Techniques Employed by Managers in Ensuring Success of Plans in their Firms

Table of Contents Abstract Introduction Strategy formation Strategy evaluation Project management approach Conclusion Works Cited Abstract The leadership of any organization is always tasked with the responsibility of effecting ventures or projects that are aimed at making their firms grow on various fronts. To achieve this, various resources are at their disposal and what is expected of them is to utilize these resources effectively to attain the set objectives (Blaxill Eckardt, 7).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Techniques Employed by Managers in Ensuring Success of Plans in their Firms specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As a result, chief executive officers and other managers need to be armed with techniques and skills which are vital for various plans and ventures to succeed. These techniques range from planning/strategizing to the implementation stage where workforce and other resources form a m ajor part. Introduction Managers of various entities have the task of ensuring that whatever plans and schemes that are put in place for their organizations to move forward are achieved. In order to realize this, they need to be armed with the most adequate and effectual stratagems, generally referred to as strategic management skills (Mintzberg and Quinn, 4). Strategic management refers to a division that involves itself with the main projected and developing programs taken by chief executive officers, technical managers and other business and enterprise leaders in the place of owners and/or shareholders. It involves exploitation of the various resources that are available in an effective manner so as to increase the performance of companies or firms and realize the goals or objectives that have been set. Strategic management involves spelling out the firm’s mission, vision and goals, and expansion course of actions (Markides, 55). All these need to be specified in relation to plans and schemes that are set out to realize these goals, and most importantly, allotting the necessary resources to achieve the aims. During the course and at the end of the projected period(s) of time, an evenhanded scorecard is always used to weigh up the by and large performance of the firm and its standing in terms of advancement toward the realization of set goals (Markides, 56). Management approaches need to start with the prospects of the stakeholders, with the evaluation or scorecard processes also taking all the stakeholders into account.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Effective management is an unending undertaking that assesses and directs a firm and the businesses in which the entity has a part, evaluates its challengers and lays objectives and stratagems to counter them, and then reviews these strategies regularly to establish the progress and eff ect any changes that may be required (Abell, 21). Strategy formation Once a plan(s) aimed at given results have been put in place, the leadership of any entity needs to come up with approaches to be utilized in realizing this. There are three main procedures that are normally used to form required strategies. The first involves conducting a situation study, self analysis and challenger evaluation in the case of business entities (Abell, 21). Such an analysis needs to be thorough and comprehensive, entailing both in-house and external, considering both micro and macro elements of the environment. In line with this evaluation, goals to be met are then set. The most important thing to remember here is that these objectives need to be matching with a time-line that is, involving both short-range and long-standing (Blaxill Eckardt, 7). This is where long-standing vision(s) of a probable future, the responsibility that the firm assigns itself in the general public, and by and large compa ny goals are crafted. Also important at this stage are tactical industry unit goals and calculated objectives. The objectives set above need to make the implication of a tactical plan, in relation to the situation evaluation. The plan offers the fine points on how the set goals are to be achieved (Abell, 21).. The procedures used in strategy formation make a pointer to project management, and over time, it has been shown that employing project management skills in running organizations often yields positive results (Markides, 57).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Techniques Employed by Managers in Ensuring Success of Plans in their Firms specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Strategy evaluation In the course of determining the effectiveness of any strategy that has been crafted, it is imperative that an all-encompassing analysis is carried out by the management. A tool used by many managers is what is commonl y referred to as the SWOT analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the idea at hand. Strengths refer to the worth or power to induce the taking of a course of action or the embracing of a point of view (Handy, 21). It basically refers to what makes a given plan or undertakings hold the water in terms of its end outcome and benefits. For instance, in the case of a business dealing with production of consumer merchandise, strengths may include high demand, reduced costs of production, supportive legislation, among others. Weaknesses are the flaws or weak points of a given plan or undertaking. Evaluation of weak points is an important tool for managers if they are to realize set objectives for their entities. With a comprehensive definition of weak points, then one is able to come up with counter strategies for them (Handy, 21). Examples of weaknesses in the case of businesses include restrictive legislation, stiff competition, and unavailability o f capital or credit facilities, among others. Opportunities refer to possibilities as a result of a favorable combination of circumstances which support the undertaking of a given plan. An important tool for managers is being able to spot opportunities where others cannot and go ahead to effectively utilize such opportunities for the gain of their companies (Handy, 22). Opportunities that normally arise include demand for given commodities or services, favorable legislation, availability and/or accessibility of resources, among others. Threats are the things that are a source of danger for a given plan or course of action. Threat analyses as a tool enables the leadership of a given entity establish what can be safely carried out and find ways around various threats in a bid to achieve the laid down objectives (Handy, 23).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More With a comprehensive SWOT analysis, a balance is struck between the strengths-opportunities and weaknesses-threats of given plans. Thus, deterrent measures are undertaken to uphold worthwhile plans or alteration of the whole plan. Other than the SWOT analysis, there are other tools used to assess tactical options by managers. Suitability of the option is one of them and it seeks to find out whether it would work. The thing to check here is the underlying principle of the plan and reflection is on whether the plan would attend to the main issues set to be attended to. Other things to find out here include; if there is a cost-effective aspect to it, if it is appropriate in matters of environment and abilities and if the company would achieve economies of scale (Markides, 59). A given plan needs to be assessed for feasibility, which seeks to find out whether it can be made to work. It also seeks to find out if the resources needed to put into operation the plan are obtainable or can be built up (Markides, 60). Examples of resources here include money, labor, time and data. Important tools under feasibility analysis are cash flow assessment and estimation, break-even scrutiny and resource allocation. A chosen plan needs to be acceptable, which means it has to work. Acceptability seeks to address the prospects of the concerned stakeholders who may include organization owners, shareholders and its clients, with the anticipated performance results. Under acceptability one looks at return, risk and stakeholder responses. Return is concerned with the gains anticipated by the stakeholders, be they monetary or otherwise (Mintzberg and Quinn, 11). For instance, owners or shareholders of an entity would look forward to a rise in their means while the workforce would look forward to advancement in their careers and clients would anticipate enhanced worth for money. Risk is concerned with the likelihood and end result(s) of the letdown of a line of attack. Likely letdowns ne ed to be addressed before the whole implementation exercise commences. Stakeholder responses look at the likely rejoinder of various stakeholders. For instance, shareholders could be in opposition to the making out of new shares, the workforce could be up in arms against outsourcing for uncertainty in employment, and clients could have issues with unification as they may be uncertain about quality. What-if evaluation and stakeholder plotting are some of the tools that managers utilize in this. Project management approach Change takes place constantly in the day to day lives of people but when it comes to an organization, it has to be effected in a progression of steps (Markides, 61). New procedures, marketplace necessities, administration enterprises, emerging knowledge and machinery all form ventures that require sound management, often encompassing departmental or disciplinary sectors. Project management as a discipline is most of the times responsible for bringing about noteworth y gains to entities by four main approaches. The first one is normally making certain that inadequate resources are utilized on the appropriate undertakings. This is made possible by a clearly defined goal(s) which are to be realized at the end (Markides, 61). With well defined objectives then the necessary undertakings are brought to the fore and thus assigned the required resources, be it in the form of money or labor(Abell, 25). With project management skills, effectual harnessing of contributions of various workers/players toward attaining set objectives is ensured. In instances where the plans to be carried out are complex in one way or another, project management knowledge always comes in handy as it covers management of whichever form of changes in a well thought-out manner (Abell, 25). Project management as a field, normally evaluates threats to whatever that is to be carried out, classifies objectives and main success areas and lays down worthwhile goals. Several organizati ons have limited resources and, thus, a restriction to the amount of undertakings it can commence and effectively manage. Beginning many projects or plans in an organization with such limited resources is futile since they will grind to a halt soon or later (Abell, 26). Consequently, being in the know on what an organization is able to afford at a given time is an important tool for it leadership. After it has been established how much the entity is worth, sound management of these resources then comes in. Since most plans for organizations entail new initiatives and learning, plan/project management has developed as an order to deal with the new and extraordinary. The most effective approach to succeeding in these plans is to break down the tasks to be carried out as illustrated here (Markides, 63). The first step or undertaking is to broadly describe the plan that is to be carried out. A well defined objective(s) or project will chart the way toward achievement of the aims since w hat is required is available to all players. The second step involves reduction of the larger plan or project into a set of convenient and handy undertakings. With such manageable chores, allocation of resources and evaluation of progress as time goes by and at the end will be much easier. After the whole plan has been broken down into manageable tasks, it means that the quantity of the resources required has also been established (Blaxill Eckardt, 14). Thus, the next step is to find these resources, be it financial, labor, time, among others. A panel or panels to carry out the planned work should be set up after the plan has been broken down and resources allocated. In allocation of teams to carry out required duties, importance should be pegged on the ability of all the players to carry out duties to the expected levels (Blaxill Eckardt, 14). The right number of people should be allocated the correct amount of work. The next stage is that of mapping the work to be carried out an d allot the resources to the tasks appropriately. For effective work to be carried out there should be no under-allocation or over-allocation. With all the above in place, it means work has commenced. For managers to succeed in various undertakings it is imperative that they keep an eye on and be in charge of the work (Handy, 27). This means that everything will run in course since any rectifications involving going off track will be rectified as soon as noticed. It is also equally important that advancement is reported to the highest administration and/or the venture guarantor. This is in a bid to ensure that any queries are addressed as their earliest. Issues of accountability are also well addressed with this form of arrangement. When the venture has been completed it should be closed down. This is then followed by a thorough evaluation to make certain that vital lessons are drawn from the whole exercise for future use (Mintzberg and Quinn, 19). Conclusion The main aspects that e merge from effective carrying out of by the top leadership ventures within an organization are setting up of appropriate objectives, crafting a scheme to attain these objectives and allotting resources necessary for such achievement (Abell, 28). On the other hand, what comes out clearly is the fact that these three key aspects are mutually dependent. The process of coming up with strategies and achieving the aimed goals must be iterative. It has to entail going back and forth amid questions concerning objectives, execution preparation and resources. For really complex undertakings, a broad evaluation is next to impossible. In such case all that is required is a situation whereby formulation and execution of tactics occurs alongside each other rather than one after the other (Markides, 63). This is for the simple fact that tactics are established on hypotheses which, in the nonexistence of faultless information, will on no account be entirely accurate. Strategic management and its as sociated tools is unavoidably a recurring learning process rather than a one-dimensional advancement on the way to a plainly defined final end. At the same time as suppositions can and should be assessed in advance, the definitive test is accomplishment. The top brass will as one might expect need to fiddle with company aims and/or their move toward chasing results and/or hypotheses about requisite resources. As a consequence, a tactic will be made over at some stage in execution. The thing that counts for the reasons of tactical administration is having an apparent view based on the best obtainable verification and on justifiable hypotheses (Markides, 63). Such a view needs to be of what it seems probable to achieve within the restraints of a given set of conditions. Works Cited Abell, Derek. â€Å"Strategic windows†, Journal of Marketing, Vol 42, pg 21–28, July 1978. Blaxill, Mark Eckardt, Ralph. â€Å"The Invisible Edge: Taking your Strategy to the Next Level Usin g Intellectual Property† (Portfolio, March 2009). Handy, Charles. â€Å"The Age of Unreason.† Hutchinson, London, 1989. Markides, Constantinos â€Å"A dynamic view of strategy† Sloan Management Review, vol 40, spring 1999, pp55–63. Mintzberg, Henry and Quinn, J.B. â€Å"The Strategy Process† Prentice-Hall, Harlow, 1988. pp4-19. This research paper on Techniques Employed by Managers in Ensuring Success of Plans in their Firms was written and submitted by user Desiree Herrera to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Essay about Writing Assignment

Essay about Writing Assignment Essay about Writing Assignment Writing Assignment #2 The topic of dreams and their relative function or purpose has long been a topic of research and discussion. â€Å"Evolutionary psychologists have proposed that dreams may offer a safe way to rehearse ways of dealing with dangerous situations† (Franklin & Zyphur, 2005, as cited by Zimbardo, Johnson, & McCann, 2009, pp 351). Antti Revonsuo is in agreement with these evolutionary psychologists and has developed the Threat-Simulation Theory (TST) that suggests dreaming serves an evolutionary function. Revonsuo’s TST suggests that dreaming is specialized in the simulation of threatening events which provides an offline context in which threat perception and avoidance skills could be rehearsed (Revonsuo & Valli, 2008). According to Revonsuo and Valli (2008), â€Å"The main predictions of the TST are that threatening events are frequent and overrepresented in dreams, that exposure to real threats activates the threat-simulation system, and thats dream threats contain rea listic rehearsals of threat avoidance responses†. The TST also predicts that individuals that experience more real life threats will produce more threat-simulations and have more effective simulated responses (Revonsuo & Valli, 2008). Revonsuo conducted a study in which, according to his research, proves the TST to be true. Susan Malcolm- Smith and Mark Solms re-tested Revonsuo’s theory in which they state their research evidence contradicts the key aspects of the TST. Sampling In the study conducted by Revonsuo, Valli, Palkas, Ismail, Ali, and Punamaki, The threat simulation theory of the evolutionary function of dreaming: Evidence from dreams of traumatized children (2003), they sample and compare 187 children from Kurdish, Iraq and Finland. From this point forward I will refer to this study as â€Å"Revonsuo’s study†. This study used a sample of 117 children from the highly traumatized area of Kurdish. These children were split into two groups according to their relative reported amount of trauma experienced. The amount of trauma was determined based on a scale of 20 items referring to events typically experienced by children of this area. The Trauma group, or the children that experienced the most amount of trauma, consisted of 64 children ages 9-17 (M/F=28/36). The Control group, or the children that experienced the lesser amount of trauma of Kurdish children, consisted of 53 children ages 9-17(M/F=20/33). The sample of non-traumatized ch ildren came from a Finnish sample that had experienced significantly less environmental, political or military traumatic experiences. This Non- Trauma group consisted of 70 children ages 7-12 (M/F=23/47). In the study conducted by Malcolm-Smith and Solms, Incidence of threat in dreams: A response to Revonsuo’s threat simulation theory (2004), the research sample came from a group of undergraduate students at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. From this point forward I wil refer to this study as the â€Å"Malcolm-Smith’s study†. The authors state that violence and trauma are commonplace in South Africa (Malcolm-Smith & Solms, 2004). There were 401 participants (M/F=100/301) and the research only states that the median age of the sample is 20 years. I see many issues with these samplings. Again, I believe that if Malcolm-Smith and Solms were looking to replicate the previous Revonsou study than the sampling should have been more comparable in all aspects. Malcolm-Smith’s study only selected one group from a high trauma environment, there was no non-trauma group selected in which to compare results, the age range is not provided, the median age is much higher, and the male:female ratio is skewed much more than in Revonsuo’s study. Malcolm-Smith’s study also used college educated participants. It is much more likely that this group has knowledge of psychology and research methods than do the Revonsuo sample. I do not believe these sample groups are comparable. Data Collection and Method In Revonsuo’s

Scholarship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Scholarship Essay Example The most valuable thing I learned during the first year of my study is that practice makes perfect. Unfortunately, I did not success much during the first year, but, as we know: â€Å"you must spoil before you spin†. I feel myself a wonderer on the background of knowledge horizon that was opened to me by my teachers, that is why it is too hard for me to choose my major. Nevertheless, I hope that my long-term considerations would bear fruits to my future deliberate choice of specialization. I am sure that I will succeed and I am ready to work hard. In my life I am following the next principle: it is necessary to get at the root. Thus, the fact that I chose Solbridge International School of Business and Master’s Degree in MBA is very important for me. Business Administration is a filed of my future practicing. I am making my choice gradually, focusing on the most important facts and moving to the least ones. I hope, there are many members of committee, who would restore in their memories their student years and agree with me that it is not so easy to choose one’s major. We make this choice once and for life. Of course, there are people who cannot find themselves during all their lives, but I have used to make well-considered decision in order to hit the mark. My dear Alma Mater, my appreciation of you has no limits! Please, do not be too severe with your child. We love our children both for their ups and downs and my failure during the first year does not mean that I am a bad student. It means that I could not react properly at once and did not appreciate my scholarship. I just took it for granted. Now I see that my scholarship is your trust and your hope for me. I promise I will not let you down, Solbridge International School of Business, Sweet Solbridge International School of

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions - Essay Example However this evolution came with a struggle that was marked by numerous constitutional crises. Perhaps the most important early constitutional crisis that dealt with this issue revolved around the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. These laws, which dealt censorship in the press, immigration, treason, and related punishments, were established by national government and endorsed by a majority of the states as a means of securing the national safety and welfare during its time of early development, but they were believed by several key founding fathers – notably Thomas Jefferson and James Madison – to be unconstitutional. In response to the laws, Jefferson penned the Kentucky Resolution and Madison the Virginia Resolution – both documents that mapped out a protest against the national laws which eventually fed into those later constitutional fights. In this brief paper, the arguments Jefferson and Madison put forward will be compared and contrasted. Both Jefferson and Madison relied on a theory of a national compact in the establishment of the US Constitution which argued that the states were the true representatives of the people and that they had endorsed the national constitution, but only so far as it went in carrying out its limited powers enumerated in the Constitution. Madison (1798) wrote that the Virginia Assembly viewed the national government’s role â€Å"as resulting from the compact, to which the states are parties; as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting the compact.† He argued that that the states had a â€Å"right† and in fact were â€Å"duty bound† to â€Å"interpose† when the national government overstepped its role and sought powers that the states believed were beyond the limits of its authority. Jefferson (1799) agreed, claiming that if the national government were the sole authority regarding the limits of its authority it would lead to the dissolution of the states and a

Paper 4 Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

4 - Term Paper Example The magazine empowers its female readers by encouraging them to use their minds to analyze and reflect upon world issues, national concerns, and even local politics if the article permits. The advertising in the magazine evokes the sexiness that women look for in their product ads but also encourages them to reach for a higher potential. Cosmopolitan magazine on the other hand lives up to its name as being the sexy magazine for the urban woman. Its cover alone promotes the sensuality of women and advertises ways and means that women can make themselves more sexually appealing to men. The concerns of the magazine are not as deep as that of Ms as Cosmopolitan contains mostly articles that promote the sexuality of women. However, Cosmopolitan is similar to Ms in the sense that they both promote female empowerment. Just in highly different terms. Cosmopolitan advises that women sell their sex, even in their advertising. Ms decided to market itself as the thinking womans magazine instead by promoting female empowerment through equality of the genders and discussing issues that are important to the feminist cause. That said, both magazine serve a solid and clear purpose in promoting their own female causes. Neither magazine can really be called better than the other. Instead, they are equal and relevant to the female cause in their own

Arguments For and Against Compulsory Voting

Arguments For and Against Compulsory Voting Graham McGuire Introduction The position adopted in this essay is that voting in elections should not be compulsory. Australia is one of at least twenty countries which compel their citizens to vote in Federal, State and most Local government elections. Australia forced its compulsory voting (CV) laws on its citizens in government elections was quite early in its history. It started with making enrolment for federal elections compulsory this was introduced in 1912. Then Queensland was the first state to force their citizens to vote in state elections compulsory in 1915 with all other states following at a later dates. With the Federal government introducing CV laws for their citizens in 1924 (Australian Electoral Commission 2011). . Arguments used for or against compulsory voting Arguments in favour: It is a civic duty to vote similar to other citizens duties e.g. taxation, jury duty Demonstrates the values of political participation Parliament should reflect the entire electorate in policy management and formulation Political candidates can manage their electioneering resources on other issues rather than having to persuading voters to be present at the poll The voter is not required to vote for anybody as voting is using secret ballot. Arguments against: It is not democratic to compel people to vote it’s an infringement of liberty The uninformed and individuals with no interest in politics are compelled to vote It increases the amount of informal votes and donkey votes It increases the amount of safe, single member electorates so as political parties can concentrate on more marginal electorates Resources have to be allocated to ascertain who failed to vote or who have valid reason not to vote (AEC 2011). The AEC didn’t include ‘Turn Out’ in its arguments, yet the main reason given on most of the reading on this subject of CV is that Governments are worried about poor turnout of voters. There are other reasons for and against CV but the AEC arguments are a fair representation of the pros and cons. Turn Out Supporters of CV say that it improves turnout, so it helps to legitimise governments in Australia. They claim that in countries where voting is voluntary, a lot of political party activity in elections is assigned to getting citizens out to vote (Parliament of Australia 2005, 3). CV can’t be defended by claiming that the government’s legitimacy was formed with a low turn-out is very questionable, for the amount of numbers doesn’t add any credibility in this regard. Making citizens vote doesn’t improve the quality of democracy, it’s the enabling of the citizens in how rules of a community should be determined. The misunderstanding is that democracy doesn’t permit citizens to do everything, along with entitlements also comes responsibilities. Citizens that are not concerned about politics shouldn’t vote (Moraro 2012). Which is preferable: a high turnout, where voters decide on bad or good looks of the leader of the party or flipping a co in, or low turnout where voters decide on issues or performance of the political party? Arguably it’s the latter. Voters who are less interested and less informed are the first to not vote. Consequently, if turnout is low the quantity of political sophistication is high. From the viewpoint of elections as implements of democracy, nonparticipation of these voters would be contemplated as desirable. Therefore low turnout obtains a more informed outcome (Rosema M 2007, 612-622). Low voter turnout suggests we aren’t taking democracy as earnestly as certain people would like to, but this does not require that we must substitute democracy with something else (Brennan J 2009, pp. 535-549). The candidates no need to encourage voters to vote with CV Both major political parties have supported CV as it relieves them of the task encouraging their supporters to vote. It is generally accepted that without CV that voters of a lower socioeconomic status would be less likely to vote. This would disadvantage the ALP? This would force the major parties to also pitch their messages to the young and those in the lower socioeconomic strata that there is a definite need to vote (Woodward 2010, 198-199). But would this not be a good thing to force political parties to prepare policies to vie for the votes of the underprivileged, the feeble or the marginalized. A voluntary voting system persuades political parties to focus policies at the underprivileged in order to persuade them to turn out and vote (idebate.org 2012). Compulsory voting worldwide There are only five democracies which Australia is one of in the world, where voting in elections is compulsory. A Federal backbencher proposed the Bill, there was very little debate before it was passed by both Houses of Parliament (AEC 2010). Australia is now only one of about twenty nations which force their citizens to vote at elections. Five countries are in Europe (they are moderately minor countries of Cyprus, Belgium, Luxembourg, Greece and Liechtenstein), ten in South and Central America, two in Oceania, and one in Africa. Yet, Australia continues to be the only main advanced industrialised democracy that voting is still compulsory. The Netherlands, had CV from 1917 and 1971 and then decided to become voluntary, their average turnout went from 94.6 to 81.5 per cent. If Australia was to change to a voluntary voting system a comparable drop would most likely to occur here (Quadrant Magazine 2013). Our leaders should inspire and motivate citizens to vote with ideas not with thr eats of fines. Voluntary voting in the long term will improve voter participation. Presently we have 81% voter turnouts but this would be lower if not for the blind guesses and donkey votes (Hirst J 2009). Australia is a liberal democracy that values individual rights, it may have a lower turn out with voluntary voting but it would make it right rather than a duty. Making Citizens Vote When They Shouldn’t Vote A western democratic citizen has a political entitlement to vote, which is established on justice and must be legally protected. But the right to vote doesn’t mean they should vote. Under the right of free speech they can advocate slavery, but it would be morally wrong to do so. When CV makes citizens vote there is a moral obligation not to vote shoddily and without any regard to the outcome. Voters shouldn’t be obliged vote but if they do, they owe it to themselves and others to vote rationally, just, unbiased and informed concerning their political beliefs. Correspondingly, we aren’t obligated to be parents, but if we do, we ought to be conscientious, good parents. If we aren’t then we ought not to be parents likewise not vote. A good liberal democracy makes citizens safe in their position as equal and free citizens that they could freely choose to avoid politics. Liberal democracy is a significant public good and everyone should do their part to maintai n it. A person can do their part by bowing out. A good vote is cancelled by a bad vote. A good vote is a contribution to society, and then evading a bad vote would also be a contribution to society (Brennan J 2009, pp. 535-549). Voting not required with CV as voting is using secret ballot The argument against CV is that casting your vote can be an onerous burden placed on citizens. Against this Mr Christopher Bayliss stated, in a proposal to JSCEM[1], that: All our voting system requires is for a voter to attend a polling booth and mark some papers as they wish, approximately once every three years. This does not seem to be an insurmountable burden to be part of a democracy(Australian Electoral Commission 2006). Many other people have said that you don’t have to vote all you have to do is go to a polling booth and have your name crossed of the roll and you don’t have to cast a vote and will not have to pay the fine. If you wish to break the law this most likely would work. It is your duty as a citizen and especially as a professional with professional responsibility not to break the law. The Commonwealth Electoral Act, states It shall be the duty of every elector to VOTE at each election. The actual duty of the elector is to attend a polling place, have their name marked off the certified list, receive a ballot paper and take it to an individual voting booth, mark it, fold the ballot paper and place it in the ballot box†(Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) s 245(1)). Strict liability applies to this offence (Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) s 245(15) (A)). Undemocratic to Force Citizens to Vote The case for democratic freedom would imply that CV is essentially undemocratic as the freedom of choice must certainly incorporate the democratic freedom not to choose as democracy extremely values individual freedom (Lever, A. 2009, 66-67). It is fundamental to liberal-democratic tradition. Ciccone contends that it is a guarantee of a free democratic society that its citizens are unrestricted to formulate their own selections including if to vote or not to vote in any election. Ciccone maintains that the rational inverse of the entitlement to vote, is an entitlement not to vote and because it is just as essential as the entitlement to vote, it should be given the equivalent respect and draw the same aims of strict legal scrutiny when its threatened (Ciccone, 2001-2, pp. 347-8). CV is accused with violating fundamental human rights, namely the freedom of religion, conscience and thought[2]. However, in the case of X v Austria[3] the court found that CV didn’t violate fundamen tal freedoms, as Austria’s legislation only required attendance at a polling booth and not having to vote was not compulsory (Malkopoulou A 2011 p 247). In Australia the legislation states it is the duty of each elector to vote not just get your name crossed off[4]. Justice Blackburn stated that casting an invalid vote was a violation of the Act (Australian Electoral Commission 2013). â€Å"The claim that compulsion violates the liberal-democratic principles of choice and freedom is without doubt a valid one† (Hill, L. 2007, 5). Kevin Borick QC stated the Australian constitution maintains that all Australians have a right to vote, yet the electoral act maintains that it is a duty. The constitution over rides the electoral act the CV structure is an undemocratic violation of personal freedom and of free will (News. Com. Au. 2011). Conclusion There are no issues that the electoral procedure is a very important function of democratic culture. There is also no issue that voting is a moral responsibility of every voter in a democracy. The issue is if a person can be forced to vote in contradiction of their own conviction in the interest of democracy. There is no argument that there are advantages of compulsory voting as experienced in Australia and how this has influenced higher voter turnouts. Yet, the evaluation of democracy mustn’t be diminished to the point of only electoral participation. Voting, regardless of its importance is only one part of democratic participation, as experience has shown, but not an exceptionally convincing one. Governments have been ousted; leaders have been replaced despite claims of legitimacy. Electoral participation is important because it allows citizens to select from amongst candidates that are deemed the finest to lead the country. Democratic societies value individual freedom, inc luding the freedom of not having to vote. Voting is a realistic choice that a voter resolves to exercise when it is in their best interest to do so. Compelling them to do so is undemocratic. The greater turnout rates in countries with CV might not be necessarily good. It has been shown that countries with CV also have high protest or invalid votes. Democracy can’t be enriched when citizens have to vote because they are compelled to in order to avoid penalties. It is only when citizens freely choose to participate in the electoral procedure can their votes be truly and authentic thoughtful of their inclination. Liberal democratic government is a complicated system that respects not only electoral involvement but provides opportunities for citizens to express their equality, freedom, choice and reasoned judgment. Bibliography Australian Electoral Commission 2006, Compulsory voting in Australia, prepared by Tim Evans, viewed 18 April 2014, http://aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Publications/voting/index.htm>. Australian Electoral Commission 2011, Compulsory Voting, viewed 8 April 2014, http://www.aec.gov.au/voting/Compulsory_Voting.htm >. Australian Electoral Commission 2013, Understanding Australian electoral legislation, viewed 4 April 2014, http://www.aec.gov.au/voting/Compulsory_Voting.htm>. Australian Electoral Commission 2014, Should voting be voluntary, viewed 4 April 2014, http://www.aec.gov.au/faqs/voting_australia.htm>. Brennan J 2009, Polluting the Polls: When Citizens Should Not Vote, Australasian Journal of Philosophy Volume 87, Issue 4, December 2009, pp. 535-549, viewed 16 April 2014, online at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/. Ciccone, A, 2001-2. ‘The Constitutional Right to Vote is Not a Duty’, Hamline Journal of Public Law and Policy, 325, 325-357, viewed 23 April 2014. Electoral Act 1918 (Cth). Hill, L. 2007, Compulsory Voting in Australia: History, Public Acceptance and Justifiability, Paper presented to the ECPR Joint Sessions Workshop on â€Å"Compulsory Voting: Principles and Practice†, May 7 – 12, Helsinki, Finland. Hirst J 2009, Why Australia Should Abolish Compulsory Voting, viewed 12 April 2014, http://www.thoughtbroker.com.au/why-australia-should-abolish-compulsory-voting-with-john-hirst/ >. idebate.org 2012, This house would make voting compulsory, viewed 13 April 2014,http://wwww.idebate.org/debatabase/debates/politics/house-would-make-voting-compulsory>. Lever, A. 2009, Is Compulsory Voting Justified? Journal of Political and Moral Philosophy, Public Reason 1 (1): 57-74, viewed 23 April 2014. Malkopoulou A 2011, The History of Political Debates on Compulsory Voting, viewed 24 April 2014, https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/37907/978-951-39-4759-0.pdf?sequence=1>. Moraro, P 2012, Why Compulsory Voting Undermines Democracy, Living Ehtics, Issue 88 viewed 9 April 2014, http://www.ethics.org.au/articles/why-compulsory-voting-undermines-democracy>. News. Com. Au. 2011, Fight for Right to Not Vote, viewed 24 April 2014, http://www.news.com.au/national/fight-for-right-not-to-vote/story-e6frfkvr-1226317057696>. Parliament of Australia 2005, Compulsory voting in Australian national elections, viewed 8 April 2014, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22library%2Fprspub%2F06SH6%22 >. Quadrant Magazine 2013, How Compulsory Voting Subverts Democracy, viewed 12 April 2014, http://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2013/09/how-compulsory-voting-subverts-democracy/ >. Rosema, M 2007, Low turnout: Threat to democracy or blessing in disguise, Department of Political Science, University of Twente, viewed 11 April 2014, http://www.utwente.nl/mb/pa/staff/rosema/publications/key_publications/article_rosema_electoral_studi.pdf >. Woodward, D, Parkin, A Summers, J (eds.) 2010, Government, Politics, Power and Policy in Australia, 9th edn, Pearson, Frenchs Forest NSW. 1 [1] Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. [2] Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. [3] Application No. 4982/71) in 1971, the European Court of Human Rights. [4] Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) s 245(1).

NHS Balanced scorecard Essay -- British Health Care, Politics

This part of the assignment will discuss balanced scorecard that has been implemented by UK National Health Service (NHS), how it has influenced and impacted upon the performance measures of this organisation. ‘Since its launch in 1948, the NHS has grown to become the world’s largest publicly funded health service. NHS employs more than 1.7m people and deals on average with 1m patients every 36 hours. It is also one of the most efficient, most egalitarian and most comprehensive. Even though NHS services in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are managed separately and each might have some system differences, they remain similar in most respects and belong to a single, unified system. The NHS core principle is that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth.’ (NHS, 2010) Success of NHS depends on how well the organisation balance quality and customer (patient) satisfaction with adequate financing and long-range goals. Health care organisations such as NHS must deal with government oversight, managed care, new technologies, and increasing pharmaceutical prices. The NHS has adopted a performance measurement system that is based on the concept of balanced scorecard in order to obtain a broader view of performance within the organisation (Department of Health, 2001). Although, measuring performance evaluation of health care system could be difficult, it can on the other hand serve several purposes and can help facilitate change and improvements in the effectiveness and quality of health care. It seems peculiar to focus on performance measures in organisation such as NHS, but even NHS is facing increasing competitive pressures when considering ageing populations increasing demand, improved treatment... ...t in public/patient accountability, service efficiency and staff involvement to a highly prominent level. Government has developed ‘Star Ratings’ system which monitors improvements in accountability measures. The experience of the ‘Star Ratings’ system in respect of service efficiency indicates that it is prudent to act pro-actively rather than re-actively. It is vital to consider that the Government is expecting demonstrable improvements in health services rather than rhetoric alone (Radnor and Lovell, 2003). ‘Though it is intricate to demonstrably prove in quantitative terms that the balanced scorecard can deliver efficiency improvements at the start of its implementation, it can be shown in quantitative terms that a well designed fully cascaded balanced scorecard system should address the needs of a health care system. ’ (Radnor and Lovell, 2003, p. 105)

Frostbite Chapter 18

Eighteen THE HIGH HEELS WERE STARTING to hurt me, so I took them off when I went back inside, walking barefoot through the lodge. I hadn't been to Mason's room, but I remembered him mentioning the number once and found it without difficulty. Shane, Mason's roommate, opened the door a few moments after I knocked. â€Å"Hey, Rose.† He stepped aside for me, and I walked in, peering around. Some infomercial was playing on the TV- one downside of a nocturnal life was a shortage of good programming- and empty soda cans covered nearly every flat surface. There was no sign of Mason anywhere. â€Å"Where is he?† I asked. Shane stifled a yawn. â€Å"I thought he was with you.† â€Å"I haven't seen him all day.† He yawned again, then frowned in thought. â€Å"He was throwing some stuff in a bag earlier. I figured you guys were running off for some crazy romantic getaway. Picnic or something. Hey, nice dress.† â€Å"Thanks,† I murmured, feeling a frown of my own coming on. Packing a bag? That didn't make any sense. There was nowhere to go. There was no way to go, either. This resort was as tightly guarded as the Academy. Lissa and I had only managed to break out of that place with compulsion, and it had still been a pain in the ass. Yet, why on earth would Mason pack a bag if he wasn't leaving? I asked Shane a few more questions and decided to follow up on the possibility, crazy as it seemed. I found the guardian in charge of security and scheduling. He gave me the names of those guardians who'd been on duty around the resort's borders when Mason had last been seen. Most of the names I knew, and most were off duty now, making them easy to find. Unfortunately, the first couple hadn't seen Mason around today. When they asked why I wanted to know, I gave vague answers and hurried off. The third person on my list was a guy named Alan, a guardian who usually worked the Academy's lower campus. He was just coming in after skiing, taking his equipment off near the door. Recognizing me, he smiled as I approached. â€Å"Sure, I saw him,† he said, bending down to his boots. Relief flooded over me. Until then, I hadn't realized how worried I'd been. â€Å"Do you know where he is?† â€Å"Nope. Let him and Eddie Castile†¦and, what's her name, the Rinaldi girl, out through the north gate and didn't see them after that.† I stared. Alan continued unhooking his skis as though we were discussing slope conditions. â€Å"You let Mason and Eddie †¦ and Mia out?† â€Å"Yup.† â€Å"Um †¦ why?† He finished and looked back up at me, a kind of happy and bemused look on his face. â€Å"Because they asked me.† An icy feeling started creeping through me. I found out which guardian had watched the north gate with Alan and immediately sought him out. That guardian gave me the same response. He'd let Mason, Eddie, and Mia out, no questions asked. And, like Alan, he didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with that. He appeared almost dazed. It was a look I'd seen before †¦ a look that came over people when Lissa used compulsion. In particular, I'd seen it happen when Lissa didn't want people to remember something very well. She could bury the memory in them, either erasing it all together or planting it for later. She was so good at compulsion, though, that she could just make people forget completely. For them to still have some memories meant someone who wasn't as good at compulsion had worked on them. Someone, say, like Mia. I wasn't the fainting type, but for just a moment, I felt like I could keel over. The world spun, and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I could see again, my surroundings stayed stable. Okay. No problem. I would reason this out. Mason, Eddie, and Mia had left the resort earlier today. Not only that, they had done it by using compulsion- which was utterly forbidden. They hadn't told anyone. They'd left through the north gate. I'd seen a map of the resort. The north gate guarded a driveway that connected to the only semi-major road in the area, a small highway that led to a little town about twelve miles away. The town Mason had mentioned that had buses. To Spokane. Spokane- where this traveling pack of Strigoi and their humans might be living. Spokane- where Mason could fulfill all his crazy dreams of slaying Strigoi. Spokane- which he only knew about because of me. â€Å"No, no, no,† I murmured to myself, almost running toward my room. There, I stripped off the dress and changed into heavy winter clothes: boots, jeans, and a sweater. Grabbing my coat and gloves, I hurried back toward the door and then paused. I was acting without thinking. What was I actually going to do? I needed to tell someone, obviously†¦but that would get the trio in a lot of trouble. It would also tip Dimitri off that I'd gone and gossiped about the Spokane Strigoi information he'd told me in confidence as a sign of respecting my maturity. I studied the time. It would take a while for anyone around the resort to know we were missing. If I could actually get out of the resort. A few minutes later, I found myself knocking on Christian's door. He answered, looking sleepy and cynical as usual. â€Å"If you've come to apologize for her,† he told me loftily, â€Å"you can just go ahead and- â€Å" â€Å"Oh, shut up,† I snapped. â€Å"This isn't about you.† Hastily, I relayed the details of what was going on. Even Christian didn't have a witty response for that one. â€Å"So†¦Mason, Eddie, and Mia went to Spokane to hunt Strigoi?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Holy shit. Why didn't you go with them? Seems like something you'd do.† I resisted the urge to smack him. â€Å"Because I'm not insane! But I'm going to go get them before they do something even stupider.† That was when Christian caught on. â€Å"And what do you need from me?† â€Å"I need to get off the resort's property. They got Mia to use compulsion on the guards. I need you to do the same thing. I know you've practiced it.† â€Å"I have,† he agreed. â€Å"But†¦well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  For the first time ever, he looked embarrassed. â€Å"I'm not very good at it. And doing it on dhampirs is nearly impossible. Liss is a hundred times better than me. Or probably any Moroi.† â€Å"I know. But I don't want her to get in trouble.† He snorted. â€Å"But you don't mind if I do?† I shrugged. â€Å"Not really.† â€Å"You're a piece of work, you know that?† â€Å"Yeah. I do, actually.† So, five minutes later, he and I found ourselves trekking out to the north gate. The sun was coming up, so most everyone was inside. This was a good thing, and I hoped it'd make our escape that much easier. Stupid, stupid, I kept thinking. This was going to blow up in our faces. Why had Mason done this? I knew he'd had this whole crazy vigilante attitude†¦and he'd certainly seemed upset that the guardians hadn't done anything about the recent attack. But still. Was he really that unhinged? He had to know how dangerous this was. Was it possible†¦was it possible I'd upset him so much with the making-out disaster that he'd gone off the deep end? Enough to go do this and get Mia and Eddie to join him? Not that those two would be hard to convince. Eddie would follow Mason anywhere, and Mia was almost as gung ho as Mason to kill every Strigoi in the world. Yet, out of all the questions I had about this, one thing was definitely clear. I'd told Mason about the Strigoi in Spokane. Hands down, this was my fault, and without me, none of this would have happened. â€Å"Lissa always makes eye contact,† I coached Christian as we approached the exit. â€Å"And speaks in a really, like, calm voice. I don't know what else. I mean, she concentrates a lot too, so try that. Focus on forcing your will on them.† â€Å"I know,† he snapped. â€Å"I've seen her do it.† â€Å"Fine,† I snapped back. â€Å"Just trying to help.† Squinting, I saw that only one guardian stood at the gate, a total stroke of luck. They were in between shifts. With the sun out, the risk of Strigoi had disappeared. The guardians would still continue in their duties, but they could relax just a bit. The guy on duty didn't seem particularly alarmed by our appearance. â€Å"What are you kids doing out here?† Christian swallowed. I could see the lines of tension on his face. â€Å"You're going to let us out of the gate,† he said. A note of nervousness made his voice tremble, but otherwise, he did a fair approximation of Lissa's soothing tones. Unfortunately, it had no effect on the guardian. As Christian had pointed out, using compulsion on a guardian was nearly impossible. Mia had gotten lucky. The guardian grinned at us. â€Å"What?† he asked, clearly amused. Christian tried again. â€Å"You're going to let us out.† The guy's smile faltered just a little, and I saw him blink in surprise. His eyes didn't glaze over in the same way Lissa's victims did, but Christian had done enough to briefly enthrall him. Unfortunately, I could tell right then and there that it wouldn't be enough to make him let us out and forget. Fortunately, I'd been trained to compel people without the use of magic. Sitting near his post was an enormous Maglite, two feet long and easily seven pounds. I grabbed the Maglite and clocked him on the back of the head. He grunted and crumpled to the ground. He'd barely seen me coming, and despite the horribleness of what I'd just done, I kind of wished one of my instructors had been there to grade me on such an awesome performance. â€Å"Jesus Christ,† exclaimed Christian. â€Å"You just assaulted a guardian.† â€Å"Yeah.† So much for getting the guys back without getting anyone in trouble. â€Å"I didn't know just how much you sucked at compulsion. I'll deal with the fallout later. Thanks for your help. You should head back before the next shift comes on.† He shook his head and grimaced. â€Å"No, I'm going with you on this.† â€Å"No,† I argued. â€Å"I only needed you to get through the gate. You don't have to get in trouble over this.† â€Å"I'm already in trouble!† He pointed at the guardian. â€Å"He saw my face. I'm screwed either way, so I might as well help you save the day. Stop being a bitch for a change.† We hurried off, and I cast one last, guilty glance at the guardian. I was pretty sure I hadn't hit him hard enough to cause real damage, and with the sun coming out, he wouldn't freeze or anything. After about five minutes of walking down the highway, I knew we had a problem. Despite being covered and wearing sunglasses, the sun was taking its toll on Christian. It was slowing us down, and it wouldn't take that long for someone to find the guardian I'd taken out and come after us. A car- not one of the Academy's- appeared behind us, and I made a decision. I didn't approve of hitchhiking in the least. Even someone like me knew how dangerous it was. But we needed to get to town fast, and I prayed Christian and I could take down any creepy stalker guy who tried to mess with us. Fortunately, when the car pulled over, it was just a middle-aged couple who looked more concerned than anything else. â€Å"You kids okay?† I jerked my thumb behind me. â€Å"Our car slid off the road. Can you take us to town so I can call my dad?† It worked. Fifteen minutes later, they dropped us off at a gas station. I actually had trouble getting rid of them because they wanted to help us so much. Finally, we convinced them we'd be fine, and we walked the few blocks over to the bus station. As I'd suspected, this town wasn't much of a hub for real travel. Three lines serviced the town: two that went to other ski resorts and one that went to Lowston, Idaho. From Lowston, you could go on to other places. I'd half-hoped that we might beat Mason and the others before their bus came. Then we could have hauled them back without any trouble. Unfortunately, there was no sign of them. The cheery woman at the counter knew exactly who we were talking about, too. She confirmed that all three of them had bought tickets to Spokane by way of Lowston. â€Å"Damn it,† I said. The woman raised her eyebrows at my language. I turned to Christian. â€Å"You got money for the bus?† Christian and I didn't talk much along the way, except for me to tell him he'd been an idiot about Lissa and Adrian. By the time we reached Lowston, I finally had him convinced, which was a minor miracle. He slept the rest of the way to Spokane, but I couldn't. I just kept thinking over and over that this was my fault. It was late afternoon by the time we reached Spokane. It took a few people, but we finally found someone who knew the shopping center Dimitri had mentioned. It was a long ways from the bus station, but it was walkable. My legs were stiff after almost five hours of riding a bus, and I wanted the movement. The sun was a while from setting, but it was lower and less detrimental to vampires, so Christian didn't mind the walk either. And, as often happened when I was in calm settings, I felt a tug into Lissa's head. I let myself fall into her because I wanted to know what was happening back at the resort. â€Å"I know you want to protect them, but we need to know where they are.† Lissa sat on the bed in our room while Dimitri and my mom stared her down. It was Dimitri who had spoken. Seeing him through her eyes was interesting. She had a fond respect for him, very different from the intense roller coaster of emotions I always experienced. â€Å"I told you,† said Lissa, â€Å"I don't know. I don't know what happened.† Frustration and fear for us burned through her. It saddened me to see her so anxious, but at the same time, I was glad I hadn't gotten her involved. She couldn't report what she didn't know. â€Å"I can't believe they wouldn't have told you where they were going,† said my mother. Her words sounded flat, but there were lines of worry on her face. â€Å"Especially with your†¦bond.† â€Å"It only works one way,† said Lissa sadly. â€Å"You know that.† Dimitri knelt down so he could be at Lissa's height and look her in the eye. He pretty much had to do that to look anyone in the eye. â€Å"Are you sure there's nothing? Nothing at all you can tell us? They're nowhere in town. The man at the bus station didn't see them †¦ though we're pretty sure that's where they must have gone. We need something, anything to go on.† Man at the bus station? That was another stroke of luck. The woman who'd sold us the tickets must have gone home. Her replacement wouldn't know us. Lissa gritted her teeth and glared. â€Å"Don't you think if I knew, I'd tell you? You don't think I'm worried about them too? I have no idea where they are. None. And why'd they even leave†¦ it doesn't make any sense either. Especially why they'd go with Mia, of all people.† A twinge of hurt flickered through the bond, hurt at being left out of whatever we were doing, no matter how wrong. Dimitri sighed and leaned back on his heels. From the look on his face, he obviously believed her. It was also obvious that he was worried- worried in more than a professional way. And seeing that concern- that concern for me- ate up my heart. â€Å"Rose?† Christian's voice brought me back to myself. â€Å"We're here, I think.† The plaza consisted of a wide, open area in front of a shopping center. A caf? ¦ was carved into a corner of the main building, its tables spilling out into the open area. A crowd moved in and out of the complex, busy even at this time of the day. â€Å"So, how do we find them?† asked Christian. I shrugged. â€Å"Maybe if we act like Strigoi, they'll try to stake us.† A small, reluctant smile played over his face. He didn't want to admit it, but he'd thought my joke was funny. He and I went inside. Like any mall, it was filled with familiar chains, and a selfish part of me thought that maybe if we found the group soon enough, we could still get in shopping time. Christian and I walked the length of it twice and saw no signs of our friends or anything resembling tunnels. â€Å"Maybe we're in the wrong place,† I finally said. â€Å"Or maybe they are,† suggested Christian. â€Å"They could have gone to some other- wait.† He pointed, and I followed the gesture. The three renegades sat at a table in the middle of the food court, looking dejected. They looked so miserable, I almost felt sorry for them. â€Å"I'd kill for a camera right now,† said Christian, smirking. â€Å"This isn't funny,† I told him, striding toward the group. Inside, I breathed a sigh of relief. The group clearly hadn't found any Strigoi, were all still alive, and could maybe be taken back before we got in even more trouble. They didn't notice me until I was almost right next to them. Eddie's head jerked up. â€Å"Rose? What are you doing here?† â€Å"Are you out of your mind?† I yelled. A few people nearby gave us surprised looks. â€Å"Do you know how much trouble you're in? How much trouble you've gotten us in?† â€Å"How the hell did you find us?† asked Mason in a low voice, glancing anxiously around. â€Å"You guys aren't exactly criminal masterminds,† I told them. â€Å"Your informant at the bus station gave you away. That, and I figured out that you'd want to go off on your pointless Strigoi-hunting quest.† The look Mason gave me revealed he still wasn't entirely happy with me. It was Mia who replied, however. â€Å"It isn't pointless.† â€Å"Oh?† I demanded. â€Å"Did you kill any Strigoi? Did you even find any?† â€Å"No,† admitted Eddie. â€Å"Good,† I said. â€Å"You got lucky.† â€Å"Why are you so against killing Strigoi?† asked Mia hotly. â€Å"Isn't that what you train for?† â€Å"I train for sane missions, not childish stunts like this.† â€Å"It isn't childish,† she cried. â€Å"They killed my mother. And the guardians weren't doing anything. Even their information is bad. There weren't any Strigoi in the tunnels. Probably none in the whole city.† Christian looked impressed. â€Å"You found the tunnels?† â€Å"Yeah,† said Eddie. â€Å"But like she said, they were useless.† â€Å"We should see them before we go,† Christian told me. â€Å"It'd be kind of cool, and if the data was bad, there's no danger.† â€Å"No,† I snapped. â€Å"We're going home. Now.† Mason looked tired. â€Å"We're going to search the city again. Even you can't make us go back, Rose.† â€Å"No, but the school's guardians can when I call and tell them you're here.† Call it blackmailing or being a tattletale; the effect was the same. The three of them looked at me like I had just simultaneously gut-punched them all. â€Å"You'd really do that?† asked Mason. â€Å"You'd sell us out like that?† I rubbed my eyes, wondering desperately why I was trying to be the voice of reason here. Where was the girl who'd run away from school? Mason had been right. I had changed. â€Å"This isn't about selling anyone out. This is about keeping you guys alive.† â€Å"You think we're that defenseless?† asked Mia. â€Å"You think we'd get killed right away?† â€Å"Yes,† I said. â€Å"Unless you've found some way to use water as a weapon?† She flushed and didn't say anything. â€Å"We brought silver stakes,† said Eddie. Fantastic. They must have stolen them. I looked at Mason pleadingly. â€Å"Mason. Please. Call this off. Let's go back.† He looked at me for a long time. Finally, he sighed. â€Å"Okay.† Eddie and Mia looked aghast, but Mason had assumed a leadership role with them, and they didn't have the initiative to go on without him. Mia seemed to take it the hardest, and I felt bad for her. She'd barely had any real time to grieve for her mother; she'd just jumped right on board with this revenge thing as a way to cope with the pain. She'd have a lot to deal with when we got back. Christian was still excited about the idea of the underground tunnels. Considering he spent all his time in an attic, I shouldn't have been all that surprised. â€Å"I saw the schedule,† he told me. â€Å"We've got a while before the next bus.† â€Å"We can't go walking into some Strigoi lair,† I argued, walking toward the mall's entrance. â€Å"There are no Strigoi there,† said Mason. â€Å"It's seriously all janitorial stuff. There was no sign of anything weird. I really do think the guardians had bad information.† â€Å"Rose,† said Christian, â€Å"let's get something fun out of this.† They all looked at me. I felt like a mom who wouldn't buy her kids candy at the grocery store. â€Å"Okay, fine. Just a peek, though.† The others led Christian and me to the opposite end of the mall, through a door marked staff only. We dodged a couple of janitors, then slipped through another door that led us to a set of stairs going down. I had a brief moment of d? ¦j? ¤ vu, recalling the steps down to Adrian's spa party. Only these stairs were dirtier and smelled pretty nasty. We reached the bottom. It wasn't so much a tunnel as a narrow corridor, lined in grime-caked cement. Ugly fluorescent lights were embedded sporadically along the walls. The passage went off to our left and right. Boxes of ordinary cleaning and electrical supplies sat around. â€Å"See?† said Mason. â€Å"Boring.† I pointed in each direction. â€Å"What's down there?† â€Å"Nothing,† sighed Mia. â€Å"We'll show you.† We walked down to the right and found more of the same. I was starting to agree with the boring assessment when we passed some black writing on one of the walls. I stopped and looked at it. It was a list of letters. D B C O T D V L D Z S I Some had lines and x marks next to them, but for the most part the message was incoherent. Mia noticed my scrutiny. â€Å"It's probably a janitor thing,† she said. â€Å"Or maybe some gang did it.† â€Å"Probably,† I said, still studying it. The others shifted restlessly, not understanding my fascination with the jumble of letters. I didn't understand my fascination either, but something in my head tugged at me to stay. Then I got it. B for Badica, Z for Zeklos, I for Ivashkov †¦ I stared. The first letter of every royal family's name was there. There were three D names, but based on the order, you could actually read the list as a size ranking. It started with the smaller families- Dragomir, Badica, Conta- and went all the way up to the giant Ivashkov clan. I didn't understand the dashes and lines beside the letters, but I quickly noticed which names had an x beside them: Badica and Drozdov. I stepped back from the wall. â€Å"We have to get out of here,† I said. My own voice scared me a little. â€Å"Right now.† The others looked at me in surprise. â€Å"Why?† asked Eddie. â€Å"What's going on?† â€Å"I'll tell you later. We just need to go.† Mason pointed in the direction we'd been heading. â€Å"This lets out a few blocks away. It's closer to the station.† I peered down into the dark unknown. â€Å"No,† I said. â€Å"We're going back the way we came.† They all looked at me like I was insane as we retraced our steps, but nobody questioned me yet. When we emerged from the mall's front, I breathed a sigh of relief to see that the sun was still out, though it was steadily sinking into the horizon and casting orange and red light onto the buildings. The remaining light would still be enough for us to get back to the bus station before we were really in any danger of seeing Strigoi. And I knew now that there really were Strigoi in Spokane. Dimitri's information had been correct. I didn't know what the list meant, but it clearly had something to do with the attacks. I needed to report it to the other guardians immediately, and I certainly couldn't tell the others what I'd realized until we were safely at the lodge. Mason was likely to go back into the tunnels if he knew what I did. Most of our walk back to the station proceeded in silence. I think my mood had cowed the others. Even Christian seemed to have run out of snide comments. Inside, my emotions swirled, oscillating between anger and guilt as I kept reexamining my role in everything. Ahead of me, Eddie stopped walking, and I nearly ran into him. He looked around. â€Å"Where are we?† Snapping out of my own thoughts, I surveyed the area too. I didn't remember these buildings. â€Å"Damn it,† I exclaimed. â€Å"Are we lost? Didn't anyone keep track of which way we went?† It was an unfair question since I clearly hadn't paid attention either, but my temper had pushed me past reason. Mason studied me for a few moments, then pointed. â€Å"This way.† We turned and walked down a narrow street between two buildings. I didn't think we were going the right way, but I didn't really have a better idea. I also didn't want to stand around debating. We hadn't gone very far when I heard the sound of an engine and squealing tires. Mia was walking in the middle of the road, and protective conditioning kicked in before I even saw what was coming. Grabbing her, I jerked her out of the street and up against one of the building walls. The boys had done the same. A large, gray van with tinted windows had rounded the corner and was headed in our direction. We pressed flat against the wall, waiting for it to go past. Only it didn't. Screeching to a halt, it stopped right in front of us, and the doors slid open. Three big guys spilled out, and again, my instincts kicked in. I had no clue who they were or what they wanted, but they clearly weren't friendly. That was all I needed to know. One of them moved toward Christian, and I struck out and punched him. The guy barely staggered but was clearly surprised to have felt it at all, I think. He probably hadn't expected someone as small as me to be much of a threat. Ignoring Christian, he moved toward me. In my peripheral vision, I saw Mason and Eddie squaring off with the other two. Mason had actually pulled out his stolen silver stake. Mia and Christian stood there, frozen. Our attackers were relying a lot on bulk. They didn't have the sort of background we had in offensive and defensive techniques. Plus, they were human, and we had dhampir strength. Unfortunately, we also had the disadvantage of being cornered against the wall. We had nowhere to retreat to. Most importantly, we had something to lose. Like Mia. The guy who'd been sparring with Mason seemed to realize this. He backed off from Mason and instead grabbed her. I barely saw the flash of his gun before its barrel was pressed against her neck. Backing off from my own adversary, I yelled at Eddie to stop. We'd all been trained to respond instantly to those kinds of orders, and he halted his attack, glancing at me questioningly When he saw Mia, his face went pale. I wanted nothing more than to keep pummeling these men- whoever they were- but I couldn't risk this guy hurting Mia. He knew it, too. He didn't even have to make the threat. He was human, but he knew enough about us to know that we'd go out of our way to protect the Moroi. Novices had a saying grilled into us from an early age: Only they matter. Everyone stopped and looked between him and me. Apparently we were the acknowledged leaders here. â€Å"What do you want?† I asked harshly. The guy pressed his gun closer to Mia's neck, and she whimpered. For all her talk about fighting, she was smaller than me and not nearly as strong. And she was too terrified to move. The man inclined his head toward the van's open door. â€Å"I want you to get inside. And don't start anything. You do, and she's gone.† I looked at Mia, the van, my other friends, and then back to the guy. Shit.

How to Make Homemade Gel Air Fresheners

How to Make Homemade Gel Air Fresheners You can buy gel air fresheners, but if you make your own, you can choose your own scent, color, and decorations. Its easy, fun and takes less than an hour to make! For holiday appeal, consider layering different colored gels or using seasonal fragrances (e.g., pine or cinnamon for Christmas). Ingredients 2 cups distilled wateressential oil/fragrance4 packages unflavored gelatinempty jarfood coloring (optional)mold inhibitor (optional) How to Make a Gel Air Freshener Heat 1 cup of distilled water to boiling.Stir in 4 packages of unflavored gelatin (e.g., Knox) until dissolved.Remove the mixture from heat and stir in the other 1 cup water.Add 10-20 drops of essential oil or other concentrated fragrance. If desired, add food coloring to tint your gel. You may also wish to add a mold inhibitor, such as 1-2 T salt OR a small amount of potassium sorbate OR a splash of vodka.Pour the gel into clean baby food jars or other small, decorative containers.The gel will set at room temperature, although you can place the air fresheners in the refrigerator for a quick set (and scented fridge).Decorate your jars as desired and enjoy! Useful Tips This project requires heat, so adult supervision is required.Feel free to scale the recipe up or down to make the amount of gel you need (e.g., 1 cup water to 2 pkg gelatin).If you wish, you can (carefully) dissolve gelatin in concentrated liquid potpourri (no other ingredients needed) to make your air fresheners. Use a ratio of 1 cup liquid to 2 packages gelatin.You can make multi-colored gels by pouring a new color over one which has already set up (like making a layered gelatin dessert).

20 Steps to Ensure You Always Have a Job

20 Steps to Ensure You Always Have a Job While nothing is certain when it comes to careers, it always pays off if coworkers and managers can count on you- personally  and professionally. Aim to be the person who not only gets the job done, but does so with class and integrity. Here are 20 tips you can take with you no matter what field you’re in. Internalize them, practice them, and find success. Rest assured, if you do this, you will ensure you always have a job.

Fredrick Douglas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fredrick Douglas - Essay Example nfairness, and he points out the undeserved whippings, extreme physical exertion, inconsistent punishments, killings, and the taking away of children from their mothers as incongruous brutality (Douglass ch 1). However, the narrative offers an interesting awareness of how to overcome adversity by revealing how knowledge especially through education can be a powerful tool in which people can free themselves from any form of mind control and oppression. Therefore, the aim of this response paper is to explain how Douglass narration is unique and effective in demonstrating the physical and mental outcome of slavery for a wide range of audiences, and how his use of several styles has enabled him to describe the sickness of abhorrence which can make human beings to treat their fellow humans as beasts of possessions. The main target audience for Douglass work seems to be the then Northern audience who were mainly educated whites, and had a greater conviction for greater social freedom. This is evident in chapter 4, whereby he reveals how the northern cities allowed him to freely connect with diverse kinds of individuals with novel intellectual ideas (Douglass). Also, in the preface he elaborates this by asserting that the debate in the north regarding slavery focused on the masters, and such a biased perspective without providing the real accounts of the slaves themselves only sustained the Southern slavery through its real and contrived approaches of imprisoning blacks (Douglass ch 1). Secondly, he also wanted the southern slave owners to read his works and in his conclusion, he asserts that hopefully his works will make the slaveholders to be more frantic regarding any thoughts of hidden antagonists around them, who are set to take away their slaves or obstruct them in reclaiming their runaway slaves (Douglass ch 10). However, one gets a perception that he was also targeting the slaves themselves since he has come out very strongly regarding what he calls the

Pappper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Pappper - Essay Example Specifically, the firm required the participants to take more time to the website before matching (Mariotti & Glackin, 2012). Notably, this helped in distinguishing between the serious partner-seekers and the jokers. In effect, the firm reduced the speed of forming a relationship by ensuring the interested parties provided adequate information to help in making a match that would lead to a long lasting relationship. As a late entrant with a rigorous process and time-consuming to know the applicants, the firm faced high competition from the established businesses. In addition, clients were unsure about the trustworthy and effectiveness of the company (Mariotti & Glackin, 2012). Therefore, the company experienced a low rate of application forcing it to strategies a campaign to create awareness and attract clients. Forgratch believes the first radio advertisement worked for two primary reasons. First, the resulting turnover was promising as the company recorded an increase in revenue that reflected in the promotion costs that reached $20 million by 2004. Secondly, the use of Dr. Neil Clark Warren was efficient as he was a household name in the marriage therapy (Mariotti & Glackin, 2012). In addition, his distinctive voice, credibility, and a meaningful message worked to the advantage of the enterprise. The eHarmony business uses a service promotion concept in which it sells the services it offers to the public. Therefore, this direct action advertising strategies focuses directly on the potential clients. The firm achieve the success using real customers who have benefited from the company in an attempt to gain credibility and increase the number of paying customers (Mariotti & Glackin,