MBA application essay

MBA application exposition MBA application exposition The initial step to writng a decent MBA exposition is to break down what the MBA application article question is inquiring. To do this you have to investigate the watchwords of the theme to show up at the correct methodology. Business exposition points can ask you to: Look at and Analyze Talk about and Criticize Clarify and Illustrate A MBA application paper that requests that you analyze how electronic media has reclassified the promoting extent of an item would require a profound examination of the subject to be explored and expounded on after appropriate examination. On the off chance that your MBA application paper requests that you talk about an issue, at that point you have to waitlist the principle sees regarding the matter and give purposes behind and against each view. The decision is yours Some of the time a MBA application exposition will permit you to pick your own subject, in which case you ought to compose on a territory wherein you are an intrigued master; that way you can appreciate composing a MBA application paper that gets you where you need to be. When you show up at the subject spotlight on a main issue or issue all through your MBA application paper: Examination is the key Go to the Business Studies area of your library and take a few to get back some composure of key references on the subject. The time you spend perusing and taking notes will include expansiveness and profundity of information to your MBA application article. You can likewise get to source material from a respectable webpage on the web. Incorporate sources like: Significant articles and contextual investigations Access data from valid sources like the Journal of Marketing Investigate locales like Questia that give a lot of assets on an assortment of business points. Direct meetings and reviews to acquire a more profound knowledge into the subject of your MBA application article Track page numbers, the title, writer, and distributer alongside the date and spot so you can give a rundown of the considerable number of readings in a Works Sited or reference page. Make a framework arrangement of your paper with charts and visual cues that stream sensibly from each other Use business phrasing to arrive at the point in the primary draft of your MBA application exposition don't chatter pointlessly to sound invented and sharp Follow these tips for an extraordinary MBA application paper. Intriguing themes: Postulation Methodology American History Thesis Islamic Religion Term Paper 15 Page Term Paper Exploration Paper Proposal

Abstract – Analysis

After Jobs' demise (201 1), the video of his discourse turned on the web, increasing a huge number of perspectives. On Twitter and Backbone, individuals cited bits of the discourse, and one of the cost profoundly flowed cites was his last line: â€Å"Stay hungry, remain silly. â€Å". Steve Jobs' ground-breaking discourse comprised of three stories from his life. The main story, which he calls â€Å"connecting the dots†, addresses his initial life and how everything influenced the initiation and advancement of his organization and career.The second story, about â€Å"love and loss†, uncovers how he sought after what he cherished, and the exciting bends in the road in that interest, and his inevitable achievement and accomplishment of satisfaction (American dream). The third story he talks about relates his sentiments of being toward the stopping point, and how confronting demise each day roused him to work and live as though it were his last day (Carper diem theme).Th is discourse is all the more Interesting on the grounds that It is loaded with logical, philosophical messages and figures, there are the repetitive topics of birth, passing, resurrection, love, and assurance. Apparently, Jobs has hit a center with the American Dream: â€Å"Sometimes life hits you in the head with a block. Try not to lose confidence. † and â€Å"Don't settle. † , a couple of his truisms for the youthful understudies are resolved to Join the workforce, seek after their jobs, start their families, and accomplish their â€Å"Dream†.While It might appear to be conceivable and speaking to â€Å"stay hungry, stay foolish† for one individual, It might appear to be irrational and Inauspicious to another. The reference about the â€Å"Instinct† that for Jobs beats the â€Å"reason† makes different suppositions as likewise the history has appeared through the thinking about certain logicians Like B. Pascal, S. Isolated, F. Nietzsche o r pragmatist rationalists Like D. Home or R. Descartes. At last, there are numerous different Ideas and Items that come out of this talk, where the emotion consistently wins the crowd.

A Field Guide to Spotting Predatory Lenders

A Field Guide to Spotting Predatory Lenders A Field Guide to Spotting Predatory Lenders A Field Guide to Spotting Predatory LendersThe lending jungle can be a dangerous place, especially if your low credit score has you at the bottom of the food chain.Unlike those dang falcons, with their 800+ credit scores  soaring high above the trees without a worry in the world, the rest of us  have to constantly be on the lookout for predators. Specifically, predatory lenders. They can smell out a bad credit score from a distance of 20 miles and have fangs that can completely shred a bank account in under 10 seconds.That’s all metaphorically speaking, of course.  Real  predatory lenders dont have big fangs and lean haunches, they just have short-payment terms, sky-high interest rates, and super sketchy business practices.Heres your field guide to understanding if you might be dealing with a predatory lender.They don’t do a credit check.If  you have bad credit and need a loan, you might think you should avoid lenders who perform credit checks. But a lender who doesnt look for re d flags (like troubled credit history) is, in itself, a red flag. The right bad credit loan can be a handy tool in a time of crisis, but a sketchy no credit check loan is more likely to land you in even  more  financial trouble than you were already in.If the lender isn’t concerned about your previous payment history, there’s a good chance that their fees and interest are so high and their payment terms so restrictive that the lender knows they can make more money off you not being able to pay them back. Their business model depends on continuously paying interest and extending the loan instead of paying it off in a reasonable time.If you are going to a lender who uses credit checks, try and find one who uses a soft credit check. Unlike hard credit checks, these will not have a negative impact on your credit score, which, if you’re reading this, you probably don’t need to have further damaged.Watch out for “cash advance loans.”A cash advance is money you get from using y our credit card. You can take out cash within your credit limit, but the interest rates are higher than with normal use and there’s no grace period, so the interest starts accumulating immediately.However, if you see a lender advertising “cash advance loans” they’re probably just offering a payday loan or some other kind of sketchy predatory loan. Cash advances arent great, but they are much better than a lot of more dangerous alternatives. If you’re not using your credit card to get it, it isn’t a cash advance loan.Look out for short payment terms.Payday loans tend to have very short payment terms. Around two weeks, on average. And at the end of that time, you’ll have to pay back the whole loan, plus interest and fees. That’s not a lot of wiggle room.If you’re totally sure you’ll be able to pay it back in time, then there’s no problem. But even then: just because you plan  on having the money to pay the loan back doesnt mean you  will  have it.You might be saf er if you can find an installment loan that can provide you a payment plan that fits within your budget. Ideally, they won’t have a penalty for prepayment either. That way, if you are able to pay it all back within two weeks, you won’t have to pay nearly as much interest.Don’t give them your car.Title loans are a lot like payday loans, except they require your car as collateral. You get all the high interest rates and short payment terms with the added fun of losing your car if you can’t pay it.And its not like the chances are super remote either: One study from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that one in five title loan customers gets their vehicle repossessed! That number is high.Skip the title loan and stick with an unsecured personal loan from a more reputable bad credit lender. Not being able to pay back a loan sucks, losing your car over it sucks way more.Read the reviews.When you’re looking for a lender, take some time to read their reviews online. T his should give you some idea about the lender’s business practices. And this goes for all kinds of lenders, whether theyre a storefront down the street or an internet-based  lender providing online loans.User reviews will give you an idea of how a lender treats their customers. If you only read a companys advertisements, youll always come away thinking theyre the bees knees. User reviews will give you a much clearer picture of what the companys like. Maybe theyre not the bees knees at all. Maybe theyre something much worse, like the bees, um, armpit or something.Using the mistakes or successes of other people is a great way to avoid mistakes and achieve successes of your own. You should still read the actual terms of any agreement before you sign it, but reviews can be a great source of supplementary information.They have bad customer service.Reading reviews should help you get a sense of if a lender has responsive customer service. Ideally, you want a number you can call with a real person on the other end who can help you immediately if you think you’re going to have trouble making your payments.A good lender makes money from customers that can actually afford to pay them back, and thus they should want to help you do so if you’re struggling. It should be a mutually beneficial relationship.A predatory lender just wants to (metaphorically) swallow your finances whole. Once you’re able to spot these shady players, you can avoid them and keep working on building up your credit. Someday, youll be one of those falcons, soaring through the sky and taking out falcon-only credit card with totally sick falcon rewards.To learn more about predatory lending, check out these related posts and articles from OppLoans:What’s Worse: An Overdraft Fee or A Payday Loan?Want to Avoid No Credit Check Loans? Build an Emergency FundYour Guide to Cash Advance ScamsHave you ever taken out a loan from a predatory lender?  We want to hear about it!  You can  email us  or you can find us on  Facebook  and  Twitter.

Developing Business Processes and Operations at Ikea Free Essay Example, 3000 words

Ikea has a lean culture where its people are respected and rewarded; it also enables the company to reach those goals which made Ikea the leading manufacturer of furniture in the world. While Samson and Singh (2008) define lean operation as a flow of product and services to be delivered in accordance with what the customers need, Ikea is the best example that shows how its lean culture works for the company s success. Lean operations use a little time, inventory and supplies and work in order to develop a dependable product. Lean manufacturing comprises processes, techniques, strategies, and initiatives that if successfully implemented, bring companies a reduction of unnecessary and unproductive tasks and behaviors in the working environment (Melton, 2005). In the context of Ikea, the company asserts its lean operations regarding its success. That is, Ikea optimizes the business operations of its delivery of the flat-packed furniture to the customers. The concept of lean operations is also applied to the process of product development and standardization production. Costs are cut by the process of decomposition and assembly. Besides, the company also uses the principle of design of manufacturability and design for logistics that takes into account product assembly, transport and packaging. We will write a custom essay sample on Developing Business Processes and Operations at Ikea or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page This creates greater risks for Ikea with its mass production of goods.

Pollution In Monterey Country - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2104 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/04/15 Category Ecology Essay Level High school Tags: Pollution Essay Did you like this example? Abstract The Monterey Bay, situated on Californias central coast, is home to a plethora of marine animals, tourism and leisure activities. With a global demand for production of plastics, a great quantity of the earth is thriving with pollution. Ranging from our landfills, streams, rivers, and oceans, the remnants of plastics have been found anywhere human life prevails. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Pollution In Monterey Country" essay for you Create order This debris produced by people worldwide has imploded great amounts of damage to marine life and potential human health risks. Utilizing the expertise of Kimberle Herring, Public Education, and Outreach Coordinator at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District, along with many environmentally-focused organizations, the causation behind pollution is addressed along with the destination of our waste. When examining the main factors of marine endangerment, evidence of death by consumption of plastic pellets becomes increasingly notable especially in sea animals such as birds, who ingest this waste by mistake and cause hindrances in their digestive systems (Rosevelt, Huertos, Garza, C., Nevins, H.M. (2013). Consequences that emerge from marine species consuming plastic particles include potential human health risks, marine endangerment, and ecological decay. In order to avoid further impediments to the ecosystems well-being, citizens must support laws in favor of oceanic conservation and provide public participation by cleaning beaches, refraining from plastics, and reducing their waste. Keywords: waste, pollution, plastics, marine, Monterey, health HUMAN WASTE AND POLLUTION With the exponential increase in the worlds plastic production, exposure to toxic substances has become increasingly common among seafood consumers, animals, and ecosystems, resulting in various illnesses and marine animal endangerment. Debris such as plastic microbeads and microfibers continuously plague marine life in the oceans of Monterey County and are the main cause of death in most of these marine organisms, including birds. Hindrances to marine environments are shown to have increased with the production of plastics, which in turn result in wildlife fatalities. From seafood to some effects on atmospheric air, these pollutants have been increasingly present both on ocean and land, and outnumber the amount of most marine species on the planet. Along with plastic bags and other consumer plastics, an immense amount of debris from around the globe gathers in tremendous amounts in different areas after strong ocean currents emerge. Consequently, these large patches of debris remain in place and collect new garbage that enters areas from different parts of the world. With the abundance of tourism, debris tends to wash ashore and take part in ecological damage as well as pose as potential health risks. Data gathered by coastal managers suggests necessary information that effectively concludes the origin, quantity, and their long-term impacts on the oceanic life. The conjoined efforts of many citizens, scientists, and environmentalists to impede the effects of pollution are considered rather futile as laws placed in the Monterey County do not prevent pollution from occurring at a massive rate. The inadequacy of these laws, when expected to properly cope with the increasing issue of marine pollution, is a recurring problem with solutions towards this prevalent epidemic. Despite the emergence of these laws, there remains a study rise in pollution by chemical and plastic waste in the oceans and damage to the ecologic al system. Discussion of Research The Fate of the Trash We Produce The increased rate of global dependency on disposable products has caused an abundance of trash that is discarded away from the view of most citizens. The average American generates four to five pounds of trash daily (Brain, 2008). Despite seemingly minuscule, this number contributes to a majority of the yearly global trash production of 220 million tons (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, n.d.). The United States alone generates over 30% of the planets trash pollution (Bradford, Broude, Truelove, 2018). When such an abundance of waste is produced in the fastest rate recorded in years, where does it all go? Trash is typically meant to be disposed of in landfills, resource recovery facilities or recycling centers. However, more often than not, this waste consistently finds its way into our oceans, lakes, and streams-leading to undesirable environmental consequences. Within a world dominated by the commercial production of waste, it is almost inevitable to avoid pollution. A self-administered interview with Kimberle Herring, Public Education and Outreach Coordinator at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District, demonstrated that as of 2017 and 2018, out of 175,395 tons of trash were produced, the City of Salinas landfilled 131,959 tons(Appendix A). The majority of the trash generated in the city of Salinas is situated in landfills, specifically that of the Johnson Canyon Landfill in Gonzales. The daily load of waste sent into these facilities provides an overwhelming amount of trash for management. The Johnson Canyon Landfill receives waste from places such as unincorporated areas of the Monterey County within the Salinas Valley Region (Appendix A). The conjoined waste of each region gathered around 298,757 tons of waste and 212,441 tons of this trash was sent to the landfill. With this abundance of waste, 27% of this trash is either not properly managed or directed away from the landfill (Appendix A). Despite the advantage that landfills pose by allowing a location for non-organic materials, Kimberle Herring states that they may also pose as an impending danger. Herring explains that landfills are a hotspot for methane gas (Appendix A), a gas known for its contribution to global climate change. Landfills have a potential risk of providing the environment with irreversible damaging effects, which proves that they should be a last resort for disposing of waste, as Herring (Appendix A)stated. Plastic Pellets in our Oceans and Diets The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration addresses the overwhelmingly massive island of garbage that circulates the Pacific Ocean and has been continuing to grow over the years. This gyre of human waste is composed of concentrations of plastics and its constituents gathered from across the globe. Along with bags and other consumer plastics, strong ocean currents pull the remnants of waste that were washed ashore in different parts of the world. Consequently, these large patches of debris remain in place and collect new garbage every time ocean currents flow, which in turn hinders the environments of marine mammals. When encountered with marine debris in this region, organisms may confuse these substances for food and consume them, resulting in choking, starvation, and other impairments (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2018). Factors such as tourism, recreation, and debris tend to wash ashore and take part in ecological damage as well as pose as potential health risks. Data gathered by coastal managers suggests necessary information that effectively concludes the origin, quantity, and their long-term impacts on the oceanic life. With an estimated amount of 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing some 269,000 tons (Seltenrich, 2015) Since marine animals, such as tuna, typically consume smaller objects, they often end up digesting harmful pollutants stemming from human commercial consumption. Plastic debris emerges in marine animals when they mistakenly digest these particles instead has on human health by imposing particles of plastics, as well as any other harmful constituents, into the diets of many unsuspecting citizens. With the exponential increase in the worlds plastic production, human exposure to harmful toxic substances has become common among seafood consumers, resulting in various illnesses and marine animal endangerment. When consuming plastics, the hosts digestive system is disrupted and loss of appetite occurs, resulting in stomach illness and in some cases, death (Abraham, K., Coggin, B., Magdalena, M. (2015, September 03). Political and Social Efforts Against Pollution The preeminence of plastics on the ocean floor usually by popular products consumed by citizens on a daily basis. Debris such as plastic microbeads and microfibers continuously plague marine life in the oceans of Monterey County and are the main cause of death in these animals. In efforts to learn how to avoid common practices that lead to pollution, Sarah-Mae Nelson, Monterey Bay Aquariums conservation interpreter, displays her journey to achieve a plastic-free lifestyle. Nelson follows more conscious footsteps such as avoiding the use synthetic fibers, plastic packaging, and any disposable/single-use items (Abraham, K., Coggin, B., Magdalena, M. (2015, September 03). Along with Nelsons efforts, brand such as LUSH Cosmetics?„, Johnson Johnson, Proctor Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, LOreal and The Body Shop have entered the realm of eco-friendly lifestyle by imposing organic ingredients as a replacement to plastic microbeads-an emerging problem in ocean pollution(Abraham, K., Co ggin, B., Magdalena, M. (2015, September 03). The changes being adopted by these prominent figures not only ensure the lives of many sea creatures but free the globe of more debris, thus diminishing degrades to the ocean environment. Avoiding hindrances in marine environments is essential for maintaining a balanced food chain cycle. Boyle dates back to the earliest laws against pollution and verifies the inadequacy of these laws when expected to properly cope with this increasing issue. Despite the emergence of laws such as the Articles of the High Seas Convention, there continued to be a study rise in pollution by chemical and plastic waste in the oceans and damage to the ecological system (Boyle, A. ,1985). Along with these conclusions, Boyle discusses the urgent need for regulatory laws which abide in solving or reducing the issue of marine pollution. Currently in Monterey County, the organization 5 Gyres, is aiding to propose a state bill that would prohibit microplastics in non-prescription, rinse-off personal care products sold in California by 2020.(Abraham, K., Coggin, B., Magdalena, M. (2015, September 03). This bill, known as AB 888, serves the purpose to reduce the effects of trash in the ocean. Personal Bias Growing up in Monterey County, I have experienced the rise of marine endangerment and pollution first-hand. Most notably, the trash situated in the shores of the Monterey Bay and surrounding areas. From plastic caps, water bottles, plastic bags, and even shoes, the amount of waste that is consistently being left behind or uncared for is incredibly massive, and there is little action being taken in order to solve this issue. Trash has demonstrated the ability to not only destroy marine environments, but also endanger species. Recently, I went on a beach clean-up with a group of students and encountered a plethora of problems. We collectively gathered around 50 pounds of trash composed of plastics, styrofoam, and other means of packaging in a 30 minute period. Shockingly, the corpses of 6 dead pelicans were spread across the beach and appeared to have no injuries but demonstrated signs of plastic consumption. The effects of human waste are causing marine animals to perish at an alarmin g rate. Implications for the Future Making sure that we are not disrupting natural ecosystems by limiting human waste pollution in the ocean is essential for maintaining a healthy environment. By eliminating the deleterious habits of citizens, a community as a whole can contribute to change. Estela Gutierrez, Resource Recovery Technician at Salinas Valley Recycles, suggests that every citizen should refrain from using materials that are unnecessary, reduce the amount of waste that is produced, reuse items as much as possible, recycle products, and rot food products to impede waste from going in the ocean (Appendix A). Sarah-Mae Nelson, who is an influential figure in Monterey County, serves as an example for people to heed in order to support the preservation of marine life. Nelsons eco-friendly lifestyle restricts the use of plastics and single-use items. Supporting brands that limit their packaging and sponsor ocean conservation organizations, such as LUSH Cosmetics, can lead to significant contributions in building a foundation of future businesses of this type. Along with making sure that waste is managed properly, citizens should be actively involved in the passings or propositions of new laws/regulations that ameliorate litter pollution. Reflection When exploring the quantity, origin, and production of waste, finding data on these topics was relatively simple. Finding research on the abundance of litter produced by cities in this region provided was a great way to dictate the whereabouts of most waste. There were numerous amounts of published facts and figure of marine pollution published by renowned organizations such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Deciding on what information to acquire was not difficult as I had prior knowledge of the effects and causes of pollution from living in Monterey County. Nonetheless, despite an abundance of accessible research, most of the data was redundant, as there were multiple repetitions of facts and discussion points. Local accounts of marine pollution we also easily acquired as the Monterey Community thrives with efforts for environmental well-being. I should have included more examples of the solutions and problems with pollution at a global scale, rather than solely focus on California and the Monterey County. This would have established a connection between the efforts of each community to solve this issue and the progress being made in each region.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Twenty Free Essays

Eddard Eddard Stark rode through the towering bronze doors of the Red Keep sore, tired, hungry, and irritable. He was still ahorse, dreaming of a long hot soak, a roast fowl, and a featherbed, when the king’s steward told him that Grand Maester Pycelle had convened an urgent meeting of the small council. The honor of the Hand’s presence was requested as soon as it was convenient. We will write a custom essay sample on A Game of Thrones Chapter Twenty or any similar topic only for you Order Now â€Å"It will be convenient on the morrow,† Ned snapped as he dismounted. The steward bowed very low. â€Å"I shall give the councillors your regrets, my lord.† â€Å"No, damn it,† Ned said. It would not do to offend the council before he had even begun. â€Å"I will see them. Pray give me a few moments to change into something more presentable.† â€Å"Yes, my lord,† the steward said. â€Å"We have given you Lord Arryn’s former chambers in the Tower of the Hand, if it please you. I shall have your things taken there.† â€Å"My thanks,† Ned said as he ripped off his riding gloves and tucked them into his belt. The rest of his household was coming through the gate behind him. Ned saw Vayon Poole, his own steward, and called out. â€Å"It seems the council has urgent need of me. See that my daughters find their bedchambers, and tell Jory to keep them there. Arya is not to go exploring.† Poole bowed. Ned turned back to the royal steward. â€Å"My wagons are still straggling through the city. I shall need appropriate garments.† â€Å"It will be my great pleasure,† the steward said. And so Ned had come striding into the council chambers, bone-tired and dressed in borrowed clothing, to find four members of the small council waiting for him. The chamber was richly furnished. Myrish carpets covered the floor instead of rushes, and in one corner a hundred fabulous beasts cavorted in bright paints on a carved screen from the Summer Isles. The walls were hung with tapestries from Norvos and Qohor and Lys, and a pair of Valyrian sphinxes flanked the door, eyes of polished garnet smoldering in black marble faces. The councillor Ned liked least, the eunuch Varys, accosted him the moment he entered. â€Å"Lord Stark, I was grievous sad to hear about your troubles on the kingsroad. We have all been visiting the sept to light candles for Prince Joffrey. I pray for his recovery.† His hand left powder stains on Ned’s sleeve, and he smelled as foul and sweet as flowers on a grave. â€Å"Your gods have heard you,† Ned replied, cool yet polite. â€Å"The prince grows stronger every day.† He disentangled himself from the eunuch’s grip and crossed the room to where Lord Renly stood by the screen, talking quietly with a short man who could only be Littlefinger. Renly had been a boy of eight when Robert won the throne, but he had grown into a man so like his brother that Ned found it disconcerting. Whenever he saw him, it was as if the years had slipped away and Robert stood before him, fresh from his victory on the Trident. â€Å"I see you have arrived safely, Lord Stark,† Renly said. â€Å"And you as well,† Ned replied. â€Å"You must forgive me, but sometimes you look the very image of your brother Robert.† â€Å"A poor copy,† Renly said with a shrug. â€Å"Though much better dressed,† Littlefinger quipped. â€Å"Lord Renly spends more on clothing than half the ladies of the court.† It was true enough. Lord Renly was in dark green velvet, with a dozen golden stags embroidered on his doublet. A cloth-of-gold half cape was draped casually across one shoulder, fastened with an emerald brooch. â€Å"There are worse crimes,† Renly said with a laugh. â€Å"The way you dress, for one.† Littlefinger ignored the jibe. He eyed Ned with a smile on his lips that bordered on insolence. â€Å"I have hoped to meet you for some years, Lord Stark. No doubt Lady Catelyn has mentioned me to you.† â€Å"She has,† Ned replied with a chill in his voice. The sly arrogance of the comment rankled him. â€Å"I understand you knew my brother Brandon as well.† Renly Baratheon laughed. Varys shuffled over to listen. â€Å"Rather too well,† Littlefinger said. â€Å"I still carry a token of his esteem. Did Brandon speak of me too?† â€Å"Often, and with some heat,† Ned said, hoping that would end it. He had no patience with this game they played, this dueling with words. â€Å"I should have thought that heat ill suits you Starks,† Littlefinger said. â€Å"Here in the south, they say you are all made of ice, and melt when you ride below the Neck.† â€Å"I do not plan on melting soon, Lord Baelish. You may count on it.† Ned moved to the council table and said, â€Å"Maester Pycelle, I trust you are well.† The Grand Maester smiled gently from his tall chair at the foot of the table. â€Å"Well enough for a man of my years, my lord,† he replied, â€Å"yet I do tire easily, I fear.† Wispy strands of white hair fringed the broad bald dome of his forehead above a kindly face. His maester’s collar was no simple metal choker such as Luwin wore, but two dozen heavy chains wound together into a ponderous metal necklace that covered him from throat to breast. The links were forged of every metal known to man: black iron and red gold, bright copper and dull lead, steel and tin and pale silver, brass and bronze and platinum. Garnets and amethysts and black pearls adorned the metalwork, and here and there an emerald or ruby. â€Å"Perhaps we might begin soon,† the Grand Maester said, hands knitting together atop his broad stomach. â€Å"I fear I shall fall asleep if we wait much longer.† â€Å"As you will.† The king’s seat sat empty at the head of the table, the crowned stag of Baratheon embroidered in gold thread on its pillows. Ned took the chair beside it, as the right hand of his king. â€Å"My lords,† he said formally, â€Å"I am sorry to have kept you waiting.† â€Å"You are the King’s Hand,† Varys said. â€Å"We serve at your pleasure, Lord Stark.† As the others took their accustomed seats, it struck Eddard Stark forcefully that he did not belong here, in this room, with these men. He remembered what Robert had told him in the crypts below Winterfell. I am surrounded by flatterers and fools, the king had insisted. Ned looked down the council table and wondered which were the flatterers and which the fools. He thought he knew already. â€Å"We are but five,† he pointed out. â€Å"Lord Stannis took himself to Dragonstone not long after the king went north,† Varys said, â€Å"and our gallant Ser Barristan no doubt rides beside the king as he makes his way through the city, as befits the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.† â€Å"Perhaps we had best wait for Ser Barristan and the king to join us,† Ned suggested. Renly Baratheon laughed aloud. â€Å"If we wait for my brother to grace us with his royal presence, it could be a long sit.† â€Å"Our good King Robert has many cares,† Varys said. â€Å"He entrusts some small matters to us, to lighten his load.† â€Å"What Lord Varys means is that all this business of coin and crops and justice bores my royal brother to tears,† Lord Renly said, â€Å"so it falls to us to govern the realm. He does send us a command from time to time.† He drew a tightly rolled paper from his sleeve and laid it on the table. â€Å"This morning he commanded me to ride ahead with all haste and ask Grand Maester Pycelle to convene this council at once. He has an urgent task for us.† Littlefinger smiled and handed the paper to Ned. It bore the royal seal. Ned broke the wax with his thumb and flattened the letter to consider the king’s urgent command, reading the words with mounting disbelief. Was there no end to Robert’s folly? And to do this in his name, that was salt in the wound. â€Å"Gods be good,† he swore. â€Å"What Lord Eddard means to say,† Lord Renly announced, â€Å"is that His Grace instructs us to stage a great tournament in honor of his appointment as the Hand of the King.† â€Å"How much?† asked Littlefinger, mildly. Ned read the answer off the letter. â€Å"Forty thousand golden dragons to the champion. Twenty thousand to the man who comes second, another twenty to the winner of the melee, and ten thousand to the victor of the archery competition.† â€Å"Ninety thousand gold pieces,† Littlefinger sighed. â€Å"And we must not neglect the other costs. Robert will want a prodigious feast. That means cooks, carpenters, serving girls, singers, jugglers, fools . . . â€Å" â€Å"Fools we have in plenty,† Lord Renly said. Grand Maester Pycelle looked to Littlefinger and asked, â€Å"Will the treasury bear the expense?† â€Å"What treasury is that?† Littlefinger replied with a twist of his mouth. â€Å"Spare me the foolishness, Maester. You know as well as I that the treasury has been empty for years. I shall have to borrow the money. No doubt the Lannisters will be accommodating. We owe Lord Tywin some three million dragons at present, what matter another hundred thousand?† Ned was stunned. â€Å"Are you claiming that the Crown is three million gold pieces in debt?† â€Å"The Crown is more than six million gold pieces in debt, Lord Stark. The Lannisters are the biggest part of it, but we have also borrowed from Lord Tyrell, the Iron Bank of Braavos, and several Tyroshi trading cartels. Of late I’ve had to turn to the Faith. The High Septon haggles worse than a Dornish fishmonger.† Ned was aghast. â€Å"Aerys Targaryen left a treasury flowing with gold. How could you let this happen?† Littlefinger gave a shrug. â€Å"The master of coin finds the money. The king and the Hand spend it.† â€Å"I will not believe that Jon Arryn allowed Robert to beggar the realm,† Ned said hotly. Grand Maester Pycelle shook his great bald head, his chains clinking softly. â€Å"Lord Arryn was a prudent man, but I fear that His Grace does not always listen to wise counsel.† â€Å"My royal brother loves tournaments and feasts,† Renly Baratheon said, â€Å"and he loathes what he calls ‘counting coppers.’ â€Å" â€Å"I will speak with His Grace,† Ned said. â€Å"This tourney is an extravagance the realm cannot afford.† â€Å"Speak to him as you will,† Lord Renly said, â€Å"we had still best make our plans.† â€Å"Another day,† Ned said. Perhaps too sharply, from the looks they gave him. He would have to remember that he was no longer in Winterfell, where only the king stood higher; here, he was but first among equals. â€Å"Forgive me, my lords,† he said in a softer tone. â€Å"I am tired. Let us call a halt for today and resume when we are fresher.† He did not ask for their consent, but stood abruptly, nodded at them all, and made for the door. Outside, wagons and riders were still pouring through the castle gates, and the yard was a chaos of mud and horseflesh and shouting men. The king had not yet arrived, he was told. Since the ugliness on the Trident, the Starks and their household had ridden well ahead of the main column, the better to separate themselves from the Lannisters and the growing tension. Robert had hardly been seen; the talk was he was traveling in the huge wheelhouse, drunk as often as not. If so, he might be hours behind, but he would still be here too soon for Ned’s liking. He had only to look at Sansa’s face to feel the rage twisting inside him once again. The last fortnight of their journey had been a misery. Sansa blamed Arya and told her that it should have been Nymeria who died. And Arya was lost after she heard what had happened to her butcher’s boy. Sansa cried herself to sleep, Arya brooded silently all day long, and Eddard Stark dreamed of a frozen hell reserved for the Star ks of Winterfell. He crossed the outer yard, passed under a portcullis into the inner bailey, and was walking toward what he thought was the Tower of the Hand when Littlefinger appeared in front of him. â€Å"You’re going the wrong way, Stark. Come with me.† Hesitantly, Ned followed. Littlefinger led him into a tower, down a stair, across a small sunken courtyard, and along a deserted corridor where empty suits of armor stood sentinel along the walls. They were relics of the Targaryens, black steel with dragon scales cresting their helms, now dusty and forgotten. â€Å"This is not the way to my chambers,† Ned said. â€Å"Did I say it was? I’m leading you to the dungeons to slit your throat and seal your corpse up behind a wall,† Littlefinger replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. â€Å"We have no time for this, Stark. Your wife awaits.† â€Å"What game are you playing, Littlefinger? Catelyn is at Winterfell, hundreds of leagues from here.† â€Å"Oh?† Littlefinger’s grey-green eyes glittered with amusement. â€Å"Then it appears someone has managed an astonishing impersonation. For the last time, come. Or don’t come, and I’ll keep her for myself.† He hurried down the steps. Ned followed him warily, wondering if this day would ever end. He had no taste for these intrigues, but he was beginning to realize that they were meat and mead to a man like Littlefinger. At the foot of the steps was a heavy door of oak and iron. Petyr Baelish lifted the crossbar and gestured Ned through. They stepped out into the ruddy glow of dusk, on a rocky bluff high above the river. â€Å"We’re outside the castle,† Ned said. â€Å"You are a hard man to fool, Stark,† Littlefinger said with a smirk. â€Å"Was it the sun that gave it away, or the sky? Follow me. There are niches cut in the rock. Try not to fall to your death, Catelyn would never understand.† With that, he was over the side of the cliff, descending as quick as a monkey. Ned studied the rocky face of the bluff for a moment, then followed more slowly. The niches were there, as Littlefinger had promised, shallow cuts that would be invisible from below, unless you knew just where to look for them. The river was a long, dizzying distance below. Ned kept his face pressed to the rock and tried not to look down any more often than he had to. When at last he reached the bottom, a narrow, muddy trail along the water’s edge, Littlefinger was lazing against a rock and eating an apple. He was almost down to the core. â€Å"You are growing old and slow, Stark,† he said, flipping the apple casually into the rushing water. â€Å"No matter, we ride the rest of the way.† He had two horses waiting. Ned mounted up and trotted behind him, down the trail and into the city. Finally Baelish drew rein in front of a ramshackle building, three stories, timbered, its windows bright with lamplight in the gathering dusk. The sounds of music and raucous laughter drifted out and floated over the water. Beside the door swung an ornate oil lamp on a heavy chain, with a globe of leaded red glass. Ned Stark dismounted in a fury. â€Å"A brothel,† he said as he seized Littlefinger by the shoulder and spun him around. â€Å"You’ve brought me all this way to take me to a brothel.† â€Å"Your wife is inside,† Littlefinger said. It was the final insult. â€Å"Brandon was too kind to you,† Ned said as he slammed the small man back against a wall and shoved his dagger up under the little pointed chin beard. â€Å"My lord, no,† an urgent voice called out. â€Å"He speaks the truth.† There were footsteps behind him. Ned spun, knife in hand, as an old white-haired man hurried toward them. He was dressed in brown roughspun, and the soft flesh under his chin wobbled as he ran. â€Å"This is no business of yours,† Ned began; then, suddenly, the recognition came. He lowered the dagger, astonished. â€Å"Ser Rodrik?† Rodrik Cassel nodded. â€Å"Your lady awaits you upstairs.† Ned was lost. â€Å"Catelyn is truly here? This is not some strange jape of Littlefinger’s?† He sheathed his blade. â€Å"Would that it were, Stark,† Littlefinger said. â€Å"Follow me, and try to look a shade more lecherous and a shade less like the King’s Hand. It would not do to have you recognized. Perhaps you could fondle a breast or two, just in passing.† They went inside, through a crowded common room where a fat woman was singing bawdy songs while pretty young girls in linen shifts and wisps of colored silk pressed themselves against their lovers and dandled on their laps. No one paid Ned the least bit of attention. Ser Rodrik waited below while Littlefinger led him up to the third floor, along a corridor, and through a door. Inside, Catelyn was waiting. She cried out when she saw him, ran to him, and embraced him fiercely. â€Å"My lady,† Ned whispered in wonderment. â€Å"Oh, very good,† said Littlefinger, closing the door. â€Å"You recognized her.† â€Å"I feared you’d never come, my lord,† she whispered against his chest. â€Å"Petyr has been bringing me reports. He told me of your troubles with Arya and the young prince. How are my girls?† â€Å"Both in mourning, and full of anger,† he told her. â€Å"Cat, I do not understand. What are you doing in King’s Landing? What’s happened?† Ned asked his wife. â€Å"Is it Bran? Is he . . . â€Å"Dead was the word that came to his lips, but he could not say it. â€Å"It is Bran, but not as you think,† Catelyn said. Ned was lost. â€Å"Then how? Why are you here, my love? What is this place?† â€Å"Just what it appears,† Littlefinger said, easing himself onto a window seat. â€Å"A brothel. Can you think of a less likely place to find a Catelyn Tully?† He smiled. â€Å"As it chances, I own this particular establishment, so arrangements were easily made. I am most anxious to keep the Lannisters from learning that Cat is here in King’s Landing.† â€Å"Why?† Ned asked. He saw her hands then, the awkward way she held them, the raw red scars, the stiffness of the last two fingers on her left. â€Å"You’ve been hurt.† He took her hands in his own, turned them over. â€Å"Gods. Those are deep cuts . . . a gash from a sword or . . . how did this happen, my lady?† Catelyn slid a dagger out from under her cloak and placed it in his hand. â€Å"This blade was sent to open Bran’s throat and spill his life’s blood.† Ned’s head jerked up. â€Å"But . . . who . . . why would . . . â€Å" She put a finger to his lips. â€Å"Let me tell it all, my love. It will go faster that way. Listen.† So he listened, and she told it all, from the fire in the library tower to Varys and the guardsmen and Littlefinger. And when she was done, Eddard Stark sat dazed beside the table, the dagger in his hand. Bran’s wolf had saved the boy’s life, he thought dully. What was it that Jon had said when they found the pups in the snow? Your children were meant to have these pups, my lord. And he had killed Sansa’s, and for what? Was it guilt he was feeling? Or fear? If the gods had sent these wolves, what folly had he done? Painfully, Ned forced his thoughts back to the dagger and what it meant. â€Å"The Imp’s dagger,† he repeated. It made no sense. His hand curled around the smooth dragonbone hilt, and he slammed the blade into the table, felt it bite into the wood. It stood mocking him. â€Å"Why should Tyrion Lannister want Bran dead? The boy has never done him harm.† â€Å"Do you Starks have nought but snow between your ears?† Littlefinger asked. â€Å"The Imp would never have acted alone.† Ned rose and paced the length of the room. â€Å"If the queen had a role in this or, gods forbid, the king himself . . . no, I will not believe that.† Yet even as he said the words, he remembered that chill morning on the barrowlands, and Robert’s talk of sending hired knives after the Targaryen princess. He remembered Rhaegar’s infant son, the red ruin of his skull, and the way the king had turned away, as he had turned away in Darry’s audience hall not so long ago. He could still hear Sansa pleading, as Lyanna had pleaded once. â€Å"Most likely the king did not know,† Littlefinger said. â€Å"It would not be the first time. Our good Robert is practiced at closing his eyes to things he would rather not see.† Ned had no reply for that. The face of the butcher’s boy swam up before his eyes, cloven almost in two, and afterward the king had said not a word. His head was pounding. Littlefinger sauntered over to the table, wrenched the knife from the wood. â€Å"The accusation is treason either way. Accuse the king and you will dance with Ilyn Payne before the words are out of your mouth. The queen . . . if you can find proof, and if you can make Robert listen, then perhaps . . . â€Å" â€Å"We have proof,† Ned said. â€Å"We have the dagger.† â€Å"This?† Littlefinger flipped the knife casually end over end. â€Å"A sweet piece of steel, but it cuts two ways, my lord. The Imp will no doubt swear the blade was lost or stolen while he was at Winterfell, and with his hireling dead, who is there to give him the lie?† He tossed the knife lightly to Ned. â€Å"My counsel is to drop that in the river and forget that it was ever forged.† Ned regarded him coldly. â€Å"Lord Baelish, I am a Stark of Winterfell. My son lies crippled, perhaps dying. He would be dead, and Catelyn with him, but for a wolf pup we found in the snow. If you truly believe I could forget that, you are as big a fool now as when you took up sword against my brother.† â€Å"A fool I may be, Stark . . . yet I’m still here, while your brother has been moldering in his frozen grave for some fourteen years now. If you are so eager to molder beside him, far be it from me to dissuade you, but I would rather not be included in the party, thank you very much.† â€Å"You would be the last man I would willingly include in any party, Lord Baelish.† â€Å"You wound me deeply.† Littlefinger placed a hand over his heart. â€Å"For my part, I always found you Starks a tiresome lot, but Cat seems to have become attached to you, for reasons I cannot comprehend. I shall try to keep you alive for her sake. A fool’s task, admittedly, but I could never refuse your wife anything.† â€Å"I told Petyr our suspicions about Jon Arryn’s death,† Catelyn said. â€Å"He has promised to help you find the truth.† That was not news that Eddard Stark welcomed, but it was true enough that they needed help, and Littlefinger had been almost a brother to Cat once. It would not be the first time that Ned had been forced to make common cause with a man he despised. â€Å"Very well,† he said, thrusting the dagger into his belt. â€Å"You spoke of Varys. Does the eunuch know all of it?† â€Å"Not from my lips,† Catelyn said. â€Å"You did not wed a fool, Eddard Stark. But Varys has ways of learning things that no man could know. He has some dark art, Ned, I swear it.† â€Å"He has spies, that is well known,† Ned said, dismissive. â€Å"It is more than that,† Catelyn insisted. â€Å"Ser Rodrik spoke to Ser Aron Santagar in all secrecy, yet somehow the Spider knew of their conversation. I fear that man.† Littlefinger smiled. â€Å"Leave Lord Varys to me, sweet lady. If you will permit me a small obscenity—and where better for it—I hold the man’s balls in the palm of my hand.† He cupped his fingers, smiling. â€Å"Or would, if he were a man, or had any balls. You see, if the pie is opened, the birds begin to sing, and Varys would not like that. Were I you, I would worry more about the Lannisters and less about the eunuch.† Ned did not need Littlefinger to tell him that. He was thinking back to the day Arya had been found, to the look on the queen’s face when she said, We have a wolf, so soft and quiet. He was thinking of the boy Mycah, of Jon Arryn’s sudden death, of Bran’s fall, of old mad Aerys Targaryen dying on the floor of his throne room while his life’s blood dried on a golden blade. â€Å"My lady,† he said, turning to Catelyn, â€Å"there is nothing more you can do here. I want you to return to Winterfell at once. If there was one assassin, there could be others. Whoever ordered Bran’s death will learn soon enough that the boy still lives.† â€Å"I had hoped to see the girls . . . † Catelyn said. â€Å"That would be most unwise,† Littlefinger put in. â€Å"The Red Keep is full of curious eyes, and children talk.† â€Å"He speaks truly, my love,† Ned told her. He embraced her. â€Å"Take Ser Rodrik and ride for Winterfell. I will watch over the girls. Go home to our sons and keep them safe.† â€Å"As you say, my lord.† Catelyn lifted her face, and Ned kissed her. Her maimed fingers clutched against his back with a desperate strength, as if to hold him safe forever in the shelter of her arms. â€Å"Would the lord and lady like the use of a bedchamber?† asked Littlefinger. â€Å"I should warn you, Stark, we usually charge for that sort of thing around here.† â€Å"A moment alone, that’s all I ask,† Catelyn said. â€Å"Very well.† Littlefinger strolled to the door. â€Å"Don’t be too long. It is past time the Hand and I returned to the castle, before our absence is noted.† Catelyn went to him and took his hands in her own. â€Å"I will not forget the help you gave me, Petyr. When your men came for me, I did not know whether they were taking me to a friend or an enemy. I have found you more than a friend. I have found a brother I’d thought lost.† Petyr Baelish smiled. â€Å"I am desperately sentimental, sweet lady. Best not tell anyone. I have spent years convincing the court that I am wicked and cruel, and I should hate to see all that hard work go for naught.† Ned believed not a word of that, but he kept his voice polite as he said, â€Å"You have my thanks as well, Lord Baelish.† â€Å"Oh, now there’s a treasure,† Littlefinger said, exiting. When the door had closed behind him, Ned turned back to his wife. â€Å"Once you are home, send word to Helman Tallhart and Galbart Glover under my seal. They are to raise a hundred bowmen each and fortify Moat Cailin. Two hundred determined archers can hold the Neck against an army. Instruct Lord Manderly that he is to strengthen and repair all his defenses at WhiteHarbor, and see that they are well manned. And from this day on, I want a careful watch kept over Theon Greyjoy. If there is war, we shall have sore need of his father’s fleet.† â€Å"War?† The fear was plain on Catelyn’s face. â€Å"It will not come to that,† Ned promised her, praying it was true. He took her in his arms again. â€Å"The Lannisters are merciless in the face of weakness, as Aerys Targaryen learned to his sorrow, but they would not dare attack the north without all the power of the realm behind them, and that they shall not have. I must play out this fool’s masquerade as if nothing is amiss. Remember why I came here, my love. If I find proof that the Lannisters murdered Jon Arryn . . . â€Å" He felt Catelyn tremble in his arms. Her scarred hands clung to him. â€Å"If,† she said, â€Å"what then, my love?† That was the most dangerous part, Ned knew. â€Å"All justice flows from the king,† he told her. â€Å"When I know the truth, I must go to Robert.† And pray that he is the man I think he is, he finished silently, and not the man I fear he has become. How to cite A Game of Thrones Chapter Twenty, Essay examples

A KFC free essay sample

If one international brand must be selected as the most favourite one for Chinese consumers, it would be Kentucky Fried Chicken, or KFC as it is known more commonly. According to questionnaire survey conducted by the globally-renowned marketing researching company AC Nielsen in 30 China cities in 1999, KFC was accepted by Chinese consumers as â€Å"the most popular brand† and ranked as the No. 1 among top ten international brands in China. With the increasing abundance of managerial experience, the expanding number of staffs and the gradually impeccable management system, KFC accelerates its velocity of development since entering the Chinese market in 1987. Up to now, there are over 3,200 outlets in more than 700 cities across China and the number keeps growing rapidly, which makes China the largest overseas market of KFC. It cannot be denied that KFC has achieved great success in China and the prosperity cannot be separated from its effective international business development roadmap for the Chinese market. Mode of Entry In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s when KFC entered China joint ventures were the only viable option for mode of entry due to government regulation. Initially KFC China formed joint ventures with local partners chosen by the government. The first joint venture was with the Government Poultry Department but this faced problems. Afterwards, KFC successfully partnered with the Tourist Department to form a joint venture because they had sufficient funds. This model was successfully replicated with many local partners across China. It effectively leveraged the tangible and intangible local resources of the joint venture partners, over time transferring them to KFC. Once joint ventures were no longer required by the government in the mid 1990’s KFC began buying out its partners and refrained from entering into new joint ventures. This gave KFC control and avoided disagreements commonly associated with joint ventures. KFC initially chose a regular chain model, rather than franchising as the mode of entry to the Chinese market because of a lack managerial skills and fear of losing their secret recipe. In 1992 after the fast food market matured, they introduced franchise method which helped KFC to expand faster. The first franchise territory was centred on the ancient Chinese city of Xian in 1993; however this produced mixed results and no more franchises licenses were issued until the year 2000. In early 2008 there were only a few dozen franchise stores out of over 2000 in China. In 1987 KFC opened its first outlet near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Since then they have opened over 3,200 outlets in more than 700 cities across China. It is believed that a vital ingredient to KFC’s early success was its leadership team at the time. The pioneering team known as the ‘Taiwan Gang’ collectively had decades of fast-food industry experience prior to landing in China. Many of the team were from Taiwan or other South East Asian countries and understood Chinese culture. This meant that they knew how to manage relationships with government and joint venture partners, and also which strategies would be successful in the Chinese market. International Alliances At the time KFC entered China Joint Ventures were a necessity. In the late 1980s many businesses in China were at least part, if not wholly owned by the government. This meant that choosing the right partners was of vital importance for KFC as this would ensure business and political connections and help to build guanxi. Overall KFC chose the right Joint Venture partners in China. This was a complex process, and in each city KFC worked with different partners. There were often multiple partners within each city. For example partners in Beijing included a state owned bank and a food distributor/retailer. In Shanghai the New Asia Group led the Joint Venture partners. This was later merged into a hotel and catering group that remains affiliated to the Shanghai Municipal Government. These alliances and Joint Ventures proved pivotal to KFCs early success, guiding them through Chinas government regulatory and licensing hurdles. It helped that the partners were either pseudo-government enterprises, or already involved in the food distribution/retailing industries. However these alliance and joint venture relationships have often been complex, with many examples of disagreements. One of the most common areas of disagreement was against KFCs drive for system standardisation and centralisation to build a more efficient supply Chain. This disagreement was based around self-interest, as many of KFCs partners had established supply relationships with local partners outside of the KFC system, and to withdraw from those would mean a loss of guanxi. Other disagreements stemmed from a difference of short term and long term goals and business strategy. The nature of KFCs alliances in China has changed since the mid-1990s as the government has relaxed its stance on FDI and foreign ownership. As explained earlier KFC has also begun to franchise in China, with mixed levels of success. Human Resource Management One of the factors of the success of KFC comes from the outstanding managing group. Most of the managers they hired are from Taiwan which they called â€Å"Taiwan Gang† in 1990s. They have at least ten years’ experience in fast food industry, and some of about them have 15 to 20 years. Some of them even have working experience in McDonald’s. There are two reasons why Taiwanese dominated the leadership in KFC. First, the population of 23 million which is three to five times than Hong Kong and Singapore is one of the advantages. The fast food industry had been operating in Taiwan since the beginning of 1990s. Therefore, there are more restaurant management talents in Taiwan. Second, the education in Taiwan is highly related to Chinese culture, history, literature†¦etc. Thus, these Taiwanese have better understanding about Chinese culture even though they were studied in the West. Therefore, they have better understanding for the Chinese market. Also, Taiwanese can speak and write Mandarin better than managers from Hong Kong or Singapore. KFC also spent a lot of money and effort on training their employee in different aspects with systematic and scientific method. This not only enhanced the skilled of the employees but also built the culture of the company step by step. KFC provides good incentive strategies to their employees. For instance, they rate the best worker of the month and reward them. They also held competitions for employees such as â€Å"Champion of new product promotion†, â€Å"Master of chicken cooking† etc†¦ Through these kinds of competitions, KFC creates the competitiveness between different restaurant and increase the proficiency of their workers. KFC also emphasize on individual ability. Hence, as long as the employee has good skill and ability, it is very easy for him to get promoted. Unlike other companies, there is less of a bureaucracy problem in KFC. They convey the idea of â€Å"working in a big family† which means your colleges or even boss are like family and friends. Every employee will get a card with all the blessing from their colleges on his birthday. KFC wants their employees to know that they never forget their birthdays and increase the cohesion of their workers. KFC’s marketing strategy KFC has found the recipe for success in China. China has become the highest-growth market of KFC. There’s no doubt that KFC has well understood the Chinese consumer. KFC’s success can be attributed to context, people, strategy and application. Its core strengths are its marketing action and its high level of understanding in consumers’ habits and needs. KFC has achieved such dominance even over McDonald’s in China. This marketing strategy section will, first, develop a brief analysis of the fast food market and its consumers. Then, we will focus our study on the internal analysis. Therefore, we will analyse the marketing mix of KFC through the 5 P’s: product, price, promotion, place and people. External analysis With an average growth of 8% in GPD per year and a population of 1. 3 billion people, China remains to be a real great growth opportunity for both international and domestic brands. The Chinese fast food industry knows a huge growth, around 25% (between 2008-2010). Consumers’ habits are changing; Chinese urban consumers have a busier life, they belong to a fast emerging middle class, their average income is growing fast Indeed, in the last years, the changing in Chinese lifestyles and eating habits have created a real boom in fast food chains industry. The consumers considered here, are essentially those who live in large urban areas. Western-style foods have been more and more accepted as a way of eating in China. Therefore, China is now considered as the 5th largest fast food consuming country in the world. KFC has played an important role in the acceptance of fast food restaurants in China. Particularly, the market which is at stake here is the Chicken fast food restaurant’s one. The Chinese market is a great opportunity for chicken fried food. Food habits across China vary a lot, but, generally speaking chicken is the most preferred meat after pork. The fast food industry in China faces more and more players such as: KFC, Mc Donald’s, Dairy Queen, Burguer King, Pizza Hut, Subway, Kungfu, Little Sheep, Quanjude * Internal analysis Market segmentation and positioning Over the last few decades, KFC has become the most popular fast food chains among Chinese consumers. Yum is now the biggest restaurant group in China with annual sales in China over US$2 billion in 2008 (the New York Times 2008). Originally, the main KFC target was both children and youth. Both targets offer great opportunity of development for present and future. Youngsters have a real influence among society; they can exert it on relatives for generations to come. These groups are easier to convert to western eating habits than older age groups. Targeting young people is usually the best way of influencing the whole family decision; in fact, in many countries the children are the trendsetters and are always willing to adopt the latest trends. In China the one-child-policy plays an important part in reinforcing this phenomenon. Then, the launch of the â€Å"Family Bucket† product is a new step in KFC’s strategy since it targets the whole family and focuses on the Chinese value of sharing. The Segmentation of Chinese food market is not easy to define since you have to take into account the differences in: geography, economic classes, occasions, local habits†¦ Therefore, the easier segmentation to take into account here is the rural and the urban one. First, KFC targeted urban people; they are those who face western brands, those who can afford it. Consumers of KFC are looking for quality, price, flavor, speed, quality service†¦ From now on, KFC opens new restaurant in rural cities. These openings are considered as huge events. In other words, KFC is the more Chinese of the western fast food chain restaurant who knows how to combine fast food values and Chinese traditional values. KFC’s Positioning: An American Brand with Chinese characteristics and values for all the family * The 5 P’s * Product KFC benefits from Chinese consumer preference for chicken. It remains to be a great opportunity for them. KFC’s strategy focuses on a strategy of localization and adaptation to consumers’ habits and needs. This strategy is a huge part of KFC’s success. With a market such as China with a longstanding tradition in food market, KFC has no choice than adapt its offering and its menus to traditional Chinese meals. KFC couldn’t distribute the same product, it should adjust its product; therefore, KFC should fit their products to Chinese culinary taste. KFC highly localizes its offer and continuously launches new products such as: Chinese-style porridge for breakfast, rice, Beijing Chicken Roll served with scallion and seafood sauce, Spicy Diced Chicken, Sichuan-style dish, Mushroom chicken congee, tomato egg drop soup†¦ KFC Chinas frequent introduction of new and localized product is one of the core strengths of KFC and a direct result from its quick adaptation ability. RD teams are really close to the real consumers’ world. All of this product strategy leads to a real differentiation from competitors. KFC is turning into a real Chinese fast food chain. P172 * Price The KFC’s pricing strategy was globally a skimming strategy. They, first, focused on middle class to upper class people with high price. They, gradually, cut down on prices so as to also target the middle to lower class people and to answer to the competitive pressure. It’s a good way of entering both sides of the market. KFC proposes better marketing operations such as vouchers to cut down on prices, which is very important for most of Chinese people. It reinforces customer loyalty. Nonetheless, KFC is considered as a trustful fast food chains, therefore, the firm has to pay attention to such promotion since Chinese consumers demand a lot of KFC about trust, respect for consumer and promotion. There were few scandals which damaged KFC’s image, such as the fake promotional coupons on April 2010. * Promotion KFC’s localization strategy is not only focused on product but also on promotion. In fact, KFC adapts its promotion and advertising to Chinese values and Chinese symbols. KFC benefits from a good brand image thanks to its brand symbols. Actually, Colonel Sanders is the image of elderly, wisdom and good fortune. Through centuries, Chinese people respect and honour old people as a symbol of wisdom, affection, trust and benevolence. Therefore, KFC uses in its promotions this image of benevolent grand-father to target family instead of individuals. The Colonel plays an important role in enhancing and building a strong positive image to KFC among all age brackets. Moreover, in its promotions, KFC uses important values for Chinese people: tradition, family, sharing Most of the time, each region proposes local thematic promotions, local sponsorship involvement and local charity actions. For its promotion, KFC uses many different Medias to promote both brand image and values and products such as television, radio, the internet, street marketing, sponsorship, vouchers, charities, co-branding * Place As we have seen before, KFC matches franchising and fully owned restaurants. Most restaurants are located downtown. The average restaurant in China is quite different from US’ ones due to a bigger transaction volume per restaurant. Indeed, they benefit from a larger dining area, they have greater frying equipment in kitchens and they have larger volume equipment required behind the counter. * People The management is a front-line centred and customer focused. Maintaining a high quality service standard is really important within KFC’s strategy. This system is called CHAMPS: Cleanliness, Hospitality, Accuracy, Maintenance, Product quality and Speed. Those 6 values are shared by all the supply chain’s employees. Achieving such an excellence in quality service requires a well-trained and motivated workforce guided by a well-tested system. * SWOT Strengths| Weaknesses| * Chicken preference of consumers * Localization Product strategy * Localized promotion * KFC’s Symbols * CHAMPS| * Problem of trust in pricing (vouchers-misleading advertising) * Censured Advertising * Failed launches| Opportunities| Threats| * Growth in potential consumers * Chicken high consumption * Good supply in chicken| * High competitive pressure * Saturation risk| Yum Brands Negotiation for Startup Yum Brands Inc. based in Louisville is the worlds largest restaurant company with nearly 38,000 restaurants in over 110 countries and territories and more than 1 million associates. Yum brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell and they had to carry out the negotiation at the start up in China. Yum tried to use the western negotiation approach at the beginning but this approach in the negotiation proceedings was always hampered by the Chinese way of operating and YUM been a western capitalistic business that required a profit, time was always money but that was not the case for the Chinese. The Chinese had the option of sitting back and either waiting for a better deal to arrive from Yum or waiting for another restaurant business to come along that required access to the poultry industry. KFC Supply Negotiation Method KFC adopted a competitive bidding as its negotiation scheme for its supply chain. During 2000, in a continuous drive to reduce cost of goods sold, it used bidding process. The original method called for an open, fair and competitive bidding process that takes place every 6 months, but this method was tough and too demanding until they developed a new way by bidding price from the lowest X to the highest, each qualified supplier Y and they match the price X in other to protect Y’s volume purchased by KFC. If Y matched the price X, the sellers purchase volume was protected for the next 6months. If Y refused to match the price X, Y’s volume was awarded to X unless X’s maximum production capacity of KFC’s internal guideline threshold to avoid single-supplier risk was reached. Six months later, this biding process repeated itself. The adoption of this method helped KFC in China to continue to reduce cost of goods sold. Before any negotiation is attempted, it makes good sense to develop a BATNA. A BATNA is short for the ‘â€Å"Best Alternative To A Negotiated Agreement†. BATNA is a dynamic option that remains open for modification should any significant event occur during the negotiation proceedings. The application of BATNA had to be modified during the negotiation with the Chinese government because Yum needed to wait for the Chinese government and business sector to come up to speed to support the necessary quick-service food supply chain needed to sustain the growth demanded by Yum upper management and stockholders. Educating the company’s management division about the Chinese customs and the cultural differences also enabled them to negotiate more effectively because contract negotiations in China are still considered a work in progress, even when an agreement has been established there are modifications based on post settlement agreements. Conflict Faced Many of the conflicts YUM faced in China were directly correlated to the cultural differences and philosophies that exist between the Western and Eastern countries. When YUM entered the Chinese market the idea of bringing western ideologies to China were considered exciting. However, the fad seems to have worn off and the Chinese are more concerned with their ideals and beliefs. Therefore YUM brand Inc. will be required to continue negotiations with the government and maneuver through the complex legal system in order to continue the development of supply and distribution channels necessary for more growth. Guanxi Define the term ‘Guanxi’. Guanxi can be translated as relationships and connections. In all the Chinese dominated societies in Asia, people use the word Guanxi to speak of someone who knows lots of people, who is well connected, and gets things done, not necessarily through formal channels. Thus Guanxi is a social dimension and a human factor. What are the main theoretical explanations for Guanxi? There is an opportunity to link the two concepts, where relationship marketing is a formal legal contract defined and protected by the institutional framework, and guanxi is an informal interpersonal relationship involving mutual trust which is not stated explicitly in the legal contracts. How important are Guanxi in business relationships between Chinese and Western companies? To what extent should MNCs consider building Guanxi as part of their business strategy? In the west, they would like to make a deal by signing contract. In China, they would like to make a deal by Guanxi. In case of KFC, it gets successful because it picked the right joint venture partners in china. There were two JV partners of KFC, state-owned bank and a food distributor. They helped KFC a lot because they are government enterprises, which had a good relationship with government. It may help KFC to get the license quickly and prevent the regulatory hurdles. The other JV partner is already in the food distribution industry; its experience can help KFC to run business in China. They contribute read-to-use physical assets and Guanxi of various categories to KFC. Therefore, they facilitate KFC relatively smooth start-ups and early business success. To conclude, a right local partner is important for MNCs to setup their overseas company. For MNCs running business in China, we know that China has lacked a strong rule of law. Because the law has not often been able to provide the legal protections which it does in the west, Chinese people needed to develop another means of ensuring trust amongst themselves in personal and business matters. Maintaining face, or reputation, among people within one’s own network is also an important characteristic of Chinese culture. Because of the importance of maintaining face, Chinese people will usually not take advantage of a person with whom they have guanxi. This is true because if they develop guanxi with them and they were to take advantage of them, all of the people in their network would know what they had done and they would lose face with this network. By losing face they would also lose the respect of others in the group and potentially lose their connection with their network. Therefore guanxi has become a means of building trust that law cannot always provide for Chinese people in personal and business matters. For these reasons, a Chinese company will feel far more comfortable doing business with a company which they have strong guanxi because they believe it will make it far easier for them to trust their business counterpart Suggest strategies for MNCs to create and maintain Guanxi relationships. There are a number of online networking sites where you can make business contacts. If you are a trader (importer/exporter), you are probably already a member of Alibaba. Use the site to begin communications with your China contacts. For consultants, entrepreneurs and business people, Dragon China Business Network is a place to meet new China contacts. Professional networking sites like Linkedin and Xing, although they are not China-focused, have Chinese members and China groups. Keep in mind that online networking is just a starting point. Eventually, face to face meetings will be necessary to take these relationships to the level where there is mutual trust between both parties. Also, dont confuse guanxi with the style of business networking you may be accustomed to in North America or Europe. Guanxi goes beyond basic business networking. It takes longer to develop but in the end is more powerful. While developing guanxi is important to doing business in China it is not necessarily easy to develop, especially for a foreign company. Having a full-time, long-term presence in China is essential to developing and maintaining guanxi. In addition, to effectively develop guanxi your company it will be helpful to have a native-born Chinese person to be responsible for developing these relationships. A native Chinese person will be familiar and comfortable with the cultural niceties of developing guanxi in China. Your local Chinese staff or representative should meet regularly, in both formal and informal settings, with potential and current customers and relevant government agencies to develop strong relationships on behalf of your company. If government relations are important to your business your company may also want to consider hiring someone experienced working with the Chinese government on a full or part-time basis to leverage their contacts and experience with the government on your company’s behalf.

Paintings Essays - Visual Arts, Court Painters, Christian Art

Paintings Humanities Through the Arts Essay #1 Giotta, 1312: Madonna Enthroned (1st. Painting) Francisco Goya: May 3, 1808 in the Padro, Madrid I found the Giotta, Madonna Enthroned painting to be the most interesting because the power and love the painting displays. The personal values in this particular painting, such as the colors caught my eye because; the colors in this painting are almost bronzed. To me bronzed shows heroism. A very rich colored painting with the golden brown colors mixed with some blues and deeper browns, and just a touch of red gives this particular painting character. It also shows how old this painting is. Another way color works in this painting is the dark, bold, black gown that is being worn on Madonna stands out and shows power as a mother. The child on her lap in this painting has a bold face stare just as the mom does. Showing how serious and disciplined it was in those times between mother and child. The prophets in the painting are surrounding the mother and child and looking up at the two prophets holding crowns. They seem to almost be looking up in prayer. There are two angels kneeling at the bottom of the throne. The angels show how holy and sacred the mother and child are together. The angels are protecting and watching over. I see equality in this painting and I also see prestige and honor. The subject matter or furnishings of this painting by Giotto, Madonna Enthroned, is here, rather than hereafter. Showing prayer and authority with the crowns and the baby on their lap, these particular paintings subject matter is one of holy and sacred closeness. The content or meaning created by the relationship between form and subject matter is clearly Christian. Religious feeling is not as strong in this one painting, as it is in two others in the book, by Cimabue and Coppo. It is almost as though the mother in the painting, Madonna, shows independence by the look on her face and the stare in her eyes, so the sacred angels and prophets will no longer be in control. The human values this painting represents are the bond between mother and child. The value of a bond and the love shared among those around them. These values relate to my personal values because I can relate to the bond between two loved ones. The values of the current time period from them till now are not much different between Christian moms and children. The practice of religion and prayer are two similar aspects in today's society. The second painting I chose, is the painting created by, Francisco Goya, The Prado, Madrid. I found this painting to be the least interesting or appealing to me. I was not able to relate much to this painting because of the time in when it took place. The wars and executions show survival, yes. But, also fighting and hatred and that is not anything that I can relate to. The personal values such as color in the painting were very dark and drab. Showing darkness in the painting could refer to how the men being executed may have felt. The deep grays and black colors are in this painting and what looks like blood underneath bodies is red. The flickering lantern shines bright on the men to be executed. The interpretation of the people in this painting is that of prisoners and soldiers. The men about to be executed seem to be on their knees with arms in the air, just kneeling there hopeless, and powerless probably frightened to death. Some men are burying their faces because they do not want to see what is coming. The subject matter of Goya's painting is simply one word, execution or death. The men that are going to be executed have nowhere to go, the mountain behind them shows us that they are trapped and are for sure going to be executed. The content or interpretation of Goya's painting created by the relationship between form and subject matter is a setting of back in wartime. The event that takes place in this specific painting is only shooting and execution, also Terrified prisoners and bold, powerful, soldiers that have executed already and are about to execute more

History of Greek Life essays

History of Greek Life essays Fraternities and sororities date back to the American colonial era. During that time, colleges focused on teaching the classics, Greek and Latin literature, rather than liberal arts such as science and history. As a result, students created these clubs to debate the intellectual and political ideas of their time. The first general fraternity, known as the Flat Hat Club was established in 1750 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States was a member of this club. Later in 1776 Phi Beta Kappa became the first society to identify itself with Greek letters. It was started when a student was refused membership to an organization known as PDA, a literary society that had long lost its purpose. Phi Beta Kappa displayed many of the characteristics associated with todays Greek-letter fraternities: the mystery of secrecy, rituals, oaths of loyalty, secret handshakes, a motto, a badge, and most importantly a str ong bond of friendship. More chapters were founded and as time went on, Phi Beta Kappa became purely intellectual and less social in its purpose. Today, on over 184 college campuses Phi Beta Kappa has become a scholastic honorary society that recognizes students who show superior achievement in academics. At Union College the decline of a military marching club left students of the school feeling like they needed something else to occupy their time. In November of 1825 a group of students, including some members of Phi Beta Kappa, organized and founded Kappa Alpha Society. Many students and faculty were opposed to Kappa Alpha due to its secrecy. Other groups, however, admired it and formed Sigma Phi and Delta Phi in 1827. These 3 fraternities make up what is today known as the Union Triad. 1839 brought the founding of another fraternity by John Reilly Knox, a prominent member of a literary society at Miami University. He...

You choose Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

You choose - Essay Example The Hammurabi code also devoted some sections to deal with the problems created by alcohol abuse. In the American society, the place of alcohol had been ambivalent. Drinking has been termed as the major cause of economic catastrophe. Drinking has been blamed for causing crimes, military defeats and diseases as well. To manage the crisis, the drinking ages have been increased in order to save young people from the vice. Since the early 1800s, organized efforts have been made to limit drinking and the role of alcoholic beverages in the U.S. However, the subject of alcohol has provoked strong conflict and controversy. Alcohol has proved to be the symbolic issue where the struggle for primacy in social status has been fought between the differing life styles. Although alcohol is associated with numerous personal and social problems, its use is widely accepted. In 1970, congress passed an amendment that granted the right to vote to citizens between the ages of 18 to 21. The movement started to extend other rights and privileges of adulthood to those aged 18. Between 1970 and 1975, some 29 states reduced their minimal drinking age. However, the change provoked even more controversy since a concern arose over the number of young people involved in car accidents that happened to be alcohol related. Certainly, there was need to do something (Hanson). In order to solve the problem, a legal solution had to be sought through legislation. In order to resolve the issue, it would be necessary to determine the age at which young people are mature into adulthood. Alcohol consumption is dangerous and sinful. It can easily lead to problems in behavior. Drinking, in any degree is undesirable because moderate social drinking is the forerunner of chronic inebriations. Young people, if not everyone, ought to be protected from alcohol. Other attempts aside from minimizing the drinking age have been made too. Such

Company law Reform Bill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Company law Reform Bill - Essay Example These directors together are called the Board of Directors. Since all the directors cannot execute individually they elect one among them as a Managing Director. The board of Directors will take all policy decisions in the Board meeting and the Managing Director executes the decision taken by the board. The proviso 741(1) deals with the definition of directors, this proviso is an inclusive provision which says the directors include properly appointed directors, "de jure" directors like "governor", not properly appointed directors such as "de facto directors" and "shadow" directors. [Charlesworth & Morse, Company Law (1999)] a De facto Directors: De facto Directors are those who act openly as directors and they claim to be directors on they being performed the functions of the directors, though they are not properly appointed. These directors are recognized as de facto directors for only that period during which they acted so. [Charlesworth & Morse, Company Law(1999)] b It is a decided law that person who claims to be director by de facto has to make a plea and establish that he has undertaken such function of the company which would have been undertaken by the director only, but not simply to show that he has under taken the and discharged the functions which the management below the directors could not be under taken and discharged. Re Richborough Furniture Ltd 2 In this case it was held that De facto director should satisfy either of two tests such as (a) he is sole person directing the affairs of the company or (b) he was acting on par with other directors in directing the affairs of the company, if there are other properly appointed directors. Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v. Lating 3 In this case while approving the two tests it was held that by simply satisfying either of the two test is not sufficient to claim as de fact director, but he should be still acting as such, which means that the de facto director is recognized as director only during the period in which he is acting as per the two tests. Once he ceased to be acting as such he would be ceasing to be de facto director. The court in another case Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v. Hickling 4 approved this Shadow Directors: Section 741(2) of the companies act 1985 defines shadow director as 'a person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of a company are accustomed to act'. Professional persons on whose, advise the directors act are excluded from this definition. Shadow directors are vicariously liable for the action of the directors whom they appoint or control. This provision aims at preventing the persons escaping from the liability under the shelter of a board of marionette. The directors of a subsidiary who are working under the directions of the directors of the parent company then the directors of the parent company are called the shadow directors. (LS Sealy, Cases and Materials in Company Law) c Re Hydrodam(Corby)ltd 1 The court held in this case that one has to satisfy the four conditions for adjudicating a person as shadow director such as (i) he is properly appointed or de facto director (ii) the director directs the other directors in which manner they have to function in relation to the company (iii) the other directo

Sheep Heart Dissection Physical Education Essay

Sheep Heart Dissection Physical Education Essay Like human hearts, a sheeps heart contains two atria and two ventricles. These four chambers work together to pump deoxygenated blood to the lungs and oxygenated blood to the rest of the body; this allows blood to circulate the body in a regular manner. The important reason for carrying out this experiment is to examine and understand the structural features of the heart which will help us appreciate how the heart operates. It is vital that location of both and exterior and interior vessels and chambers are clear before any dissection takes place. It is important to note that when looking at the heart its like looking at a mirror reflection, hence the right side of dissection is actually the left side of the heart and vice versa. From the anterior view the location of all four chambers (two upper atria and two lover ventricles) should be noted, the left and right side of the heart should be separated by a line of fat and vessels called the interventricular sulcus. The heart muscle, unlike the rest of the bodys muscle, is unique to its function. It requires no energy (ATP Æ’Â  ADP) in order to pump. Cardiac muscle has the characteristic automaticity, what this means is that the heart is under no influence of hormones of neurons for it to beat, the cells themselves have their own beating power. The hearts cells are part of a system known as the hearts conducting system. Special cells within the heart (part of the SA and AV nodes) are responsible for the heart beat, however if circumstances in the body change and the heart is required to pump more or less blood to the body then the autonomic nervous system plays a role via special nerves called the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves. The heart circulates blood around the body, it is nothing but two pumps joined in a single organ. The left ventricular wall (left myocardium) is thinker than that of the right ventricular wall (right myocardium), this is due to the reason that the right side of the heart only pumps blood (deoxygenated) to the lungs, whereas the left side pumps blood (oxygenated) to the entire body. Materials and methods: Preserved sheep heart Dissecting pan Surgical scalpel Surgical scissors Dissection: The aim is to obtain a frontal section through the left and right side of the heart. During the dissection I had to be very cautious not to cut any valves of vessels that would result in negative results. I first located the interventricular sulcus; from there I identified the right ventricle and the left ventricle. The right side of the heart was to the left of the sulcus, after identifying the superior vena cava I then made an incision using the scissors through the vena cava till the top of the atrium. At this point using a scalpel would be easier, I therefore continued the incision using the scalpel through the wall of the right atrium down to the bottom of the right ventricle. The right side is now split into two part, I pulled these two apart and immediately identified the tricuspid valve that separated the atrium from the ventricle. The presence of the tricuspid valve indicated and confirmed that the incision was made through the right side of the heart. Moving on to the left side of the heart, I located the pulmonary artery and using the scalpel I made an incision through it down to the bottom of the left ventricle. The semi-lunar valve of the pulmonary vein was present, as was the bicuspid valve that separates the left atrium from the left ventricle. My final incision was made through the aorta; this incision was done to observe the aortic semi-lunar valve. Several pictures were taken for the results section. Results: Anterior (stern-costal) surface view Vena cava Pulmonary artery Right atrium Right ventricle Interventricular sulcus Pulmonary vein Aorta Left atrium Left ventricle Heart apex The left and the right sides of the heart are divided by a line called the interventricular sulcus. Right side of the heart: The picture on the right shows the tricuspid valve clearer than the one below it. Tricuspid valve Tendons Papillary muscles Right ventricle The below picture has been provided as the one above does not show ALL the right side of the heart. Tendons Wall of right ventricle (thinner than that of left ventricle) Vena cava Right atrium Tricuspid valve Semi-lunar valve From the picture above we can tell that the right ventricular wall is thinner than the left ventricular wall. The reason for this is due to how the heart works and how it circulates blood and to where (see introduction section on page 1). We can compare this picture to the one below, where the left ventricular wall is obviously thicker. Left side of the heart: Aorta Pulmonary vein (cut) Left atrium Bicuspid valve Tendons Papillary muscles Left ventricle (thick) Superior view of heart: Right atrium Vena cava Pulmonary vein Cardiac skeleton Aorta Left atrium Pulmonary artery Conclusion: The dissection was a relative success, all the chambers, vessels and valves were identified. After intense analysis of the interior of the heart , the heart has two sides, the right side of the heart received deoxygenated blood via the vena cava from the superior and inferior sides of the body. This deoxygenated blood travels through the vena cava into the right atrium, down the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle. When the ventricles contract the deoxygenated blood in the right ventricle is pumped through the pulmonary artery passing the semi-lunar valve. This deoxygenated blood then travels to the capillaries of the lungs where they exchange waste products such as carbon dioxide for oxygen. The blood is not oxygen-rich therefore oxygenated. The oxygenated blood then travels from the capillaries of the lungs to the pulmonary vein which leads to the left atrium of the heart, once the oxygenated blood is in the left atrium it is pushed (atrium systole) through the bicuspid valves into the left ventricle when it is then further pumped (ventricular systole) though the aortic semi-lunar valves into the aorta where it is distributed to the rest of the body where oxygen is required. A lab and gloves was worn to prevent biological contamination, after the dissection the gloves were put into biological waste bins and hands were washed with antibacterial after taking off the labcoats. Evaluation: More dissection practice would bring more accurate results, although I have dissected a sheeps heart more than a few times. Different sizes of hearts would have portrayed the different sizes of valves and vessels; it would bring more attention to how the heart evolves. As this practical involved sharing a single sheeps heart between three students, room for error was encountered. Different cuts and incisions wanted to be made, however the results came out accurate.

King Lear/Inferno

Paper Assignment #2 (Inferno / King Lear) Both Shakespeare’s King Lear and Dante’s Inferno explore the reasons for and results of human suffering. Both works postulate that human suffering comes as a result of choices that are made. That statement is not only applicable to the characters in each of the works, but also to the readers. The Inferno and King Lear speak universal truths about the human condition: that suffering is inevitable and unavoidable.While both King Lear and the Inferno concentrate on the admonitions and lamentations of human suffering, there is one key difference between the works: the Inferno has an aspect of hope that is not present in King Lear. The unavoidable aspect of human suffering is depicted brilliantly by Shakespeare in King Lear. Seemingly insignificant choices that King Lear makes throughout the play end up completely changing his life for the worse. Not only does Lear lose his kingdom, but he also loses his family and his home.His situa tion is only made worse by him not recognizing his fault in his own actions. Lear’s lack of responsibility when it comes to his own problems is best described by Kent: â€Å"It is the stars, the stars above us govern our conditions† (Shakespeare 101). Kent and Lear blame all of their suffering on the will of a higher being, neglecting that their own actions brought them to a place where they have to suffer. By not recognizing his responsibility in the events that are happening to him, Lear causes more strife for himself and those around him.He continues to make the same mistakes like falling victim to Regan and Goneril’s flattery and ignoring Cordelia’s wise words. In addition, Lear was constantly advised by the Fool and Kent not to make such poor choices. Lear’s own stubbornness prevented him from seeing the wisdom in the Fool’s words. Similarly, in the Inferno, Capaneus is a man whose punishment comes as a result of his own defiance. Capan eus was told that his fate would be to almost conquer a city, but fail. Capaneus fought against his fate and defied it, but he ended up in Hell all the same.Capaneus became his own punishment: â€Å"no torment other than your rage itself could punish your gnawing pride more perfectly† (Dante 198). Both Lear and Capaneus show excessive pride and stubbornness throughout their respective works, and fail to see their own faults. They were forewarned about their punishments, yet they continued down the path that would bring them the most suffering. Even though suffering is an inevitable part of living and there is no path in life that does not include some sort of suffering, these two men chose the ones that would bring them the most pain.The Inferno is a tale of cautionary advice. In each circle, Dante the pilgrim speaks to one of the shades that reside there and the readers learn how and why the damned have become the damned. As Dante learns from the mistakes of the damned, so d o the readers. And as Dante feels the impacts of human suffering, so do the readers. Virgil constantly encourages Dante the pilgrim to learn why the shades are in Hell and what were their transgressions while on Earth. This work’s purpose is to educate the reader.The work’s assertions on the nature of human suffering are mostly admonition, with each shade teaching Dante the pilgrim and by extension the reader not to make the same mistakes. Dante views his journey through hell as a learning experience and that is why he made it out alive. King Lear shows an extreme of human suffering. While there is some foreshadowing to the tragic end of the play and some reproof is given, the play mostly focuses on the lamentations of the characters. Edmund laments being born a â€Å"bastard† and the circumstances surrounding his birth.He believes that it is in his â€Å"nature† to be subversive, evil, and manipulative. Yet, unlike Lear, Edmund does not place the blame o f his unfortunate life on the stars: â€Å"I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing† (Shakespeare 20). Edmund does, however, blame society for his actions, which is just as harmful as Lear blaming the stars. If anything, this play illustrates that as humans we are completely responsible for our actions and that our own suffering is a consequence of poor judgments.Both the Inferno and King Lear depict the horrific aspects of human suffering, but there is one key difference. There is a complete absence of hope in King Lear and it shows in the tragic ending of the play. Not only do most of the characters die, but also none of them achieve redemption or are able to achieve forgiveness for their actions (with the exception of Edmund). King Lear makes a discouraging statement about humanity and the extent of human suffering: that suffering is a perpetual aspect of human life and it cannot be overcome: â€Å"We that are you ng shall never see so much, nor live so long† (Shakespeare 142).This statement made by Edgar shows the hopelessness of the circumstances Edgar, Albany, and Kent have found themselves in at the end of King Lear. In the Inferno, Dante walks through Hell, literally, and comes out on the other side alive, something that no one else has been able to achieve. Dante the pilgrim and Dante the poet saw the worst of humanity and have been able to come out of the experience with hope: â€Å"I saw the lovely things the heavens hold, and we came out to see once more the stars† (Dante 383).This observation at the end of the Inferno by Dante shows that he still believes that there is good in the world and that human suffering is not all there is to life and death. Dante the poet also maintains the reader’s hope throughout the work by showing that Dante the pilgrim made it through hell: â€Å"But I remained†¦ to tell about without more evidence† (Dante 328). The Infe rno makes a powerful statement about humanity and human suffering by adding an aspect of hope to the work: even though human suffering is inevitable and unavoidable, there is hope and suffering can be overcome.Both the Inferno and King Lear have aspects of desperation, but the final tone of the works illustrates their differences. King Lear and the Inferno are both tales of human suffering that explore the depth and width of suffering. However, even though they both state that human suffering is inevitable and unavoidable, there is levity in the Inferno that is completely absent in King Lear. The final message of King Lear is the pervasiveness of human suffering and that one’s choices not only cause one’s own suffering, but can cause the suffering of others. King Lear ends on a note of eternal sadness.Inferno’s final message is a much more hopeful one: one can be touched by human suffering and one can experience human suffering, but that does not mean that all h ope is lost. In the Inferno, suffering is just one aspect of the human experience, not the only aspect, and it does not have to define one’s life. Overall these works tell us about the unpleasant, yet necessary, parts of the human experience that will affect everyone at some point in their lives, but it is how we handle human suffering that matters most. Works Cited Dante. Inferno. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print. Shakespeare, William. King Lear. New York: Penguin, 1999. Print.