-American Settlers

Another educational issue that the author focuses on is the influx of poor European and African-American settlers to the community and its school system. The first influx of â€Å"European immigrants to the United States came mainly from norther Europe—England, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany† (Ornstein, A. C., Levine, D. U., Gutek, G. L., & Vocke, D. E., 2017). This resulted in overcrowded schools due to the large number of students added to the school system. To accommodate these new students the school system introduced a series of innovative programs such as kindergartens, all-year schools, summer school, vocational and trade programs at secondary schools, and continuation and evening schools. In addition, â€Å"between 1880 and 1917, 44 new school buildings were built, and 76 additions† (Anyon, 1997). Nonetheless, these new immigrant students were non-English speakers and the instructors were not prepared to teach them. Consequently, these students were put in classrooms with educators that did not care for them or their education. Despite the push for improvements â€Å"the majority never went past fifth grade† (Anyon, 1997) and â€Å"the large percentages of the immigrant poor who attended school failed in their studies† (Anyon, 1997). Additionally, between 1920 and 1940, there was an influx of African-Americans who â€Å"arrived in search of work and freedom from southern Jim Crow segregation laws† (Anyon, 1997), but instead found discrimination, low-paying jobs, unfavorable living conditions, and segregation, which resulted in the redlining. Because of the Great Depression educational reforms, in Newark, were limited to â€Å"white middle-class areas of the city† (Anyon, 1997). Failure to provide fair educational reform resulted in students studying in poorly maintained schools; students high retention and failure rates; students being below grade level; and students being unprepared to earn a living. These were â€Å"unfortunate consequences for the education of African-American children and, as we shall see, would continue to do so for generations to come† (Anyon, 1997).

Management class-Trader Joe's case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management class-Trader Joe's case - Essay Example At the same time he asks his employees to interact with customers to collect their feedback on the products. Trader Joe has been able to satisfy both his employees and customers at the same time. Joe ensures that those who work for him are well paid and satisfied. The benefits for employees include medical, dental and vision insurance, company paid retirement, paid vacation and a 10% employee discount. 2. The management operations include various strategic phases such as planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. The effective coordination of these correlated activities is a basic factor which determines the level outcomes of business performance. Planning is one of the very important managerial strategies. The focus should be on satisfying the taste of customers for choosing the natural ingredients, inspiring flavors, and minimizing the costs by purchasing directly from producers. A well effective organization of the trade is also very important. Trader Joe’s considers it important to sell the quality products at low prices and limit the stock as too many options may confuse the customers. Joe allows employees to play vital role in determining the overall success. Joe has very good conviction regarding the production processes. He believes that production should not be in extra large quantities but to satisfy the customers.

MSDS Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MSDS Project - Essay Example This is due to the then war’s intensity that saw even fertilizer plants used as explosive making centers to cater for more weaponry. This by employing Haber-Bosch process to get NH3 by combining N2 and H2 at high pressures, which were essential in making explosives (Libes 699). NH4NO3 is an essential component in the making of fertilizers and industrial explosives (Libes 699). Fertilizer in this case refers to an original or synthetic substance added in the soil to provide plants with the appropriate nutrients, hence enhance growth. Explosives refer to chemical substances that undergo certain process characterized by catastrophic release of energy, which in most cases results to destruction of something within the vicinity. In the case of NH4NO3, the substance is a strong oxidizer whereby in the presence of an ignition source, hot places or fumes will result to fire catastrophically thus cause destruction (Libes 699). It is also an odorless, crystalline and colorless substance soluble in both alcohol and water, which makes it an appropriate agent in making fertilizers (Ledgard 135). On heating at approximately 2100C, its liquid solution decomposes to NO or laughing gas (Ledgard 135). Despite numerous studies citing this compound is extremely explosive; its usage encompasses admixing with fuel oil, for instance, diesel or TNT. This implies one ought to be extra careful when both handling and preparing it. The latter is due hazardous due to inhaling of fumes, which are poisonous and might lead to serious complications. Based on current chemical studies, NH4NO3 compared to other substances does not have high levels of toxicity except when swallowed in large amounts by both humans and animals. This is especially through contaminated water or effluents that find their way into water sources unnoticed. Hence, implying it has a moderate toxicity though once swallowed the victim

International Relations at NYU Personal Statement

International Relations at NYU - Personal Statement Example I realize that I will need to reach beyond the NYU community in order to do the type of work I want to do. In addition to my chosen course of study, I feel that I am a good fit for either NYU campus.   I have had experiences that I feel will add to the community of scholars at NYU.   Giving as well as receiving is an important value that I have.   Both are important for establishing a community of interdependence, respect and reciprocity.   These values have been instilled in me since I was young and I know that they will guide me in my studies and in my life work.   I look forward to becoming a part of the academic community at NYU.   International relations is such a broad field of study.   I am excited about working with a cosmopolitan faculty and student body as I gain the knowledge I need to have so I can discover all of the possibilities international relations at NYU has to offer.

Morocco Country Risk Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Morocco Country Risk Assessment - Essay Example Having been inhabited back in the Paleolithic times, most of the citizens are either Arabs or Berbers with the latter ethnic group forming the bulk of the population. Other ethnic groups that form part of the population include Haratin and Gnaoua. Additionally, the country is inhibited by more that 100,000 foreigners including Spanish and French who have invested in various sectors thus improving the country economic performance. Culturally, Morocco is known for being an ethnically diverse nation based on its hosting various foreigners who come from the East, South and other regions. Some of the key visitors who have contributed to the cultural growth of the country include Carthaginians, Arabs, Phoenicians, Romans, Andalusians, Jews and Vandals among others. Due to the interaction of the various groups in the country, Moroccan literature has continued to experience an expansive growth. For example, western and Middle East literary models have enhanced the growth of poetry and tradit ional Moroccan genres (Yahya 49). Similarly, the country rich cultural values have attracted expatriates academic and social writers such as Paul Bowles and Pierre Loti among others. Infrastructure One of the major factors that make Morocco a good country for investors is the highly developed infrastructure system as compared to other African countries. For instance, the country is served by more that 35, 946 miles and 18,800 miles of primary roads and secondary roads respectively. As a result, the cost of transporting raw materials and finished products within the country is low thus resulting to high profits by the local and foreign investors. Additionally, the government has continued to issues large number of licenses to... This paper stresses that a vital factor that makes Morocco a viable country for investors is the electrical power development. National Office of Electricity is the main government-owned firm that is responsible for providing electricity power in the country. Even though the country has significant oil reserves, most of the power was earlier generated from imported fuels from Saudi Arabia. This report makes a conclusion that Morocco is ruled under the constitutional monarchy with the prime minister holding major powers while the king hold few executive powers including dissolving the parliament. Two major chambers in Morocco parliament are the assembly of councilors and the assembly of representatives. To ensure justice in the country judicial system, the country constitution provides for an independent judiciary. In this way, politicians do not have much impact on the country court system thus reducing the level of corruption in the country. One of the remarkable political initiatives that occurred in 2011 was the drafting of new constitution that brought about major reforms in the country political system. For example, the king was given power to appoint a prime minister from the party with the majority seats in parliament. Similarly, the prime minister was given power to appoint high level diplomats and chief executive officers of the government owned organizations. It is worth noting that the constitutional also gave power to all citizens by ensuring freedom of creation, ideas, thought among others.

Debt to Equity Ratio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Debt to Equity Ratio - Essay Example This essay discusses that  the calculation of the debt to equity ratio is as straightforward as its definition. The ratio is computed by taking an entity’s total liabilities and dividing it by the company’s equity. The total liabilities and equity used are got from the statement of financial position of the company on discussion. A company’s equity is the amount of capital the shareholders or owners of the business have put in the business. It is determined by subtracting the total liabilities from the company’s total assets. It is best if the debt to equity ratio is kept within a reasonable range. If the ratio is very high, it is an indication that the business can be in a financial distress and maybe in leverage problem where it can find it had to offset its debtors. On the other hand, if the ratio is to low, it implies that the company is heavily relying on the entity’s equity to finance its operations.  According to the report findings  lo ans acquired from lenders come with an interest payment, which must be paid together with the principal loan amount. The advantage of financing a company’s operation through debt finance is that the company can deduct the interest payments in its tax returns. On the other hand financing the company’s operations through equity makes the company at an obligation to earn return and increase the shareholder wealth. Company’s should therefore strike a balance between the debt and equity use to run the operations of their businesses.

Wk 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wk 5 - Essay Example One’s own composite model for change management is as follows: (1) establish the need for change; (2) communicate the proposed change; (3) solicit participation and feedback from those to be affected by the change process; (4) develop the implementation plan; (5) monitor the change process through regular feedback; (6) incorporate significant inputs in the change process, as required; (7) institutionalize the change. These sequences of change were deemed essential because it initially provided the rationale or the need for change, which is seen as the crucial step in justifying change within the organization. Then, after communicating, the management team must enjoin participation of those to be affected by the change process to solicit inputs and minimize resistance. The rest of the steps would focus on the development of strategies for initiating and implementing change. Finally, monitoring and incorporating any significant changes within the outlined process must be include d before finally institutionalizing the change process within the organizational setting. The management skills that must be ingrained within the change management process are enforcing the functions of planning, organizing, directing and controlling these various steps. The strongest skills require addressing resistance to change by enjoining the participation of people affected by the change process. The weakest would be failure to communicate the crucial information required. Through one’s experience of organizational change, the steps identified to be crucial and best handled was communicating the need for change by providing the rationale and justifying its urgency. Apparently, the change that was proposed did not solicit inputs from the personnel and therefore forms of resistance were eminent. The management team therefore had to

Emerson and Thoreau Essay Example for Free

Emerson and Thoreau Essay Ralph Waldo Emersons American Scholar highlights three influences that affect the minds learning process. The things by which helps to educate man are nature, books, and through action. Mans mind is like nature, vast and holds many secrets to be uncovered and enjoyed. How nature unfolds is like the unfolding of the mind; what laws govern it are those created by the mind. As for books, Emerson recommends that man should only learn from them exact science and historical events. He asserts that books should be used for inspiration and read during idle times. Books should not be used as the bible of the learning man. They should not be taken to be truth, for the realities of the past may not hold true in the present. Lastly, Emerson encourages the scholar to take part in labor, service, and discourse. These activities are the manifestations of his thoughts. Without action, Emerson says that a scholar has not become fully a man. 2. During Henry David Thoreaus time, he was dissatisfied with how the government ran the country. His resistance was mainly founded on the issue of slavery, for which he was greatly opposed. As a way of expressing this criticism he wrote Civil Disobedience detailing what he thought was wrong with government and how it can be remedied. He asserts in the essay that the citizens have a duty to speak out when he sees and experiences wrong governance. He likened the government to machine without a conscience that should not be allowed to bring injustice and enslave the people. Thoreaus resistance to what he saw as injustice is not a form of treason. He felt it his duty to speak out and bring positive change to his country. He encourages citizens to take a more active role and resist the unjust dictates of a conscience-less machine. Thoreau postulates that the best government is one that does not interfere too much with its citizens.

How the Brain Impacts Learning Essay Example for Free

How the Brain Impacts Learning Essay The brain is a very complex and amazing organ that consists of two very important halves. The right hemisphere and the left hemisphere, both of these effect how we learn and process information. In most cases we have a dominate side whether it be the left or right side. In some cases it is found that there are whole brained thinkers pulling information from both sides of the brain. Let’s cover how the brain works, what subjects each side learns and how it processes information, teaching techniques for the right, left and whole brained learners. The brain is made up of two halves, or hemispheres – the left brain and the right brain. The brain is divided into two distinct and separate parts by a fold that runs from the front to the back. These parts are connected to each other by a thick cable of nerves at the base of each brain, called the corpus collosum. A good analogy is that of two separate, incredibly fast and immensely powerful computers, each running different program from the same input, connected by a network cable, or the corpus collosum. The left hemisphere of our brain is â€Å"wired† to the right side of our body and vice versa. This even applies to our eyes, with information from our right eye going to the left hemisphere and information from our left eye feeding the right hemisphere†(Eden, Left brain right brain) The left and right side of the brain have different ways to process how they take in information and learn different subjects. Let’s start with the right side of the brain and see how it works in this way. The right hemisphere process the information best with demonstrated instructions, looking for patterns, similarities, open ended questions, drawings and is free with its feelings. â€Å"Right-brain students are the dreamers. They can be very intelligent and very deep thinkers—so much so that they can get lost in their own little worlds. They make great students of the social sciences and the arts. † (Fleming, 2011) The Left side sees things differently than the right side preferring verbal instructions, logical thinking, talking and writing, multiple choice testing and controls feelings. Dominant left brain students will be more organized, theyll watch the clock, and theyll analyze information and process it sequentially. They are often cautious, and they follow rules and schedules. Left brain students are strong in math and science, and can answer questions quickly. †(Fleming, 2011) The whole brained learners or middle brained learners, are the ones that can use both sides to processes the different information which is a great benefit to their success in life. They can look at a situation and choose which side would best solve the situation. Students who are middle brain oriented can have strong qualities from either hemisphere. Those students can benefit from logic from the left and intuition from the right. †(Fleming, 2011) We are all different in the way we use our brain; some having a dominate side and some utilizing both sides. Thus leaving the question of how teaching techniques can stimulate both sides? Teachers have a great responsibility teaching our children and they should teach in a way that can stimulate both sides of our brain or better yet the whole brain. It is important to know what types of thinkers you have in your classroom so they can be better taught. The examples above should give you an idea of how the right, left and middle brained thinkers take in the information so let’s move forward to how you can help teach them better. â€Å"For many students, particularly those who are â€Å"right-brained,† a visual, such as a picture or 3-D model, can help them better understand a concept. Another way to help â€Å"right-brained† students is to pair music with learning. Have students make up a song about history facts and sing it to the melody of a familiar song such as â€Å"On Top of Old Smoky. † Let these students see, feel, and touch things. â€Å"Right-brained† students also seem to thrive when doing group or hands-on activities. †(Quantum Learning, 1999, p. 31) Activities should include shared learning, group discussions, role-playing and experiments. These learning techniques will greatly benefit our right brained learners. To help â€Å"left-brained† students, provide information in very logical sequences—for example, make (numbered) lists for them. Another way to help students with a left-brain preference is to give them typed or printed directions. Let these students do their work step by step. â€Å"Left-brained† students seem to thrive when following plans and having structure with activities. † (Quantum Learning, 1999, p. 31) Activates should include analysis, research, realistic projects a nd worksheets. These learning techniques will benefit the left brained thinkers. Keeping in mind though, that many teaching techniques can benefit all of your students; it is also important to use both of these techniques to benefit the students that use both the left and right side of their brain. As an educator you need to understand how your students learn best whether it is a; dominate left or right brained student or the whole brained learner that likes a mixture of both techniques. Another great benefit you can find using these techniques in your lessons is to get a dominate brained student to use there less used side of thinking. Through this we have learned how the brain works, how we process and learn information using both sides of our brain and how teaching techniques are important in learning as a whole. We all learn new things each and every day so use this as it is vital information to help you learn to your full potential. Today, in more than years past, we are using these studies to help students learn as much as they can. Teaching curriculums are always on par with the best technology out there and the more that we learn about the differences between the two halves of the brain the more our children can learn.

Brief History Of Nestle Malaysia Management Essay

Brief History Of Nestle Malaysia Management Essay The existing company that has selected is Nestlà © (Malaysia) Berhad. This report starts with an introduction and a brief history about Nestlà © and Nestlà © Malaysia. This report includes the vision and mission of Nestlà © and how Nestlà © is going to achieve them. This report also includes a brief summary of Nestlà ©s market segmentation with examples provided. It discusses the strengths and problems of the company followed by the solutions to solve the issues. In the end, there are some suggestions recommended by our group and a conclusion of this whole report. Nestlà © is a multinational company and is of the worlds largest in food and beverages industry. Heinrich Nestlà ©, whom also known as Henri Nestlà ©, was the founder of Nestlà © Company (Nestle. 2010, Introduction, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.com), which headquarter is in Vevey, Switzerland in the year of 1866. Nestlà © Malaysia was established in the year of 1912 in Malaysia as Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company. Nestlà © Malaysia head office is now located in Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, and has 6 sales offices with more than 5000 employees nationwide. Besides, Nestlà © manufactures its own products in 7 factories and markets over 300 Halal products across the nation. (Nestlà ©. 2010, Nestlà © in Malaysia, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.com.my) Nestlà © specialized in foods and beverages industry, a few of the many well known brands Nestlà © has in Malaysia includes Maggi, Nescafà ©, Milo, Kit Kat, Nesvita (formerly known as Ne stum), as well as pet care products such as Purina and Friskies. Nestlà ©s vision (Nestlà ©. 2010, Corporate Philosophy, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.com.my) is to be the leader in Nutrition, Health, and Wellness Company by delivering world-class products of the highest consistent quality, reliability, and convenience based on business excellence principles throughout the operation. Nestlà ©s mission (The Nestlà © Corporate Essence Our roots and wings 2007, p.4) is to enhance the quality of life with good food and beverages, everywhere, so people could live a healthier life. In order to achieve their vision and mission, Nestlà © Nutrition Research Centre (Nestlà ©. 2010, Research Development, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.co.jp) pays great attention to understand the consumers nutritional and emotional needs and utilise todays world superior science and technology to produce high quality products to the world. MARKET SEGMENTATION Every consumer has different needs. Hence, it is not possible to satisfy every customer using a same marketing segmentation, which is also known as mass marketing by offering a single marketing mix to all consumers. Moreover, as a global market has become extremely competitive, and consumers are increasingly demanding which is very difficult to satisfy. Therefore, Nestlà © uses target marketing for every product to their customers. For example, in consumer product, Nestlà © baby milk product such as Nestlà © Neslac Excella Gold is segmented only to infants and toddlers. However, baby does not have the capacity or capability to buy the food they needed. Therefore, to market this baby milk product, Nestlà © does not fully focusing on babys basic need which is hunger, but also to the babys parents in terms of how the nutrition provided will give their children the best possible advantages in the childrens life and development. Another example is Nestlà © Milo, the milk beverage with chocolate and malt. Don Howart, the executive director of Nestlà © and Singapore Coffee and Beverages claimed that Milo remains popular among the young and has a 90% (The Sun. 2010, Milo with ProtoMalt to get through the day, Sun2Surf [Online] available at www.sun2surf.com) market share among chocolate malt drinks in Malaysia. Besides the youngsters, old people and active people are also part of the target markets of Nestlà © Milo drinks. However, at first, Nestlà ©s business was launched internationally and realised the fact that food products have to be taken into account to the local eating and social behaviour due to the particular countrys practices, cultures, and traditions. Therefore, (1) Nestlà © has always shown respect for diverse cultures and traditions and trying to integrate itself as much as possible into the cultures and traditions, adding also to the local environment its own set of values. Therefore, (2) Nestlà © embraces cultural and social diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of origin, nationality, religion, race, gender or age. (The Nestlà © Management and Leadership Principles 2006, p.9) STRENGTHS Nestlà © is a multinational company, not to mention Nestlà © is also the largest industry in foods and beverages, hence Nestlà © has every capability to attract more consumers compare to the local companies. On account of its high market share and high financial power, Nestlà © also has greater financial capability in altering existing products in terms of packaging, the formula of the particular product and others or creating new products, as well as to adapt or upgrade latest information system technology in manufacturing, order processing and other related fields in order to sustain their competitive advantage by delivering lower cost of goods and services than their competitors in this dynamic environment. Secondly, Nestlà © has quite an effective strategic marketing capability. For example, Nestlà © Maggi instant noodles has built a stable patent and is very well known in many countries especially in Australia and Malaysia. This is because Maggi instant noodles is easy to be differentiated from its competitors such as Cintan Instant Noodles. Moreover, Nestlà © has also developed a very strong brand name for Maggi instant noodles because of strong advertising, which has indoctrinated most of the people to name the other brands of instant noodles as Maggi instant noodle instead of the brands original name. Furthermore, Nestlà © also has a strong Research and Development operations that helps the company to achieve cross-border synergy such as packaging its global products to local preferences. Nestlà © also emphasises on using todays information technology, which Nestlà © believe it will present a long-term opportunity for them to smoothen the companys operation or to increase efficiency in packaging, among any other companys operations. Besides, Nestlà © also has better technological capability, for instance, to renovate the existing products to be more innovative, higher quality, and much healthier product as Nestlà © realised that consumer-centred innovation and renovation is the most important pillar of Nestlà ©s worldwide strategy, which would accelerate Nestlà © to advance from good to better. (The Nestlà © Corporate Essence Our roots and wings 2007, p.34) And because of Nestlà ©s commitments, more people trust on the products delivered by Nestlà © because of its prope r health and safety measures. Besides, Nestlà © also has great leadership attributes. The leaders such as the top executives, branch managers, and others are responsible in building organisation capability. For example, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nestlà © S.A., Peter Brabeck, (Castelarhost. 2005, Nestlà © LC1 S.W.O.T Analysis, Castelar Articles [Online] available at www.articles.castelarhost.com) emphasises internal growth worldwide, which means to achieve higher volumes of sales by adding value to the products, renovate existing products, and innovate new products, to keep pace in the industry because of rapidly changing of consumer expectations. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS Nestlà © produces hundreds of products, has a global network of suppliers, and multiple distributions and selling channels. Hence, to anticipate and respond in this rapidly changing in market demand condition is very difficult. When forecasting a market demand, Nestlà © will need information to detect shifts in demand early so they could adjust for trends and send the right messages to the suppliers, shippers, and distribution centres before they are flood with unwanted or defective goods or shortages. (Manhattan Associates. 2010, Planning and forecasting: Anticipate and Respond to Changes in Demand, Manhattan Associates [Online] at www.manh.com) However, every company has its weakest links, so is Nestlà ©. The weakest links are issues they are unable to control. (Labs. 2010, Supply Chain Efficiency Starts at the Top, Food Engineering [Online] available at www.foodengineeringmag.com) Firstly, the most common problem is the sources of supply of raw materials. This is due to a sudden and unexpected increased in demand, which will cause extreme supply shortages for commodities that will result in major price increases. For instance, bad weather and natural disasters have always been an issue affecting incoming raw materials. Secondly, the inaccuracy of orders received in inventory. No company can ever achieve the requirement of zero defects especially in foods and beverages industry. For example, when the purchasing department of Nestlà © ordered 10,000 of mixed berries yoghurt from its dealer, but what the retailer received was only 8,000 of mixed berries yoghurt, or on another occasion they might received defective inventori es. Another example is, when Nestlà © tells its dealer that they needed extra orders of a particular product to be shipped right away because of unexpected increased in demand, but in fact, the supplier may already has orders from other customers. This usually happen during special occasion such as Chinese New Year, the demand of Nestlà © Cornflakes cereal will increase because many people will buy this product to make cookies. This will causes Nestlà © to encounter a great loss because of inaccurate order of magnitude because they could not produce the actual output needed. Therefore, in order to solve these problems, it is crucial for Nestlà © to engage with multiple suppliers or dealers in that particular region, so they could acquire inventories from multiple dealers, which will definitely decrease the risk of shortage due to incontrollable situation. Besides, Nestlà © should also base on their demand and purchase planning on last couple of years of sales to forecast current year of demand and supply. Other than that, mutual trust and strong relationship with all the dealers are needed in order to increase the flexibility of material supply management, as well as to enhance the bargaining power of Nestlà ©. However, if there is a surplus, Nestlà © may need to plan a promotion to clear their inventories, otherwise Nestlà © will encounter a great loss such as paying high material handling cost, waste of warehouses space, or inventories that are not sold became defective and may need to be disposed which no profit will earn. Therefore, when there i s a big event organized such as Jom Heboh Carnival. Nestlà © will set up a booth at the carnival to sell its products, which are close to the expiry date at lower price such as Maggi products, Nescafà ©, Milo, yoghurt drinks, Nestlà © ice creams and so on. People often buy the products in big quantity because of the lower price than the market price. As a result, Nestlà © could clear their inventories rather fast and save some space in the warehouses. which is a win-win situation. Thirdly, even though Nestlà © has a logistics department but it doesnt deal with transportation logistics. Nestlà © outsourced its supply chain transport to the third-party logistics (3PL) as Nestlà © tries to cut their supply chain costs and to concentrate more on their in-plant operations. Although Nestlà © doesnt have a transportation logistics department, but they do have a delivery team to cooperate with the third-party logistics in routing protocol. Nestlà © is using a Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), which is a simple and efficient routing protocol designed specifically for use in multi-hop wireless ad hoc networks of mobile nodes. The protocol is composed of the two main mechanisms of Route Discovery and Route Maintenance, which work together to allow nodes to discover and maintain routes on-demand to arbitrary destinations in the ad hoc network. (Maltz. 2003, The Dynamic Source Routing Protocol CMU [Online] available at www.cs.cmu.edu) Therefore, the delivery team is there to help Nestlà © and the 3PL that DSR is working as per company direction as well as DSR performance. Next, it is the poor partnership relationship between dealerships and consumers. Dealers need these capabilities because they, in close partnership with manufacturers Nestlà ©, are a connecting hub of services for the consumers, and other stakeholders. However, Nestlà © solved this problem by using the Dealer Management Systems (DMS) as well as their dealers. DMS is a software solutions that provide tools for managing sales, services, parts and inventory management, business management, integration, and core architecture. DMS help manufacturers and dealers create integrated marketing campaigns to offer inventory to target markets. This will integrate innovations into traditional in-store sales and service processes and offer technologies for non-traditional merchandising, sales, and service strategies through alternative channels for consumer engagement via Web, by phone, or in-vehicle. (Microsoft Corporation. 2008, Microsoft Offers the Dealer Management Solution Microsoft [Online ] available at www.microsoft.com/automotive) RECOMMENDATIONS After the reviews stated above, those were not the only solutions that are available. MDZ has come up with a few recommended suggestions that may work or solve the problems that were encountered by Nestlà ©. Instead of just finding or having multiple suppliers, Nestlà © could acquire the inventories from the other outlets from the other region. Because some regions have different demographics, for instance, race. Some areas have higher percentage of Malays such as Kuantan, Pahang, and some may have higher percentage of Chinese such as Ipoh, Perak. The Chinese New Year (CNY) example stated above, in Kuantan area, there might be less demand during CNY, so to prevent shortage, Nestlà © could just acquire the inventories from Kuantan. However, if there is a surplus, and unable to clear the inventories at a short time, Nestlà © could consider donation for short-run purpose, this could help to clear the old stocks, as well as to help the donation receivers and build better goodwill and name of Nestlà ©. Secondly, Nestlà © is a multinational company; it definitely has the capability in owning a transportation logistics department. Because of the hundreds variety of Nestlà ©s products, 7 manufacturers in Malaysia, as well as thousands of customers such as retailers, wholesalers, distributors and so on, Nestlà © could handle its own transportation service. Nestlà © could gain the whole power in such as mode selections, routing, and others. They could do almost anything such as consolidating different type of products but to the same outlet. Besides, they could save every penny they use in transportation cost compare to third-party logistics (3PL) because 3PL charges according to the quantity, inventory storage space, value added processes such as special handling, and more. It may benefit in the short run, but definitely not in the long run, as Nestlà © centred in the long-term business and strives to achieve effectiveness and efficiency. Lastly, Nestlà © could use both manual and automation system in managing sales, services, and others. This is because one cannot trust wholly to a machine, as it may not be documenting the steps in its own processor. Because some steps cant be automated and may required operator intervention to prevent the escapement processing steps, even though adapting advanced technologies could help saving cost as labour cost is reduced, but if there are still problems occur, it will affect the business such as loss of customers because of the mistake. Therefore, Nestlà © must update the system software regularly and full utilisation of available technology as well as the manual operators, which will effectively increase the efficiency and dependability of the supply chain systems. CONCLUSION Nestlà © exerts great efforts to achieve its visions to be the leader in Nutrition, Health, and Wellness Company by producing better quality of products to the consumers. Nestlà © also study about the consumers needs from time to time and satisfy the consumers as much as possible. Nestlà ©s strengths such as high financial capability, effective strategic marketing capability, strong research and development, as well as great leaderships have helped them through the obstacles. Above all, Nestlà © focuses on its missions and ensures consistency by making the right decisions to manage and build its business to deliver the promise of Good Food, Good Life all over the world.

Vanity Fair Military Wives: Here We Go A Marching :: Victorian Era

Vanity Fair Military Wives: Here We Go A Marching In reading William Thackeray's novel, Vanity Fair, it was very surprising to learn that it was customary for soldiers' wives to follow and accompany their husbands' regiments when they went off to engage in combat. It seems rather odd when Amelia, on her honeymoon, boarded the ship (provided by His Majesty's government) that would take the troop on to Brussels. There is quite a big production as crowds gathered and cheered as the bands played â€Å"God Save the King†, while officers waved their hats and the crew rushed about. It did not seem possible that a major battle was going to take place in which many of the men would never again return to London. According to Andrew Uffindell's Women of Waterloo, â€Å"†¦ many soldiers were married, but only six or sometimes four in each company were permitted to take their wives with them on active service†. After the men had marched off to fight, the ladies who stayed behind in Brussels â€Å"suffered appalling mental tor tures as they awaited news of the fate of their loved ones† (Uffindell). After the Battle of Waterloo, many distraught British wives roamed the bloody battlefield in a state that sometimes bordered on madness. In Godfrey Davies' book, Wellington and His Army, the practice of allowing women to follow after their husbands' regiments goes so far back it is nearly untraceable. The number of women who might go abroad with the army was â€Å"unlimited for officers, but limited for men† (Davies 130). The majority of information available is about the wives whose husbands were in the infantry; much less is known about the cavalry and artillery. Soldiers' wives were restricted, or supposed to be restricted, to six per company and these â€Å"were chosen by lot on the evening before the regiment left its depot† (130). Approximately, there were twenty or thirty married women per company and each would draw a piece of paper on which was written â€Å"To go† or â€Å"Not to go†. The ones forced to stay behind were deeply sorrowful. This does not appear to be the case, however, with the famous ladies of Vanity Fair. What is startling is the general attitude of these British wives during this time of the war. The Duke of Wellington was leading the war against Napoleon and yet the entire party seemed entirely at ease: â€Å"†¦the business of life and living, and the pursuits of pleasure, especially, went on as if no end were to be expected to them, and no enemy in front† (Thackeray 286).

Comparing the Assimilation into American Culture of the Irish and the Native American :: Compare Contrast Sociological Boundaries

Comparing the Assimilation into American Culture of the Irish and the Native American Many people would agree that the Irish have been successful in assimilating into American culture and the Native American has been unsuccessful. There have been many boundaries that both groups have encountered but they are more of a hardship for the Native American. These include Racial and Cultural boundaries, Personal boundaries, Sociological boundaries, Political and Economic boundaries, and Geographical boundaries.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Racial and Cultural boundaries are probably the hardest obstacle that Native Americans have encountered. These are the physical differences. The Irish are a group of people that speak English. Since English is the national language of the United States and most people in America speak English, this was an obstacle that the Irish did not have to overcome. The Native Americans, however, did not speak English, so before they could function as a full member of society and get a good job they first had to learn how to speak English. The Irish are also for the most part a Catholic group. The Native Americans were not, this was another hardship for them. Most of the Irish customs were similar to those already being practiced in the United States. Native Americans had customs that were very different.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another boundary that was harder for the Native Americans than the Irish was personal boundaries. Native Americans had less education then the Irish did, they also did not know English and that was another hardship they faced. Both Native Americans and the Irish started out working in blue collar jobs, but the Irish eventually made there way out and into the white collar world. Native Americans still hold blue collar jobs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sociological boundaries were another set of boundaries that both groups had to face. There were not many Native Americans left due to wars between individual tribes, the trail of tears and other similar walks to reservations, and to disease. So there were not many Native Americans left to assimilate into American culture. Comparing the Assimilation into American Culture of the Irish and the Native American :: Compare Contrast Sociological Boundaries Comparing the Assimilation into American Culture of the Irish and the Native American Many people would agree that the Irish have been successful in assimilating into American culture and the Native American has been unsuccessful. There have been many boundaries that both groups have encountered but they are more of a hardship for the Native American. These include Racial and Cultural boundaries, Personal boundaries, Sociological boundaries, Political and Economic boundaries, and Geographical boundaries.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Racial and Cultural boundaries are probably the hardest obstacle that Native Americans have encountered. These are the physical differences. The Irish are a group of people that speak English. Since English is the national language of the United States and most people in America speak English, this was an obstacle that the Irish did not have to overcome. The Native Americans, however, did not speak English, so before they could function as a full member of society and get a good job they first had to learn how to speak English. The Irish are also for the most part a Catholic group. The Native Americans were not, this was another hardship for them. Most of the Irish customs were similar to those already being practiced in the United States. Native Americans had customs that were very different.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another boundary that was harder for the Native Americans than the Irish was personal boundaries. Native Americans had less education then the Irish did, they also did not know English and that was another hardship they faced. Both Native Americans and the Irish started out working in blue collar jobs, but the Irish eventually made there way out and into the white collar world. Native Americans still hold blue collar jobs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sociological boundaries were another set of boundaries that both groups had to face. There were not many Native Americans left due to wars between individual tribes, the trail of tears and other similar walks to reservations, and to disease. So there were not many Native Americans left to assimilate into American culture.

Impact of Advertising on Customer Loyality

*BEST PRACTICE: Customer *loyalty _The limited number of business contacts, the difficulty of recruiting new business customers and the cost of some business products or services all mean that maintaining customer loyalty is key to B2B marketing success. Sara Goodwins looks at some popular approaches to this problem_ Is it easier and less expensive to sell to existing customers than to find new ones? Of course it is. In the B2B arena, however, sales cycles are longer. If customers are not to be tempted away by competitors, marketing needs to encourage them to develop a relationship with the brand. Anthony Green, sales & marketing director of Concep, comments: â€Å"If businesses keep in touch, customers become familiar with products and services on offer and the company will be taken into consideration when a purchase is made. † When keeping in touch with customers, communication should achieve a number of objectives. Firstly, it should reassure the customer that they made a good choice of partner/supplier. It should also add value to the relationship, above what has been contracted, seek additional opportunities for further business, and inform business and client about new developments. Existing customers, lapsed customers and prospects should be approached differently. Marketers can assume that customers are familiar with the business and currently prefer your products/services or have done so in the recent past. Ideally no customer should ever go elsewhere, but there will be events such as changes in personnel, expiry of contracts, upheavals in the market, that change the relationship. Julie Cooper, co-director of events management company Fab, points out, â€Å"If a key contact within the client company is replaced, you have to establish confidence and trust with a new person – and the new contact may well bring with them pre-existing relationships with competing suppliers. † Keep in touch Lapsed customers, because of the past business relationship, should not be contacted in the same way as prospects. Alan Curnow, communications manager of Grass Roots, explains: â€Å"The distinction between clients and prospects is (more one of) tone than substance; we may need to refresh prospects' memories of who we are, whereas clients – even if they haven't bought from us for some time – know us. † Jan-Pieter Lips, head of business-to-business at Loyalty Management UK, which operates Nectar for Business, adds: â€Å"Experience shows that there is a direct correlation between winning back a lapsed customer and the time that has passed since the last transaction. Simon Ward, director of rewards scheme Seed, considers that the frequency of customer orders is like a pulse. â€Å"Businesses should monitor customertransactions and identify when they change. They can then contact thecustomer and find out why. † David Lebond, executive director of P&MM, agrees: â€Å"Doing something wrong is the best opportunity for getting a customer for life; if you handle a complaint well, put things right and demonstrate that you have the customers' interests at heart then not only will customers be retained, they'll also talk about you in glowing terms. Newsletters Newsletters and customers magazines are one of the most obvious communications methods, which can be used to maintain customerrelationships and loyalty. Richard Bush, managing director of Base One, says, â€Å"The trend for customermagazines – which we saw in the mid 90s – has diminished as many businesses found they were expensive and their success difficult to measure, although the need for what they provided still remains. † Electronic newsletters have taken over as less expensive, more measurable and interactive replacements. To include relevant material, you need to consider things like: life cycle of products/services and how they relate to customers and information held about customers which helps target mailings. Allow readers to choose – for example: offer the flexibility to pick areas of interest, frequency of mailing, etc. but make sure that they can change their selections with each mailing. Denise Cox, newsletter specialist at Newsweaver, says, â€Å"Stay away from complicated password-protected access to subscription profiles; this is a real turn-off and readers may just start deleting your emails instead of trying to change their preferences. Newsletters need a simple lay-out, clear navigation and no fancy graphics such as Flash that could cause them to be filtered. They require a table of contents on each page to provide clear choice and encourage further reading; around five main articles per newsletter of 300-700 words and a 100-word synopsis of each article on the front page with a link. â€Å"It is also extremely important that you have a strong call-to-action in your articles,† says Cox of Newsweaver. â€Å"It's astonishing how many companies don't. Yet it's your key opportunity to incite sales, feedback and make requests for more information. Readers typically decide within eight seconds whether to read on, set the information aside – which probably means they'll never read it – or delete it. The ‘from' and ‘subject' of the email need to tempt recipients to open it. ‘From' should be your brand, helping to build recognition; ‘subject' should be interesting and relevant. Content could include: articles stimulating thought and discussion, pertinent information relating to technological innovations, legislation affecting the industry, links to relevant news, client wins and case studies, industry reports and website links. Email newsletters are extremely cost-effective, popular, and immediate, and offer measurable conversion rates. Their main disadvantage is one of commitment. Companies must be prepared to publish a regular, well thought-out newsletter for it to be of marketing use and to respond to the interest it arouses. Reward/loyalty programmes â€Å"Reward programmes and loyalty programmes are not the same. The former is tactical, the latter strategic,† says Lebond of P&MM, he adds, â€Å"Reward programmes are a form of payment for repeat business; loyalty programmes represent a state of mind created in the customer. Reward programmes are most effective when there is rivalry in a sector (the programme then makes the point of difference); or there are frequent purchases to lock collectors into the scheme; or it's easy to change suppliers so customers need to be induced to stay. Reward programmes are effective anywhere where customer retention is key. Geraldine Tosh, managing director of IP oints, says, â€Å"A client running a website which relies heavily on advertisers, for example, can tempt people to the site using a reward programme. Extra points could be offered to clients making it their homepage for example, or using it frequently, etc. Branded reward programmes are often more cost-effective and less labour-intensive as well as enabling value to accumulate quickly. The main disadvantage is that companies usually have to commit for a period of time. Steve Cooper, marketing manager at Argos Business Solutions says, â€Å"In some cases a tailored scheme is more appropriate for a company where aligning with a different brand may conflict with or dilute the impact of their own brand and communications. † White label reward programmes aim to build value into a company's brand and offer companies more control of how uch value they're giving away. Tosh of IPoints says, â€Å"Reward catalogues can be tailored to include a business's own product or service at a reduced price. Companies could even tailor the earning and redemption around their customers' business needs. † Customers who know that your company is helping to build their business have a powerful incentive to buy from you. Rewards are short-term encouragements; loyalty is long-term commitment. As Lebond of P says, â€Å"If you get the right people with the constant attitude of ‘how can I make my customers even happier' then you don't need a reward programme. Corporate hospitality Customer events are undervalued largely because the value of them is difficult to assess. Face-to-face communications and shared experiences are very personal and the positive associations remain for a long time. Sarah Webster, director of communications at Eventia, explains, â€Å"Corporate hospitality enables suppliers to deepen their relationship with clients and to understand the motivations and constraints that influence buying decisions. † Corporate hospitality also adds value, as Rob Allen, chief executive at TRO, explains. Take the example of an accountancy firm which organises a breakfast briefing for its clients on the morning following the budget. By explaining the full implications of the Chancellor's new financial provisions, the firm is enabling its client companies to make significant savings or profits. The client relationship is enhanced. † Bush of Base One has no doubt, â€Å"Thirty minutes in a room with your top 10 customers is worth thousands of DM pieces. † Dedicated client website Webpages are particularly powerful marketing tools when used in conjunction with other marketing communication. Businesses can track the customer's journey through the site. Marketers can then use the information to tailor communications which recognise each client's interests. The main problem with websites is that the information they contain needs to be frequently refreshed to ensure that customers revisit. Many of the suggestions for newsletters apply equally to websites. Anthony Green, sales & marketing director of Concep, comments: â€Å"Additional information tied into a newsletter article can be put on the webpage. Those who click on the webpage have decided consciously that they want to access further information. Companies can then analyse the click-throughs and understand the specific areas of interest on both a macro and per-recipient level. † Tosh of IPoints is succinct, â€Å"Use microsites and reward schemes to collect information and then use the information in communications. † Communication is the key Relevant, valuable and timely communications are seminal to maintainingcustomer loyalty. Lebond of P says, â€Å"Every piece of communication could potentially be the lowest common denominator in a business's contact with its clients, so each one must be as good as possible. More business is lost by poor communications then by anything else. † Newsletters draw customers to websites where their interests can be analysed and responded to, reward programmes encourage frequent transactions, and hospitality enables personal contact. Curnow of Grass Roots explains, â€Å"Loyalty is not so much a pattern of behaviour as a state-of-mind. The single most conclusive evidence of loyalty is advocacy, not usage. The acid test is not how much the customer spends but how hard it would be to prise him away. And of course you cannot put a value on that

Comparing Macbeth and Frankenstein Essay

Both Macbeth and Frankenstein are powerful, ambitious characters. However, they have very different ambitions and desires. Macbeth’s ambition is to become king by committing murder whereas Frankenstein’s is to create life. For example â€Å"I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.† -Victor Frankenstein, chapter 3 Frankenstein. â€Å"Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.† –Macbeth, act 1 scene 4 Macbeth. Frankenstein wants to create something innovative and astonishing, something that he can be remembered for and something that will push the boundaries of life and science. This is evident when he says, â€Å"pioneer a new way† and â€Å"unfold to the world the deepest mysteries.† We can understand why Frankenstein is driven by creative ambition when he uses the word â€Å"pioneer† which indicates to the reader that he wants to be the â€Å"leader† of this science in the future and wants to make progress beyond existing limits. Furthermore, the word â€Å"deepest† does have some connotations of â€Å"dark† and â€Å"unknown;† this could be foreshadowing to the reader what is to come. Unlike Frankenstein, Macbeth is completely consumed by his ambition to kill. He has to commit murder to achieve his goals and his ambition is a major factor in what leads him to do so. Macbeth is already in a highly regarded position within his kingdom, but once he has had a taste of this newfound power, his desire for more cannot be stopped. â€Å"Stars,† in the eyes of a Jacobean audience, would suggest something heavenly or Godly. So by saying this it is almost blasphemes: Macbeth is asking God to turn a blind eye on what he is about to do and asking that his true, evil intentions not be understood by his peers, â€Å"black and deep desires.† Both Macbeth and Frankenstein, to their respective audiences, would have been viewed as people defying the boundaries of life and humanity. Frankenstein, pushing the boundaries of creation and trying to â€Å"Play God:† Macbeth doing acts that are unnatural to human beings.

Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER TWO MAYOR

MAYOR Branno had been waiting for an hour, thinking wearily. Technically speaking, she was guilty of breaking and entering. What's more, she had violated, quite unconstitutionally, the rights of a Councilman. By the strict laws that held Mayors to account since the days of Indbur III and the Mute, nearly two centuries before – she was impeachable. On this one day, however, for twenty-four hours she could do no wrong. But it would pass. She stirred restlessly. The first two centuries had been the Golden Age of the Foundation, the Heroic Era – at least in retrospect, if not to the unfortunates who had lived in that insecure time. Salvor Hardin and Hober Mallow had been the two great heroes, semideified to the point of rivaling the incomparable Hari Seldon himself. The three were a tripod on which all Foundation legend (and even Foundation history) rested. In those days, though, the Foundation had been one puny world, with a tenuous hold on the Four Kingdoms and with only a dim awareness of the extent to which the Seldon Plan was holding its protective hand over it, caring for it even against the remnant of the mighty Galactic Empire. And the more powerful the Foundation grew as a political and commercial entity, the less significant its rulers and fighters had come to seem. Lathan Devers was almost forgotten. If he was remembered at all, it was for his tragic death in the slave mines, rather than for his unnecessary but successful fight against Bel Riose. As for Bel Riose, the noblest of the Foundation's adversaries, he too was nearly forgotten, overshadowed by the Mule, who alone among enemies had broken the Seldon Plan and defeated and ruled the Foundation. He alone was the Great Enemy – indeed, the last of the Greats. It was little remembered that the Mule had been, in essence, defeated by one person – a woman, Bayta Darell – and that she had accomplished the victory without the help of anyone, – without even the support of the Seldon Plan. So, too, was it almost forgotten that her son and granddaughter, Toran and Arkady Darrell, had defeated the Second Foundation, leaving the Foundation, the First Foundation, supreme. These latter-day victors were no longer heroic figures. The times had become too expansive to do anything but shrink heroes into ordinary mortals. Then, too, Arkady's biography of her grandmother had reduced her from a heroine to a figure of romance. And since then there had been no heroes – not even figures of romance. The Kalganian war had been the last moment of violence engulfing the Foundation and that had been a minor conflict. Nearly two centuries of virtual peace! A hundred and twenty years without so much as a ship scratched. It had been a good peace – Branno would not deny that – a profitable peace. The Foundation had not established a Second Galactic Empire – it was only halfway there by the Seldon Plan – but, as the Foundation Federation, it held a strong economic grip on over a third of the scattered political units of the Galaxy, and influenced what it didn't control. There were few places where â€Å"I am of the Foundation† was not met with respect. There was no one who ranked higher in all the millions of inhabited worlds than the Mayor of Terminus. That was still the title. It was inherited from the leader of a single small and almost disregarded city on a lonely world on the far edge of civilization, some five centuries before, but no one would dream of changing it or of giving it one atom more glory-in-sound. As it was, only the all-but-forgotten title of Imperial Majesty could rival it in awe. – Except on Terminus itself, where the powers of the Mayor were carefully limited. The memory of the Indburs still remained. It was not their tyranny that people could not forget but the fact that they had lost to the Mule. And here she was, Harla Branno, the strongest to rule since the Mule's death (she knew that) and only the fifth woman to do so. On this day only had she been able to use her strength openly. She had fought for her interpretation of what was right and what should be – against the dogged opposition of those who longed for the prestige – filled Interior of the Galaxy and for the aura of Imperial power – and she had won. Not yet, she had said. Not yet! Jump too soon for the Interior and you will lose far this reason and for that. And Seldon had appeared and had supported her in language almost identical with her own. It made her, for a time, in the eyes of all fine Foundation, as wise as Seldon himself. She knew they could forget that any hour, however. And this young man dared to challenge her on this day of days. And he dared to be right? That was the danger of it. He was right? And by being right, he might destroy the Foundation! And now she faced him and they were alone. She said sadly, â€Å"Could you not have come to see me privately? Did you have to shout it all out in the Council Chamber in your idiotic desire to make a fool of me? What have you done, you mindless boy?† Trevize felt himself flushing and fought to control his anger. The Mayor was an aging woman who would be sixty-three on her next birthday. He hesitated to engage in a shouting match with someone nearly twice his age. Besides, she was well practiced in the political wars and knew that if she could place her opponent off-balance at the start then the battle was half-won. But it took an audience to make such a tactic effective and there was no audience before whom one might be humiliated. There were just the two of them. So he ignored her words and did his best to survey her dispassionately. She was an old woman wearing the unisex fashions which had prevailed for two generations now. They did not become her. The Mayor, the leader of the Galaxy – if leader there could be – was just a plain old woman who might easily have been mistaken for an old man, except that her iron-gray hair was tied tightly back, instead of being worn free in the traditional male style. Trevize smiled engagingly. However much an aged opponent strove to make the epithet â€Å"boy† sound like an insult, this particular â€Å"boy† had the advantage of youth and good looks – and the full awareness of both. He said, â€Å"It's true. I'm thirty-two and, therefore, a boy – in a manner of speaking. And I'm a Councilman and, therefore, ex officio, mindless. The first condition is unavoidable. For the second, I can only say I'm sorry.† â€Å"Do you know what you've done? Don't stand there and strive for wit. Sit down. Put your mind into gear, if you can, and answer me rationally.† â€Å"I know what I've done. I've told the truth as I've seen it.† â€Å"And on this day you try to defy me with it? On this one day when my prestige is such that I could pluck you out of the Council Chamber and arrest you, with no one daring to protest?† â€Å"The Council will recover its breath and it will protest. They may be protesting now. And they will listen to me all the more for the persecution to which you are subjecting me.† â€Å"No one will listen to you, because if I thought you would continue what you have been doing, I would continue to treat you as a traitor to the full extent of the law.† â€Å"I would then have to be tried.. I'd have my day in court.† â€Å"Don't count on that. A Mayor's emergency powers are enormous, even if they are rarely used.† â€Å"On what grounds would you declare an emergency?† â€Å"I'll invent the grounds. I have that much ingenuity left, and I do not fear taking the political risk. Don't push me, young man. We are going to come to an agreement here or you will never be free again. You will be imprisoned for the rest of your life. I guarantee it. They stared at each other: Branno in gray, Trevize in multishade brown. Trevize said, â€Å"What kind of an agreement?† â€Å"Ah. You're curious. That's better. Then we can engage in conversation instead of confrontation. What is your point of view?† â€Å"You know it well. You have been crawling in the mud with Councilman Compor, have you not?† â€Å"I want to hear it from you – in the light of the Seldon Crisis just passed.† â€Å"Very well, if that's what you want – Madam Mayor!† (He had been on the brink of saying â€Å"old woman.†) â€Å"The image of Seldon was too correct, too impossibly correct after five hundred years. It's the eighth time he has appeared, I believe. On some occasions, no one was there to hear him. On at least one occasion, in the time of Indbur III, what he had to say was utterly out of synchronization with reality but that was in the time of the Mule, wasn't it? But when, on any of those occasions, was he as correct as he was now?† Trevize allowed himself a small smile. â€Å"Never before, Madam Mayor, as far as our recordings of the past are concerned, has Seldon managed to describe the situation so perfectly, in all its smallest details.† Branno said, â€Å"Is it your suggestion that the Seldon appearance, the holographic image, is faked; that the Seldon recordings have been prepared by a contemporary such as myself, perhaps; that an actor was playing the Seldon role?† â€Å"Not impossible, Madam Mayor, but that's not what I mean. The truth is far worse. I believe that it is Seldon's image we see, and that his description of the present moment in history is the description he prepared five hundred years ago. I have said as much to your man, Kodell, who carefully guided me through a charade in which I seemed to support the superstitions of the unthinking Foundationer.† â€Å"Yes. The recording will be used, if necessary, to allow the Foundation to see that you were never really in the opposition.† Trevize spread his arms. â€Å"But I am. There is no Seldon Plan in the sense that we believe there is, and there hasn't been for perhaps two centuries. I have suspected that for years now, and what we went through in the Time Vault twelve hours ago proves it.† â€Å"Because Seldon was too accurate?† â€Å"Precisely. Don't smile. That is the final proof.† â€Å"I'm not smiling, as you can see. Go on.† â€Å"How could he have been so accurate? Two centuries ago, Seldon's analysis of what was then the present was completely wrong. Three hundred years had passed since the Foundation was set up and he was wide of the mark. Completely!† â€Å"That, Councilman, you yourself explained a few moments ago. It was because of the Mule. The Mule was a mutant with intense mental power and there had been no way of allowing for him in the Plan.† â€Å"But he was there just the same – allowed or not. The Seldon Plan was derailed. The Mule didn't rule for long and he had no successor. The Foundation regained its independence and its domination, but how could the Seldon Plan have gotten back on target after so enormous a tearing of its fabric?† Branno looked grim and her aging hands clasped together tightly. â€Å"You know the answer to that. There were one of two Foundations. You've read the history books.† â€Å"I've read Arkady's biography of her grandmother – required reading in school, after all – and I've read her novels, too. I've read the official view of the history of the Mule and afterward. Am I to be allowed to doubt them?† â€Å"In what way?† â€Å"Officially we, the First Foundation, were to retain the knowledge of the physical sciences and to advance them. We were to operate openly, our historical development following – whether we knew it or not – the Seldon Plan. There was, however, also the Second Foundation, which was to preserve and further develop the psychological sciences, including psychohistory, and their existence was to be a secret even from us. The Second Foundation was the fine-tuning agency of the Plan, acting to adjust the currents of Galactic history, when they turned from the paths outlined by the Plan.† â€Å"Then you answer yourself,† said the Mayor. â€Å"Bayta Darell defeated the Mule, perhaps under the inspiration of the Second Foundation, although her granddaughter insists that was not so. It was the Second Foundation without doubt, however, which labored to bring Galactic history back to the Plan after the Mule died and, quite obviously, they succeeded. – What on Terminus, then, are you talking about, Councilman?† â€Å"Madam Mayor, if we follow Arkady Darell's account, it is clear that the Second Foundation, in making the attempt to correct Galactic history, undermined Seldon's entire scheme, since in their attempt to correct they destroyed their own secrecy. We, the First Foundation, realized that our mirror image, the Second Foundation, existed, and we could not live with the knowledge that we were being manipulated. We therefore labored to find the Second Foundation and to destroy it.† Branno nodded. â€Å"And we succeeded, according to Arkady Darell's account, but quite obviously, not until the Second Foundation had placed Galactic history firmly on track again after its disruption by the Mule. It is still on track.† â€Å"Can you believe that? The Second Foundation, according to the account, was located and its various members dealt with. That was in 378 F. E., a hundred twenty years ago. For five generations, the have supposedly been operating without the Second Foundation, and yet have remained so close to target where the Plan is concerned that you and the image of Seldon spoke almost identically.† â€Å"This might be interpreted to mean that I have seen into the significance of developing history with keen insight:† â€Å"Forgive me. I do not intend to cast doubt upon your keen insight, but to me it seems that the more obvious explanation is that the Second Foundation was never destroyed. It still rules us. It still manipulates us. – And that is why we have returned to the track of the Seldon Plan.† If the Mayor was shocked by the statement, she showed no sign of it. It was past 1 A. m. and she wanted desperately to bring an end to it, and yet could not hasten. The young man had to be played and she did not want to have him break the fishing line. She did not want to have to dispose of him uselessly, when he might first be made to serve a function. She said, â€Å"Indeed? You say then that Arkady's tale of the Kalganian war and the destruction of the Second Foundation was false? Invented? A game? A lie?† Trevize shrugged. â€Å"It doesn't have to be. That's beside the point. Suppose Arkady's account were completely true, to the best of her knowledge. Suppose all took place exactly as Arkady said it did; that the nest of Second Foundationers was discovered, and that they were disposed of. How can we possibly say, though, that we got every last one of them? The Second Foundation was dealing with the entire Galaxy. They were not manipulating the history of Terminus alone or even of the Foundation alone. Their responsibilities involved more than our capital world or our entire Federation. There were bound to be some Second Foundationers that were a thousand – or more – parsecs away. Is it likely we would have gotten them all? â€Å"And if we failed to get them all, could we say we had won? Could the Mule have said it in his time? He took Terminus, and with it all the worlds it directly controlled – but the Independent Trading Worlds still stood. He took the Trading Worlds – yet three fugitives remained: Ebling Mis, Bayta Darell, and her husband. He kept both men under control and left Bayta – only Bayta – uncontrolled. He did this out of sentiment, if we are to believe Arkady's romance. And that was enough. According to Arkady's account, one person – only Bayta – was left to do as she pleased, and because of her actions the Mule was not able to locate the Second Foundation and was therefore defeated. â€Å"One person left untouched, and all was Lost! That's the importance of one person, despite all the legends that surround Seldon's Plan to the effect that the individual is nothing and the mass is all. â€Å"And if we left not just one Second Foundationer behind, but several dozen, as seems perfectly likely, what then? Would they not gather together, rebuild their fortunes, take up their careers again, multiply their numbers by recruitment and training, and once mare make us all pawns?† Branno said gravely, â€Å"Do you believe that?† â€Å"I am sure of it.† â€Å"But tell me, Councilman? Why should they bother? Why should the pitiful remnant continue to cling desperately to a duty no one welcomes? What drives them to keep the Galaxy along its path to the Second Galactic Empire? And if the small band insists on fulfilling its mission, why should we care? Why not accept the path of the Plan and be thankful that they will see to it that we do not stray or lose our way?† Trevize put his hand over his eyes and rubbed them. Despite his youth, he seemed the more tired of the two. He stared at the Mayor and said, â€Å"I can't believe you. Are you under the impression that the Second Foundation is doing this for us? That they are some sort of idealists? Isn't it clear to you from your knowledge of politics – of the practical issues of power and manipulation – that they are doing it for themselves? â€Å"We are the cutting edge. We are the engine, the force. We labor and sweat and bleed and weep. They merely control-adjusting an amplifier here, closing a contact there, and doing it all with ease and without risk to themselves. Then, when it is all done and when, after a thousand years of heaving and straining, we have set up the Second Galactic Empire, the people of the Second Foundation will move in as the ruling elite.† Branno said, â€Å"Do you want to eliminate the Second Foundation then? Having moved halfway to the Second Empire, do you want to take the chance of completing the task on our own and serving as our own elite? Is that it?† â€Å"Certainly! Certainly! Shouldn't that be what you want, too? You and I won't live to see it, but you have grandchildren and someday I may, and they will have grandchildren, and so on. I want them to have the fruit of our labors and I want them to look back to us as the source, and to praise us for what we have accomplished. I don't want it all to fall to a hidden conspiracy devised by Seldon – who is no hero of mine. I tell you he is a greater threat than the Mule – if we allow his Plan to go through. By the Galaxy, I wish the Mule had disrupted the Plan altogether – and forever. We would have survived him. He was one of a kind and very mortal. The Second Foundation seems to be immortal.† â€Å"But you would like to destroy the Second Foundation, is that not so?† â€Å"If I knew how!† â€Å"Since you don't know how, don't you think it quite likely they will destroy you?† Trevize looked contemptuous. â€Å"I have had the thought that even you might be under their control. Your accurate guess as to what Seldon's image would say and your subsequent treatment of me could be all Second Foundation. You could be a hollow shell with a Second Foundation content.† â€Å"Then why are you talking to me as you are?† â€Å"Because if you are under Second Foundation control, I am lost in any case and I might as well expel some of the anger within me and because, in actual fact, I am gambling that you are not under their control, that you are merely unaware of what you do.† Branno said, â€Å"You win that gamble, at any rate. I am not under anyone's control but my own. Still, can you be sure I am telling the truth? Were I under control of the Second Foundation, would I admit it? Would I even myself know that I was under their control? â€Å"But there is no profit in such questions. I believe I am not under control and you have no choice but to believe it, too. Consider this, however. If the Second Foundation exists, it is certain that their biggest need is to make sure that no one in the Galaxy knows they exist. The Seldon Plan only works well if the pawns-we-are not aware of how the Plan works and of how we are manipulated. It was because the Mule focused the attention of the Foundation on the Second Foundation that the Second Foundation was destroyed in Arkady's time. – Or should I say nearly destroyed, Councilman? â€Å"From this we can deduce two corollaries. First, we can reasonably suppose that they interfere grossly as little as they can. We can assume it would be impossible to take us all over. Even the Second Foundation, if it exists, must have limits to its power. To take over some and allow others to guess the fact would introduce distortions to the Plan. Consequently, we come to the conclusion that their interference is as delicate, as indirect, as sparse as is possible – and therefore I am not controlled. Nor are you.† Trevize said, â€Å"That is one corollary and I tend to accept it – out of wishful thinking, perhaps. What is the other?† â€Å"A simpler and more inevitable one. If the Second Foundation exists and wishes to guard the secret of that existence, then one thing is sure. Anyone who thinks it still exists, and talks about it, and announces it, and shouts it to all the Galaxy must, in some subtle way, be removed by them at once, wiped out, done away with. Wouldn't that be your conclusion, too?† Trevize said, â€Å"Is that why you have taken me into custody, Madam Mayor? To protect me from the Second Foundation?† â€Å"In a way. To an extent. Liono Kodell's careful recording of your beliefs will be publicized not only in order to keep the people of Terminus and the Foundation from being unduly disturbed by your silly talk – but to keep the Second Foundation from being disturbed. If it exists, I do not want to have its attention drawn to you.† â€Å"Imagine that,† said Trevize with heavy irony. â€Å"For my sake? For my lovely brown eyes?† Branno stirred and then, quite without warning, laughed quietly. She said, â€Å"I am not so old, Councilman, that I am not unaware that you have lovely brown eyes and, thirty years ago, that might have been motive enough. At this time, however, I wouldn't move a millimeter to save them – or all the rest of you – if only your eyes were involved. But if the Second Foundation exists, and if their attention, is drawn to you, they may not stop with you. There's my life to consider, and that of a number of others far mare intelligent and valuable than you – and all the plans we have made.† â€Å"Oh? Do you believe the Second Foundation exists, then, that you react so carefully to the possibility of their response?† Branno brought her fist down upon the table before her. â€Å"Of course I do, you consummate fool! If I didn't know the Second Foundation exists, and if I weren't fighting them as hard and as effectively as I could, would I care what you say about such a subject? If the Second Foundation did not exist, would it matter that you are announcing they do? I've wanted for months to shut you up before you went public, but lacked the political power to deal roughly with a Councilman. Seldon's appearance made me look good and gave me the power – if only temporarily – and at that moment, you did go public. I moved at once, and now I will have you killed without a twinge of conscience or a microsecond of hesitation – if you don't do exactly as you're told. â€Å"Our entire conversation now, at an hour in which I would much rather be in bed and asleep, was designed to bring you to the point of believing me when I tell you this. I want you to know that the problem of the Second Foundation, which I was careful to have you outline, gives me reason enough and inclination to have you brainstopped without trial.† Trevize half-rose from his seat. Branno said, â€Å"Oh, don't make any moves. I'm only an old woman, as you're undoubtedly telling yourself, but before you could place a hand on me, you'd be dead. We are under observation, foolish young man, by my people.† Trevize sat down. He said, just a bit shakily, â€Å"You make no sense. If you believed the Second Foundation existed, you wouldn't be speaking of it so freely. You wouldn't expose yourself to the dangers to which you say I am exposing myself.† â€Å"You recognize, then, that I have a bit more good sense than you do. In other words, you believe the Second Foundation exists, yet you speak freely about it, because you are foolish. I believe it exists, and I speak freely, too – but only because I have taken precautions. Since you seem to have read Arkady's history carefully, you may recall that she speaks of her father having invented what she called a ‘Mental Static Device.' It serves as a shield to the kind of mental power the Second Foundation has. It still exists and has been improved on, too, under conditions of the greatest secrecy. This house is, for the moment, reasonably safe against their prying. With that understood, let me tell you what you are to do.† â€Å"What's that?† â€Å"You are to find out whether what you and I think is so is indeed so. You are to find out if the Second Foundation still exists and, if so, where. That means you will have to leave Terminus and go I know not where – even though it may in the end turn out, as in Arkady's day, that the Second Foundation exists among us. It means you will not return till you have something to tell us; and if you have nothing to tell us, you will never return, and the population of Terminus will be less one fool.† Trevize found himself stammering. â€Å"How on Terminus can I look for them without giving away the fact? They will simply arrange a death for me, and you will be none the wiser.† â€Å"Then don't look for them, you naive child. Look for something else. Look for something else with all your heart and mind, and if, in the process, you come across them because they have not bothered to pay you any attention, then goods You may, in that case, send us the information by shielded and coded hyperwave, and you may then return as a reward.† â€Å"I suppose you have something in mind that I should look for.† â€Å"Of course I do. Do you know Janov Pelorat?† â€Å"Never heard of him.† â€Å"You will meet him tomorrow. He will tell you what you are looking for and he will leave with you in one of our most advanced ships. There will be just the two of you, for two are quite enough to risk. And if you ever try to return without satisfying us that you have the knowledge we want, then you will be blown out of space before you come within a parsec of Terminus. That's all. This conversation is over.† She arose, looked at her bare hands, then slowly drew on her gloves. She turned toward the door, and through it came two guards, weapons in hand. They stepped apart to let her pass. At the doorway she turned. â€Å"There are other guards outside. Do nothing that disturbs them or you will save us all the trouble of your existence.† â€Å"You will also then lose the benefits I might bring you,† said Trevize and, with an effort, lie managed to say it lightly. â€Å"We'll chance that,† said Branno with an unamused smile. Outside Liono Kodell was waiting for her. He said, â€Å"I listened to the whole thing, Mayor. You were extraordinarily patient.† â€Å"And I am extraordinarily tired. I think the day has been seventy-two hours long. You take over now.† â€Å"I will, but tell me. Was there really a Mental Static Device about the house?† â€Å"Oh, Kodell,† said Branno wearily. â€Å"You know better than that. What was the chance anyone was watching? Do you imagine the Second Foundation is watching everything, everywhere, always? I'm not the romantic young Trevize is; he might think that, but I don't. And even if that were the case, if Second Foundational eyes and ears were everywhere, would not the presence of an MSD have given us away at once? For that matter, would not its use have shown the Second Foundation a shield against its powers existed – once they detected a region that was mentally opaque? Isn't the secret of such a shield's existence – until we are quite ready to use it to the full – something worth not only more than Trevize, but more than you and I together? And yet†¦Ã¢â‚¬  They were in the ground-car, with Kodell driving. â€Å"And yet†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Kodell. â€Å"And yet what?† said Branno. † – Oh yes. And yet that young man is intelligent. I called him a fool in various ways half a dozen times just to keep him in his place, but he isn't one. He's young and he's read too many of Arkady Darell's novels, and they have made him think that that's the way the Galaxy is – but he has a quick insight about him and it will be a pity to lose him.† â€Å"You are sure then that he will be lost?† â€Å"Quite sure,† said Branno sadly. â€Å"Just the same, it is better that way. We don't need young romantics charging about blindly and smashing in an instant, perhaps, what it has taken us years to build. Besides, he will serve a purpose. He will surely attract the attention of the Second Foundationers – always assuming they exist and are indeed concerning themselves with us. And while they are attracted to him, they will, perchance, ignore us. Perhaps we can gain even more than the good fortune of being ignored. They may, we can hope, unwittingly give themselves away to us in their concern with Trevize, and let us have an opportunity and time to devise countermeasures.† â€Å"Trevize, then, draws the lightning.† Branno's lips twitched. â€Å"Ah, the metaphor I've been looking for. He is our lightning rod, absorbing the stroke and protecting us from harm.† â€Å"And this Pelorat, who wilt also be in the path of the lightning bolt?† â€Å"He may suffer, too. That can't be helped.† Kodell nodded. â€Å"Well, you know what Salvor Hardin used to say. ‘Never let your sense of morals keep you from doing what is right.'† â€Å"At the moment, I haven't got a sense of morals,† muttered Branno. â€Å"I have a sense of bone-weariness. And yet – I could name a number of people I would sooner lose than Golan Trevize. He is a handsome young man. – And, of course, he knows it.† Her tact words slurred as she closed her eyes and fell into a light sleep.

Dell Computers: a Case Study in Low Inventory

When managers discuss low inventory levels, Dell is invariably discussed. Hell, even I've mentioned Dell on this site. So why all the commotion? Has their low inventory Really  helped out that much? In short, yes. This article is primarily going to discuss how much it helped. This article will not discuss how they achieved such high inventory turns using a state of the art just in time inventory system. Reasoning behind need for lower inventory The first thing that needs to be discussed is why low inventory has such a great effect on Dell's overall performance. The reason is quite simple: computers depreciate at a very high rate. Sitting in inventory, a computer loses a ton of value. As Dell's CEO, Kevin Rollins, put it in an interview with Fast Company: â€Å"The longer you keep it the faster it deteriorates — you can literally see the stuff rot,† he says. â€Å"Because of their short product lifecycles, computer components depreciate anywhere from a half to a full point a week. Cutting inventory is not just a nice thing to do. It's a financial imperative. † We're going to assume that the depreciation is a full point per week (1%/week) and use that to determine how much money high inventory turns can save Dell. This means that for every 7 days a computer sits in Dell's warehouses, the computer loses 1% of its value. Ok, now that we know how much Dell loses for each day, let's take a look at some of Dell's data over the past 10 years that I pulled from www. hemanufacturer. com What I got from this was the inventory turns. An inventory turn, as this website successfully describes it, is â€Å"cost of goods sold from the income statement divided by value of inventory from the balance sheet†. Typically, this is turned into a value showing how many days worth of inventory a firm has by dividing inventory turnover by 365. I divided the inventory turnover by 52 in order to show how many weeks worth of inventory Dell holds. Key point to notice here is that Dell was carrying over 10 weeks worth of inventory in 1993. By 2001, Dell was carrying less than 1 week's worth of inventory. This essentially means that inventory used to sit around for 11 weeks and now it sits around for less than 1 week. So what does this mean for Dell? Remember, computers lose 1 percent of their value per week. This isn't like the canned food industry where managers can let their supplies sit around for months before anyone bats an eye. Computers aren’t canned goods, and as Kevin Rollins of Dell put it, computers â€Å"rot†. The longer a computer sits around, the less it is worth. That said, due to depreciation alone, in 1993 Dell was losing roughly 10% per computer just by allowing computers to sit around before they were sold. In 2001, Dell was losing less than a percent. Based on holding costs alone, Dell reduced costs by nearly 9%. Since 2001, Dell has continueed to lower inventory. Looking at their latest annual reports, day's inventory has dropped by approximately a day. Hopefully this article provided you with a practical example that demonstrates the positive effects lower inventory can have on a firm's overall costs. For more information regarding lawyers in the Texas area, check out Dallas Fort Worth trucking accident attorney. For more basic information regarding holding costs, please read A Simplified Look at the Pros and Cons of Inventory.

Characters of Journeys End by R.C. Sherriff and Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks Essay Example for Free

Characters of Journeys End by R.C. Sherriff and Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks Essay Character (1309) , Sebastian Faulks (9) , Birdsong (8) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints The First World War is known to be one of the worst, if not the worst war in military history. The strategies used were often ineffective and repetitive, meaning a lack of movement and years of stalemate on the western front. Soldiers had to live in conditions which were squalid and foul, they had to deal with diseases such as trench foot and millions of rats and lice infestations. These general images of soldiers living in these fetid conditions has become widely known and linked with the huge suffering caused by the First World War. The use of literature can enable us to gain a picture of what trench warfare was really like. ‘Journey’s End’ a play written by R.C. Sherriff in 1928 based on his own life experiences gives a realistic image of life as a soldier in the trenches. However, the novel ‘Birdsong’ by Sebastian Faulks which was not written till 2005 gives a version of what Faulks believed trench warfare to be like; it is a fictional idea based on knowledge and understanding of World War One. Also the authors chose different formats with one being a novel the other a play, thus giving them contrasting ways of conveying soldiers’ experiences of war. A play deals with the actions and reactions of characters using dialogue and yet a novel can go into the heads of characters, giving the reader an understanding of a person’s emotions and feelings through description and narrative. The characters presented in both Journey’s End and Birdsong are attempting to avoid and deal with the horrors of trench warfare in many different ways including; drinking, violence, and memories of loved ones and trying to use humour as a way of distancing themselves from the horrors facing them. Each character has to find there own way of dealing with the situation, as anyone would when faced with the constant fear of death. In both Journey’s End and Birdsong we get a glimpse of what the characters Stanhope and Wraysford were like before the terror of war affected them. In Journey’s End although we don’t see Stanhope before the war; Sherriff cleverly uses Raleigh to give us an idea of what he was like when he was younger. We see Raleigh as this optimistic, patriotic man excited at the prospect of going into war alongside his childhood hero. His confession to Osborne that he was ‘Keen to get out here’ is a representation of many patriotic soldiers at the break out of the first world war and could show us how Stanhope may have felt before the realisation of what warfare was really like. The growing sense of conflict between Stanhope and Raleigh just shows how much the war has changed Stanhope, and affected him. Not only do we see Raleigh as a young version of Stanhope but also we hear from him background information on Stanhope’s life, ‘he was skipper of Rugger at Barford, and kept wicket for the eleven. A jolly good bat, too.’ This is not needed in Birdsong as we gain a background on what Wraysford was like before the war in part one of the novel. Novels allow writers to add descriptive back stories through narrative rather than dialogue, we can learn about one person’s perspective unlike in a play when we are unable to hear thoughts and feelings – these can only be expressed through actors portraying the role. Birdsong can go into depth about the emotional effects war can have on a person, which is a tricky detail to encapsulate in a play and yet I believe R.C. Sherriff uses dialogue and the actions of each individual to show their emotional state. We can see strongly in both, just what the war can do, seeing and living in those conditions certainly would bring about change in a person however it is the way they deal with it that helps them continue on through. An easy escape for many soldiers during the war was drink. For an ordinary private on the front line getting alcohol was hard and they were only allowed a small drop before going over the top, however officers were allowed to drink (as believed responsible enough for it) and alcoholism among officers was common. Both Stanhope in Journey’s End and Wraysford and Weir in Birdsong use drink as a method of getting through the horrors in front of them, ‘She doesn’t know that if I went up those steps into the front line – without being doped with whisky – I’d go mad with fright’. Drink was a way to forget, and maybe for a moment be away from the front line in their heads, although eventually become addicted not needing it for any purpose but for wanting, ‘cast his eyes round hopefully. Stephen reluctantly pushed a bottle towards him’. Drink was not the best way to deal with the situation though, it may have clouded their memories but would not have completed erase them ‘if sleep came it was as a gift and was as likely to come after tea as after alcohol’. Soldiers on the front line could turn on each other, either because of alcohol consumption or just the fact that these men were pushed together in such bad conditions. Maybe getting angry at one another would give them something other than fighting the enemy to focus on ‘Hibbert raises his stick and strikes blindly at Stanhope’. The violence shown in Journey’s End could also represent the battles taking place outside, as an audience member you never get to see any conflict between the enemy and therefore Stanhope’s arguments and fights with the soldier’s substitutes this. The anger Stanhope feels towards Hibbert and also Raleigh, could also show us how he feels and acts in battle situations. Unlike Journey’s End in Birdsong we are able to follow Stephen as he goes out into No-man’s land, fighting for his life but we also get violence in the trenches too ‘Fuck off, Weir, fuck off out of my way’. The use of the word ‘fuck’ is a powerful one; we can understand Wraysford’s fear just through that one word, all his fear for the battle ahead builds up the tension. In Journey’s End Stanhope is worried about what Raleigh would write home in his letter, I believe that maybe another matter that Stanhope uses to redirect his thoughts away from memories, it gives him something else to think about. Which again leads to more violence ‘D’you understand an order? Give me that letter!’ Despite these small areas of conflict there is a strong theme in both Journey’s End and Birdsong, of comradeship. Men on the front line were often forced into forming new relationships with people and often because of this gained extraordinarily strong bonds with men they were fighting alongside with. This is shown by the example of Stanhope and Osborne, and shown to the audience in many scenes but mostly through the touching goodbye scene before the fatal raid and right at the end Stanhope and Raleigh final bond over his death, ‘Stanhope sits with one hand on Raleigh’s arm’ they had fought together in the same battles and known what the other men had seen, they understood. In Birdsong the strong relationship between Wraysford and Weir grew throughout the novel and like many soldiers on the frontline Wraysford needed Weir for company and to help his sanity, ‘Weir alone had made the war bearable’ friendships like Weir’s and Wraysford’s meant that soldiers could get through the war together. They did not need to be alone. Although Raleigh in Journey’s End believed he needed to distance himself when Osborne dies, Raleigh who is first seen as this innocent character in the beginning of the play is opened to this horror after the death of Osborne, he now knows truly just how hard . He eats away from the officers with the other men, he finds it disrespectful that the others are eating and drinking. Maybe some may believe distancing themselves would mean when or if it came to them dying it would not be as hard. Many soldiers needed to be friends, to join together because even though loss is hard the sharing of jokes in such a situation as terrible as this one may have helped. In Journey’s End many of the characters particularly Trotter’s main form of escapism is in making jokes about the war and the Germans ‘I expect a nasty old German’ll cop out of it and say, ‘Ock der Kaiser’ in doing this they are able to cover up their fear and make light of the situation. In Birdsong the use of comedy is more subtle, the soldiers go down to the pub and watch entertainment and laugh with each other as friends rather than making obvious jokes. Jack performing for the soldiers gave some time for the men to relax and enjoy themselves. ‘If they could shout loud enough, they might bring the world back to its senses; they might laugh loud enough to raise the dead’ although raising the dead was not possible, the idea that in laughing and having as good a time as you can they could remember their losses and keep them alive in their thoughts. In Journey’s End some of the soldiers liked to talk about home and familiar things like rugby and cricket to take their minds of the horrors of trench warfare. Thinking about home would help them to remember how their life was before the war; it would make them want to get out and gave them something to live for. Another thing they might think about is their girlfriends, wives or just women in general, ‘I just prayed to come through the war – and – and do things – and keep absolutely fit for her’. Jack Firebrace wanted to survive for his family, dealt with the struggle with the belief he had his wife and child to return to ‘His endurance was for them; the care he took to try to stay alive was so that he would see the boy again’. As for Stephen he did not have a family or anyone really he wanted to go home for, he kept on fighting and wanting to survive for the men who had died before, he wanted to win, to continue for their benefit. The idea and hope that the men he had lost had not died in vain. With trench conditions as foul as they were; rats, lice and illnesses such as trench foot one thing that could keep the men going was the idea and the relief of getting food. The importance of food in Journey’s End is shown by how many times the men talk about it and bring it up in general conversation. Complaining about inconsequential things like chunks of pineapple instead of apricots take their minds of the war ‘I say, Stanhope, it’s a terrible business. We thought we’d got a tin of pineapple chunks; it turns out to be apricots’. The men on the front lines wouldn’t very often have the nicest of food, and when Stanhope has to visit the Colonel and is given really expensive foods he immediately thinks of his men but he will eat the food as it is the one thing that he can gain pleasure from ‘A thin stew followed, then ripe cheese and fresh bread. Lunch went on past three o’clock†¦Stephen smiled to himself, aware that his bri ef flight from reality would soon be ended’. Birdsong touches on the idea of religion and how this can be affected by war. Many soldiers lost their faith due to the mass slaughter or even the loss of a son at home like Jack Firebrace however Stephen seemed to gain a belief in God, the idea that nothing this cruel can be the end. He hoped that when Weir or any other Soldier died they had a better world to escape to and maybe this idea kept him going helped him deal with the death of his friends. Journey’s End doesn’t really touch on the men’s faith or religion, however the idea of hero worshipping used by Raleigh could be linked. The belief in a God and a higher being could also be like Raleigh looking up to Stanhope ‘I believe Raleigh will go on liking you – and looking up to you – through everything. There’s something very deep, and rather fine, about hero worship.’ Many soldiers may have used the method of positive thinking like Osborne to cover up just how scared and fearful they were ‘I never knew the sun could rise in so many ways till I came out here’. Each soldier on the front line had to choose their own way of escaping and dealing with the horrors of trench warfare. The putrid living conditions and the everyday horror of death meant that it was necessary for them to break out of the truth they were living. Many of the methods used in both Journey’s End and Birdsong are similar but their methods were carried out in different ways. Others didn’t use methods at all, they just didn’t cope; like Hibbert in Journey’s End faking an illness to get away. Each character in either Journey’s End or Birdsong took on different methods of dealing with their long hardships and suffering. The true horrors of the war however could not be forgotten, the sight of death and the stench in the trenches would not be quickly removed from their thoughts. These literary texts both play and book give us, today, just a brief insight into the lives of men on the western front, the challenges faced by these men were truly horrific and just surviving must have been a hardship. No one now or then on the home front could ever know the true extent of the struggle and the effects it had both mentally and physically, ‘If they could see the way these men live they would not believe their eyes. This is not a war; this is an exploration of how far men can be degraded.’ Characters of Journeys End by R.C. Sherriff and Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. (2017, Jul 10). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you