Rhetorical Analysis Apple Commercial - 1230 Words

Rhetorical Analysis: Apple Commercial This paper will examine a particular Apple ad that appeared on television in 1984. The Macintosh was and still is very popular computer that provides a simplistic feel of creativeness and freedom. Freedom is a key concept because the ad expresses the need to have a sense of freedom to do what we want with no restrictions. Apple is well-known all over the world for the sex appeal to its products, like the iPhone, iPad, and the Macintosh series. These products present a color of either silver, slate, or gold that is very appealing to our eyes. And with such unique colors, Apple manages to make the colors of their products to fit in with its surroundings. Although Apple still has to compete against†¦show more content†¦She wanted to make a change that would impact everyone. While she was running down the aisle towards the television screen, guards were chasing her, and people in prison clothes watched in amazement. When the hammer was throw n towards the television and broke it, the strict society of 1984 was changed forever. Prisoners were astonished that one of their own fought back against the dictatorship that was taking prisoners’ lives. I find the iconic scene of breaking the television screen to be of great importance because it symbolizes how just one person wants to put an end to dictatorship and wants to make a new society that would be based on fairness, justice, and freedom. Apple introduced the Macintosh computer because it was symbolic item that would change the course of human history. No more boundaries, no more rules, and no more breaking the bond of privacy. When Steve Jobs started Apple, he not only introduced first-class technology, but he wanted everyone to feel a sense of their own privacy. He didn’t want people to give permission for Apple to monitor everything being done on Macintosh computers, or he didn’t want anyone to give access to other people through remote desktop th at would allow people to work on each other’s computers (Cook). Privacy was a number one concern for Steve Jobs and it still is for Apple’s current chief executive officer, Tim Cook. At the beginning of this paper, I stated that freedom was a key concept in theShow MoreRelatedMy Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Foreign Environment That Is College971 Words   |  4 Pageswhat to expect when it came to beginning WRD 103. The various assignments that were asked to be produced exceptionally strengthened my overall writing abilities. The idea of writing creatively within narratives and analyzing different stories or commercials expanded the way can express my multi-modal writing. My skills within all of these areas are still under progress, but with the constant practice, I am confident that these skills will continue to grow. Our first assignment was to compose the diagnosticRead MoreComparing The 1984 Super Bowl Ad1738 Words   |  7 Pagesto be felt. My intended purpose of this paper stems from questioning this very concept through the method of analysis of rhetoric used. my choice on example was chosen on the basis of using a company nearly everyone knows, a company founded most certainly on a purpose, one of being â€Å"different.† my test to find if this spirit of the founder is still present is to compare two ads from Apple: one from the very beginning, â€Å"the 1984 Super bowl Ad† as well as one from modern day with, â€Å"Broken Promises†Read MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Mackleore1366 Words   |  6 Pagesand start conversations. One of his most heavy-hitting songs, â€Å"Wing$† takes on the complex topic of consumerism through a telling of his life experience with brands and the after-effects of their power. With this Rhetorical Analysis, I hope to address the messag e of the song, the rhetorical situation that makes the message so important, and how Macklemore used every appeal to make the song so powerful. Wing$ is, as mentioned before, a song about consumerism, and the negative effects that it’s powerRead MoreThe Entertainment of the Media over the Ages1020 Words   |  4 PagesMedia has been a vital element to American entertainment since its commencement. This entertainment comes in all varieties, whether it is film, commercials, music or general consumer ads. Either way, they are all used to engage or encourage the reader or viewer to feel a certain way. Music has always been a catalyst for human beings since the first caveman started tapping his feet in a rhythmic pattern. Music can be used to express any feeling a person can have about any subject they might thinkRead MoreRalph Ellison s Invisible Man1210 Words   |  5 PagesNut MMs to globalization—has made many yearn for the past, when things were more â€Å"normal† and less diverse. Understanding the destructive nature of this human tendency, Ralph Ellison, through the experiences of his narrator and th rough the use of rhetorical devices, weaves his argument against conformity and for diversity in his critically acclaimed work, Invisible Man. He asserts that man must retain his own sense of individuality and embrace the differences of others, as conforming to a certain self-madeRead MoreConversation Analysis Essay6877 Words   |  28 Pagesreport is then developed on the textual analysis, which discusses that different genres have different elements that bring coherence. However, it is noticed that lexical cohesion forms strong cohesive ties and bring coherence in case of both the texts analysed. The paper argues that although cohesion is an important aspect of developing a coherent text, yet coherence is also possible without cohesion. Key words: Coherence, Cohesion, Text, Discourse, Analysis 1. INTRODUCTION The focus of this paperRead MoreThe Impact Of Technology On The Performing Arts2832 Words   |  12 Pages B00191107 Commercial Music 3rd Year Essay Question Response Commercial Music BA/Hons Rights Within the Performing Arts Module Co-ordinator: Kenny Forbes Word Count: 2567 I B00191107 certify that all material in this essay / assignment which is not my own is duly acknowledged. I have read and understand the section in the programme handbook dealing with plagiarism. Introduction This essay will be an analysis of the opportunities available to creative musician in two distinct erasRead MoreInstructive Text Types11631 Words   |  47 Pagestexts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3.2.1 Legal texts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3.2.2 Statutory instructions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3.2.3 Practical instructions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3.2.4Persusive texts: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Commercial advertisements†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦........................................ Political texts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦....................................... Religious and ethical appeal†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦........................................ Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Read Moreunethical advertising14492 Words   |  58 Pagesproduct, service, idea, or organization. When the advertisers message appears in the broadcast media , it is called a commercial . The first advertisement on record in an American newspaper appeared in the Boston News Letter on May 8, 1704. It described an estate for sale in Oyster Bay, Long Island. HISTORY A print advertisement from a 1913 issue of National Geographic However, commercial In ancient times the most common form of advertising was word of mouth. messages and election campaign displays wereRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesauthor, namely by citing his name, the book title, and the relevant page numbers (but not in any way that suggests that the book Logical Reasoning or its author endorse you or your use of the work). (2) Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial purposes (for example, by inserting passages into a book that is sold to students). (3) No Derivative Works You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. An earlier version of the book was published by Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont

Human Resource Planning Free Essays

string(111) " and deal with the staffing implications of their strategic human resources plans or change of business plans\." Human Resource (HR) Planning is the practice of determining and analysing the requirement for and supply of workforce in order to achieve the organisation’s goals and objectives, fulfil its mission and reach its vision (Mathis Jackson, 2000). HR planning predicts forces that will affect the availability and requirement of employees in the future. This process will result in top executives having superior analysis of human resource measurement for its decision making; HR expenditure being decreased due to the fact that management can forecast imbalances prior to them becoming costly; additional time will be available to place skills since requirements are predicted and analysed before staffing is done; excellent opportunities are present to comprise female and ethnic groups in upcoming developments; training of new managers can be improved. We will write a custom essay sample on Human Resource Planning or any similar topic only for you Order Now The outcomes of these can be calculated and can be used for the evaluation of the accomplishments of HR planning (Mathis Jackson, 2000). Human resource planning is a course of action that will aim to facilitate the organisation’s plan in recruiting, improvement and training, substitution, cross-functional development and management of programs for benefits and rewards. Subsequently to guarantee in building the best valuable human resource plan, the organisation should analyse the necessity of a strategic business plan, work proficiency plan, workforce planning, training and improvement planning, career development planning and planning for right-sizing (Macaleer Shannon, 2003). Undeniably because of this analysis in HR planning, it is essential to have a sufficient Human Resource Information System (HRIS). The purpose of this is providing accurate, balance and on time information for the process. Now a computer-based system should provide a form of information about human resources necessary for strategic business decision making. This system reflects the relationship between work requirements, employee’s individual skills and levels of performance. In this instance, the information system serves as simple reflections of reality which will help develop better and effective business decisions which are known results in the codification of knowledge (Liff, 1997). In HR planning, external environmental forces should be considered such as present technology, political climate, economic situation, legal issues, social responsibility and cultural differences. Besides these external considerations are extremely important to HR activities especially, if HR planning is globally implemented. The serious pressures that are involve in a business are scarcity of talents, fast shifting technology, government regulations, environment, health, safety and changes in the market. In this situation, the human resource planning innovations of the company are affected. This will make sure that the organisation has the right work force with the right skills in the right jobs at the right moment. There is no argument that human resource planning should be associated with the strategic goals of the company. Hence, human resource planning is an important factor in managing an organisation competently and successfully. Accordingly, HR planning positively improves organisation performance if the HR plan is strategy-based and human resource is a convincing strategic collaborator (Macaleer Shannon, 2003). Most parts of the world may be in recession and economies are in disorder will result in worldwide effects on organisations and businesses. Any type of HR planning is presented with a surmountable differences of opinion connected with unpredictable and uncertain times. In this case, if the planning is done by HR professionals who have superior knowledge of magnitude and quality of essential resources needed for revitalization, there is optimism of future positive outcomes. According to Robert A. Simpkins (2009), an organisational adviser and educator, there are two types of plans. One is designed to guarantee ‘business continuity’ in the appearance of manmade or natural catastrophe. Second is a plan that is framed for the ‘uncertainty’ of the business environment. HR planning is the most critical part of the organisation’s strategic plans for the reason that observing and adjusting for environmental changes will make the success of the process. All the drivers of the company’s internal and external environment are altering at an accelerating speed including advancements in technology with respect to hardware, software and connectivity, globalization, shifting of sources and consumers, changing competition, changes in markets, the alteration of demographics, change of population lifestyle, the macro and micro changes in economics and the progressively more bewildering government and international regulations (Simpkins 2009). Businesses have the desire to stay significant in the face of consumers and stakeholders. Mostly, the organisations that maintained their importance have built remarkable HR plans that are continually reviewed and modernized. Regrettably, other businesses build better folders that compose overall strategic human resources plans that are short of any back-up planning, and these stay behind on the shelf gathering dust for years, inappropriate to a present shifting business climate. Finally, Simpkins (2009) concludes that an organisation needs to design a communicable HR plan that is not detailed enough to slow down operation. Since HR professionals are with higher-level of understanding, the group will have the elasticity to adjust what will take place in the future. The solution to a positive result is to keep HR plan flexible (Simpkins, 2009). Human resources issues have been the first among all business issues to affect the outcome of a business organisation. Human resources have risks and these risks are the challenges that resulted from managing your employees, processes and procedures. Therefore by dealing with these risks in HR and finance, one can make positive organisational outcomes. On the other hand, if these issues are not addressed appropriately these possibly will cause major harm to the business (Steffee, 2008). Public personnel management research and practices increasingly focus on creative human resource management (HRM) strategies for recruiting individuals with Information Technology (IT) expertise and retaining employees with institutional knowledge, particularly in light of impending retirements. Some agencies face unique workforce demographic challenges, while others face shifts in missions or technologies. For these reasons, the U. S. Office of Personnel Management relaxed some regulations to allow federal agencies to meet their staffing needs (Mastracci, 2009, p. 19). With regards to staffing needs, workforce planning is the course of action that companies utilize to recognize and deal with the staffing implications of their strategic human resources plans or change of business plans. You read "Human Resource Planning" in category "Papers" Workforce planning has a sole objective, to develop a long term perspective within which short term workforce decisions can be achieved efficiently. Staffing strategy is a long term plan that makes sure that availability of employees matches its requirement for employees. Staffing plans illustrate short term plans which an organisation will make in the immediate future to deal with staffing gaps and excesses. By implementing this procedure, the businesses can make certain it has the accurate quantity of people, with the appropriate skill, in position at the right moment. Workforce planning can facilitate the execution of business changes and innovations. The growth in organisations is anticipated overtime during the workforce planning phases. This process is essential in determining the staffing that would be required for growth that will make sure the needed skills will be obtainable to accomplish those development goals. It also allows a business company to construct and implement downsizing plans in the best efficient method. The absence of this strategy makes it hard to identify staffing reductions that have a positive effect on the future of the organisation (Bechet, 2008). Rightsizing or downsizing or organisational decimation is a persistent strategic human resource practice for the last thirty years (Gandolfi, 2008). This refers to the planned removal of big quantity of workforce intended to improve organisational efficiency. In fact, this process is a commonly accepted company solution in times of financial difficulties of the organisation. Although studies show enough indication that rightsizing companies is not generally a successful method of reaching goals of optimum output and maximum profit. However, rightsizing sometimes cannot be avoided; workforce reduction ought to be a management means of last resort rather than first option. For the duration of an economic recession, an organisation should think of all its options and examine the viability and applicability of cost-reduction alternatives before considering rightsizing. In fact predicting a business decline can be very hard, therefore, organisations have the immediate reaction rather than forecasting economic downturns (Gandolfi, 2008). Take the case of IBM, although the company planned to steer clear of downsizing its workforce however, the company declared plans of workforce reduction and by the early 1990’s IBM right sized its organisation by decreasing its employment by 40,000 at that time alone. However, IBM made an effort to become reactive by changing products and attempted to acquire the promptness and responsibility edges of fast reacting manufacturers (Greer, 2001). On the other hand, back in the 1980’s a small number of organisations marked workforce planning and marked as part of their human resource strategy. ATT and some large oil firms were the models of this. Due to the fact that having a large volume of employees, these organisations called for some forms of workforce planning. ATT made recognition for its succession planning, evaluation and career advancement programs. Rightsizing and reorganising achieved momentum for this time period. Strategic human resource was beginning to expand and become increasingly strategic because of the fast growing economy and globalisation at the end of the decade (Gubman, 2004). In another case, similar to any big organisations, Eastman Kodak has tried with a variety of human resource planning programs for the past decades. One of the successful programs centred on workforce requirements. HR planning by that time was perceived as a method to make certain that the right number and right kind of employees were at the right position at the right moments. Skills assessments were believed to be the suitable base for HR planning. Similar to any firm, Kodak discovered that there were no general definitions of HR planning. The company realised that they ‘borrowed, adapted, discovered and created’ their way to an approach to HR planning that was aligned to the market situation at that time and be reactive to its changes (Bennet Brush, 2007). We have developed a framework and process for thinking about and doing HR planning, which I’ve labelled: â€Å"HR planning in â€Å"3D. † The three dimensional environment at Eastman Kodak – diversity, decentralisation, and dynamism – has significantly affected the character and objectives of the HR planning process (Bennet Brush, 2007, p. 46). In this concept, the human resource function at Eastman Kodak Company was restricted with the goals on magnifying the strategic dimensions of human resource management. In this situation, HR is reshaped as a foundation of market competitive edge and new HR planning procedures were built to strengthen this edge. In the 1990’s, the implementation of this procedures required new HR abilities. The company’s made efforts to utilize HR planning to create a tougher and more aggressive corporation (Bennet Brush, 2007). We have found several key integrative elements which, from an HR standpoint, seem to make sense in a â€Å"3D† environment. These elements are: corporate management themes; HR planning processes; and HR competencies. Working together, in an ensemble of influence and activity, these elements help to create, sustains, and reinforces strategic business unity (Bennet Brush, 2007, pp. 48-49). Corporate management themes facilitate in building a focus for a united business environment to achieve its objectives. As of HR planning processes, planning is staged at the corporate and business points. In this process, Eastman Kodak Company is creating efficient HR staff and on this level, this will make the company’s HR planning a ‘competitive weapon in our business arsenal’ (Bennet Brush, 2007). In the belief that the existing process of uniting and sharpening the corporation’s HR goals will result in considerable outcomes over the decades by concentrating our efforts and finances and giving to the corporation’s evolution. In HR competencies, HR planning is designed to support the Kodak Company by developing its ability to face the future and having the objective for improvement of Corporate Relations. An efficient production HR team, a competent HR planning process and the corporate themes put together will create unity of goals and objectives and create production’s capability to implement strategy. On the whole, the Kodak Company started to distinguish the advancement and positive results as the outcome of knowledge acquired on this process. As Kodak Company has started to achieve its goals, there is an opportunity for transformation of HR functions. The corporation anticipate that successful HR planning, in a ‘3D environment’, will be Kodak’s ‘vehicle for landing safely in the 21’st century’ (Boroski, 1990). The point of view on the Annual HR Strategic Planning Process of Corning Incorporated is that the HR staff employs to make HR investments and services the main concern in support with business needs. Overtime, this procedure has contributions from Human Capital Planning process, HR objectives and other organisation innovations. To efficiently attached HR strategy with business strategy a Human Capital Planning process was created in Corning Incorporated. The outcome gave managers tools and skills for ability development and gave HR a method of determining requirements over the organisation. To allow the determination of the skill that will affect the positive outcome of business strategy, HR planning should find out the quantity of employees needed and determine talent gaps. Incorporating both the workforce planning and operating plan process have facilitated to create a more aligned global HR function for Corning Incorporated. Important components of a good HR planning process are composed of different methods for collecting information; corporate strategy input from top executives; direction from top managers and business participation from each business facilitated by HR function. Furthermore, placement of the HR planning process with the business strategy procedures enhances HR’s capacity to support the functions it presents with the requirements for its market Bennet Brush, 2007). In the early 1990’s, in order to meet Colgate-Palmolive Company’s objective of ‘becoming the best truly global consumer products company’ (Khanna Randolph, n. d. ) it human resources made the building of its human resources strategy. The corporation is continually dedicated to developing the human resources for sustainable competitive ed ge in the global market. The HR strategy team was grouped into Geographic Excellence, Category Excellence and Functional Excellence. The Global Human Resources Business Plans is nothing until it is put into action. Colgate should consider consumer’s needs in order to accomplish the innovations of HR planning. HR plays an important part to assist Colgate employees to continually improve. HR makes an effort with management to build training, career planning, performance development, communications and reward systems. The process will make sure that Colgate employees have the chance for advancement, empowerment and continually improve its abilities (Smith, Boroski Davis, 1992). On other respects, the organisation that is considering outsourcing, HR planning staff should be active partners of workforce planning processes. In the present economic situation, active human resource planning processes integrating flexible workforce preparations are adapted to a much greater degree. Outsourcing is not only part of workforce planning besides it is also a tool in human resource planning. HR planners should be part of the organisational change: evaluation, contract negotiation, transition and stabilisation as these control decisions of the process. HR planning should have the control of the decisions and as the effect of its absence of this practices may result in failures (Khanna Randolph, 2005). The social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time. The social responsibilities of a business include to produce goods or services, to make a profit, to obey the laws and regulations, to act ethically, to consider the public good in every decision that is made and to place ethics above personal gains. To be socially responsible a person or business must consider all aspects of society when making a decision. (Clark Seward, 2000, p. 2) In human resource planning the process should incorporate the highest level of social responsibility. As Milton Friedman maintains that a business organisation has no social responsibilities other than to get the highest possible profits (Ramlall, 2009). In spite of this belief, now there is a general awareness among business organisations that sustainable achievement and stockholders share value cannot be materialised by maximising pro duction but rather by having social responsible attitude (Ramlall, 2009). In another case, human resource should consider employee participation for good governance and corporate social responsibility. As an evidence of its importance is that, it is the basis as a legal tool in composing international institutions to regulate global corporations. In spite of this, business corporations make a general view in making HR procedures regarding the implementation of corporate social responsibility policies and personal views on employee relations that will affect the overall view of labour relations (Daugareilh, 2008). For multinational corporations like Enron, WorldCom and Citigroup, ethics are the most important aspect as an organisation. Everyday all kinds of organisations have to face some kind of moral issue that has the making of a scandal that sometimes will end up in the multimedia business sections. In today’s era, it is a challenge to confront moral dilemmas such as workforce retention, attracting people, promotion, pay, sexual harassment and other HR practices. How a business corporation will respond to these moral issues will affect organisational environment and will also incite legal actions and will result a negative perception from investors and consumers. Human resource planning practises call for not only reaching organisational objectives besides it will also institute and sustain these processes around ethical grounds (Kubal, Baker Coleman, 2006). HR staff should have the foresight and the character to incorporate in its practises the various value systems in a business corporation. Although this is not just idealism, global competitions compel HR orientation to focus on profit. HR planning practices must consider decisions that are driven by the business or driven for the business. HR should lead as the guardians of the organisation’s strategic ability. Likewise HR practises must also be the guardians of the whole organisation’s ethical and moral integrity (Wright Snell, 2005). Unquestionably, in having human resource management program it must recognize laws and regulations in dealing with its people. This will make the legal environment of human resources. Due to the fact that this is a complicated aspect of the organisation, this increasingly involves Human Resource Management. Persistent labour laws must be taken into consideration in overall Human Resource Planning formulation because in practising legal compliance is usually the source of strategic edge in the human resource management point of view (Greer, 2001). Human resource management policies and practices are designed to decide employee’s disagreements and make workplace justice. Similarly, an ethical decision to arrive at a solution to this dilemma is the innate character of human resource management practices and has brought about changes to Australian labour laws. Human Resource management role as a ‘strategic partner’ and also the one who will look after employees’ welfare cannot be seen as a neutral overseer of workplace disputes. That is why a development of a code of ethics should be considered when creating human resources planning processes (Van Gramberg Teicher, 2006). Take the case in workforce resizing under human resource planning processes, there are legal implications in this situation. With regards to employing and terminating people in an organisation, there is training involved that covers different fair employment and antidiscrimination laws. A typical case in this matter was the case of United Steelworkers of America v. Weber (1979). Brian Weber sued Kaiser Aluminum and his union for racial discrimination (Clardy, 2003). On the whole, Human Resource (HR) planning is the process of combining human resource procedural plans with strategic business plans. HR planning is integrated along the whole of the business planning process. After identifying business goals and objectives, HR planning practices deal with building the workforce, capabilities and management needed to implement the strategic plans. HR planning is created to make sure that the organisation has the important ability to compete in the business world considering the unpredictability of today’s economy. External environment considerations such as economic, social, legal, cultural, political, ethics and technology should be taken into account since this will influence HR planning. The concept of HR planning of Eastman Kodak, Corning and Colgate Palmolive is to develop organisational capability that both will facilitate the innovation of human resource management strategy and integrating this with the companies’ business strategy. How to cite Human Resource Planning, Papers Human Resource Planning Free Essays Human resource planning is the foundation of human resource management and it can be defined as the process that the human resource department continues using when hiring new employees. The main objective of HR planning ensures that they have the right number of people in the right place at the right time. HR planning is really helpful for some large companies in meeting their goals in the future with suitable employees. We will write a custom essay sample on Human Resource Planning or any similar topic only for you Order Now There are five different objectives in Human resource planning. The first objective of Human resource planning is preventing overstaffing and understaffing. Having more employees in an organization may cause inefficiency in procedures because if there are more employees than needed the payroll will also be extreme. If the organization has fewer employees than needed this results in loss of revenue because the organization is not capable of satisfying the current demands. The second objective of Human resource planning is to ensure that they have the right number of people in the right place at the right time. Organizations that are recruiting have keep some work to get ahead the multiple kinds of skills, working habits and personal character of the employee they need to hire. The third objective of Human resource planning is to ensure that the changes in the environment are responsible by the organization. To consider the various changes in the organization like economy may increase, may remain stable, may decrease; regulations of government may continue to be stable Human resource planning might need the help of decision makers to study these various situations that are related to various fields in the environment. The fourth objective of Human resource planning is to provide the route and logic to all the activities in the HR system. Human resource planning plans all the human resource planning systems such as hiring, training and expansion of an employee, to and measures the performance of the employees in the organization. Human resource management has to understand how changes in one area may effect in the other areas of the organization. The fifth objective of Human resource planning is to join the outlooks of staff managers. It is a know fact that HR staff manages and initiates the HR planning in any organization but all the information HR staffs needed for planning comes from all the managers in the organization. So communication between HR staff and managers is very important for successful human resource planning. Generally there are two different levels of human resource planning. They are Aggregate planning and succession planning. Aggregate planning helps companies to expect the needs of employees in groups. The first in aggregate planning is focusing on the employee demands. Succession planning can be defined as focusing on the single management of the organization and ensures that all the positions are filled with the right person that best suitable for the critical positions. The dean of a school uses the following techniques of HR planning to decide how many faculty and staff he need to employ in the coming academic year and which specific employees to retain, reassign, or release. The first process is that the dean has to ensure that there is no interruption to the day to day activities caused by accidental activities by going through the succession planning. Secondly the dean has to observe the employees and their skills for continuity of their position in coming years. Even though it is known fact that the human resource planning is followed by the strategic planning, the information collected by human resource management from the managers continuous it valuation of internal organization by using strategic planning method. The third process that the dean has to follow is to understand the labor shifts in the market for the requirements of the position and skills of the employee. By observing all the requirements and skills of the employee with the market will help the organization to stay always top from its competitors. Fourth process is that the dean has to focus on developing the employees with the required skills in the organization to achieve the planned aims and have to ensure that there will be a successful carrier in the future for the organization. Fifth process is planning the budget and allocating them to the employees as planned in the organization. The next process is to ensure they are not overspending the money. Over and under staffing costs are controlled by human resource planning department and ensure that the organization remain competitive. Finally the dean has to go through the external factors which affect the organization, external factors that affect the organization are like labor market, social environment and competitors etc.. How to cite Human Resource Planning, Essay examples

Dawn News Analysis free essay sample

In this era of mega exposure where news is readily available within seconds with the vast choices of mediums and channels, keeping up with the competitors has become an ongoing challenge for all the media organizations. â€Å"How to report the news first? † and â€Å"How to get more and more viewers glued to our channel and programming† has become the ultimate quest for these media moguls. But when being in this never-ending race, some channels actually prefer quantity of matters over quality of news and some prefer content quality over mere viewership. Such is the case with Dawn News. Initially Dawn News, being an English Language News channel primarily catered the urban educated upper tier of population – which is a small niche out of the entire population. Programs were designed to be youth-centric as well as compatible to those on BBC and CNN. 80% of News and Program anchors, journalists and reporters were under the age of 35. We will write a custom essay sample on Dawn News Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Along with News, channel focused on documentaries and art and culture based shows. Morning show with offbeat and demure outlook â€Å"the First Blast† captured the attention of people who desired to watch an intellectually sound infotainment show rather than baseless gossip and riff raff. Also programs like EQUINOX introduced toi the viewers a different and more peaceful view of Pakistan through documentaries rather than just a holiday spot for Taliban. Unfortunately money talks louder than praise. Although highly acclaimed for its approached in the niche it catered to, Dawn faced financial crunch. In Result, On May 15, 2010, Dawn News converted into an Urdu news channel. The conversion is mainly due to its financial crisis and thin viewership in the country for an English news channel. This decision along with the positioning change, gave dawn an arena to compete in a larger market with big shot competitors. Initially test transmission of four hours a day was ran which was well received. Along with this change, there also came a change in the aim of the channel: â€Å"In this world of chaos and confusion, Dawn News will provide viewers news and information with clarity and accuracy as well as informed debate so that they may become agents of change. † Coming to the current programming, Hourly news bulletins are aired. These news bulletins are aiming to deliver information and news rather to create confusing and misleading sensationalism. Dawn should be commended not to succumb to make their news bulletins a musical melodrama like many of its competitors. It gave the channel’s credibility a boost through its sombre style of reporting, not opinion formation! After the news, the most noticeable programs are the primetime shows KAB TAK with host Sofia Jamal and NEWS NIGHT by Talat Hussain. Dawn moved on to hire more experienced hosts like Talat Hussain to reach out to the audience who already follow their favorite hosts. Along with the positives came the drawbacks of competing with the highly commercial market competitors. The once sombre morning show â€Å"The First Blast† has been replaced by a run-of-the-mill morning show named â€Å"Mast Mornings† – which totally neglecting the intellectual audience of the previous show, went on with the masala factor. Also investigative program â€Å"RAID† actually exceeds the line between a reporter reporting the crime and actually intervening the private lives and sanctity of a citizen. All in all, Dawn News does have commercialized and customized itself to compete with the market competitors, which did result in loosing some positive ethical values and a niche of viewers too,but at the same time it has still been able to keep its credibility and not blend in the usual mash-ups on air.

The Wild Colonial Boy free essay sample

The wild colonial boy{Poetry Analysis) The wild colonial boy The ballad, â€Å"Wild Colonial Boy† by unknown has the context of an Australian traditional bush ballad. In this ballad there are many language techniques such as similes, metaphors, personification, repetition, rhythm and rhyme. The narrative of this ballad is that there once was a boy named Jack Doolan who robbed the rich and fed the poor. In the end he is fatally wounded by one of the troopers (police).This also leaves the question in the end that was he the good guy or the bad guy? The main setting is the Australian bush (outback) because the chorus keeps on repeating after each stanza: â€Å"Then, come all my hearties, we’ll range the mountain sides, Together we will plunger, together we will ride, We’ll scour along valleys and gallop o’er plains, we scorn to live in slavery bowed down in iron chains. We will write a custom essay sample on The Wild Colonial Boy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The consistent rhythm in this ballad is AABB. The way that the rhyming techniques are set out keeps the consistent rhythm/beat in the poem.For example in the first stanza he uses â€Å"name-Castlemaine†, â€Å"joy-boy†, the first line rhymes with second line and the third line rhymes with the last line in each stanza. Also the language used in this ballad is old English (about the middle of the 19th century). The main themes in this ballad are â€Å"the law vs. individuals† and â€Å"personal freedom†. The other themes can also be â€Å"good verses bad† because in my understanding the wild colonial boy can be the good guy and the troopers the bad or it can be the other way round.There is direct quote in only one of the stanzas which is in the second last stanza. â€Å"Surrender now, Jack Doolan, you see there’s three to one. Surrender now, Jack Doolan, you daring highwayman. † He drew a pistol from his belt, and shook the little toy. â€Å"I’ll fight, but not surrender,† said the wild Colonial boy. This dialogue tells a conversation leading to how he was defeated in the end and it tells both sides even though there isn’t much that they are saying. There is also imagery used in this ballad.The second stanza describes the outback, and the last stanza, line 3 describes perfectly how his jaw was broken. The poet uses the term â€Å"shattered†. The reason why I chose this ballad to be in my portfolio because it describes the Australian outback in those days and how hard life was for people. Some of them had to steal food and/or money, such as the wild Colonial boy. It also uses words that we don’t use words know a days such as â€Å"troopers† which we call cops/police officers. So it is good learning the vocabulary of the past and comparing it today.

Free Essays on Understanding David Hayden’s Meaning Of Guns As Protection In Larry Watson’s Montana 1948

There are many guns that come in and out of David Hayden’s life in Larry Watson’s Montana 1948. As each of the guns is encountered, many meanings come to mind but of the entire meanings one is constant. The meaning of protection is always there. As he encounters each gun, David understanding of how the guns serve as a meaning for protection is reinforced. David’s images of Wes Hayden’s gun, which was acquired during an arrest of a â€Å"drunken transient†, is seen as â€Å"a small .32 automatic, Italian-made and no bigger than your palm† (17-18). David believes that compared to a â€Å"Western Colt .45† this small insignificant gun could not protect anyone (17). He compares the differing structures of the guns; the â€Å"Italian-made† is small and doesn’t feel like it would contain much fire power while the â€Å"Western Colt .45† shows strength (17). Even though Wes’s small gun â€Å"looked my like a toy†, David never attempted to play with it because it was still something that could protect his father if the moment arose (18). When Wes did carry his gun, it was in a â€Å"holster meant for a larger gun and revolver† (18). In David’s eyes, this meant that the small gun might not be able to protect the Hayden family if called upon to do so. The feeling that David has is that Wes should carry a gun like the one that his grandfather, Julian, might own in his arsenal out on the ranch. It is one of the guns in Julian’s arsenal makes it’s presence during a family trip to Minneapolis. After returning from the bar, Wes tells Gail that â€Å"Pop has pulled out that .32 revolver of his† to let â€Å"the city boy† know he is not intimidated by what he was saying (74). Julian tries to protect the boots that he loves, his life as a rancher, being an outsider in this town and being a lawman during this confrontation. David interprets the meaning of Wes’s story to be that the â€Å".32 revolver† that Julian had served as pr... Free Essays on Understanding David Hayden’s Meaning Of Guns As Protection In Larry Watson’s Montana 1948 Free Essays on Understanding David Hayden’s Meaning Of Guns As Protection In Larry Watson’s Montana 1948 There are many guns that come in and out of David Hayden’s life in Larry Watson’s Montana 1948. As each of the guns is encountered, many meanings come to mind but of the entire meanings one is constant. The meaning of protection is always there. As he encounters each gun, David understanding of how the guns serve as a meaning for protection is reinforced. David’s images of Wes Hayden’s gun, which was acquired during an arrest of a â€Å"drunken transient†, is seen as â€Å"a small .32 automatic, Italian-made and no bigger than your palm† (17-18). David believes that compared to a â€Å"Western Colt .45† this small insignificant gun could not protect anyone (17). He compares the differing structures of the guns; the â€Å"Italian-made† is small and doesn’t feel like it would contain much fire power while the â€Å"Western Colt .45† shows strength (17). Even though Wes’s small gun â€Å"looked my like a toy†, David never attempted to play with it because it was still something that could protect his father if the moment arose (18). When Wes did carry his gun, it was in a â€Å"holster meant for a larger gun and revolver† (18). In David’s eyes, this meant that the small gun might not be able to protect the Hayden family if called upon to do so. The feeling that David has is that Wes should carry a gun like the one that his grandfather, Julian, might own in his arsenal out on the ranch. It is one of the guns in Julian’s arsenal makes it’s presence during a family trip to Minneapolis. After returning from the bar, Wes tells Gail that â€Å"Pop has pulled out that .32 revolver of his† to let â€Å"the city boy† know he is not intimidated by what he was saying (74). Julian tries to protect the boots that he loves, his life as a rancher, being an outsider in this town and being a lawman during this confrontation. David interprets the meaning of Wes’s story to be that the â€Å".32 revolver† that Julian had served as pr...

Learn About Homonyms and See Examples

Learn About Homonyms and See Examples Homonyms are two or more words that have the same sound or spelling but differ in meaning. Adjectives: homonymic and homonymous. Generally, the term homonym refers both to homophones (words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings, such as pair and pear) and to homographs (words that are spelled the same but have different meanings, such as bow your head and tied in a bow). Note that some dictionaries and textbooks define and distinguish these three terms in different ways. Some equate homonyms only with homophones (words that sound the same). Others equate homonymns only with homographs (words that look the same). See the observations below by Tom McArthur and David Rothwell. Also see Homophones and Homographs: An American Dictionary, 4th ed., by James B. Hobbs (McFarland Company, 2006). Pronunciation HOM-i-nims Etymology From the Greek, same name Examples and Observations Mine is a long and sad tale! said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing.It is a long tail, certainly, said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouses tail; but why do you call it sad?(Lewis Carroll, Alices Adventures in Wonderland)Your children need your presence more than your presents.(Jesse Jackson)I enjoy bass fishing and playing the bass guitar.The groups lead singer carried a lead pipe for protection.His death, which happend in his berth,At forty-odd befell:They went and told the sexton, andThe sexton tolld the bell.(Thomas Hood, Faithless Sally Brown)Attend your Church, the parson cries:To church each fair one goes;The old go there to close their eyes,The young to eye their clothes.Mae Maebe Funke: Do you guys know where I could get one of those gold T-shaped pendants?Michael: Thats a cross.Mae Maebe Funke: Across from where?(Alia Shawkat and Jason Bateman in Arrested Development) Homonymy A case of homonymy is one of an ambiguous word whose different senses are far apart from each other and not obviously related to each other in any way with respect to a native speakers intuition. Cases of homonymy seem very definitely to be matters of mere accident or coincidence. (James R. Hurford, Brendan Heasley, and Michael B. Smith, Semantics: A Coursebook, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2007) Three Kinds of Homonyms There are three kinds [of homonyms]: those that sound and look alike (bank a slope, bank a place for money, and bank a bench or row of switches); homophones, that sound alike but do not look alike (coarse, course); and homographs, that look alike but do not sound alike (the verb lead, the metal lead). . . . There are over 3,000 homographs in the Concise Oxford Dictionary (8th edition, 1990). (Tom McArthur, Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press, 1992) Homographs and Homophones The reason that there is confusion and a lack of clarity over homonym is that it is closely related to two other words, homograph and homophone. I shall, therefore, define these words first. It is possible for a word to be a homograph or a homophone. However, whatever the word may be, it is also, by definition, a homonym. In other words, homonym is a conceptual word that embraces both homographs and homophones. . . . [H]omonym is just the collective noun for homograph and homophone. (David Rothwell, Dictionary of Homonyms. Wordsworth, 2007) A homograph is a word that is spelled identically to another word but none the less has a different meaning and probably a different origin. You will doubtless be annoyed if you tear your trousers while climbing over a fence. Indeed, you may be so upset that you shed a tear. As you can see, tear and tear are spelled identically, but they are pronounced differently and have entirely different meanings. They are good examples of a homograph. Many homographs are not even pronounced differently. Thus the word hide sounds exactly the same whether you are talking about the skin of an animal, a measure of land or the verb meaning to conceal or keep out of sight. A homophone is a word that sounds exactly like another word  but has a different meaning and a different spelling. If you stand on the stair and stare at the picture, you have a good example of a couple of homophones. . . . The Lighter Side of Homonyms Secret-keeping is a complicated endeavor. One has to be concerned not only about what one says, but about facial expressions, autonomic reflexes. When I try to deceive, I myself have more nervous tics than a Lyme disease research facility. [pause] Its a joke. It relies on the homonymic relationship between tick, the blood-sucking arachnid, and tic, the involuntary muscular contraction. I made it up myself. (Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper in The Bad Fish Paradigm. The Big Bang Theory, 2008) Test your knowledge by taking this  Commonly Confused Words Quiz

TET Offensive Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

TET Offensive - Essay Example Johnson, upon assuming the Presidency after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, inherited not only Kennedy's social reform policies but also the United States' involvement in Vietnam. He had never wanted to become a 'war president'. His primary objective had been to ensure a legacy of a president who gave his country social reform policies and programs devoted to establishing the 'Great Society' and first three years saw him work almost exclusively towards achieving it.2 This solitary concentration cost him conscientiousness with regard to the Vietnam Conflict. During the first three years Johnson was responsible for establishing groundbreaking strides in the Civil Rights Movement, development of programs to provide training for the poor, such as Job Corps and VISTA, establishment of the Medicare/Medicaid Programs, and creation of educational enrichment programs for disadvantaged children such as Head Start, to name just a few3; Ironically, however, these programs which would come to become an intrinsic part of American society, is not what Johnson is remembered for. He as a President is responsible for leading the United States into the longest period of continuous armed battle in its history - The Vietnam Conflict. ... In simpler words, he underestimated the commitment and investment that were necessary for launching a sustained Vietnam Conflict.4 Although the TET offensive is hailed by many as the turning point of the war, its political ramifications were laid years earlier. During an address at John Hopkins University in 1965, LBJ stated "We fight because we must fight it [the Vietnam Conflict] if we are to live in a world where every country can shape its own destiny. And only in such a world will our own freedom be finally secure".5 In fact, the United States' entry into Vietnam was anything but altruistic in nature. America involved itself for purely political motives, and in Johnson's defense the events leading up to it did predate his presidency. However, he escalated the political stakes and ultimately lost. The war in Vietnam was not a war of major battle engagements, although at times there were some. Vietnam was more of guerrilla warfare. There were neither defined battle lines nor set plans. With the Vietcong's endless manpower supply, they were able; it seemed, to hold America, the 'super power' at bay indefinitely. By February of 1966 General Westmoreland asked for a significant increase in manpower. What had begun as several thousand American soldiers had by this time escalated to over 400,000 combatants in Vietnam with no end in sight.Johnson, at this point, began to see his folly. He was stuck. On one hand he had to finance an ever increasing international war and on the other, his domestic commitment to social reform program, the Great Society. With no scope to compromise, he was trying to balance between the American public's acceptance and his power to exert his will upon them. Although he had avowed

Rivalry against Mr.Empanada Restaurant Research Paper

Rivalry against Mr.Empanada Restaurant - Research Paper Example Empanada was well on the way to being a recognized fast food company in the Tampa Bay area (Mr. Empanada). Mr. Empanada served as a vendor in the forum of the Tampa Bay Times. The most recent franchise of Mr. Empanada was established in the Soviet Union in St. Petersburg in September 2012 (Mr. Empanada). To preserve the quality of its products, Mr. Empanada only produces its food stuffs in one location in Armenia Avenue. There are many restaurant chains that sell empanadas in the United States; but Mr. Empanada is the only restaurant that specializes in creating different types of empanadas. It is also the only restaurant that operates in the Southeast. Empanadas, as well as other similar specialty food offerings are a niche market with potential for greater development. Empanadas are quite cost effective yet bring considerable proceeds to the restaurant. In addition, the low cost of the ingredients used to create empanadas along with the wide range of flavors that can be used has be en made Mr. Empanada a great success. Macro environment factors refer to external factors that affect a company but that are beyond a company’s capacity to control. A model that addresses external factors that affect firms is the Porter’s Five Forces Model. ... g power of suppliers (d) Rivalry among business competitors (e) The threat of substitute products (Kerfoot, Davies, and Ward 115) Diagram of Porter’s Five Forces Analysis (Porter, 89) Competitive rivalry concerns one of the most important aspects for industries, as it may be used to decide on potential marketing or operating strategies that will ensure that the organizations stays ahead of the competition. Mr. Empanada’s marketing strategies are largely based on factors that take into account its competitors. The restaurant’s consumers naturally have high standards and will opt for the outlet that caters best for their needs. This explains why Mr. Empanada is constantly looking to create new and more flavor filled products that are created with organic raw materials. Rivalry in the restaurant industry is evident in the price discounting practices, advertising campaigns, service improvement initiatives, and new product introductions that are often seen in many res taurants. Moreover, sometimes, intense competition can negatively affect profitability. Many times, the intensity of business rivalry is brought about by the following factors: Exit Barriers – Competition between businesses usually increases when the expenses involved in closing the business are more than the costs involved in remaining in business. The expression ‘exit barrier’ is descriptive of an impediment that makes it difficult for an entrepreneur to leave the business. These barriers mean that the entrepreneur will incur a great cost in spite of having good reasons for leaving. Exit barriers can exacerbate business rivalry because if a corporation is not able to leave due to underperformance, it is forced to compete. In the restaurant industry, there is a low exit rate and there are not many

Introduction to Management Essay Example for Free

Introduction to Management Essay Panera bread Ronald Shaich, CEO and chair man of Panera bread made a phenomenal growth in revenue of the company from $350.8 million to $ 977.1 million in just 3 years from year 2000 to 2003. However the growth has continued slowing down from that year on so a strategy is being strategized to help Panera Bread survive. The objective is to make Panera a nationally dominating brand by following a corporate strategy of growth by the combination of company and franchise efforts. With a clear objective it would help the company and its staff to know their goal and what they are achieving for. The concept is to deliver against the key consumer trends; to present a fast casual dining experience but also providing varieties of new and healthier menus to cater for the market segments. Improvements are done not only the product but also improving the overall operating systems, design and real estates. For the company’s image participating in the local community charity for corporate social responsibility. See more: introduction paragraph example The policies are all franchisees are to follow the same standards for product quality, menu, site selection, and bakery cafà © construction as the company’s. The company believed that the employee was a critical part of successful product and a unique company so by entrusting the employees to the fresh dough and support center operations with skilled associates and invested in training programs to ensure the quality and its operations. Recommended strategy Panera is to adopt Growth strategy through horizontal integration and using franchising as its key component to Panera’s growth strategy. The reason for continuing the horizontal integration is because does not have the capabilities to employ full backward/ forward integration. Thus vertical integration is not suitable in this case. The horizontal integration matches with the Panera’s concept bakery-cafes and it is the way for Panera to be able to grow more rapidly. Competitive strategy used is Differentiation, employing the Differentiation strategy; Panera will be able to charge higher prices to cover the increasing fixed costs. However with higher quality products than of fast food chains’, tailored menus, upscale dà ©cor and Panera’s commitment to customer it is very possible to charge higher price. Improvements should be made in the Human Resource department in compensation benefits system. Salaried staffs get product discount, bonuses, incentive programs, training, and employee stock ownership plans however salaried worker should be rewarded too through recognition award system or giving out vouchers to the non salaried workers. Management team The management team would be lead by all the executives and presidents in the company who has and extensive experience in managing and executing the Panera business. Mainly to manage all the important sectors like the Concept, Development, Joint Venture, Franchise, Supply Chain, Operating, Financial and the Administrative. II. COMPANY BACKGROUND Panera bread has been around from 1976. Ronald Shaich, CEO and chairman of Panera bread was the person who created the company together with the master baker called Shaich who combined ingredients. The duo made the phenomenal growth of the company with the guidance of Shaich, the revenue of Panera bread rose from franchise of 419 shops, the average annualized unit volumes (AUVs) increased from 9.1% to 12% a well but in the consecutive year the increase slow down from 0.2% to 0.5%. Before it became a very successful company, there was Au Bon Pain which was purchased by Louis Kane in 1978. The bakery faced a $3 million in debt while struggling with 13 stores but 10 was shut down. Ronald Shaich came into the picture when Kane was about to declare bankrupt. Shaich who owned a bakery: Cookie Jar merged together with Au Bon Pain in 1981 these was to help the sell in the morning. The two expanded the business and decreased the debt between 1981 and 1984. In 1985 Au Bon Pain became a place for urban folk who were tired of fast food. By 1991 Kane and Shaich took the company public and had 200 stores and $183 million in sales. The duo continued expanding by buying over St. Louis Bread Company from Ken Rosenthal, which had 19-store bakery cafà © in St. Louis area. While Au Bon Pain was focusing on making St. Louis bread a national brand the expansion of the urban outlet had operational problems and had a debt of $65 million. Lacking of capital they sold Au Bon Pain and concentrated on Panera, which the name that was change to in May 16, 1999, being debt free the cash allowed expansion of the bakery cafe stores. III. CURRENT SITUATION III.A. CURRENT PERFORMANCE Panera has been experiencing rapid growth under the leadership of Ronald Shaich. Under his guidance, Panera ‘s total system wide revenue rose from $350.8 million to $ 977.1 million in just 3 years from year 2000 to 2003 respectively. This rapid growth is caused by the new unit expansion of 419 bakery-cafes from 1999 to 2003. However as the year passed by, the company’s system wide sales average annualized unit volumes began to decline. The growth rate has slows down for Panera. To continue growing, Panera will need to develop new strategies, initiatives and new unit growth. There are 2 classes of Common Stock ownership in the company: (1). Class A Stock with 28,345,754 shares outstanding and 1 vote per share. (2) Class B Stock with 1,761,521 shares outstanding and 3 votes per share. The company’s revenues were derived from company-owned bakery-cafà © sales, fresh dough sales to franchisees, and franchise royalties fees. The total company revenues rose 28.1% to $355.9million in 2003 compared to $ 277.8 million in 2002. The increase in revenue was due to the opening of 131 new bakery-cafes in 2003. From 2002 to 2003 the bakery-cafà © sales has increased by 25.1% from $212.6 million to $265.9 million. This is due to a full year’s operation of 23 company-owned bakery-cafes created in 2002, the opening of 29 company-owned bakery-cafes in 2003, and the 1.7% increase in comparable bakery-cafà © sales for 2003. III.B. STRATEGIC POSTURE †¢ Mission statement 1. To extend its franchise relationship beyond its current franchises. 2. To doing the best bread In America 3. Panera’s concept was designed around meeting the needs and desires of consumers, specially the need for efficient, time saving service and the desire for a high quality dining experience. †¢ Objectives 1. To make Panera a nationally dominant brand. †¢ Strategy 1. The concept is to deliver against the key consumer trends, to present a fast casual dining experience. 2. Following a corporate strategy of growth by the combination of company and franchise efforts. 3. Providing varieties of new and healthier menus to cater for the market segments. 4. Testing prototypes for product development. 5. Improving the overall operating systems, design and real estate. 6. Participating in the local community charity.

Jazz Concert Review Essay -- Music Jazz Musical Review Essays

Jazz Concert Review I enjoy and listen to variety of music from classical music to rap music. I have attended many concerts, mostly symphony bands concerts. However, interestingly, through whole my life, I have never experienced jazz music and I have never been to jazz concert. Therefore, it was hard for me to decide which jazz concerts would give me most pleasure and exciting experience. I researched for jazz concerts listing and I have decided to go to the Ron Eschete Trio Concerts because it was held closed to my house and was free. Compared to all the other concerts that I have gone to, the Ron Eschete Trio concert was a definite change in atmosphere. On February 23, 20001 I attended a concert held at Ahmnson Building in Los Angeles County Museum of Art, featuring Ron Eschete on seven string guitar, Todd Johnson on six string bass, and Paul Humphrey on drums. It was three hours long, from 5:30 to 8:30. I arrived there little late because it said to be held on times mirror central court but it was actually playing at lower level of Ahmnson Building. As soon as I walked in, I realized that it has totally different atmosphere from what my expectations were for the music concerts. Unlike all the other concerts I attended, this concert intended for small audience, probably around a hundred people. Also, this jazz concert seemed very relaxed and comfortable. Most of people were dressed very casual, wearing jeans and shirts. But the musicians were dressed in suit, which seemed quite awkward to me. There was a good diverse group of people, from young children to senior citizens. There was also a pretty even mix of different cultures, too. While the musician?s were playing, I was surprised how the audience was. Most of the audience was talking loud, drinking alcohol and eating snacks. Some audience was even clapping hands and humming along with the song. This was quite an opposite environment compared to the concerts I went to. Sometimes the audience was so loud that I could barely hear the songs. It was interesting that even though the crowd was so loud, the musicians seemed very comfortable with it. They played the song as if the audience?s voice was also part of their song. When audience was loud, they would play loud and when audience became quite, they played very soft and tender. It might be to get audience?s attention. But, it seemed the m... ...nt from lower pitch sound to high pitch, showing various pitches they can make. They differed in style when they went solo. Ron Eschete mixed high and low pitch sound very irregularly and each tone seemed very distant like Monk?s style. Todd Johnson rhythm and tone was more smooth and close to each other, giving impression of cool jazz style. The other element is a swing feeling. This can be described as a feeling that makes you want to dance, clap your hands, of tap your feet. During the concert, as I looked around in the audience, I could see people bobbing their heads, and tapping their feet. Due to the fast tempo, the Ron Eschete Trio?s music just made people want to dance even though it sounded smooth and mellow. Going to jazz concert gave me an opportunity to experience new atmosphere of the concert. I enjoyed the informal and casual style of concert?s atmosphere. However, I disliked how people were too loud while the musicians were performing. The Ron Eschete Trio?s music style was not quite what I have expected. Although it was totally different from the jazz I was used to listen in class, I really like it. It was very modern, but also had the elements of early Jazz.

Asnani Nandini Essay

The Bitter Truth Polar bears sweating, the Earth reforming Into a volcano. And oxygen artificially supplied to the atmosphere is the future of tomorrow. It is unfortunately a consequence of our activities today. â€Å"The truth† that AH Gore considers to be a potential threat is the trapping of gases within the boundaries of the ozone layer, with the addition of humans deepening the wound with their negligence. The truth is an eye-opener for negligent individuals.Global warming- an extremely adverse word and a great deal of controversy. An Inconvenient Truth is a terrifying and imminent once which awakens us to realize our responsibility we need to have to the earth. Davis Guggenheim presents the film in a form of presentation, showing the upward trend of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. AH Gore connects this data with glances of melting of Ice caps, and shows how dependent people are. In fact, 40% of the people are dependent on the water that these Ice caps provide.De forestation Is reflected with Increasing factories and reduced trees. The Impact of this global carols is unprecedented. Vehicular pollution, burning of fossil fuels and human caused hazards like this are depleting our resources. Myths and misconceptions about the earth were unveiled. For instance, the bitter truth of animals losing their habitat and forest fires is not Just a natural hazard. It is a proved, irresponsible action of the selfish humans, who deforest and for their own greed set up factories.To top that, they pollute the environment with their factory pollutants in the form of smoke and oil spills. If this be the condition furthermore, we all will be walking around with oxygen masks. This truth shows us that global warming Is not a political issue but rather, the biggest moral and ethical challenge facing our civilization due to our own actions. These facts should help to galvanism people, governments, organizations and Individuals to work on a better environment. Some myths exposed transfixed us In stupefaction.Such as, the average American generates about 1 5,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year from personal transportation, home energy use and from the energy used to produce all of the products and services we consume. Most emissions from homes are from the fossil fuels burned to generate electricity and heat. By using energy more efficiently at home, you can reduce your emissions by more than 30%. Our actions to reduce global warming can extend beyond how we personally reduce our own emissions. We all have influence on our schools, workplaces, businesses, and on society through how we make purchases, invest, take action, and vote.The truth emphasizes how we provoke the environment, such that It backfires to us unknowingly. The population Is dependent on the resources of the environment and do not realize they are depleting It themselves! â€Å"What we take for granted might not be here for our This quote of AH gore should be a repeated ech o and remind us to wake up and realize that we are the only preservers oxide struck me. It was shocking to know that the ten most hot years have occurred in the past fifteen years! More devastating summers indicates greater chances of hurricanes.The heat and warmer air Just adds fuel to on going hurricanes Just like Strain. It seemed pretty simple until it rapidly increased in the degree of its disruption after passing over the Gulf of Mexico. And finally when it reached New Orleans, the consequence of those warm winds caused immense destruction, loss of lives and property. Another important aspect of â€Å"The Inconvenient Truth† which is highlighted is the Kyoto Protocol. It focuses on the measures taken to reduce pollution and bring down the level of carbon-did-oxide in the environment.The alarming visuals stress on facts is an eye-opener and makes us aware of the severity of damage we have done. The truth is, we are facing a crisis bigger than warmer days, overworked air conditions and painful sunburns- the exploitation and depletion of the resources of the Earth. Apparently, all the cycles of the Earth are interrelated. The need of the hour is to make an impact on this planet, reduce the carbon footprint and make your voice be heard. Losing the planet and even the fear about it can be depressing and overwhelming.The title represents how â€Å"inconvenient† this is going to be in the near future and the suffering we are going to go through. Switch off those electric bulbs when not in use, change them to the incandescent lights, car pool, use chimneys, reduce, reuse and recycle. Promote and pass this understanding to others. The film ends as it began with stunning video of a beautiful wilderness stream peacefully flowing to the ocean in the hope that such scenes will remain a part of the future landscape. So step out and make a difference!

Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

For men, I think, love is a thing formed of equal parts lust and astonishment. The astonishment part women understand. The lust part they only think they understand. Very few perhaps one in twenty have any concept of what it really is or how deep it runs. That's probably just as well for their sleep and peace of mind. And I'm not talking about the lust of satyrs and rapists and molesters; I'm talking about the lust of shoe-clerks and high-school principals. Not to mention writers and lawyers. We turned into Mattie's dooryard at ten to eleven, and as I parked my Chevy beside her rusted-out Jeep, the trailer door opened and Mat-tie came out on the top step. I sucked in my breath, and beside me I could hear John sucking in his. She was very likely the most beautiful young woman I have ever seen in my life as she stood there in her rose-colored shorts and matching middy top. The shorts were not short enough to be cheap (my mother's word) but plenty short enough to be provocative. Her top tied in floppy string bows across the shoulders and showed just enough tan to dream on. Her hair hung to her shoulders. She was smiling and waving. I thought, She's made it take her into the country-club dining room now, dressed just as she is, and she shuts everyone else down. ‘Oh Lordy,' John said. There was a kind of dismayed longing in his voice. ‘All that and a bag of chips.' ‘Yeah,' I said. ‘Put your eyes back in your head, big boy.' He made cupping motions with his hands as if doing just that. George, meanwhile, had pulled his Altima in next to us. ‘Come on,' I said, opening my door. ‘Time to party.' ‘I can't touch her, Mike,' John said. ‘I'll melt.' ‘Come on, you goof.' Mattie came down the steps and past the pot with the tomato plant in it. Ki was behind her, dressed in an outfit similar to her mother's, only in a shade of dark green. She had the shys again, I saw; she kept one steadying hand on Mattie's leg and one thumb in her mouth. ‘The guys are here! The guys are here!' Mattie cried, laughing, and threw herself into my arms. She hugged me tight and kissed the corner of my mouth. I hugged her back and kissed her cheek. Then she moved on to John, read his shirt, patted her hands together in applause, and then hugged him. He hugged back pretty well for a guy who was afraid he might melt, I thought, picking her up off her feet and swinging her around in a circle while she hung onto his neck and laughed. ‘Rich lady, rich lady, rich lady!' John chanted, then set her down on the cork soles of her white shoes. ‘Free lady, free lady, free lady!' she chanted back. ‘The hell with rich!' Before he could reply, she kissed him firmly on the mouth. His arms rose to slip around her, but she stepped back before they could catch hold. She turned to Rommie and George, who were standing side-by-side and looking like fellows who might want to explain all about the Mormon Church. I took a step forward, meaning to do the introductions, but John was taking care of that, and one of his arms managed to accomplish its mission after all it circled her waist as he led her forward toward the men. Meanwhile a little hand slipped into mine. I looked down and saw Ki looking up at me. Her face was grave and pale and every bit as beautiful as her mother's. Her blonde hair, freshly washed and shining, was held back with a velvet scrunchy. ‘Guess the fridgeafator people don't like me now,' she said. The laughter and insouciance were gone, at least for the moment. She looked on the verge of tears. ‘My letters all went bye-bye.' I picked her up and set her in the crook of my arm as I had on the day I'd met her walking down the middle of Route 68 in her bathing suit. I kissed her forehead and then the tip of her nose. Her skin was perfect silk. ‘I know they did,' I said. ‘I'll buy you some more.' ‘Promise?' Doubtful dark blue eyes fixed on mine. ‘Promise. And I'll teach you special words like â€Å"zygote† and â€Å"bibulous†. I know lots of special words.' ‘How many?' ‘A hundred and eighty.' Thunder rumbled in the west. It didn't seem louder, but it was more focused, somehow. Ki's eyes went in that direction, then came back to mine. ‘I'm scared, Mike.' ‘Scared? Of what?' ‘Ofi don't know. The lady in Mattie's dress. The men we saw.' Then she looked over my shoulder. ‘Here comes Mommy.' I have heard actresses deliver the line Not in front of the children in that exact same tone of voice. Kyra wiggled in the circle of my arms. ‘Land me.' I landed her. Mattie, John, Rommie, and George came over to join us. Ki ran to Mattie, who picked her up and then eyed us like a general surveying her troops. ‘Got the beer?' she asked me. ‘Yessum. A case of Bud and a dozen mixed sodas, as well. Plus lemonade.' ‘Great. Mr. Kennedy ‘ ‘George, ma'am.' ‘George, then. And if you call me ma'am again, I'll punch you in the nose. I'm Mattie. Would you drive down to the Lakeview General'-she pointed to the store on Route 68, about half a mile from us ‘and get some ice?' ‘You bet.' ‘Mr. Bissonette ‘ ‘Rommie.' ‘There's a little garden at the north end of the trailer, Rommie. Can you find a couple of good-looking lettuces?' ‘I think I can handle that.' ‘John, let's get the meat into the fridge. As for you, Michael . . . ‘ She pointed to the barbecue. ‘The briquets are the self-lighting kind just drop a match and stand back. Do your duty.' ‘Aye, good lady,' I said, and dropped to my knees in front of her. That finally got a giggle out of Ki. Laughing, Mattie took my hand and pulled me back onto my feet. ‘Come on, Sir Galahad,' she said. ‘It's going to rain. I want to be safe inside and too stuffed to jump when it does.' In the city, parties begin with greetings at the door, gathered-in coats, and those peculiar little air-kisses (when, exactly, did that social oddity begin?). In the country, they begin with chores. You fetch, you carry, you hunt for stuff like barbecue tongs and oven mitts. The hostess drafts a couple of men to move the picnic table, then decides it was actually better where it was and asks them to put it back. And at some point you discover that you're having fun. I piled briquets until they looked approximately like the pyramid on the bag, then touched a match to them. They blazed up satisfyingly and I stood back, wiping my forearm across my forehead. Cool and clear might be coming, but it surely wasn't in hailing distance yet. The sun had burned through and the day had gone from dull to dazzling, yet in the west black-satin thunderheads continued to stack up. It was as if night had burst a blood-vessel in the sky over there. ‘Mike?' I looked around at Kyra. ‘What, honey?' ‘Will you take care of me?' ‘Yes,' I said with no hesitation at all. For a moment something about my response perhaps only the quickness of it seemed to trouble her. Then she smiled. ‘Okay,' she said. ‘Look, here comes the ice-man!' George was back from the store. He parked and got out. I walked over with Kyra, she holding my hand and swinging it possessively back and forth. Rommie came with us, juggling three heads of lettuce I didn't think he was much of a threat to the guy who had fascinated Ki on the common Saturday night. George opened the Altima's back door and brought out two bags of ice. ‘The store was closed,' he said. ‘Sign said WILL RE-OPEN AT 5 P.M. That seemed a little too long to wait, so I took the ice and put the money through the mail-slot.' They'd closed for Royce Merrill's funeral, of course. Had given up almost a full day's custom at the height of the tourist season to see the old fellow into the ground. It was sort of touching. I thought it was also sort of creepy. ‘Can I carry some ice?' Kyra asked. ‘I guess, but don't frizzicate yourself,' George said, and carefully put a five-pound bag of ice into Ki's outstretched arms. ‘Frizzicate,' Kyra said, giggling. She began walking toward the trailer, where Mattie was just coming out. John was behind her and regarding her with the eyes of a gutshot beagle. ‘Mommy, look! I'm frizzicating!' I took the other bag. ‘I know the icebox is outside, but don't they keep a padlock on it?' ‘I am friends with most padlocks,' George said. ‘Oh. I see.' ‘Mike! Catch!' John tossed a red Frisbee. It floated toward me, but high. I jumped for it, snagged it, and suddenly Devore was back in my head: What's wrong with you, Rogette? You never used to throw like a girl Get him! I looked down and saw Ki looking up. ‘Don't think about sad stuff,' she said. I smiled at her, then flipped her the Frisbee. ‘Okay, no sad stuff. Go on, sweetheart. Toss it to your mom. Let's see if you can.' She smiled back, turned, and made a quick, accurate flip to her mother the toss was so hard that Mattie almost flubbed it. Whatever else Kyra Devore might have been, she was a Frisbee champion in the making. Mattie tossed the Frisbee to George, who turned, the tail of his absurd brown suitcoat flaring, and caught it deftly behind his back. Mattie laughed and applauded, the hem of her top flirting with her navel. ‘Showoff!' John called from the steps. ‘Jealousy is such an ugly emotion,' George said to Rommie Bissonette, and flipped him the Frisbee. Rommie floated it back to John, but it went wide and bonked off the side of the trailer. As John hurried down the steps to get it, Mattie turned to me. ‘My boombox is on the coffee-table in the living room, along with a stack of CDs. Most of them are pretty old, but at least it's music. Will you bring them out?' ‘Sure.' I went inside, where it was hot in spite of three strategically placed fans working overtime. I looked at the grim, mass-produced furniture, and at Mattie's rather noble effort to impart some character: the van Gogh print that should not have looked at home in a trailer kitchenette but did, Edward Hopper's Nighthawks over the sofa, the tie-dyed curtains that would have made Jo laugh. There was a bravery here that made me sad for her and furious at Max Devore all over again. Dead or not, I wanted to kick his ass. I went into the living room and saw the new Mary Higgins Clark on the sofa end-table with a bookmark sticking out of it. Lying beside it in a heap were a couple of little-girl hair ribbons something about them looked familiar to me, although I couldn't remember ever having seen Ki wearing them. I stood there a moment longer, frowning, then grabbed the boombox and CDs and went back outside. ‘Hey, guys,' I said. ‘Let's rock.' I was okay until she danced. I don't know if it matters to you, but it does to me. I was okay until she danced. After that I was lost. We took the Frisbee around to the rear of the house, partly so we wouldn't piss off any funeral-bound townies with our rowdiness and good cheer, mostly because Mattie's back yard was a good place to play level ground and low grass. After a couple of missed catches, Mattie kicked off her party-shoes, dashed barefoot into the house, and came back in her sneakers. After that she was a lot better. We threw the Frisbee, yelled insults at each other, drank beer, laughed a lot. Ki wasn't much on the catching part, but she had a phenomenal arm for a kid of three and played with gusto. Rommie had set the boombox up on the trailer's back step, and it spun out a haze of late-eighties and early-nineties music: U2, Tears for Fears, the Eurythmics, Crowded House, A Flock of Seagulls, Ah-Hah, the Bangles, Melissa Etheridge, Huey Lewis and the News. It seemed to me that I knew every song, every riff. We sweated and sprinted in the noon light. We watched Mattie's long, tanned legs flash and listened to the bright runs of Kyra's laughter. At one point Rommie Bissonette went head over heels, all the change spilling out of his pockets, and John laughed until he had to sit down. Tears rolled from his eyes. Ki ran over and plopped on his defenseless lap. John stopped laughing in a hurry. ‘Ooofl' he cried, looking at me with shining, wounded eyes as his bruised balls no doubt tried to climb back inside his body. ‘Kyra Devore!' Mattie cried, looking at John apprehensively. ‘I taggled my own quartermack,' Ki said proudly. John smiled feebly at her and staggered to his feet. ‘Yes,' he said. ‘You did. And the ref calls fifteen yards for squashing.' ‘Are you okay, man?' George asked. He looked concerned, but his voice was grinning. ‘I'm fine,' John said, and spun him the Frisbee. It wobbled feebly across the yard. ‘Go on, throw. Let's see whatcha got.' The thunder rumbled louder, but the black clouds were all still west of us; the sky overhead remained a harmless humid blue. Birds still sang and crickets hummed in the grass. There was a heat-shimmer over the barbecue, and it would soon be time to slap on John's New York steaks. The Frisbee still flew, red against the green of the grass and trees, the blue of the sky. I was still in lust, but everything was still all right men are in lust all over the world and damned near all of the time, and the icecaps don't melt. But she danced, and everything changed. It was an old Don Henley song, one driven by a really nasty guitar riff. ‘Oh God, I love this one,' Mattie cried. The Frisbee came to her. She caught it, dropped it, stepped on it as if it were a hot red spot falling on a nightclub stage, and began to shake. She put her hands first behind her neck and then on her hips and then behind her back. She danced standing with the toes of her sneakers on the Frisbee. She danced without moving. She danced as they say in that song like a wave on the ocean. ‘The government bugged the men's room in the local disco lounge, And all she wants to do is dance, dance . . . To keep the boys from selling all the weapons they can scrounge, And all she wants to do, all she wants to do is dance.' Women are sexy when they dance incredibly sexy but that wasn't what I reacted to, or how I reacted. The lust I was coping with, but this was more than lust, and not copeable. It was something that sucked the wind out of me and left me feeling utterly at her mercy. In that moment she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, not a pretty woman in shorts and a middy top dancing in place on a Frisbee, but Venus revealed. She was everything I had missed during the last four years, when I'd been so badly off I didn't know I was missing anything. She robbed me of any last defenses I might have had. The age difference didn't matter. If I looked to people like my tongue was hanging out even when my mouth was shut, then so be it. If I lost my dignity, my pride, my sense of self, then so be it. Four years on my own had taught me there are worse things to lose. How long did she stand there, dancing? I don't know. Probably not long, not even a minute, and then she realized we were looking at her, rapt because to some degree they all saw what I saw and felt what I felt. For that minute or however long it was, I don't think any of us used much oxygen. She stepped off the Frisbee, laughing and blushing at the same time, confused but not really uncomfortable. ‘I'm sorry,' she said. ‘I just . . . I love that song.' ‘All she wants to do is dance,' Rommie said. ‘Yes, sometimes that's all she wants,' Mattie said, and blushed harder than ever. ‘Excuse me, I have to use the facility.' She tossed me the Frisbee and then dashed for the trailer. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself back to reality, and saw John doing the same thing. George Kennedy was wearing a mildly stunned expression, as if someone had fed him a light sedative and it was finally taking effect. Thunder rumbled. This time it did sound closer. I skimmed the Frisbee to Rommie. ‘What do you think?' ‘I think I'm in love,' he said, and then seemed to give himself a small mental shake it was a thing you could see in his eyes. ‘I also think it's time we got going on those steaks if we're going to eat outside. Want to help me?' ‘Sure.' ‘I will, too,' John said. We walked back to the trailer, leaving George and Kyra to play toss. Kyra was asking George if he had ever caught any crinimals. In the kitchen, Mattie was standing beside the open fridge and stacking steaks on a platter. ‘Thank God you guys came in. I was on the point of giving up and gobbling one of these just the way it is. They're the most beautiful things I ever saw.' ‘You're the most beautiful thing I ever saw,' John said. He was being totally sincere, but the smile she gave him was distracted and a little bemused. I made a mental note to myself: never compliment a woman on her beauty when she has a couple of raw steaks in her hands. It just doesn't turn the windmill somehow. ‘How are you at barbecuing meat?' she asked me. ‘Tell the truth, because these are way too good to mess up.' ‘I can hold my own.' ‘Okay, you're hired. John, you're assisting. Rommie, help me do salads.' ‘My pleasure.' George and Ki had come around to the front of the trailer and were now sitting in lawn-chairs like a couple of old cronies at their London club. George was telling Ki how he had shot it out with Rolfe Nedeau and the Real Bad Gang on Lisbon Street in 1993. ‘George, what's happening to your nose?' John asked. ‘It's getting so long.' ‘Do you mind?' George asked. ‘I'm having a conversation here.' ‘Mr. Kennedy has caught lots of crooked crinimals,' Kyra said. ‘He caught the Real Bad Gang and put them in Supermax.' ‘Yes,' I said. ‘Mr. Kennedy also won an Academy Award for acting in a movie called Cool Hand Luke.' ‘That's absolutely correct,' George said. He raised his right hand and crossed the two fingers. ‘Me and Paul Newman. Just like that.' ‘We have his pusgetti sauce,' Ki said gravely, and that got John laughing again. It didn't hit me the same way, but laughter is catching; just watching John was enough to break me up after a few seconds. We were howling like a couple of fools as we slapped the steaks on the grill. It's a wonder we didn't burn our hands off. ‘Why are they laughing?' Ki asked George. ‘Because they're foolish men with little tiny brains,' George said. ‘Now listen, Ki I got them all except for the Human Headcase. He jumped into his car and I jumped into mine. The details of that chase are nothing for a little girl to hear ‘ George regaled her with them anyway while John and I stood grinning at each other across Mattie's barbecue. ‘This is great, isn't it?' John said, and I nodded. Mattie came out with corn wrapped in aluminum foil, followed by Rommie, who had a large salad bowl clasped in his arms and negotiated the steps carefully, trying to peer over the top of the bowl as he made his way down them. We sat at the picnic table, George and Rommie on one side, John and I flanking Mattie on the other. Ki sat at the head, perched on a stack of old magazines in a lawn-chair. Mattie tied a dishtowel around her neck, an indignity Ki submitted to only because (a) she was wearing new clothes, and (b) a dishtowel wasn't a baby-bib, at least technically speaking. We ate hugely salad, steak (and John was right, it really was the best I'd ever had), roasted corn on the cob, ‘strewberry snortcake' for dessert. By the time we'd gotten around to the snortcake, the thunderheads were noticeably closer and there was a hot, jerky breeze blowing around the yard. ‘Mattie, if I never eat a meal as good as this one again, I won't be surprised,' Rommie said. ‘Thanks ever so much for having me.' ‘Thank you,' she said. There were tears standing in her eyes. She took my hand on one side and John's on the other. She squeezed both. ‘Thank you all. If you knew what things were like for Ki and me before this last week . . . ‘ She shook her head, gave John and me a final squeeze, and let go. ‘But that's over.' ‘Look at the baby,' George said, amused. Ki had slumped back in her lawn-chair and was looking at us with glazing eyes. Most of her hair had come out of the scrunchy and lay in clumps against her cheeks. There was a dab of whipped cream on her nose and a single yellow kernel of corn sitting in the middle of her chin. ‘I threw the Frisbee six fousan times,' Kyra said. She spoke in a distant, declamatory tone. ‘I tired.' Mattie started to get up. I put my hand on her arm. ‘Let me?' She nodded, smiling. ‘If you want.' I picked Kyra up and carried her around to the steps. Thunder rumbled again, a long, low roll that sounded like the snarl of a huge dog. I looked up at the encroaching clouds, and as I did, movement caught my eye. It was an old blue car heading west on Wasp Hill Road toward the lake. The only reason I noticed it was that it was wearing one of those stupid bumper-stickers from the Village Cafe: HORN BROKEN WATCH FOR FINGER. I carried Ki up the steps and through the door, turning her so I wouldn't bump her head. ‘Take care of me,' she said in her sleep. There was a sadness in her voice that chilled me. It was as if she knew she was asking the impossible. ‘Take care of me, I'm little, Mama says I'm a little guy.' ‘I'll take care of you,' I said, and kissed that silky place between her eyes again. ‘Don't worry, Ki, go to sleep.' I carried her to her room and put her on her bed. By then she was totally conked out. I wiped the cream off her nose and picked the corn-kernel off her chin. I glanced at my watch and saw it was ten 'til two. They would be gathering at Grace Baptist by now. Bill Dean was wearing a gray tie. Buddy Jellison had a hat on. He was standing behind the church with some other men who were smoking before going inside. I turned. Mattie was in the doorway. ‘Mike,' she said. ‘Come here, please.' I went to her. There was no cloth between her waist and my hands this time. Her skin was warm, and as silky as her daughter's. She looked up at me, her lips parted. Her hips pressed forward, and when she felt what was hard down there, she pressed harder against it. ‘Mike,' she said again. I closed my eyes. I felt like someone who has just come to the doorway of a brightly lit room full of people laughing and talking. And dancing. Because sometimes that is all we want to do. I want to come in, I thought. That's what I want to do, all I want to do. Let me do what I want. Let me I realized I was saying it aloud, whispering it rapidly into her ear as I held her with my hands going up and down her back, my fingertips ridging her spine, touching her shoulderblades, then coming around in front to cup her small breasts. ‘Yes,' she said. ‘What we both want. Yes. That's fine.' Slowly, she reached up with her thumbs and wiped the wet places from under my eyes. I drew back from her. ‘The key ‘ She smiled a little. ‘You know where it is.' ‘I'll come tonight.' ‘Good.' ‘I've been . . . ‘ I had to clear my throat. I looked at Kyra, who was deeply asleep. ‘I've been lonely. I don't think I knew it, but I have been.' ‘Me too. And I knew it for both of us. Kiss, please.' I kissed her. I think our tongues touched, but I'm not sure. What I remember most clearly is the liveness of her. She was like a dreidel lightly spinning in my arms. ‘Hey!' John called from outside, and we sprang apart. ‘You guys want to give us a little help? It's gonna rain!' ‘Thanks for finally making up your mind,' she said to me in a low voice. She turned and hurried back up the doublewide's narrow corridor. The next time she spoke to me, I don't think she knew who she was talking to, or where she was. The next time she spoke to me, she was dying. ‘Don't wake the baby,' I heard her tell John, and his response: ‘Oh, sorry, sorry.' I stood where I was a moment longer, getting my breath, then slipped into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. I remember seeing a blue plastic whale in the bathtub as I turned to take a towel off the rack. I remember thinking that it probably blew bubbles out of its spout-hole, and I even remember having a momentary glimmer of an idea a children's story about a spouting whale. Would you call him Willie? Nah, too obvious. Wilhelm, now that had a fine round ring to it, simultaneously grand and amusing. Wilhelm the Spouting Whale. I remember the bang of thunder from overhead. I remember how happy I was, with the decision finally made and the night to look forward to. I remember the murmur of men's voices and the murmur of Mattie's response as she told them where to put the stuff. Then I heard all of them going back out again. I looked down at myself and saw a certain lump was subsiding. I remember thinking there was nothing so absurd-looking as a sexually excited man and knew I'd had this same thought before, perhaps in a dream. I left the bathroom, checked on Kyra again rolled over on her side, fast asleep and then went down the hall. I had just reached the living room when gunfire erupted outside. I never confused the sound with thunder. There was a moment when my mind fumbled toward the idea of backfires some kid's hotrod and then I knew. Part of me had been expecting something to happen . . . but it had been expecting ghosts rather than gunfire. A fatal lapse. It was the rapid pah! pah! pah! of an auto-fire weapon a Glock nine-millimeter, as it turned out. Mattie screamed a high, drilling scream that froze my blood. I heard John cry out in pain and George Kennedy bellow, ‘Down, down! For the love of Christ, get her down!' Something hit the trailer like a hard spatter of hail a rattle of punching sounds running from west to east. Something split the air in front of my eyes I heard it. There was an almost-musical sproing sound, like a snapping guitar string. On the kitchen table, the salad bowl one of them had just brought in shattered. I ran for the door and nearly dived down the cement-block steps. I saw the barbecue overturned, with the glowing coals already setting patches of the scant front-yard grass on fire. I saw Rommie Bissonette sitting with his legs outstretched, looking stupidly down at his ankle, which was soaked with blood. Mattie was on her hands and knees by the barbecue with her hair hanging in her face it was as if she meant to sweep up the hot coals before they could cause some real trouble. John staggered toward me, holding out a hand. The arm above it was soaked with blood. And I saw the car I'd seen before the nondescript sedan with the joke sticker on it. It had gone up the road the men inside making that first pass to check us out then turned around and come back. The shooter was still leaning out the front passenger window. I could see the stubby smoking weapon in his hands. It had a wire stock. His features were a blue blank broken only by huge gaping eyesockets a ski-mask. Overhead, thunder gave a long, awakening roar. George Kennedy was walking toward the car, not hurrying, kicking hot spilled coals out of his way as he went, not bothering about the dark-red stain that was spreading on the right thigh of his pants, reaching behind himself, not hurrying even when the shooter pulled back in and shouted ‘Go go go!' at the driver, who was also wearing a blue mask, George not hurrying, no, not hurrying a bit, and even before I saw the pistol in his hand, I knew why he had never taken off his absurd Pa Kettle suit jacket, why he had even played Frisbee in it. The blue car (it turned out to be a 1987 Ford registered to Mrs. Sonia Belliveau of Auburn and reported stolen the day before) had pulled over onto the shoulder and had never really stopped rolling. Now it accelerated, spewing dry brown dust out from under its rear tires, fishtailing, knocking Mattie's RFD box off its post and sending it flying into the road. George still didn't hurry. He brought his hands together, holding his gun with his right and steadying with his left. He squeezed off five deliberate shots. The first two went into the trunk I saw the holes appear. The third blew in the back window of the departing Ford, and I heard someone shout in pain. The fourth went I don't know where. The fifth blew the left rear tire. The Ford veered to that side. The driver almost brought it back, then lost it completely. The car ploughed into the ditch thirty yards below Mattie's trailer and rolled over on its side. There was a whumpf! and the rear end was engulfed in flames. One of George's shots must have hit the gas-tank. The shooter began struggling to get out through the passenger window. ‘Ki . . . get Ki . . . away . . . ‘ A hoarse, whispering voice. Mattie was crawling toward me. One side of her head the right side still looked all right, but the left side was a ruin. One dazed blue eye peered out from between clumps of bloody hair. Skull-fragments littered her tanned shoulder like bits of broken crockery. How I would love to tell you I don't remember any of this, how I would love to have someone else tell you that Michael Noonan died before he saw that, but I cannot. Alas is the word for it in the crossword puzzles, a four-letter word meaning to express great sorrow. ‘Ki . . . Mike, get Ki . . . ‘ I knelt and put my arms around her. She struggled against me. She was young and strong, and even with the gray matter of her brain bulging through the broken wall of her skull she struggled against me, crying for her daughter, wanting to reach her and protect her and get her to safety. ‘Mattie, it's all right,' I said. Down at the Grace Baptist Church, at the far end of the zone I was in, they were singing ‘Blessed Assurance' . . . but most of their eyes were as blank as the eye now peering at me through the tangle of bloody hair. ‘Mattie, stop, rest, it's all right.' ‘Ki . . . get Ki . . . don't let them . . . ‘ ‘They won't hurt her, Mattie, I promise.' She slid against me, slippery as a fish, and screamed her daughter's name, holding out her bloody hands toward the trailer. The rose-colored shorts and top had gone bright red. Blood spattered the grass as she thrashed and pulled. From down the hill there was a guttural explosion as the Ford's gas-tank exploded. Black smoke rose toward a black sky. Thunder roared long and loud, as if the sky were saying You want noise? Yeah? I'll give you noise. ‘Say Mattie's all right, Mike!' John cried in a wavering voice. ‘Oh for God's sake say she's ‘ He dropped to his knees beside me, his eyes rolling up until nothing showed but the whites. He reached for me, grabbed my shoulder, then tore damned near half my shirt off as he lost his battle to stay conscious and fell on his side next to Mattie. A curd of white goo bubbled from one corner of his mouth. Twelve feet away, near the overturned barbecue, Rommie was trying to get on his feet, his teeth clenched in pain. George was standing in the middle of Wasp Hill Road, reloading his gun from a pouch he'd apparently had in his coat pocket and watching as the shooter worked to get clear of the overturned car before it was engulfed. The entire right leg of George's pants was red now. He may live but he'll never wear that suit again, I thought. I held Mattie. I put my face down to hers, put my mouth to the ear that was still there and said: ‘Kyra's okay. She's sleeping. She's fine, I promise.' Mattie seemed to understand. She stopped straining against me and collapsed to the grass, trembling all over. ‘Ki . . . Ki . . . ‘ This was the last of her talking on earth. One of her hands reached out blindly, groped at a tuft of grass, and yanked it out. ‘Over here,' I heard George saying. ‘Get over here, motherfuck, don't you even think about turning your back on me.' ‘How bad is she?' Rommie asked, hobbling over. His face was as white as paper. And before I could reply: ‘Oh Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Blessed be the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Oh Mary born without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee. Oh no, oh Mike, no.' He began again, this time lapsing into Lewiston street-French, what the old folks call La Parle. ‘Quit it,' I said, and he did. It was as if he had only been waiting to be told. ‘Go inside and check on Kyra. Can you?' ‘Yes.' He started toward the trailer, holding his leg and lurching along. With each lurch he gave a high yip of pain, but somehow he kept going. I could smell burning tufts of grass. I could smell electric rain on a rising wind. And under my hands I could feel the light spin of the dreidel slowing down as she went. I turned her over, held her in my arms, and rocked her back and forth. At Grace Baptist the minister was now reading Psalm 139 for Royce: If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light. The minister was reading and the Martians were listening. I rocked her back and forth in my arms under the black thunderheads. I was supposed to come to her that night, use the key under the pot and come to her. She had danced with the toes of her white sneakers on the red Frisbee, had danced like a wave on the ocean, and now she was dying in my arms while the grass burned in little clumps and the man who had fancied her as much as I had lay unconscious beside her, his right arm painted red from the short sleeve of his WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS tee-shirt all the way down to his bony, freckled wrist. ‘Mattie,' I said. ‘Mattie, Mattie, Mattie.' I rocked her and smoothed my hand across her forehead, which on the right side was miraculously unsplattered by the blood that had drenched her. Her hair fell over the ruined left side of her face. ‘Mattie,' I said. ‘Mattie, Mattie, oh Mattie.' Lightning flashed the first stroke I had seen. It lit the western sky in a bright blue arc. Mattie trembled strongly in my arms all the way from neck to toes she trembled. Her lips pressed together. Her brow furrowed, as if in concentration. Her hand came up and seemed to grab for the back of my neck, as a person falling from a cliff may grasp blindly at anything to hold on just a little longer. Then it fell away and lay limply on the grass, palm up. She trembled once more the whole delicate weight of her trembled in my arms and then she was still.