The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening Chapter Twelve

Elena revolved slowly before the full-length mirror in Aunt Judith's bedroom. Margaret sat at the foot of the big four-poster bed, her blue eyes large and solemn with admiration. â€Å"I wish I had a dress like that for trick-or-treat,† she said. â€Å"I like you best as a little white cat,† said Elena, dropping a kiss between the white velvet ears attached to Margaret's headband. Then she turned to her aunt, who stood by the door with needle and thread ready. â€Å"It's perfect,† she said warmly. â€Å"We don't have to change a thing.† The girl in the mirror could have stepped out of one of Elena's books on the Italian Renaissance. Her throat and shoulders were bare, and the tight bodice of the ice-blue dress showed off her tiny waist. The long, full sleeves were slashed so that the white silk of the chemise underneath showed through, and the wide, sweeping skirt just brushed the floor all around her. It was a beautiful dress, and the pale clear blue seemed to heighten the darker blue of Elena's eyes. As she turned away, Elena's gaze fell on the old-fashioned pendulum clock above the dresser. â€Å"Oh, no-it's almost seven. Stefan will be here any minute.† â€Å"That's his car now,† said Aunt Judith, glancing out the window. â€Å"I'll go down and let him in.† â€Å"That's all right,† said Elena briefly. â€Å"I'll meet him myself. Good-bye, have a good time trick-or-treating!† She hurried down the stairs. Here goes, she thought. As she reached for the doorknob, she was reminded of that day, nearly two months ago now, when she'd stepped directly into Stefan's path in European History class. She'd had this same feeling of anticipation, of excitement and tension. I just hope this turns out better than that plan did, she thought. For the last week and a half, she'd pinned her hopes to this moment, to this night. If she and Stefan didn't come together tonight, they never would. The door swung open, and she stepped back with her eyes down, feeling almost shy, afraid to see Stefan's face. But when she heard his sharp indrawn breath, she looked up quickly-and felt her heart go cold. He was staring at her in wonder, yes. But it was not the wondering joy she'd seen in his eyes that first night in his room. This was something closer to shock. â€Å"You don't like it,† she whispered, horrified at the stinging in her eyes. He recovered swiftly, as always, blinking and shaking his head. â€Å"No, no, it's beautiful. You're beautiful.† Then why are you standing there looking as if you'd seen a ghost? she thought. Why don't you hold me, kiss me-something! â€Å"You look wonderful,† she said quietly. And it was true; he was sleek and handsome in the tux and cape he'd donned for his part. She was surprised he'd agreed to it, but when she'd made the suggestion he'd seemed more amused than anything else. Just now, he looked elegant and comfortable, as if such clothes were as natural as his usual jeans. â€Å"We'd better go,† he said, equally quiet and serious. Elena nodded and went with him to the car, but her heart was no longer merely cold; it was ice. He was further away from her than ever, and she had no idea how to get him back. Thunder growled overhead as they drove to the high school, and Elena glanced out of the car window with dull dismay. The cloud cover was thick and dark, although it hadn't actually begun to rain yet. The air had a charged, electric feel, and the sullen purple thunderheads gave the sky a nightmarish look. It was a perfect atmosphere for Halloween, menacing and otherworldly, but it woke only dread in Elena. Since that night at Bonnie's, she'd lost her appreciation for the eerie and uncanny. Her diary had never turned up, although they'd searched Bonnie's house top to bottom. She still couldn't believe that it was really gone, and the idea of a stranger reading her most private thoughts made her feel wild inside. Because, of course, it had been stolen; what other explanation was there? More than one door had been open that night at the McCullough house; someone could have just walked in. She wanted tokill whoever had done it. A vision of dark eyes rose before her. That boy, the boy she'd almost given in to at Bonnie's house, the boy who'd made her forget Stefan. Was he the one? She roused herself as they pulled up to the school and forced herself to smile as they made their way through the halls. The gym was barely organized chaos. In the hour since Elena had left, everything had changed. Then, the place had been full of seniors: Student Council members, football players, the Key Club, all putting the finishing touches on props and scenery. Now it was full of strangers, most of them not even human. Several zombies turned as Elena came in, their grinning skulls visible through the rotting flesh of their faces. A grotesquely deformed hunchback limped toward her, along with a corpse with livid white skin and hollow eyes. From another direction came a werewolf, its snarling muzzle covered with blood, and a dark and dramatic witch. Elena realized, with a jolt, that she couldn't recognize half these people in their costumes. Then they were around her, admiring the ice-blue gown, announcing problems that had developed already. Elena waved them quiet and turned toward the witch, whose long dark hair flowed down the back of a tight-fitting black dress. â€Å"What is it, Meredith?† she said. â€Å"Coach Lyman's sick,† Meredith replied grimly, â€Å"so somebody got Tanner to substitute.† â€Å"Mr.Tanner ?† Elena was horrified. â€Å"Yes, and he's making trouble already. Poor Bonnie's just about had it. You'd better get over there.† Elena sighed and nodded, then made her way along the twisting route of the Haunted House tour. As she passed through the grisly Torture Chamber and the ghastly Mad Slasher Room, she thought they had almost builttoo well. This place was unnerving even in the light. The Druid Room was near the exit. There, a cardboard Stonehenge had been constructed. But the pretty little druid priestess who stood among the rather realistic-looking monoliths wearing white robes and an oak-leaf garland looked ready to burst into tears. â€Å"But you'vegot to wear the blood,† she was saying pleadingly. â€Å"It's part of the scene; you're a sacrifice.† â€Å"Wearing these ridiculous robes is bad enough,† replied Tanner shortly. â€Å"No one informed me I was going to have to smear syrup all over myself.† â€Å"It doesn't really get onyou ,† said Bonnie. â€Å"It's just on the robes and on the altar. You're a sacrifice,† she repeated, as if somehow this would convince him. â€Å"As for that,† said Mr. Tanner in disgust, â€Å"the accuracy of this whole setup is highly suspect. Contrary to popular belief, the druids didnot build Stonehenge; it was built by a Bronze Age culture that-† Elena stepped forward. â€Å"Mr. Tanner, that isn't really the point.† â€Å"No, it wouldn't be, to you,† he said. â€Å"Which is why you and your neurotic friend here are both failing history.† â€Å"That's uncalled for,† said a voice, and Elena looked quickly over her shoulder at Stefan. â€Å"Mister Salvatore,† said Tanner, pronouncing the words as if they meant Now my day is complete . â€Å"I suppose you have some new words of wisdom to offer. Or are you going to give me a black eye?† His gaze traveled over Stefan, who stood there, unconsciously elegant in his perfectly tailored tux, and Elena felt a sudden shock of insight. Tanner isn't really that much older than we are, she thought. He looks old because of that receding hairline, but I'll bet he's in his twenties. Then, for some reason, she remembered how Tanner had looked at Homecoming, in his cheap and shiny suit that didn't fit well. I'll bet he never even made it to his own homecoming, she thought. And, for the first time, she felt something like sympathy for him. Perhaps Stefan felt it, too, for although he stepped right up to the little man, standing face-to-face with him, his voice was quiet. â€Å"No, I'm not. I think this whole thing is getting blown out of proportion. Why don't†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena couldn't hear the rest, but he was speaking in low, calming tones, and Mr. Tanner actually seemed to be listening. She glanced back at the crowd that had gathered behind her: four or five ghouls, the werewolf, a gorilla, and a hunchback. â€Å"All right, everything's under control,† she said, and they dispersed. Stefan was taking care of things, although she was not sure how, since she could see only the back of his head. The back of his head †¦ For an instant, an image flashed before her of the first day of school. Of how Stefan had stood in the office talking to Mrs. Clarke, the secretary, and of how oddly Mrs. Clarke had acted. Sure enough, when Elena looked at Mr. Tanner now, he wore the same slightly dazed expression. Elena felt a slow ripple of disquiet. â€Å"Come on,† she said to Bonnie. â€Å"Let's go up front.† They cut straight through the Alien Landing Room and the Living Dead Room, slipping between the partitions, coming out in the first room where visitors would enter and be greeted by a werewolf. The werewolf had taken his head off and was talking to a couple of mummies and an Egyptian princess. Elena had to admit that Caroline looked good as Cleopatra, the lines of that bronzed body frankly visible through the sheer linen sheath she wore. Matt, the werewolf, could hardly be blamed if his eyes kept straying downward from Caroline's face. â€Å"How's it going here?† said Elena with forced lightness. Matt started slightly, then turned toward her and Bonnie. Elena had scarcely seen him since the night of Homecoming, and she knew that he and Stefan had drawn apart, too. Because of her. And though Matt could hardly be blamed forthat , either, she could tell how much it hurt Stefan. â€Å"Everything's fine,† said Matt, looking uncomfortable. â€Å"When Stefan finishes with Tanner, I think I'll send him up here,† Elena said. â€Å"He can help bring people in.† Matt lifted one shoulder indifferently. Then he said, â€Å"Finishes what with Tanner?† Elena looked at him in surprise. She could have sworn he'd been in the Druid Room a minute ago to see it. She explained. Outside, thunder rumbled again, and through the open door Elena saw a flash light the night sky. There was another, louder clap of thunder a few seconds later. â€Å"I hope it doesn't rain,† Bonnie said. â€Å"Yes,† said Caroline, who had been standing silent while Elena spoke to Matt. â€Å"It would be such apity if nobody came.† Elena glanced at her sharply and saw open hatred in Caroline's narrow, catlike eyes. â€Å"Caroline,† she said impulsively, â€Å"look. Can't you and I call it quits? Can't we forget what's happened and start over?† Under the cobra on her forehead, Caroline's eyes widened and then slitted again. Her mouth twisted, and she stepped closer to Elena. â€Å"I willnever forget,† she said, and then she turned and left. There was a silence, Bonnie and Matt looking at the floor. Elena stepped over to the doorway to feel cool air on her cheeks. Outside she could see the field and the tossing branches of the oak trees beyond, and once again she was overcome with that strange feeling of foreboding. Tonight's the night, she thought wretchedly. Tonight's the night when it all happens. But what â€Å"it† was, she had no idea. A voice sounded through the transformed gym. â€Å"All right, they're about to let the line in from the parking lot. Cut the lights, Ed!† Suddenly, gloom descended and the air was filled with groans and maniacal laughter, like an orchestra tuning up. Elena sighed and turned. â€Å"Better get ready to start herding them through,† she told Bonnie quietly. Bonnie nodded and disappeared into the darkness. Matt had donned his werewolf head, and was turning on a tape deck that added eerie music to the cacophony. Stefan came around the corner, his hair and clothing melting into the darkness. Only his white shirtfront showed up clearly. â€Å"Everything worked out with Tanner,† he said. â€Å"Is there anything else I can do?† â€Å"Well, you could work here, with Matt, bringing people in†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena's voice trailed off. Matt was bent over the tape deck, minutely adjusting the volume, not looking up. Elena looked at Stefan and saw his face was tight and blank. â€Å"Or you could go into the boys' locker room and be in charge of coffee and things for the workers,† she finished tiredly. â€Å"I'll go to the locker room,† he said. As he turned away, she noticed a slight faltering in his step. â€Å"Stefan? Are you all right?† â€Å"Fine,† he said, recovering his balance. â€Å"A little tired, that's all.† She watched him go, her chest feeling heavier every minute. She turned to Matt, meaning to say something to him, but at that moment the line of visitors reached the door. â€Å"Show's on,† he said, and crouched in the shadows. Elena moved from room to room, troubleshooting. In years before, she had enjoyed this part of the night the most, watching the gruesome scenes being acted out and the delicious terror of the visitors, but tonight there was a feeling of dread and tension underlying all her thoughts. Tonight's the night, she thought again, and the ice in her chest seemed to thicken. A Grim Reaper-or at least that was what she supposed the hooded figure in black robes was-passed by her, and she found herself absent-mindedly trying to remember if she had seen it at any of the Halloween parties. There was something familiar about the way the figure moved. Bonnie exchanged a harassed smile with the tall, slender witch who was directing traffic into the Spider Room. Several junior high boys were slapping at the dangling rubber spiders and shouting and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Bonnie hustled them on into the Druid Room. Here the strobe lights gave the scene a dreamlike quality. Bonnie felt a grim triumph to see Mr. Tanner stretched out on the stone altar, his white robes heavily stained with blood, his eyes glaring at the ceiling. â€Å"Cool!† shouted one of the boys, racing up to the altar. Bonnie stood back and grinned, waiting for the bloody sacrifice to rear up and scare the wits out of the kid. But Mr. Tanner didn't move, even when the boy plunged a hand into the pool of blood by the sacrifice's head. That's strange, Bonnie thought, hurrying up to prevent the kid from grabbing the sacrificial knife. â€Å"Don't do that,† she snapped, so he held up his gory hand instead, and it showed red in every sharp flash of the strobe. Bonnie felt a sudden irrational fear that Mr. Tanner was going to wait until she bent over him and then makeher jump. But he just kept staring at the ceiling. â€Å"Mr. Tanner, are you okay? Mr. Tanner? Mr. Tanner!† Not a movement, not a sound. Not a flicker of those wide white eyes. Don't touch him, something in Bonnie's mind told her suddenly and urgently. Don't touch him don't touch him don't touch†¦ Under the strobe lights she saw her own hand move forward, saw it grasp Mr. Tanner's shoulder and shake it, saw his head flop bonelessly toward her. Then she saw his throat. Then she began to scream. Elena heard the screams. They were shrill and sustained and unlike any other sounds in the Haunted House, and she knew at once that they were no joke. Everything after that was a nightmare. Reaching the Druid Room at a run, she saw a tableau, but not the one prepared for visitors. Bonnie was screaming, Meredith holding her shoulders. Three young boys were trying to get out of the curtained exit, and two bouncers were looking in, blocking their way. Mr. Tanner was lying on the stone altar, sprawled out, and his face†¦ â€Å"He's dead,† Bonnie was sobbing, the screams turning into words. â€Å"Oh, God, the blood's real, and he's dead. Itouched him, Elena, and he's dead, he's really dead†¦Ã¢â‚¬  People were coining into the room. Someone else began screaming and it spread, and then everyone was trying to get out, pushing each other in panic, knocking into the partitions. â€Å"Get the lights on!† Elena shouted, and heard the shout taken up by others. â€Å"Meredith, quick, get to a phone in the gym and call an ambulance, call the police†¦ Get those lightson !† When the lights snapped on, Elena looked around, but she could see no adults, no one entitled to take charge of the situation. Part of her was ice-cold, her mind racing as it tried to think what to do next. Part of her was simply numb with horror. Mr. Tanner†¦ She had never liked him, but somehow that only made it worse. â€Å"Get all the kids out of here. Everybody but staff out,† she said. â€Å"No! Shut the doors! Don't let anybody out until the police get here,† shouted a werewolf beside her, taking off his mask. Elena turned in astonishment at the voice and saw that it was not Matt, it was Tyler Smallwood. He'd been allowed back in school only this week, and his face was still discolored from the beating he had taken at Stefan's hands. But his voice had the ring of authority, and Elena saw the bouncers close the exit door. She heard another door close across the gym. Of the dozen or so people crowded into the Stonehenge area, Elena recognized only one as a worker. The rest were people she knew from school, but none she knew well. One of them, a boy dressed as a pirate, spoke to Tyler. â€Å"You mean†¦ you think somebody in here did it?† â€Å"Somebody in here did it, all right,† said Tyler. There was a queer, excited sound to his voice, as if he were almost enjoying this. He gestured to the pool of blood on the rock. â€Å"That's still liquid; it can't have happened too long ago. And look at the way his throat's cut. The killer must have done it withthat .† He pointed to the sacrificial knife. â€Å"Then the killer might be here right now,† whispered a girl in a kimono. â€Å"And it's not hard to guess who it is,† said Tyler. â€Å"Somebody who hated Tanner, who was always getting in arguments with him. Somebody who was arguing with him earlier tonight. I saw it.† Soyou were the werewolf in this room, thought Elena dazedly. But what were you doing here in the first place? You're not on staff. â€Å"Somebody who has a history of violence,† Tyler was continuing, his lips drawing back from his teeth. â€Å"Somebody who, for all we know, is a psychopath who came to Fell's Church just to kill.† â€Å"Tyler, what are you talking about?† Elena's dazed feeling had burst like a bubble. Furious, she stepped toward the tall, husky boy. â€Å"You're crazy!† He gestured at her without looking at her. â€Å"So says his girlfriend-but maybe she's a little prejudiced.† â€Å"And maybeyou're a little prejudiced, Tyler,† said a voice from behind the crowd, and Elena saw a second werewolf pushing his way into the room. Matt. â€Å"Oh, yeah? Well, why don't you tell us what you know about Salvatore? Where does he come from? Where's his family? Where did he get all that money?† Tyler turned to address the rest of the crowd. â€Å"Who knowsanything about him?† People were shaking their heads. Elena could see, in face after face, distrust blossoming. The distrust of anything unknown, anything different. And Stefan was different. He was the stranger in their midst, and just now they needed a scapegoat. The girl in the kimono began, â€Å"I heard a rumor-† â€Å"That's all anybody's heard, rumors!† Tyler said. â€Å"No one really knows a thing about him. But there's one thing Ido know. The attacks in Fell's Church started the first week of school-which was the week Stefan Salvatore came.† There was a swelling murmur at this, and Elena herself felt a shock of realization. Of course, it was all ridiculous, it was just a coincidence. But what Tyler was saying was true. The attacks had started when Stefan arrived. â€Å"I'll tell you something else,† shouted Tyler, gesturing at them to be quiet. â€Å"Listen to me! I'll tell you something else!† He waited until everyone was looking at him and then said slowly, impressively, â€Å"He was in the cemetery the night Vickie Bennett was attacked.† â€Å"Sure he was in the cemetery-rearranging your face,† said Matt, but his voice lacked its usual strength. Tyler grabbed the comment and ran with it. â€Å"Yes, and he almost killed me. And tonight somebodydid kill Tanner. I don't know whatyou think, but I think he did it. I think he's the one!† â€Å"But where is he?† shouted someone from the crowd. Tyler looked around. â€Å"If he did it, he must still be here,† he shouted. â€Å"Let's find him.† â€Å"Stefan hasn't done anything! Tyler-† cried Elena, but the noise from the crowd overrode her. Tyler's words were being taken up and repeated.Find him†¦ find him . . .find him . Elena heard it pass from person to person. And the faces in the Stonehenge Room were filled with more than distrust now; Elena could see anger and a thirst for vengeance in them, too. The crowd had turned into something ugly, something beyond controlling. â€Å"Where is he, Elena?† said Tyler, and she saw the blazing triumph in his eyes. Hewas enjoying this. â€Å"I don't know,† she said fiercely, wanting to hit him. â€Å"He must still be here! Find him!† someone shouted, and then it seemed everyone was moving, pointing, pushing, at once. Partitions were being knocked down and shoved aside. Elena's heart was pounding. This was no longer a crowd; it was a mob. She was terrified of what they would do to Stefan if they did find him. But if she tried to go warn him, she would lead Tyler right to him. She looked around desperately. Bonnie was still staring into Mr. Tanner's dead face. No help there. She turned to scan the crowd again, and her eyes met Matt's. He was looking confused and angry, his blond hair ruffled up, cheeks flushed and sweaty. Elena put all her strength of will into a look of pleading. Please, Matt, she thought. You can't believe all this. You know it isn't true. But his eyes showed that hedidn't know. There was a tumult of bewilderment and agitation in them. Please, thought Elena, gazing into those blue eyes, willing him to understand. Oh, please, Matt, only you can save him. Even if you don't believe, please try to trust†¦ please†¦ She saw the change come over his face, the confusion lifting as grim determination appeared. He stared at her another moment, eyes boring into hers, and nodded once. Then he turned and slipped into the milling, hunting crowd. Matt knifed through the crowd cleanly until he got to the other side of the gym. There were some freshmen standing near the door to the boys' locker room; he brusquely ordered them to start moving fallen partitions, and when their attention was distracted he jerked the door open and ducked inside. He looked around quickly, unwilling to shout. For that matter, he thought, Stefan must have heard all the racket going on in the gym. He'd probably already cut out. But then Matt saw the black-clad figure on the white tile floor. â€Å"Stefan! What happened?† For a terrible instant, Matt thought he was looking down on a second dead body. But as he knelt by Stefan's side, he saw movement. â€Å"Hey, you're okay, just sit up slowly†¦ easy. Are you all right, Stefan?† â€Å"Yes,† said Stefan. He didn't look okay, Matt thought. His face was dead white and his pupils were dilated hugely. He looked disoriented and sick. â€Å"Thank you,† he said. â€Å"You may not thank me in a minute. Stefan, you've got to get out of here. Can't you hear them? They're after you.† Stefan turned toward the gym, as if listening. But there was no comprehension on his face. â€Å"Who's after me? Why?† â€Å"Everybody. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you've got to get out before they come in here.† As Stefan continued simply to stare blankly, he added, â€Å"There's been another attack, this time on Tanner, Mr. Tanner. He's dead, Stefan, and they think you didit .† Now, at last, he saw understanding come to Stefan's eyes. Understanding and horror and a kind of resigned defeat that was more frightening than anything Matt had seen tonight. He gripped Stefan's shoulder hard. â€Å"Iknow you didn't,† he said, and at that moment it was true. â€Å"They'll realize that, too, when they can think again. But meanwhile, you'd better get out.† â€Å"Get out†¦ yes,† said Stefan. The look of disorientation was gone, and there was a searing bitterness in the way he pronounced the words. â€Å"I will†¦ get out.† â€Å"Stefan†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Matt.† The green eyes were dark and burning, and Matt found he could not look away from them. â€Å"Is Elena safe? Good. Then, take care of her. Please.† â€Å"Stefan, what are you talking about? You're innocent; this will all blow over†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Just take care of her, Matt.† Matt stepped back, still looking into those compelling green eyes. Then, slowly, he nodded. â€Å"I will,† he said quietly. And watched Stefan go.

Core Conditions in Person Centred Counselling Essay

â€Å"The first element could be called genuineness, realness, or congruence. The more the therapist is himself or herself in the relationship, putting up no professional front or personal facade, the greater is the likelihood that the client will change and grow in a constructive manner. This means that the therapist is openly being the feelings and attitudes that are flowing within at the moment. The term â€Å"transparent† catches the flavor of this condition: the therapist makes himself or herself transparent to the client; the client can see right through what the therapist is in the relationship; the client experiences no holding back on the part of the therapist. As for the therapist, what he or she is experiencing is available to awareness, can be lived in the relationship, and can be communicated, if appropriate. Thus, there is a close matching, or congruence, between what is being experienced at the gut level, what is present in awareness, and what is expressed to t he client. The second attitude of importance in creating a climate for change is acceptance, or caring, or prizing–what I have called ‘unconditional positive regard.’ When the therapist is experiencing a positive, acceptant attitude toward whatever the client is at that moment, therapeutic movement or change is more likely to occur. The therapist is willing for the client to be whatever immediate feeling is going on–confusion, resentment, fear, anger, courage, love, or pride. Such caring on the part of the therapist is nonpossessive. The therapist prizes the client in a total rather than a conditional way. The third facilitative aspect of the relationship is empathic understanding. This means that the therapist senses accurately the feelings and personal meanings that the client is experiencing and communicates this understanding to the client. When functioning best, the therapist is so much inside the private world of the other that he or she can clarify not only the meanings of which the client is aware but even those just below the level of awareness. This kind of sensitive, active listening is exceedingly rare in our lives. We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.†

Team Values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Team Values - Essay Example te his own philosophy, collect information from the subordinates, changes the situation and communicate the same with the members within the organization (Zwikael & Smyrk, 2011). Personal values are important for understanding the overall organizational behavior because the way in which person behaves have a radical influence on the overall working environment of the organization. I firmly reckon that trust, respect and ethical practice are the major component of any individual. In addition, strong adherence to these values make an individual responsible person, whether in professional life or in personal life. I firmly believe that there lays significant alignment between my personal values and the organizational value (RÃ ¸nnow-Rasmussen, 2011). Credibility is the process of clarifying the roles of different individuals within an organization. Credibility allows improving the performance of the staff and also assists in building effective relationships with subordinates. To build a strong credibility, a leader should be honest, detractor, competence, action oriented, focused, loyal, and trustful and most importantly, he should respect the principles and values of other (Ulrich et al., 2013). The overall organizational values along with the effective leadership are vital for attaining the ultimate credibility in the organization. My organizational leadership model is based on the two underlying approaches. Firstly, my organization continually clarifies what is important to it and secondly, it focuses on creating a learning environment wherein every individual is provided with an opportunity to present their views and ideas freely. Moreover, it can be recommended that the leader within the organization should motivate subordinates to express their thoughts and ideas to promote innovation as well as the leader should be honest and unbiased towards his

Security Assessment Check For Premier Commercial Bank Essay

Security Assessment Check For Premier Commercial Bank - Essay Example In relation to the study the company which has been selected is Premier commercial bank as one of the largest asset financed bank in the region that has a broad customer base across the region. The bank deals in so many transactions and they are as outlined; depository transactions, withdrawal transactions, credit advancement services, Personal and business loan services, mortgages among others. In line with the mission statement, Premier commercial bank seeks to maintain proper custody and care of the client’s money at all times. This is done through ensuring that proper handling and correct security measures are complied with so as no to contradict our goal. Within the Bank there are certain sections that may be prone to security violation and they include: Automated Teller Machines, Mobile banking services, Internet banking, Electronic money transfers, physical building security, safety of cash in transit, Strong money room and the banking hall. All these are areas whose se curity has to be properly counterchecked at all times. The outlined areas are vulnerable and susceptible to vandalism. Recently there was an anonymous withdrawal at the ATM machines by an unknown persona that involved loss of huge amounts of money. Again many cases of theft of cash in transit to the Central bank were reported. These were also followed by sequence of fraudulent transfers of money to offshore accounts by the bank personnel. This was after a recent bank robbery scare within the branch. As a senior security analyst would be obliged to give the following recommendations so as to minimize if not put to an end to all threats to Premier Bank’s state of security. There should be a web cam at the ATM machine to keep track of all those who come to withdraw money from it. Secondly there should be proper password protection and authorization so as to minimize theft by the bank personnel who deal with electronic transfers of money within and out of the region. Thirdly, the security guards who escort money on transit should have the right facilities so as to sustain security measures. This could involve provision of car trackers that may be monitored incase the vehicle is hijacked. In this view during the escort there should also be some law enforcement like police officers who’ll maintain and propel security measures. Security assessments refer to conducting vulnerability tests and assessments tests on business or any working environment in order to keep its networks protected. This may involve physical security such as guards and use of closed circuit camera systems. A security assessment may be performed by an IT or internal security expert or through the use of hiring security firms to check for any loopholes in the current security procedures. A vulnerability check is designed in a way that enables a firm to know its potential areas of weaknesses and the information obtained may be used to enhance security. The security assessment test of Premier Commercial Bank conducted by me and the help of Securex security firm is geared to produce a conclusive report of the bank’s state of security. Investigations were carried out in all areas of the bank operations through the use of

American Governement- Freedom of Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American Governement- Freedom of Speech - Essay Example The constant battle for the preservation of free speech has most recently been enjoined concerning the unabated flow of information on the internet. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) ruled that radio and television was exempt from First Amendment protection therefore must comply with arbitrary content guidelines. Though clearly a legal matter, the FCC gave itself the power to censor the media without virtue of a court decision. Now that censorship has been accepted by the majority, the government is currently attempting to control the internet. The American public seems to be in favor of restricting online gambling as well as material of a sexual nature but this is a generation that has grown accustomed to censorship by their government and in many cases encourages this unconstitutional practice. The internet itself is not regulated. As efficient and enormously informative as the web is, its content is not overseen as are other communications mediums such as television and radio. It is a groundbreaking new technology that has amalgamated societies of the country and the world and introduced the concept of truly free expression and the perception that nothing is taboo. Everything is exposed and available at everyone’s literal finger-tip. The Internet has no physical, ethical or moral boundaries. Lawmakers and legal scholars generally use legal precedents from broadcast media decisions as the model for definitions of indecency and obscenity when developing regulations governing the Internet. The Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 made it a federal crime to display ‘indecent material’ on any computer network unless the website owner utilizes ‘effective’ techniques to control access of that material to minors. This law appears to be a reasonable compromise that protects free speech and prevents

Relationship between nurse staffing, quality of nursing care and Research Paper

Relationship between nurse staffing, quality of nursing care and outcome in intensive care unit - Research Paper Example After a comparison was done in five countries that are considered to be developed, only 40% of the nurses agreed to have enough registered nurses (Hyun Cho et al., 2009). In order for a hospital to perform well, they need to have enough registered nurses. Hospitals that have enough nurses are associated with positive patient and nurse outcomes. The paper will give a review of the relationship between nurse staffing, quality of nursing care, and outcome in the intensive care unit. Among the different nursing care units in hospitals, the intensive care unit needs to have the highest number of nurses. The intensive care unit receives patients who are seriously ill and need to be watched closely. The nurses in charge of the ICU have to provide quality services as well as safe nursing interventions without delay so as to save life. For developed countries like the United State, the ratio of nurse in the ICU to a patient is 1 – 2 patients per nurse (Hyun Cho et al., 2009). The staff ing of nurses in the ICU influences the number of patients who survive at the end of the day. Hospitals with fewer nurses assigned in the ICU are probably over worked and end up having patients admitted for long with more complications. Korea is said to have inadequate staffing in hospital. Research was carried out in Korea, which included 200 hospital showed that only a small fraction of 5%, of the hospitals met the required ratio of a patient to nurse of two patients per nurse (Hyun Cho et al., 2009). The lack of nurses has caused the family members of the offer services to their patient. In response to the shortage of nurses in Korea, the country came up with a policy meant to improve nurse staffing. According to the policy, nurse staffing is a priority and the National Health Insurance should increase inpatient nursing fee especially to hospitals with the highest number of registered nursing staffing. This policy by the Korean government was aimed at preventing hospitals from le aving a patient under the care of their family members. In addition, the policy aims at improving the quality of nursing care being offered in Korea. The policy is meant, however, for general wards, such as the medical surgical and units excluding the ICU. Various methods were used to measure nurse staffing and evaluate staffing adequacy. The common methods used are the nurse’s perceptions of staffing adequacy and the quantitative objective using empirical data, such as nurse to patient ratio. The study aims at examining the relationship between nurses staffing and the quality of nursing care, burn out, and job dissatisfaction among ICU nurses in Korea. The study in Korea involved all the nurses working in the ICU of the 22 hospitals. The hospitals in the study were general ones that provide either secondary or tertiary care. The measures in the study were composed of the nurse, ICU, and the hospital characteristics. Hospital characteristics include the level of care, its own ership, location, and the size. The ICU characteristics include the unit specialist, such medical surgery and pediatrics, the number beds in the ICU unit, and the level of nurse staffing (Hyun Cho et al., 2009). During the study, the number of nurses was compared to the number of patients they were attending. On the other hand, the nursing information included the nurses ICU specialty, sex, age, education, marital status, among other import things. The quality of service portrayed by the nurses was

Management 100 assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Management 100 assessment - Essay Example To expedite training, several professional chefs and executive leadership will perform a series of training programs to familiarise the staff with Italian cooking procedures, ingredients lists and how to conform to Volare administrative guidelines. This report highlights the current political, legal, socio-cultural and technological environments in India as part of the business’ comprehensive SWOT analysis to determine whether India is actually a viable business opportunity. The report aims to identify the current business environment in India as well as offer recommendations as to how to proceed in this potential business expansion. India is a developing democracy led by the United Progressive Alliance, a regime in control by electoral process (accessdemocracy.org, 2007). This emerging democracy is similar to that of Australia in which the people are given significant freedoms and are not ruled by a governmental authority which demands subservience. Because there is no research evidence which suggests that there are on-going feuds between parties attempting to gain control over the country, Volare Restaurant will experience no business interruption due to violence or other negative consequences as a result of aggression. The government appears to be relatively stable overall. A great deal of India’s current economic success comes from foreign direct investment, suggesting a country which has very liberal policies regarding the expansion of foreign businesses into the country. India is a booming economy which has many sectors that are funded directly by different venture capitalists (Rangaswami, 2008), with no research evidence suggesting that government entities attempt to regulate the flow of international business into India. The lack of governmental regulation regarding new, international businesses represents a

The rule in Salomon v Salomon & Co [1897] AC 22 has been described as Essay - 1

The rule in Salomon v Salomon & Co [1897] AC 22 has been described as one of the corner stones of English Company Law. Discuss the rationale and impact of the decision on company law - Essay Example This paper will discuss the rationale and the impact of the decision made by the House of Lords regarding Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd on company law. Aaron Salomon was a businessman who for many years worked in manufacturing leather boots. Increasingly, his sons grew and demanded to be part of the business. Consequently, Salomon capitulated and incorporated his manufacturing business as Limited Liability Company. During those times, one needed to have at least seven members in order to incorporate their business. Salomon registered all his family members as shareholders of the business. Salomon, however, owned a majority of the company’s shares while the rest of the family members shared the minority shares equally. Consequently, Salomon became not only the company’s principal shareholder but also the company’s principal creditor (Duhaime, 2010). Upon incorporation of the business, the company saw a decline in the sales of the boots. Part of the resolve for the waning was as a consequence of a sequence of internal strikes. The strikes made the government, Salomon’s main customer, divide its contracts to other firms in order to avoid the risk of depending heavily on one supplier. The government’s decision to divide its contract among other firms affected Salomon’s business greatly and was one of the reasons it failed. The consequence of failure was the inability of the company to pay interest on its debentures (half-held by Broderip). Broderip took action and litigated to apply his safety in the year 1983. It is after the company failed that it was put into liquidation (Duhaime, 2010). While in liquidation, the liquidator became suspicious of Salomon’s debentures used for security for the debt. He termed them as invalid and argued that Salomon obtained them fraudulently. As such, the liquidator demanded a refund of the money that had been dished out to Salomon by the company and a cancellation of the debentures. The

Harley Davidson Strategic Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Harley Davidson Strategic Analysis - Essay Example To comply with the US company law, Harley Davidson has adopted various trademarks and logo such as H-D, Harley, the motorClothes, V-Rod and Harley Owners Group among others. Economic factors Despite the recent economic downturn that affected local and international companies, Harley registered remarkable sales and growth of its stock prices an aspect that created a strong trust from the shareholders. According to Harley Ziemer, the company has put in place effective monetary strategies thus making it to be recession-resistant and not recession proof. Social factors One of the notable social factors that Harley Davidson has adopted is the safety of its brands. To curb the high number of accidents that caused high rate of deaths in 2000, the company initiated Rider’s Edge, an instruction program that was spearheaded by the dealers. In this way, riders were trained on how to use the company motorcycles to reduce the number of accidents on the highways. Technological factors To me et the high demand of its products, Harley Davidson emulates innovation through intensive research and development. For example, the establishment of 43,000 square feet Buell research and development facility has made the company to increase its production significantly. In the same way, the company has continued to allocate significant funds to cater for research. For instance, in 2001 the company spent $80.7 million towards research while in 2000 and 1999 it spent $75.8 million and $70.3 million respectively (Wheelen et al, 2002). Environment factors Based on the environment control requirements by the federal local and state authorities, Harley-Davidson has registered with US Environmental protection Agency (EPA). In this way, the company has adopted the rules that are put in place by the State of California Air Resources board to deal with the issues of noise and harmful emission. Legal factors Despite the various legal suits that has faced the company such as the 2001 class act ion in Milwaukee County, the company has initiated strong legal department to deal with issues that may jeopardize its operations. For example, after the purchase of the Pennsylvania production facility, the company in collaboration with Pennsylvania Department of Environment Protection has initiated investigation and feasibility studies to analyze the impact on the facility on the lives of the neighbors and customers. Porter 5 forces Despite of its extensive marketing strategies, Harley Davidson is likely to face stiff competition in the market. Some of the major competitors are Honda, Suzuki, BMW, Kawasaki and Yamaha. The company low and competitive prices have been not only influenced by the market forces but also by the bargaining power from the customers. Being one of the Porters 5 forces, bargaining power of the suppliers has an impact on the Harley Davidson sales. This is based on the fact that the company has created a strong link with its suppliers in order to reduce the co sts of raw materials. To deal with the competition in the motor cycle industry, Harley Davidson has adopted various advertising avenues including magazines, television, direct-mail advertising, cooperative programs as well as public relations. According to Joanne, the company marketing vice-president, Harley Davidson has strong marketing strategies that will drive the company towards achieving its goals in the next 100 years. One of the major opportunities for the company is the elimination

The dinosaur ridge in colorado Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The dinosaur ridge in colorado - Assignment Example useum where a road slices through a mountain where dinosaur footprints, bones and fossils of pre historic plants and insects are etched by nature into the scraped rock walls. There were a lot of foreign visitors and local families drawn by the amazing sites, with kids hugging the giant footprints as if feeling the spirit of the pre historic beast. The guide is keen to educate the visitors. According to him, some of the best known dinosaurs, diplodocus, stegosaurus, allosaurus, and Apatosaurus were discovered here in the late 1800s. The main entrance of the museum has the fake models of these dinosaurs, which are just thrilling to observe. Though the museum is not as large as one expects after reading about it on the internet, the experience of having to ride on the old rickety mini-bus, the well-versed tour guides and the touching of the bones and the dinosaur tracks on display makes the tour amazing. The place has a great history as the guides made us discover. There is a mountain on the side whose surface looks like the surface of mars, which according to the guides is what the earth looked like back in the dinosaur days. It is gray, hard and crusty and surrounded by the treasures of fossils that made the geologists and paleontologists to have the site designated as a natural landmark in order to preserve the fossils in 1989. The guides refer to the tracks as the dinosaur freeway. Though they do not reveal the details of the dinosaurs, they are the most popular and spectacular parts of the ridge. The mysterious faint prints, massive and three toes announce the earthly presence of the dinosaurs. In most cases, one will find children staring at the mother and baby footprints perhaps wondering how big the dinosaur young ones could have been. According to the guides, the ridge also has interpretive signs at the trail locations, which explain local geology, trace fossils, paleo-ecology, a volcanic ash bed and how economically, coal, oil and clay have developed

Rural Lives Versus Urban Lives Essay Example for Free

Rural Lives Versus Urban Lives Essay Urban and rural living each have their own benefits and drawbacks. A person’s personality, work status, financial situation and his or her age may influence the choice of environment where he or she likes living. In my opinion, the rural life is somehow suitable for the elderly people’s lifestyle while the urban life always inspirit the way young people live. It‘s easier and more comfortable for old people to keep up with the rural style in daily life. Firstly, cities are more crowned and faster-paced while rural living is often more relaxed and less congested. The slower pace of rural areas provides a sense of community and the openness makes people seem accessible to each other. Secondly, cities have fewer homes with yards, but those living in rural areas have more access to open space and nature. A close link to the nature is considered as the most important part of old people’s lives. In contrast, cities have state-of-the art skyscrapers and office that serve to create walls. Finally, cities are a hub for industrialization. There are more factories and businesses, making the areas more polluted. Additionally, the increased population in cities makes the ground more likely to be marred by litter and heavy use. These would have a bad influence on elderly resident’s health. Read more:Â  Rural Area vs Urban Area Living in a lively city is always a sparking desire of young people. City life gives inhabitants the ability to be exposed to more culture. Museums, theatre, and monuments are often easily accessible in cities. Additionally, most cities have a broad range of multicultural restaurants accessible by public transportation or walking. In contrast, entertainment in rural areas may be more limited or require travel. These conveniences are main attractiveness to young people and let them try to become a complete urban resident. City life, like rural life, has its share of advantages and disadvantages. People’s lifestyle choices which are different in separate stages of people’s lives dictate where they choose to live.

Conventional and Water Sensitive Urban Development

Conventional and Water Sensitive Urban Development Literature Review The Difference between Conventional Urban Development (CUD) and Water Sensitive Urban Development (WSUD) Introduction Urban development in cities around the world has come under constraining pressure due to population growth which leads to urban sprawl and the effects of anthropogenically induced climate change impacts on environmental ecosystems. The increase in the development of infrastructure such as impervious surfaces on roads, walkways, and public parks triggers increased flooding due to surface runoff and changes of landscapes, which adversely impact environmental ecosystems (Zhang et al., 2017). Other urban development dilemmas, as pointed out by Ercan et al., (2017), were increases in greenhouse gases (GHG) and conventional air pollution due to an increase in transportation industries. A Conventional Urban Development (CUD) approach as a solution to such glitches was introduced to control storm water and flooding, but ignored further contemplation on the carrying and receiving environment, in this case, the streams, lakes and ocean ecosystems. A sustainable pathway to urban development required a more holistic approach that was pertinent in capturing roles of nature in urban or city developments. According to Bell, (2015), Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) might be a solution as it exemplifies a sustainable approach to urban nature and provides a useful foundation for moving beyond drainage and into the water supply and waste water technology and discourse. This article will identify the differences between Conventional Urban Development and Water Sensitive Urban Development. Furthermore, it will elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches and predict an overview on the future of the integration in relation to the sustainable cities metaphor. Comparison of Conventional Urban Development and Water Sensitive Urban Development Conventional urban development was introduced as an engineered structure in addressing storm water management and reducing flooding in cities in most parts of the world. The approach was largely focused on flood mitigation and health protection (Fletcher et al., 2015). Roefs et al., (2017) identified three types of conventional urban development based on sanitation systems; namely, centralized, conventionally activated sludge treatment; on-site sources for separation of grey water and black water treatment; and a hybrid of both systems. Urban stormwater runoff has become a challenge for urban planners and communities at large due to the source of degradation to stream ecosystems, as it only emphasised urban stormwater runoff originating from every roof, road and car park of a city. Therefore, another approach, which is more or less an integration of the conventional urban development, was introduced as a Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD). Water sensitive urban design is an integrated water management of water supply, wastewater and stormwater aimed at achieving multiple objectives beyond conventional or normal design and attentive on social amenities, protection of receiving waters, reduced consumption of external waters and other resources, and an improved microclimate within an urban natural environment (Walsh et al., 2016 Sharma et al., 2016). The water sensitive urban design is widely supported by many city planners and engineers as one of the novel technologies for sustainable cities (Bell, 2015 Sharma et al., 2016). Pros and Cons of Water Sensitive Urban Design Although there was an imbalance pointing more to the increased social understanding of water sensitive urban design and its benefits, there were also some contradictions in implementing the systems in many cities around the world. According to Sharma et al., (2016) Niemczynowicz, (1999), this new principle of integrated water management required close communication by water engineers, ecologists, and municipal planners to actively participate in the planning process. Also, it was identified by the authors that there were gaps in knowledge on the technical, economic, and social and institutional aspects of the Water Sensitive Urban Design implementation. In contrast, Water Sensitive Urban Development integrates all elements of the water cycle and their interconnections to achieve results that allow a healthy environment that meets the need of human consumption, waste water and pollution, precipitation and runoff, watercourses and water resources, and floods (Ulian et al., 2017). The concept of a Water Sensitive City is picked by many cities around the world as the option for resilience toward population growth and climate change impacts. For instance, according to Wong and Brown, (2008), the concept of a Water Sensitive City is a state goal of Australia to make every city water sensitive. Conclusion Populations will continue to grow and natural environments will continue to be affected as a result of anthropogenically induced climate change, which will lead to challenges of urban water management in urban centres around the world. Conventional Urban Development has been underpinned by the new water sensitive urban design to another level of water management in cities. The difference separating the two methods of engineering is that for Conventional Urban Development more consideration is put forward for removal of stormwater from urban areas so as to avoid flooding and to improve sanitation, while the Water Sensitive Urban Development considered removal of wastewater and was making sure that the water was controlled or cared for without adversely affecting the ecosystems. In simple terms, the Water Sensitive Urban Development (WSUD) is how urban stormwater is protected, reused, and recycled, so that the health of the ecosystems may be sustained and the goals of sustainable citie s could be achieved. References Bell, S. (2015). Renegotiating urban water. Progress in planning, 96, 1-28. Ercan, T., Onat, N. C., Tatari, O., Mathias, J. D. (2017). Public transportation adoption requires paradigm shif[B1]t in urban development structure. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142, 1789-1799. Fletcher, T. D., Shuster, W., Hunt, W. F., Ashley, R., Butler, D., Arthur, S., Mikkelsen, P. S. (2015). SUDS, LID, BMPs, WSUD and more-The evolution and application of terminology surrounding urban drainage. Urban Water Journal, 12(7), 525-542. Niemczynowicz, J. (1999). Urban hydrology and water management-present and future challenges. Urban water, 1(1), 1-14. Roefs, I., Meulman, B., Vreeburg, J. H., Spiller, M. (2017). Centralised, decentralised or hybrid sanitation systems? Economic evaluation under urban development uncertainty and phased expansion. Water Research, 109, 274-286. Sharma, A. K., Pezzaniti, D., Myers, B., Cook, S., Tjandraatmadja, G., Chacko, P. Walton, A. (2016). Water Sensitive Urban Design: An Investigation of Current Systems, Implementation Drivers, Community Perceptions and Potential to Supplement Urban Water Services. Water, 8(7), 272. Ulian, G., Cartes, I., Lima, M. M. C. L. (2017). Water management assessment methodology for urban planning. Revista Ambiente and à gua, 12(1), 33-46. Walsh, C. J., Booth, D. B., Burns, M. J., Fletcher, T. D., Hale, R. L., Hoang, L. N. Wallace, A. (2016). Principles for urban storm water management to protect stream ecosystems. Freshwater Science, 35(1), 398-411. Wong, T., Brown, R. (2008, August). Transitioning to water sensitive cities: ensuring resilience through a new hydro-social contract. In 11th International Conference on Urban Drainage. September. Edinburgh. 10p. Zhang, D., Gersberg, R. M., Ng, W. J., Tan, S. K. (2017). Conventional and decentralized urban storm water management: A comparison through case studies of Singapore and Berlin, Germany. Urban Water Journal, 14(2), 113-124. [B1]Your second and third lines should be indented for your references.

Walmarts Products, Services and Hiring Processes

Walmarts Products, Services and Hiring Processes The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Bentonville, Arkansas. It is a publicly traded company on the NYSE. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates retail stores in various formats worldwide. The companys Walmart U.S. segment offers meat, produce, deli, bakery, dairy, frozen foods, floral, and dry grocery; health and beauty aids, household chemicals, paper goods, and pet supplies; electronics, toys, cameras and supplies, photo processing services, cellular phones, cellular service plan contracts, and prepaid service; fabrics and crafts, stationery and books, automotive accessories, hardware and paint, horticulture and accessories, sporting goods, outdoor entertaining, and seasonal merchandise; apparel, shoes, and jewelry; pharmacy and optical services; and home furnishings, housewares, and small appliances through discount stores, supercenters, and neighborhood markets, as well as through walmart.com. Its International segment includes various formats of retail stores and restaurants, including supermarkets, combination discount and grocery stores, supercenters, Sams Clubs, hypermarkets, cash-n-carry stores, department stores, and general merchandise stores. The companys Sams Club segment offers merchandise, including hard goods, soft goods, and selected private-label items under the MEMBERS MARK, BAKERS CHEFS, and SAMS CLUB brands through warehouse membership clubs in the United States, as well as through samsclub.com. As of January 31, 2010, it operated 803 discount stores, 2,747 supercenters, 158 neighborhood markets, and 596 Sams Clubs in the United States; 43 units in Argentina, 434 in Brazil, 317 in Canada, 252 in Chile, 170 in Costa Rica, 77 in El Salvador, 164 in Guatemala, 53 in Honduras, 1 in India, 371 in Japan, 1,469 in Mexico, 55 in Nicaragua, 56 in Puerto Rico, and 371 in the United Kingdom, as well as 279 stores in the Peoples Republic of China. In 2010 it was the worlds largest public corporation by revenue, according to the Forbes Global 2000 f or that year. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 681 stores across the United States offering convenient low prices that customers seem to love. Each store features wide aisles and fully stacked shelves stocked with variety of reasonable priced items including: Health and beauty aids Electronics Jewelry Toys Family apparel Hardware Sporting goods Automotive Home furnishings Pet supplies House ware Lawn and garden items super centers meet the needs and demands for convenient family shopping at low prices. Super center groceries include: Frozen foods Deli foods Beverages Fresh produce Canned and packaged goods Meat and dairy products Bakery goods Household supplies Condiments Dry goods and staples Some of the super centers have specialty shops such as: Tire Lube Express Vision centers Portrait studio Pharmacy Brand name restaurants Photo center Health clinic Hair salon Employment Agency Bank Neighborhood Markets offer a quick and convenient way for customers to shop who need groceries, pharmaceuticals, and general merchandise all at their famous everyday low prices. This wide variety of products including: Fresh produce Meat and Dairy products Frozen foods Dry goods and staples Health and Beauty aids Deli foods Bakery Items Canned and packaged goods Condiments and spices Pet supplies Stationery and paper goods Drive through pharmacy Household supplies One hour photo center C. Products and Services initiatives that require HR support Wal-Mart global sourcing stays committed to providing and developing local talent for the purchasing of merchandise for all Wal-Mart retail operations. D. Brief Walmart structure Wal-Mart is one of the largest stores in the United States. It operates many different stores all around the world. It operates supercenters, discount stores, Sams club, and neighborhood markets. Wal-Mart operates in countries all over the world such as: Brazil, Argentina, China, Canada, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, United Kingdom and Puerto Rico. Wal-marts operations are subject to different laws, cultures, and customs. There are laws and regulation around the world that affects Wal-Mart each year, therefore the statement of ethics must be modified to match the changes in these laws and customs. Wal-Mart uses an organizational theory whereas the company utilizes its resources effectively increasing productivity. The company has been a leader in the category over any other company around. Wal-Mart uses a decentralized structure which leads to improved performance for the company. There are many ways that make Wal-Mart different from the othe r companies such as technology, innovation, and cost leadership. E. Organizational structure initiatives requiring H.R. support H.R. does not support the organizational structure alone. Developing careers and management the companies are involving all their employees. This was brought about because of the stiff competition in the retail sectors. New ways are a must for companies who are going to incorporate job enrichment. Wal-Mart has an orientation program that involves retention practices for their employees. When an employee starts their employment with Wal-Mart, they are taken through the recruitment process, which shows them what their new job position is. This also teaches the employee about the companys organizational structure, and about the Wal-Mart history. The employees are informed that the same warm welcome that is extended to the consumers when entering Wal-Mart goes the same for them when they report for work. The whole idea is to keep your employees once an organization has invested in them. Treat your employees well and they will feel a greater need to remain within the company. The employees at Wal-Mart are offered training and development programs, and this is considered as part of their regular work environment. The companys objective is to train and develop their employees to be prepared with the necessary skills, if chosen to climb the corporate latter as a well-trained employee leader. Wal-Mart came up the Leaders out In Front this means that the managers within the 4 manager areas will be responsible for training. This also gives them a chance to improve themselves for their own advancement goals. This will help improve the employees performance and according to the organization, the assistant managers are the ones who will be responsible for this training Another training program established by Wal-Mart uses a training program which is the store learning program that virtual classrooms that in certain selected stores employees learn what the most effective methods of delivery service. Wal-Mart employees develop their careers through skill assessments. The company uses an Associate Investment model where supervisors evaluate employee competencies, and allows the assessment of the evaluation process. If the evaluation was conducted incorrect or inaccurate, the company can detect it and makes their employees more prepared for future assessments. (King, 2006) The company goes through a career assessment and development process, which is known as the Phase one, the informative phase, which involves on boarding so that the company can ascertain whether their employees know all the skills and knowledge required to perform their job functions. In the fundamental track phase, the company conducts performance management, which assists their employees in the process of understanding their responsibilities, and is also tailored to create a good foundation for employees as perform their duties. The third phase for the employees is the advanced track phase. Associates are taught how to plan their careers. The company assures that their employees go through all the progressive steps required to advance to different positions within the company. Associates are required to evaluate their own performance, training and skills, so that they can maintain some kind of idea where they stand in their company. Wal-Mart employees while in this program are provided training for example on how to write resumes, conduct interviews, plan their careers and seek for job opportunities within the company. Many Wal-Mart employees have undergone these training programs where they have learned what it is to be part of the Wal-Mart family. The top managers understand the importance of developing well trained employees within the company. They feel very strongly on retaining their employees that have been through their training programs. (Marquez, 2005) The companys HR stated that the companys success is because of the dedication and time that is put into evaluating whether the best qualified employee has pursued the opportunities that the company offers. They are going to start working on obtaining information from their employees, to see what it is that the employee may want to pursue in his career with the company. Once this is accomplished, then the company can offer that specific training for that area, dept. or location. Because of employee concerns, Wal-Mart decided to come up with a plan that would will not only open up communication between management and staff, but would very much strengthen relations between them. This would be a great approach in this company. HR has been striving to improve employee practices. HR in improving career practices, decided to place an HR executive in charge of several stores instead of being placed in one store. This way the services can be better coordinated throughout the country. (Wal-Mart, 2008) Wal-Mart has also implemented a way to help their HR employees, by forming a five member team who has legal backgrounds and experience in HR. This team can offer assistance and provide advice to the managers when needed. This assistance for the managers, allows the managers more time to concentrate on their staff, because this helps to reduce their workloads in dealing and handling staff, and staff can concentrate on their jobs. (Wal-Mart, 2005) F. Organizational Markets/Methods of Organizational Marketing Wal-Mart marketing methods includes: offering items from the internet, adds in the newspaper, and commercial advertisement. This method of marketing keeps Wal-Mart customers coming back for more deals and low priced needed items. H.R. also plays a huge part in marketing for Wal-Mart by hiring and screening the right individuals to help with the marketing. Its very important to make sure the right people are on board so that Wal-Mart can market and sell their products. G. ORGANIZATIONAL, MARKETS/METHODS OF ORGANIZATIONAL MARKETING REQUIRING H.R. SUPPORT V. H.R. DEVELOPMENT SERVICES: NOW DOING AND NEED TO ADD: (15 PAGES) A. Organizational Core Competencies Wal-Mart is well aware that strategy for business expansion is the most important strategy that makes the company as big as it is today. Wal-Mart has managed to go from one single store to thousands of stores and supermarkets, all across the world. Wal-Mart has more growing plans which includes: a regional and international expansion. Putting these plans into place, the location would have to be one of the basic components for the plans. Location is important for a company like Wal-Mart, and other factors are involved also such as: distance and cost. One good characteristic that helps in determining the location is positioning the store next to a distribution center. By choosing the location near the distribution center will cut down on shipping time and gas expense for the truck. Wal-Mart also tries to locate the store around the community. By placing it around the community, makes it convenient for customers to shop by saving their time of driving. The next best thing that Wal-Mart keeps in mind when picking a location is the parking lot. Wal-Mart always tries to make sure parking lots have enough space and that customers are able to easily enter and exit. Wal-Marts expansion strategy must have a good plan put into place and with highly committed people and customers this can be made possible. Wal-Mart has competitive advantage over its competitors because of the following core competencies. As promised in its slogan Wal-Mart has been providing products at lower prices, it is possible due to the low cost operations. Wal-Mart share the value of low cost with customers by selling the products at lower prices. Hard working, efficient and process oriented employees have been working with Wal-Mart. Better use of technology to directly connect with supplier and partners. Implemented Just-in-time inventory process to reduce the cost of managing inventory at Warehouses In summary. Wal-Mart core competencies are employees, cost efficient processes and relationship with supplier and partners by using technology. B. Strategic Planning for Organization and H.R. involvement Wal-Mart Strategy Strategic planning for Wal-Mart involves differentiating its organization from its competitors in a way that is sustainable in the future. Wal-Mart plans to continue to strive hard to make their organization unique, distinctive and identify key success factors that will drive the customers to continue to buy their products. H.R. can make this possible by being a key player who has the drive and skills to make this possible. Wal-Mart dominates the American retailing industry due to number of factors like its business model which is still a mystery and its effectiveness in not letting the rivals let know about the weaknesses. Wal-Mart made strategic attempts in the its formulation to dominate the retail market where it has its presence, growth by expansion in the US and Internationally, create widespread name recognition and customer satisfaction in relation to brand name Wal-Mart and branching into new sectors of retailing. It is learnt that Wal-Mart strives on three generic strategies consisting of Focus Strategy, the Differentiation Strategy and overall cost leadership. Managers strive hard to make their organizations unique, distinctive and identify key success factors that will drive the customers to buy their products.Thus, firm specific resources and capabilities are crucial in explaining the firms performance. The Resource Based View (RBV) explains competitive heterogeneity based on the premise that close competitors differ in their resources and capabilities in important and durable ways. The companys capability can be found through its functionality, reliable performance, like Wal-Mart superior logistics. (Helfat, 2002) Wal-Mart has firm infrastructure, well equipped in human resource with management professionals and technologically too. Any organizations thrive hard to be successful for which it needs to have better resources and superior capabilities. Wal-Mart has strong RBV with economically and financially very strong enough to stand still in the time of crisis. Pereira states that dominating the retail market is its key strategy. Wal-Mart operates on low price strategy which is operated as every day low prices (EDLP) which builds trust among the customers.(Brunn, 2006)The strategy lies in purchasing the goods at lower prices and selling the goods to customer at much lower prices, cutting the price as far as possible and increasing the profit by increasing the number of sales. This ferociously increases the competition in the market and Wal-Mart competes with all its competitors till it is dominant it the market. Wal-Mart is expanding seriously and rapidly which is also its strategic goal. Wal-Mart employs over 1.3 associates, owns over 4000 stores out of which 3000 are in US and serves around 100 million customers weekly. Wal-Mart has acquired many international stores and merged with some super stores like ASDA in UK. Wal-Mart far flung network of retail outlets has ensured that Wal-Mart interacts with and has impact on virtually every locality within US. (Helfat, 2002) The expanded strategy has led the hunger of Wal-Mart to many European Countries. It is learnt that three countries with no Wal-Mart stores became part of corporations international presence wherein the domestic retail chains were taken over by Wal-Mart including 122 Woolco stores in Canada, 21 Wertkauf stores in Germany and 229 ASDA units in United Kingdom. The takeover strategy by Wal-Mart keeps the company at forefront when entering into the new market and the number of competitors is also minimized. The strategies have he lped the Wal-Mart to rein in number one position in international countries making it the largest retailer in the world. It is seen that Wal-Mart has significantly the Porters five force model wherein through proper strategic planning and strategic implementation has led to removal of barrier entry, rivalry from competitors and pricing norms. In regard to substitutes, Wal-Mart in order to achieve its aim of customer satisfaction has selling goods under its own legal brand. Wal-Marts big box phenomenon has changed the retailing industry in the United States which is often considered as discount stores and makes profit through high volume of purchases and low markup on profits.(Parnell, 2008)Wal-Mart with its low cost and ever expanding strategy has made a dramatic impact since 1962 when Sam Walton first started his business. With this strategy, Wal-Mart has now over 4000 stores and outlets in US and other countries through acquisition and mergers. C. Hiring process and tools Walmart Hiring Process The Walmart process, depending on the position, is a fairly streamlined set of discrete events beginning with a standard application form fill, following through with a series of interviews, and culminating with an ultimate decision as to whether a candidate is the correct hire for Walmart. Along the way, a job candidate may be asked to perform any number of skills assessments or take a battery of tests to determine the applicants fitness for a job at Walmart. For a checker, the entire hiring process could unfold in a matter of days, while for more responsible management and executive positions, the hiring process could last any number of weeks or even months from the time of inception. Walmart Hiring Information Walmart Hiring Process The Walmart process, depending on the position, is a fairly streamlined set of discrete events beginning with a standard application form fill, following through with a series of interviews, and culminating with an ultimate decision as to whether a candidate is the correct hire for Walmart. Along the way, a job candidate may be asked to perform any number of skills assessments or take a battery of tests to determine the applicants fitness for a job at Walmart. For a checker, the entire hiring process could unfold in a matter of days, while for more responsible management and executive positions, the hiring process could last any number of weeks or even months from the time of inception. Walmart Hiring Information Where can you get information on which Walmart stores or office are hiring and for what positions? Job boards like Indeed.com aggregate postings from around the internet in an easily-searchable web interface that can prove invaluable to a job search whether for Walmart or any other corporation or entity. Other sources of Walmart hiring information can include personal LinkedIn network mining or even old-fashioned face-to-face business mixers that Walmart hiring managers might be likely to attend. If youve exhausted all these sources of hiring information for Walmart, then it could be time to just head down to your local outpost and inquire as to whether they have a local email list or job board that keeps potential applicants notified when postions become open. D. Organizational Development and Change initiatives (e.g. restructuring, policies and procedures, innovation and creativity, competitive strategies) E. Organizational Assessment Processes (eg., profit/loss evaluation, efficiency measures, market growth and decline, market share analysis, coordination and departmentalization) F. Human Capital Assessment Process (e.g., performance reviews, development plans, corrective action plans, needs assessment) G. Training, development and education programs: Management and Leadership Supervisory Team Building Sales and Marketing Customer Service Safety, Quality and Technical Career Mgt./Development programs H. Succession Planning I. Performance Management and Review Systems J. Re-structuring of the organizations or major departments K. Job enlargement, job enrichment L. Personal services: Payroll HRIS/HRM Compensation and Benefits and Pay for performance evidence M. Legal services: how provided N. Other services by function: financial budgets and control, bonus system, etc.

What to Do With My Life? :: College Admissions, Personal Narrative

Wish I could be Anything I wanna be Wanna be a fireman Wanna be an astronaut Wanna sail the seas Just like a sailor But it's not the end of the world So baby don't get upset It's just a little regret    Less than a year left of high school, then four years of college to study who knows what, and after that... I do not know. There are so many things I wish I could do, so many careers I think would be interesting as the lyrics above suggest. I am big on traveling just to see the sights. I could wander endlessly on through the world. I could visit China to see the Great Wall, Russia to see the Red Square, and Australia to SCUBA dive in the Great Coral Reef. I would go from there to South Africa to see my best friend from fifth grade, taking my camera with me the whole way. I would check out the ancient Greek and Roman structures in Europe and follow the footsteps of my grandfather to the ends of the world. When my tour had ended, I would return to college to learn to be an astronaut so I could carry my exploration even further. And after exhausting my wonder of the universe I would return to explore the depths of the ocean. And so as for getting ready for a career, I do not have any time; my schedule is packed for the next 253 years. I only regret that I do not have enough in my life to do all that I dream. But it's not the end of the world So baby don't get upset It's just a little regret I will just have to be content to save the majority of my travels for eternity. But as for my current preparations for the real world, I have a few things going for me. I have always been a good student and done well at many things. I am a perfectionist to an extent.

Art and Republicanism :: Government Republican Essays

Art and Republicanism ABSTRACT: Republicanism is contrasted with liberalism with special reference to the notions of presence, absence and representation. The contrast is more conspicuous in the Platonic tradition of republicanism than it is in the Aristotelian tradition, the former being more likely to degenerate into some form of totalitarianism. Examples thereof are given in accordance with the distinction between a strong and a soft iconoclasm, as it is found both in Antiquity and in Eastern and Western Europe’s quest for absolute presence or—as in avantgarde art of modernity—for absolute self-presence of the work of art. Having left such political and artistic utopias behind it, the pendulum is now swinging back in the direction of representation, but no longer in the illusionist sense which has dominated Western art form the Renaissance to the beginning of our century. Tied to the question of iconoclasm is the debate about the end of art inaugurated by Hegel in the general intro duction to his Aesthetics and resumed in our days. There are two traditions of republicanism, one predominantly Platonic and the other predominantly Aristotelian. Both have several characteristics in common which set them off apart from the tradition of liberalism, such as the paramount concern for morals in politics, or the priority of politics over economics, or the mistrust of growth and riches as well as the preference for poverty over luxury, proximity over distance and—most important from the point of view of arts—direct presence over mere representation and immediacy over mediation. Still, surely the overarching characteristic is that of giving the common good of the res publica absolute priority over private interests with consequences such as the rejecting of factions and—in the last analysis—even of political parties. But there are also differences. The most important of these is that in the Platonic as opposed to the Aristotelian tradition the issue of self-government of all citizens is, to put it mildly, not prominent. If only for this reason, the danger of sliding into totalitarianism is greater in the Platonic than in the Aristotelian tradition of republicanism. Nevertheless, one could, on the whole, say that totalitarianism is the perversion of republicanism in the same sense that anarchy is the perversion of liberalism. To realize this, one need only bear in mind that, republicanism being fundamentally suspicious of political parties as potential factions, it more naturally leads to one-party rule than liberalism does. In addition, the

The Labyrinth of Life in The Garden of Forking Paths by Yu Tsun Essay

The Labyrinth of Life in The Garden of Forking Paths by Yu Tsun A labyrinth is classically a human construction designed to confuse. It can trap our lives, hiding our past and future and constantly forcing us to make choices, even though we may not know what the consequences of those choices might be. The confusion of the puzzle may even tempt us to run blindly through the labyrinth, ending in disaster. Life itself is often considered such a labyrinth, and by adopting the strategies of travelers who came before and choosing our path cautiously while playing close attention to the patterns of our lives, we may find the right path through the maze. Although the Labyrinth appears to be an intellectual challenge, every turn is accompanied by an ethical dilemma as well. 'The Garden of Forking Paths' is both an ethical and intellectual riddle. Consideration of Yu Tsun's intellectual choices must be accompanied by consideration of his ethical choices. The most terrifying aspect of the garden of forking paths is that the ending of the maze is never in sight. Often, we are aware of only the obvious consequences of taking any particular turn, while the obscure consequences are rarely anticipated. As a result, we cannot be sure where the next turn will bring us until we have made the choice. An action of tremendous personal significance, such as Stephen Albert's murder, may have no greater consequences than a winning a battle in a war that the German's could possibly end up losing. Ts'ui PÃ ªn himself was murdered by a stranger before he had a chance to explain the nature of his labyrinth, while the current war was started by another homicidal stranger. The choices made by these men within their labyrinths have brought Yu Tsun to Stephen Albert's home, to become the stranger who will kill Albert. The action of the story seems inevitable, yet such inevitability is a deception. The path we have chosen may appear to be the only path tha t can be taken, but in reality, the possibilities are far more complex, as Albert explains that Ts'ui PÃ ªn ?did not believe in a uniform, absolute time. He believed in an infinite series of times, in a growing, dizzying net of divergent, convergent, and parallel times . . .[where] time forks perpetually toward innumerable futures?(579). If we could see consequences of each decision we made before forced to make the decision, taking... ...ze. Furthermore, avoiding one hazard may cause us to fall subject to another. The labyrinth is infinite in size, and we are only aware of a very minute fraction, but contemplating too much on the unlived possibilities can cause us to be unaware of the present. However, to completely ignore these possibilities, and to ?imagine a future as irrecoverable as the past? (575) will leave us just as lost and trapped. Every decision we make within our garden of forking paths opens up another set of possibilities, possibly leading us into another labyrinth. If we allow our ethical sense to become clouded, we may even find ourselves in a labyrinth of our own making, a maze where the compass points are lost and every decision only serves to trap us more securely. There will always be choices never made, turns never taken, discoveries lost forever to the twists and turns of fate. We will never discover the innumerable fates of our counterparts in Ts'ui PÃ ªn's endless series of possibilities. Works Cited Borges, Jorge Luis. ?The Garden of Forking Paths.? The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth,and Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002.

Enron Case

Which parts of the corporate governance system, internal and external, do you believe failed Enron the most? In the evaluation of the Enron’s case; by trying to see the very big picture, it is not only about that the internal part of the corporate governance system was failed or but also the external part of the corporate governance system was also failed. As noted on the last paragraph of the mini case, many people from different positions and different companies didn’t act responsibly and according to the generally accepted corporate governance rules.Internally; because of the head executives used the companies resources and the power that their positions provides them for their own interests without thinking on behalf of the stakeholders and shareholders, collapse of Enron’s corporate governance system affected not only Enron’s company but also all the other institutions which integrated to the Enron’s system. Externally, especially legal counsel and auditor company didn’t act ethically. To avoid losing the best and the most powerful customer, they swept all inappropriate practices under the carpet.Therefore we can think that, internal and external part of corporate finance act harmoniously in that case. In the event of the absence of any single actor would result in different consequences or to outbreak of the event much earlier than it did. 2. Describe how you think each of the individual stakeholders and components of the corporate governance system should have either prevented the problems at Enron or acted to resolve the problems before they reached crisis proportions? If we evaluate the Enron Case without going on deeply, we will surprise how such a giant corporation can break down in a very short time process.However, when we evaluate the case deeply, it is understood that the fall of Enron is the last part of a chain reaction which has been already started long time ago. Therefore, before reaching the crisis point, stakeholders or components of the corporate governance should have taken some measures. The radical changes by Enron’s managements can be evaluated as the first alarm of the bad end. For such big companies Board of Directors should have been controlling for same neutral authorities for the sake of stakeholders. This control mechanism is not just necessary for financial of accountancy issues.After the fall of Enron, the government brought the General Accepted Accounting Principles, Statements on Auditing Standard and Auditing Procedures. However, if these kind of preventive laws have been implemented before the fall of Enron and A. Anderson, result could be very different. In fact, auditor companies are the part of commercial mechanisms. Therefore it is very normal to expect them to act in favor of companies that they consult, if there are no control mechanisms over them as in the case of Enron. For this reason, US increase the pressure over these kinds of companies.Man agement is responsible of corporate governance applications to decrease fraud and irregularity and control the procedures. While the duty of internal auditor is to control the entity’s internal applications, the responsibilities and duties of external auditor are to make efficient audit planning, to audit based on audit planning work done and to make appropriate documentation which forms evidence in the documentation process. Another important point for the Enron case is that why the government allowed the Enron act as a monopoly in the US energy sector. After fall of Enron, the electricity couldn’t be delivered to the some parts of US.Obviously, supply control system has been disfunctional in this market as a result of inefficient political management. 3. If all publicly-traded firms in the United States are operating within the same basic corporate governance system as Enron, why would some people believe this was an isolated incident, and not an example of many fail ures to come? We cannot say â€Å"The Enron collapse is just an example of misleading financial reporting†. It may be said that it is the wrong combination of leadership, business evolution, market behaviors, and the ‘times’ all combined to create a monster.As it is known, Corporate Governance is the system used to direct and control a corporation. And it defines the rights and responsibilities of key corporate participants such as shareholders, the board of directors, officers and managers, and other stakeholders. The Enron Case is a breakdown of corporate governance in the most baroque of recent scandals where there were not only conflicts with standards for good corporate governance but also unusually extensive use of sophisticated techniques and transactions to manipulate the firm’s financial reports.During the same year’s with Enron Case, Parmalot and Worldcom cases also occurred, mainly because of the same reasons, and resulted in a same way. Therefore wrong combinations for the corporative governance may result in a same way. Corporative Governance has been argued too much after the Enron Case. However some people believe that Enron was an isolated incident and not an example of many failures to come according to above writings. The biggest factor behind this thinking can be related to that Enron is much bigger than other failed companies and was acted like a monopoly.That is to say, all of the case showed us that how some companies can bankrupt because of the wrong combination of leadership, business evolution, and market behaviors. We think the following citation would be helpful so as to cover the Enron Case a little more. On March 5, 2002, Kirk Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics gave a speech on a newspaper: â€Å"Enron is a prominent example of a â€Å"new economy† company. Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling claimed that Enron was the most innovative company in the United Sta tes and at times tried to intimidate reporters or analysts who questioned their strategy.In the new economy, new kinds of companies have been created. Enron's collapse will encourage investors, analysts, reporters, and employees to ask â€Å"old economy† questions about these new economy companies: How does this company make money? Can it sustain this strategy over the long term? How do those who work in and with this company feel about it? The new economy has lost some of its appeal after the collapse of many dot. com companies and of Enron. †

Macbeth †How Shakespeare presents the characters in Act 3 Scene 1 Essay

How do their words thoughts and actions make the scene such a dramatic and important scene in the play? In the majority of Shakespeare’s compositions, Act 3 usually consists, in terms of context, the most important scenes in the play. Macbeth is no different; Act 3 and in particular Act 3 Scene 1 is the point in the play where events are rapidly building to a dramatic and tragic climax. In the previous scenes the audience witnessed the violent assassination of the much loved King Duncan by Macbeth followed by the (said / mentioned) murderer’s inevitable election as king. In a historical context, the general public at the time of the production’s release would have understood the significance and seriousness of Macbeth’s actions more so than modern day audiences. Regicide was not only seen as an evil act against king and country but also against God. The Divine Right of King’s was widely believed; which stated every monarch is selected by God and has sole right to the throne (usurper). More notably, genuine threats such as the Gunpowder Plot against the ruler at the time, King James I, made the murder of King Duncan not only more believable but something audiences could actually relate to. Act 3 Scene 1 commences with a condemning soliloquy by Banquo. He shares with the audience his strong accusations regarding the manner in which Macbeth has become King Speaking dangerously of deceit and treason, ‘Thou played’st most foully for’t’, Shakespeare cleverly aligns Banquo with the audience and in doing so emphasizes the shocking nature of King Duncan’s murder. In the soliloquy there is also a reference to the witches’ predictions for Banquo’s descendants, ‘myself should be the root and father of many kings. ‘ This line would have been of great interest to King James I as it suggests he is a descendant of Banquo. Some critics argue that Shakespeare wrote Macbeth to flatter the new king. The direct relation between Banquo and King James is hinted a few times during the play. Add this to the fact Shakespeare altered Holinshed’s version of events that were written years earlier then you could be mistaken for agreeing with the critics. Shakespeare made Macbeth solely responsible for Duncan’s murder when actually Banquo was an accomplice to the murder. Proud to be in their new role, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth greet Banquo very majestically, ‘here’s our chief guest. ‘ Shrewdly, they attempt to make Banquo feel important and well appreciated, ‘If he had been forgotten, it had been a big gap in our great feast.’ However this was all a big act, as the audience was about to find out. I imagine in this part of the scene Lady Macbeth’s introduction would have been very grand and regal as if she loved her new role. After all, she had finally achieved what she and her husband had always dreamt of, ‘My dearest partner of greatness.’ Shakespeare makes it clear that Macbeth is now king by altering slightly the way in which Macbeth behaves and addresses others. He exposes a kinder, more inviting aspect to his personality by hosting a feast, ‘Tonight we hold a great feast and I’ll request your presence.’ The verb request is significant because it implies the invitational is optional, however I don’t believe anyone would turn down an offer from the King as there may be serious consequences. Macbeth continues to take great interest in Macbeths proposed journey which causes the audience to suspect that Banquo might be in danger. Arguably for the very first time in the play, we witness the devious and crafty personality of Macbeth. Shakespeare uses a combination of irony and flattery in his writing to hide the fact Macbeth is actually intensively interrogating Banquo, ‘fail not our feast’ and ‘Ride you this afternoon’ are two examples of this. The quote ‘fail not our feast’ is ironic because the audience have been discretely made aware that Macbeth intends to have Banquo murdered whilst he is out riding and will therefore not return for the feast. After dismissing Banquo, Macbeth makes a rather bold and surprising decision to do the same with his wife, ‘Till supper time alone, while then God be with you.’ I believe this to be the point in the play where the tide turns. Up until now, it has been Macbeth who has relied heavily on his wife. He consulted everything with her. However, now that he finally has the crown upon his head, I think he feels that she has nothing left to offer. Personally this is pure ignorance on Macbeth’s part and sense this might be a catalyst for his downfall -Macbeth’s hamartia. A hamartia is basically an ‘error in judgement, a cause of a tragic hero’s (in this case Macbeth) misfortune. Lady Macbeth aids his downfall, as she has pushed him to become so ambitious and arrogant that he feels he will be more successful without her. However, Macbeth has other hamartias which are explored further on. If I was directing this scene, I would strive to get the key point across. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have just been crowned king and Queen of their beloved nation. The ‘honeymoon’ period has just begun and they both absolutely adore their new roles, ‘Thou hast it now King, Cawdor, Glamis, all.’ Therefore, I would endeavour to make sure this comes across to the audience by ensuring the actors were dressed accordingly; royal robes and jewellery etc. Also, the actors should portray a relieved and joyful persona to illustrate the fact that Macbeth and his wife’s efforts have finally been rewarded. During Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 1, Shakespeare reveals the character’s true colours. Macbeth explains that despite Banquo being his best friend, he understands that Banquo must be murdered in order for him to remain in power; ‘to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus.’ This extract would confirm the audiences’ earlier thoughts and feelings about Macbeth’s intentions with Banquo. It also proves that the compassion and sincerity he showed towards Banquo in their last conversation was just an act. Shakespeare compares Macbeth’s feelings about Banquo to an actual event in the past, ‘as it is said Mark Antony’s was by Caesar.’ Macbeth acknowledges Banquo’s integrity but cannot help feeling that perhaps he is the Achilles heel to making him last upon the throne. Just as in Ancient Rome, Mark Antony was said to be in fear of Octavius Caesar. Throughout the soliloquy you get the sense that Macbeth has constant mood swings. His feelings vary rapidly, from fear of Banquo at the beginning; ‘our fears in Banquo stick deep.’ to pure hatred of Banquo at the end, ‘No son of mine succeeding, for Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind.’ His change in character is particularly noticeable when compared to Act 2 Scene 1. During this soliloquy, Macbeth has little conviction when contemplating the murder of Duncan whereas now he speaks confidently with passion and conviction. Which is startling seen as he is about to have his closest companion murdered. As the murderers appear on stage, the audience are immediately made aware that Macbeth has already spoken with them â€Å"Was it not yesterday we spoke together.† This extract implies that Macbeth had been planning to kill Banquo for a while. This is arguably the first time we see a ruthless side of Macbeth. It proves to the audience that this murder is not just a spur of the moment thing. Shakespeare includes a range of techniques when Macbeth is trying to persuade the henchmen to murder Banquo. Firstly, Macbeth tries to justify the murder by using reverse psychology on the two men, â€Å"Know that it is he who held you so under fortune.† Here; Macbeth is obviously testing the murderers’ character and resolve. He needs to know how willing they are, luckily for Macbeth they are prepared to do anything in the needs of king and country, â€Å"I would set my life on any chance.† Secondly, Macbeth questions their courage, to which the murderers’ respond assertively â€Å"We are men.† One thing I cannot comprehend is why Macbeth is even bothering to persuade them. Surely Macbeth has the right to order anyone about never mind two members of the lower class society. After all he is the King. However, I think this represents a key aspect of Macbeth’s personality. I think persuading the murderers’ is his way of persuading him he is doing the right thing. By persuading them, he is at the same time convincing himself that the deed is righteous. This would suggest that Macbeth is not pure evil but instead someone who loves power and is prepared to do anything to remain powerful. Macbeth changes dramatically as a character throughout the play. Initially, Macbeth was tortured with remorse after Duncan’s murder but upon hearing of Banquo’s successful assassination he is elated. His vaulting aspiration was driving him to desperate measures and he was unable to impede it. Macbeth had already risked his life to obtain the throne so he had no choice but to employ Machiavellian customs to preserve it. Macbeth’s vision of Banquo’ ghost at a royal banquet only steers him closer to insanity. The appearance of Banquo’s ghost at the royal banquet horrifies Macbeth. Shakespeare brilliantly uses irony to make Banquo’s emergence very dramatic, ‘Sweet Remembrancer! Upon hearing the witches’ prophecies, Macbeth is unleashed down a spiral of swift deterioration that causes him to become blinded by desire. It is clear that Macbeth’s objective was driven by the prophecies made by the three witches; ‘hail to thee Thane of Cawdor that shalt be king hereafter.’ He was willing to do or pay anything to ensure that they actually occur. At first Macbeth is appalled at the witches’ proposal of killing Duncan, his King and fellow countryman, but eventually he surrenders to both Lady Macbeth and the evil forces. Lady Macbeth and the witches overwhelm his morals setting off a catalogue of events resulting in Macbeth’s downfall and second hamartia. The presence of supernatural forces in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, provides much of the plays dramatic tension and mounting suspense. Several supernatural hallucinations throughout the play profoundly affect Macbeth; culminating with the evil forces overpowering Macbeth and his morals. For example, the prophecies of the three witches and the appearance of Banquo’s ghost. These two points in the play would have been very significant for the audience at the time. Witches were associated with using uncompromising potions, flying, becoming invisible at will and using disguises for the evil spirits in control of them. In Shakespeare’s time, a large proportion of people believed in witches. Hundreds of thousands of women were accused of employing the mentioned familiars to cause misfortunes and disasters. As a result, many were either executed or tortured. Even King James I was personally frightened of witches, passing a law that condemned anyone connected with witchcraft. In hindsight, it is now clear that witches were just innocent people used as scapegoats for mistakes made by others. Macbeth is a prime example of Shakespeare’s use of the tragic pattern. The play begins with the rise and fall of a man of high estate. This is followed by a flaw in character, Duncan’s trust in Macbeth for example, ‘a gentleman on whom I built absolute trust.’ Then murder, exile and alienation of enemies and allies; King Duncan’s Murder, the Princes’ flee, murder of Banquo and dismissal of Lady Macbeth. All leading to the gradual isolation of the tragic hero, tragic recognition of the flaw by the tragic hero; ‘and now a wood comes toward Dunsinane’ and eventually the death of the tragic hero. Macbeth is slain by Macduff. Tragic patterns similar to this one are used in every one of Shakespeare’s renowned tragedies.