Exploration of Irony and Surprise Essay

Irony and surprise are common literary devices authors use to communicate their ideas when writing literary works. Irony allows the writer to suggest an interpretation that is different from the literal meaning of the words used in the text. The element of surprise allows the writer to manipulate the reader’s expectations and take them somewhere completely different. In the short stories, A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flanney O’Connor and Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood, both authors use the element of irony and surprise to engage readers and to develop deeper levels of meaning in their text. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, O’connor uses several kinds of irony to communicate her message about the human condition. The foreshadowing of irony is established in the very beginning of the story when she gives us the reason for the grandmother getting dressed for the car ride. â€Å"In case of an accident anyone seeing the dead on the highway would know at once that she was lady. † The grandma is a character that is narrow-minded, ignorant, and critical of others but not of herself. She has the idea that the goodness of a person can be determined by their physical appearance and outward behavior. After the car crash,the Misfit makes an appearance and the grandmother recognizes the Misfit. His politeness, which is sincere but also done to put the family at ease, draws out the grandmother’s assessment of the Misfit: â€Å"Listen,† the grandmother almost screamed, â€Å"I know you’re a good man. You don’t look a bit like you have common blood. I know you must come from nice people! † At the beginning of the story, her opinion about the Misfit is quite the contrary but realizing the Misfit intends harm, she changes her opinion to save herself. The dramatic irony occurs towards the end of the story when the grandma who has been superficial till this point, is in her final moments alone with the Misfit and is able make sense of everything that has gone wrong in her life. She has an epiphany and feels sympathy for the Misfit as â€Å"one of [her] own children. † She is showing that she has found the ability to see others with compassion and kindness but this consciousness is immediately followed by three bullets to her chest. In Happy Ending by Margaret Atwood, we can trace the irony in the story’s title in relation to its content. In story A, we are given a perfect story of what an ideal marriage should be but the John and Mary still die and that is not a happy ending. Atwood challenges the reader to engage with all that happens in the middle because the journey is the interesting part In story A, John and Mary appear to be happy because they possess the ideal elements to a happy lifestyle: fabulous jobs, money, children, a large home, and personal luxuries. However, at the end of the story, they just die and the story comes to an end. As the stories progress, the characters’ lives become a bit more complicated, but they still always end up at story A, and they die in the end. At the end. By the end, all one can say is the fact of what has happened, not the â€Å"how† or the â€Å"why† of the situation. In story A, how do all these things make the couple happy. Why? They’re really not happy at all and have no actual story to tell. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flanney O’Connor and Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood, both authors use the element of surprise to manipulate the reader’s expectation. In A Good Man Is Hard to Find, the contribution of surprise can be traced in the plot line. The story strings the reader along in believing it is about a comedic family vacation with funny situations that happen along the way. We reach a turning point when the family car crashes and encounters the Misfit, everyone dies of a tragic death that is caused by the grandma. In Happy Endings ,the title misleads the reader in assuming the story would have a happy ending but in fact every ending leads to death. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flanney O’Connor and Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood, both authors use irony to reveal the less obvious truths about the human condition. Both authors use the element of surprise is use to take the readers down an unexpected path. Both of the short stories integrate the elements of irony and surprise seamlessly in their works. I personally enjoyed reading and analyzing A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flanney O’Connor more than the other one because it is a higher quality story with a richer plot line and character development. The story is crafted beautifully.

Do You Have a Well-Designed Organization? Essay

Do You Have a Well-Designed Organization? What are the main ideas of the article that you find important (insightful, relevant, practical) in managing people in organizations, and why? When I saw the topic of this article, I was attracted by it. Because when I worked in Sung-Yi Motor Corporation, a dealer company selling Mitsubishi motors in Taiwan, I sometimes feel my company is not a well-designed organization. Because I do not have the standards or right criteria to evaluate my corporation I can not definite that my corporation is a not well-designed organization. I am so exciting that I have the method and standards to evaluate it. The first sentence of this article â€Å"for most companies, organization design is neither a science nor an art; it’s an oxymoron. † I like this sentence very much. Because when I proposed the restructure project, I bumped into this kind of challenge. When my company set the branches in mainland China, we needed to support and control these branched. The first way we adopted is just add the responsibilities on my group, the result was that we can not support and control them effectively. We faced the difficulty and we need to adjust our structure to improve the situation. This article provides nine tests to evaluate the structure of organization. The nine tests can be categorized to two kinds of standards; four of them called fit tests are used to evaluate an existing structure, and the others called good design tests are used to create a new one. These tests help a company inspects its outside and inside situations. By the result of these texts, an organization can change its original not proper structure to a better one. Next paragraph I will use these tests to evaluate my previous company.

Vinamilk Field Trip

Ho Chi Minh International University School of Business Administration Ho Chi Minh International University School of Business Administration REPORT on FIELDTRIP Group: Name Student’s ID Nguy? n Khanh An Tr? n Quang Ngan BAIU08057 Tr? n Minh Thanh BAIU08069 Hu? nh Ng? c Thanh Truc BAIU08078 Nguy? n Hu? nh Qu? c Nh? t Report on Fieldtrip BAIU08214 BAIU08103 Page 1 Ho Chi Minh International University School of Business Administration QUESTION OF REPORT ON FIELDTRIP 1. Describe the factory of Vinamilk. What is the most impressive that you've seen in the fieldtrip? 2.What are the difficulties that Vinamilk may have while exporting to Iraq? Your suggestions to overcome. Some Brief about Vinamilk Corp. Vinamilk is the biggest dairy company in Vietnam. Based on the UNDP 2007 report, it is also the 15th largest company in Vietnam. Established in 1976, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (VINAMILK) has since grown s trongly and become the leading business of the milk processing industry, now occupying 75% of the milk market share in Vietnam. In addition to strong domestic distribution with a network of 183 agencies throughout all 64 of 64 provinces.Vinamilk products are also exported to Iraq. In most western countries it does not meet the local hygiene standards and is therefore not allowed to be imported. VINAMILK is a state owned enterprise in which the government has 50. 01% of the shares and the rest of the shares are currently active trading at the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange. Vinamilk main competitor is Dutch Lady Vietnam, a division of Friesland Foods. Factories Thong Nhat Dairy Factory Truong Tho Dairy Factory Dielac Dairy Factory Saigon Milk Dairy Factory Hanoi Dairy Factory Can Tho Dairy FactoryNghe An Dairy Factory Binh Dinh Dairy Factory Also several joint ventures, such as the $45 million -dollar venture with SABMiller PLC to build a brewery in the Binh Duong province. Awards and achievements 1985 – Labour Medal of Third Ranking. 1991 à ¢â‚¬â€œ Labour Medal of Second Ranking. 1996 – Labour Medal of First Ranking. 2000 – Hero of Socialist Labor of Vietnam. 2001 – Labour Medal of Third Ranking. 2005 – Independence Medal of Third Ranking. Report on Fieldtrip Page 2 Ho Chi Minh International University School of Business Administration 2005 – Labour Medal of Third Ranking. 006 – â€Å"Supreme Cup† from Intellectual Property Association and Association of Small & Medium Enterprises, Vietnam. 1995-2007 – Saigon Marketing Newspaper Readers' Choice Awards. 1 – Describe the factory of Vinamilk. What is the most impressive that you've seen in the fieldtrip?  » Th? ng Nh? t Milk factory 12 D? ng Van Bi, Tru? ng Th? Ward, Th? D? c District, HOCHIMINH CITY TEL: (84. 8) 8 960 725 – Fax: (84. 8) 38 963 140 Specialzing in condensed milk, aseptic fresh milk, ice cream, yog urt and drinking yogurt. We are on a trip to Th? ng Nh? t factory.Factory is located in T h? D? c. It seems to be very fresh, don’t have many problem about traffic, polluted†¦ Firstly, we are introduced about their factory, their products and some questions are answer clearly. We realize that they produce a lot of product in that factory. When come to see the place they are working, I see a lot of part of the assembly line. Such as: Getting milk liqid, Sterilizing, Distributing, Adding sugar and other spice. et c†¦ Secondly, they took us to come to see their factory, machine, and explain us all the question about their factory, products†¦The important thing I impressed is that they have very few people, about 2- 3 workers in a part. That mean their factory is highl y automatic by machine, worker plays a role as a runner. + There are many pipes which milk flow in and come to many part of the manufacture. The liquid flow in the pipes about 30 minutes. This is some of our pictures that are allowed to take in some areas. A room have Pressure- cooker to have the milk fresh. An assembly line is running by a worker. It makes the milk-can come to the machine that pour the milk into. A machine pastes the label.Some of the workers arrange them into package, cotto n bucket. Report on Fieldtrip Page 3 Ho Chi Minh International University School of Business Administration All the process we can see is the machine working, can not smell any about milk. The machine is running so softly that seem to be very peaceful for other s living outside the factory. In brief, we want to say that they working in a regulation way, automatically, and clean. 2 – What are the difficulties that Vinamilk may have while exporting to Iraq? Your suggestions to overcome. We have some information about the relationship of Vinamilk and Iraq.First is Vinamilk’s top export markets are Iraq and Cambodia Vinamilk has made ambitious plans after it reported its record results in 2006. Stiff competition and high raw-material costs failed to dampen Vinamilkâ⠂¬â„¢s results. It reported profits of $46 million, or a share price of $0. 28 (up 20. 8 percent over the previous year). As a result, the processor powdered and condensed milk, fresh milk and yoghurt drinks has set targets of 15-20 percent growth of products in 2007. Vinamilk says its major export market is still Iraq, where it maintained an avera ge export value of over $80 million.Meanwhile, Cambodia was its fastest -growing market, reaching a business value of $3 million —up 74 percent compared to 2005. This is some of the difficulties that Vinamilk will face with: Vinamilk doesn’t have their ow n means of transport that will carry their product oversea. Reason: Viet Nam does not have shipping service to transport goods oversea Solution: They will have to sign a contract with a company to s hip goods oversea. Secondly is the time 2003 – 2004, Vinamilk won a contractor with Iraq about supporting milk product. So, the problem is that United Nation permiss them to trade with Iraq.However UN have the rule that goods must have an insurance. Reason: Because of the politics in Iraq is complex, required an insurance for goods Solution: They must sign a contract with an insurance company to have their goods be safety first. Then the product will be regularize to come in Iraq without any problem Third is the complex politics of Iraq and those country in M iddle East. Reason: the war of Iraq and US about mineral -oil Solution: They should study about their culture, the changes of politics situations and then making a decision of exporting. Try to realize the specific charactristics of Iraq’s market.This wil l show us how to react at anytime. Report on Fieldtrip Page 4 Ho Chi Minh International University School of Business Administration Fourth is the quality of milk. Reason: Influence of having melanine (a chemical cause cancer) in milk appear in China. Solution: They must have certification about their producr that it will not have melam ine and others extranous matter so that people will find out the best product to use. Last is the chage of price, finiancial situation in the world Reason: There are a price crisis in the world that make some banks go bankrupt. Solution:In some statistics about milk price, We realize that milk price in Viet Nam is highest in the world. Mr. Tr? n Ng? c Dung. E xpert market researcher of FTA said that: The average milk price in many country of East of Europe and South America is 0,4 USD, In China, North America is 0,8 USD. But in Viet Nam is 0,82 USD/kg. So, Vinamilk can decrease the milk price because they buy the milk from farmer in a lower price than any country. Furthermore, they still have profits if they reduce the price and have an advantage in Iraq’s market **** End of the report. Report on Fieldtrip Page 5

Appropriate Ways That Leader Should Use In School To Be Loved By Research Paper

Appropriate Ways That Leader Should Use In School To Be Loved By Subordinates - Research Paper Example Some people can use ideas to inspire others and this can be a good way for making people respect and love one as a leader. Therefore, the success of any leader is the establishment of good relationship with the subordinate. This is especially important when dealing with an education system where the leader is mainly the principle and the subordinates are the teachers. In many cases, leadership is a tool that is used in an institution to modify behaviour. This is because it helps to determine the goals of the organization as well as objectives expected. This means that the willingness of individuals to follow a person is what makes them a leader. Therefore in any leaning institution, success will mainly depend on the leadership style to be used by the head teacher. Therefore, the main focus of this paper is to find out the most appropriate ways the school leaders can use in order to gain favour from the subordinates. Research Objectives To review leadership styles successful in schools To examine the most effective leadership styles and how they affect the relationship among subordinates in the school. To review and interpret various leadership models adequate enough to run a school Leadership in schools in relation to Social Intelligence It is important to understand the meaning of the different terms used. Leadership is a complex term to explain. This is because in the traditional setup, leadership is used to bring about respect, teamwork and obedience. Leadership can also be defined as an influence that makes people act in a particular manner. On the other hand social intelligence is basically the ability to understand as well as manage people to act wisely in human relations (Goleman, 2006). This is because this is a factor that mainly affects people’s behaviours and interaction. Therefore, in the case of a school administrator and the subordinates, there is a huge relationship between the applicable leadership styles to social intelligence. This is because for a leader to be loved and respected by the subordinate, then one must also be able to understand the people and also interact with them without any difficulties. Results of the research Social intelligence principles There are numerous social intelligence and leadership principals that are applicable in the case of school leaders and their subordinates. Social intelligence is the ability to get along with others and also get them to cooperate with you. These principals are discussed herein. Humanization Social intelligence needs people to recognize humanity in others. This is a crucial aspect in leadership because people are supposed to be aware of what other people are capable. Therefore for a school administrator who needs to be loved by his subordinate, it is important to make sure that he considered other people’s feelings and also shun away from manipulating the subordinates.

Dynamic Behaviours of Vehicle Tyres Dissertation

Dynamic Behaviours of Vehicle Tyres - Dissertation Example Nearly all forms of vehicles utilise tyres in order to interface engine energy with the road. Vehicles use tyres for a number of different purposes since vehicle tyres control a number of different driving characteristics. In the simplest terms, vehicle tyres are responsible directly for road traction, steering control, supporting the vehicle’s load and for braking control. In addition, vehicle tyres serve as an important part of the overall suspension by providing the initial cushion against shocks for vehicles travelling on the road. Modern vehicle tyres are constructed in a rather complicated fashion. The complication in construction arises from the need to deal with a number of different functions that vehicle tyres have to perform. The mechanical properties of any typical vehicle tyre tend to delineate the tyre’s particular behavioural characteristics in response to various kinds of inputs. Vehicle tyres are subject to a number of inputs including steering changes, torque from the vehicle’s engine, loading from the vehicle’s weight etc. These inputs tend to produce a number of varied outputs such as deflection in the vehicle tyre while rolling and other forces in the vertical and lateral directions. Most of the mechanical properties exhibited by vehicle tyres are closely related to each other and any changes in one property are sure to affect the others. For this reason, it is essential that research be carried out on how these characteristics and properties can be described and related to each other. A number of attempts have been done in order to develop a robust working vehicle tyres model that is able to satisfy all kinds of vehicular input. However, the current success of these models is limited given the fact that most models are only able to satisfactorily predict the outcome for one mode of vehicle tyre behaviour. Current research supports separate tyre behaviour models for rigid and non-rigid surfaces. The detailed cons truction of a vehicle tyre is presented in the figure shown below. Figure 1 - Components of a radial tyre sourced from (Karaytug, 2009) The figure above clearly depicts the construction of a typical vehicle tyre. The first layer is composed of a tread which is followed by a cap ply. The tread serves as the outermost surface of the tyre and is generally created out of specially vulcanised rubber in order to withstand various kinds of loads from the road surface. Generally in terms of the rubber involved in constructing a tyre, the tread rubber is the hardest. These sections are followed by the belt which serves as the sandwiching surface for the top surface of the vehicle tyre and its lower surface. The belt serves as a flexible interface between two harder sections of

Character and Narrative Function of Nicodemus Essay

Character and Narrative Function of Nicodemus - Essay Example "Word of God" reveals Light and darkness goes away. Raymond Brown also writes, "The prologue is a hymn, a poetic summary of the whole theology and narrative of the Gospel, as well as an introduction".2 The result, for Brown, is that "we have a union of wisdom and God's word, a divine person uncreated and existing with the Father." Throughout, from verse 1 to 16, dialogues are centring on this theme of realising knowledge, virtue, truth, Father, Mother, Son, God and Word. The nature of these dialogues is such that they constitute the real essence of knowledge, truth and the Bible. It is this "Word of God" which appears initially to be mystical and mysterious! While, in reality and scientifically, this Word of God is the practical way to delve deep into one's inner self for becoming one with Truth. Knowledge or Truth is there for all of us to see from within. Books and modern science of information and technology cannot help obtain it. One has to see it with eyelids downwards and vision upwards. That is why these dialogues are the essence of Bible. When Jesus says, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God", it is yet another scientific hint to Nicodemus about seeing and realising God.3 It is after hearing the musical sound of Word of God and imbibing the Spirit that one not only experiences but also starts conversing with God. This is how every human being descends upon this spaceship earth from a Mother's womb to go finally for the second birth from the Word of God. Then such a twice born becomes Son of God!4 Necodemus is a leader who has read scriptures and laws for so many years. His behaviour has also been considered righteous. He asks Jesus quite a few questions. He does not grasp what Christ says at that instant. For Jesus, one is wrong until one is born again. This difficult for Necodemus to believe for he finds it hard to see that he has been in the wrong. Despite this apparent disbelief, Jesus bestows Word of God unto Necodemus. After receiving the Word of God, he does not ask much. He now listens to Christ and also Author's Last Name to others who were countering Jesus. He looks on under the spell of his re-birth! Even after crucifixion of Jesus, Necodemus buries Christ in the grave. What Necodemus has learnt from Christ We are all supposed to learn only that from Jesus. Howsoever we may interpret all teachings of Christ in Chapter 3 of the Gospel of John; certain view-points emerge very clearly. Despite several different versions of Bible and Gospel, His fundamental teachings are beyond reasonable dispute.5 Jesus Christ is bestowing upon us through Necodemus several pathways to light and Christian way of life. This is made available in John 3: 1-16, especially through the character of Necodemus. His initial scientific inquisitiveness, later tranquillity; his earlier hypocrisy in learning laws and going to temples and later equanimity of keeping quiet even when Jesus was being crucified. Major lessons that emerge from the concerned chapters of Gospel of John are mainly five, namely, 1. Science of God

The Structure and Function of the Endocrine System in the Body Essay

The Structure and Function of the Endocrine System in the Body - Essay Example Release of hormones is slow or fast. Hormone production ceases on attainment of the required physiological activity. The endocrine system regulates almost all the other structures of the body. The circulatory system carries the secreted hormones to all the target tissues and organs. The main function of the endocrine system is homeostasis. Homeostasis is the maintenance of the internal environment at a constant state for proper function of cells. Individual hormones affect cells that contain a specific genetic program that allow them to respond. The secretion of hormones by the endocrine glands causes specific responses that led to corrective measures (Falvo, 2013:374). Endocrine system functions by feedback mechanisms. The hypothalamus releases a hormone that triggers the pituitary gland to produce stimulating hormones. The stimulating hormone acts on the specific gland making it to secrete its hormone (Sherwood, 2012a, p19). When the level of this hormone increases in the blood, the hypothalamus and pituitary gland stop their secretion. The secretion by the target gland eventually stops. The cells contain receptors on the membrane. The hormones bind to specific receptors trough the key-lock mechanism. Polar hormones generate a chemical signal through a second massager because they are unable to penetrate through the cell membrane (Falvo, 2013:378). The second massager activates the response of the target cell. The target cell begins the triggered activity. The non-polar hormones like the steroids enter the cell and bind to their receptors found in the cell cytoplasm. When it gets into the cell, it binds to the receptors on the nuclear membrane. This activates the hormone receptor complex, which in turn binds to the DNA stimulating specific genes to produce proteins. The following are the major glands that integrate for the proper functioning of the endocrine system. They include the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, parathyroid gland, pancreas, ovaries,

Public Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Public Health - Essay Example The primary goal of the nurses is to promote and preserve the health of the population through the assessment of the health needs, health planning, implementation and evaluation of the current impact of health services to the target population (Clark, 2008). The nurse is expected to act as a clinician, health educator by dissemination of correct disease prevention information, facilitator by establishing linkages and evaluator of the outcome of the nursing interventions. The nurses are involved in health promotion services and disease prevention in the communities (Carroll, 2004). The nurse is actively involved in health planning process by identifying the community health problems and environmental hazards that present high health risk to the target population (Clark, 2008). Role in health planning The nurse must collaborate with specific risk populations within the community in developing a public policy that will guide the disease prevention efforts (Phyllis, 2009, p 20). ... The community health nurse must be actively involved in setting the priorities for the health-related interventions that lead to great impact on the health of the population (Carroll, 2004). Accordingly, the nurse will be tasked with the design and outlining the key areas that will be covered in the health education campaigns and disease prevention efforts such as providing awareness on the need of immunizations, personal hygiene and disease screening (Phyllis, 2009, p 22). It is the duty of the nurse to identify the vulnerable and high-risk groups and provide the necessary assistance in preventing the communicable diseases (Clark, 2008). Role in implementation The nurse is expected to assist the patients to attain optimum health care in situations of ill health, injury or normal health. Accordingly, the nurse is tasked with maintaining client and administrative health records and adhering to the professional and legal framework regarding the confidentiality and privacy of patients ( Clark, 2008). The nurse must advocate for the dignity and respect of patients and respect the autonomy of the patients in regards to the health needs. In addition, the nurse is expected to promote the principles of fairness and equity while addressing the health needs of the clients and promoting healthy environment in the homes, schools and community. As an educator, the nurse is tasked with promoting higher results through constant review of the emerging issues regarding the health care promotion services (Carroll, 2004). The nurse has a collaborative role that entails working closely with other health care professionals such as occupational therapists psychologists, biostatisticians, and nutritionists in promotion the health

Film evaluaton about SALT movie by angelina jolie Review

Film evaluaton about SALT by angelina jolie - Movie Review Example People who look for sense in movies should not watch this because it is senseless and highly unrealistic; the sound effects are really good. There is a lot of suspense in the movie and every scene which has suspense has good sound effects. A lot of people get killed because it is an action film but it is very surprising that Angelina Jolie escapes unscathed and the same makes this movie a very unrealistic one, even the kids who watch it would not be convinced with the story line. Espionage has become a fantasy activity in action movies and Salt is no different, espionage has been presented as a fantasy in the movie and this again is highly unconvincing and factitious. Overall the story line and the action sequences are really weak but the presence of a star like Angelina Jolie has made the film successful. The graphics are very decent, the action sequences have been filmed very well and it is good fun to watch it on screen. Some of the action sequences are out of this world and again seem to be unrealistic and unbelievable; Jolie killing hundred men seems highly unrealistic and vague. â€Å"Salt† is as impersonal an action thriller as we’ve seen in years. The President is played by Hunt Block, a bland-looking soap-opera actor. (Can that really be his name?) Block conveys so little strength that when the President gets conked on the noggin and knocked out you don’t even register that he’s no longer an active figure in the scene. He’s not worthy; it seems, of kissing Salt’s hyperactive black boots. (Salt Review) Jolie moves from one truck to another in a quite impossible manner, she uses several guns to kill people in the movie and this is plain ridiculous. A spy thriller should have much more than what Salt has, it loses its credibility and this affects the film in more ways than one. It is a great movie for someone who wants to watch superhuman stunts performed by a woman, Angelina Jolie performs a series of great

Ethics Paper Essay Example for Free

Ethics Paper Essay There are many factors to consider when implementing a strategic plan including considering stakeholders needs, the needs of the company, as well as the needs of the employees; however, one factor that is often overlooked is the need and desires of the consumers. This act includes fulfilling the social responsibility to benefit their community to implement economic growth or other equally important acts to benefit the society as a whole. It is a task in its own to balance the needs of the involved parties, and, unfortunately, sometimes the best decisions get trampled by the stakeholders agendas, and the community as a whole suffers. As a part of the community, the company has certain ethical and social responsibilities that are expected of them. These responsibilities are unwritten rules that are often implemented by the competitive nature of the business. Some standalone companies can continue with business without the support of their local community while other companies are unable to profit without the outside influencing factors of the community. If the community is directly affected by the interactions of a business, a social responsibility should be personalized to benefit the surrounding environment. Unfortunately, more often than not, social and ethical responsibilities are often overlooked by the company in order to benefit the stakeholders, and detrimental factors are swept under the run in order to provide a bigger return to investors. McDonalds is one of the biggest companies worldwide that fail to comply with social and ethical responsibilities. Though McDonalds is known as the pioneers of the fast food industry, and remain the highest grossing fast food chain for roughly the past 30 years (Whitt 2010). ETHICS PAPER 5 3 Although the sales have remained among the highest in the United States as well as other competing countries, McDonalds continues to cut corners to turn an even larger profit. This company developed an uniform production method by mass producing every ingredient form the hamburger meat to their French fries. These issues include using frozen beef patties instead of fresh ground beef and developing a genetically-modified potato rather than using locally grown produce to ensure that all McDonald’s fries have the same uniform taste† (Whitt 2010). Along with using ethical ingredients for their friend, McDonalds also uses questionable practices when it comes to their meant. Research shows â€Å"a typical fast-food hamburger patty contains meat from more than one thousand different cattle, raised in as many as five countries† (Gibson, 2014). The unknown origin of this meat would make contaminated product hard to trace and even harder to prevent in the future. Aside from the unethical choice of using genetically mutated produce, McDonalds has failed to uphold the social responsibility of the wellbeing of their consumers. With a company that cashes in over $30 billion dollars a year in sales, you would think that they would be able to afford to revamp their menu with healthier lifestyle choices. Instead, they chose to market meals that contain 1,250 calories and 66 grams of fat per serving (McDonald’s Nutrition, 2014)- that is over 300% of the recommended American consumption per meal. Along with neglecting their contributions to obesity, raised cholesterol, heart disease, McDonalds has embraced the American addiction of greasy cheeseburgers and fries and has gone as far as increasing the original serving portion by more than 24% (McDonalds Nutrition, 2014). ETHICS PAPER 5 4 Efforts can be made by the McDonalds cooperation to undo the severe damage that the company has inflicted on the society. Their efforts can be shifted to focus on offering healthier alternatives to the famous greasy burger and fries combination they have profited on. The first improvement could be on using all natural ingredients including produce grown from local farms. This change would eliminate the producers being collected from hundreds of different locations and reduce the risk of potential diseases and the spreading of harmful pesticides, all while making an effort to support their local producers. Along these same lines, McDonalds can also chose to use fresher and leaner meats and cook them in olive or coconut oil instead of the fat or lard that is currently used. These small alternatives can be implemented immediately in order to show their efforts to fulfill their social and ethical responsibility. Making an effort to improve their nutritional options means that they are investing in a better future for the consumers. Unfortunately, the questionable ingredients and lack of concern of the diet offered is only a small piece of McDonalds unethical and blatant disregard of their social responsibility. In order to ensure the stakeholders agendas, McDonalds currently upholds an endless list of labor related issues, as well as legal battles, backlash from the negative impact on foreign countries, and nonchalant approaches to backlash and lawsuits. It is painfully obvious that McDonalds is only interested in continuing the profits for their stakeholders, at any and all cost†¦. including the health and wellbeing of their consumers. ETHICS PAPER 5 5 References Gibson, A. (2014). McDonald’s: A Good Image with Bad Ethics. Retrieved from http://www. neumann. edu/academics/divisions/business/journal/review_08/gibison. pdf Schlosser, E. (2004) Special report on slow food. In J. Johnson (Ed. ), Global Issues, Local Arguments. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Whitt, R. (2010). McDonald’s: A Good Image with Bad Ethics, Dallas Observer. Pennino, M. (2012). Nuggets of wisdom; Author paints picture of out Fast-Food culture. Intelligence Journal. McDonalds Nutrition. (2014). Retrieved from http://nutrition. mcdonalds. com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts. pdf.

Dividend Payment Impact on Common Stock Prices

Dividend Payment Impact on Common Stock Prices Abstract The main goal of this paper is to investigate the impact of dividend payments on common stock prices using a panel of listed firms in Tunis Stock Exchange for a period from 2000 to 2008. Our empirical investigations reveal that Tunisian investors reward firms paying cash dividends. This result is very interesting because it begs the question on the intention of Tunisian managers to pay dividend when investors put a stock price premium on payers as the catering theory suggests. 1. Introduction In efficient and perfect market, Modigliani and Miller (1961) have demonstrated that there is no difference between the value of the firm paying dividends and that of nonpayer. Baker and Wurgler (2004a) argue that the investor demand for dividend-paying stocks depends on either psychological or institutional factors. They argue that managers tend to pay dividends when investors put higher prices on payers, and they omit dividends when payers are at a discount. Baker and Wurgler (2004a) suggest that this catering behavior explains the difference documented between the average market-to-book ratios of payers and non-payers and that managers rationally initiate dividends to exploit an apparent market mispricing. They find that when the rate of dividend initiation increases, the future stock returns of payers are lower than those of non-payers. This result supports the hypothesis that firms initiate dividends when the payers are overvalued. In this paper, we attempt to investigate whethe r cash dividend payments affect positively share prices. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews the literature on dividend payout policy. Section 3 provides a description of the data used in the empirical analysis and presents regression results for the determinants of stock prices. Section 4 concludes. 2. Literature Review Baker and Wurgler (2004b) show that the disappearance of dividends can be explained by lower market valuations of payers during such periods. They find that the propensity to pay increases when a proxy for the stock market dividend premium is positive and decreases when it is negative. These empirical results suggest that the distribution of dividends responds to patterns of market timing. Companies pay dividends in order to raise the stock prices of their shares above their fundamental values. However, we wonder why the demand for shares paying dividends changes over time? Baker et al. (2007) argue that this time-varying can be attributed to changes in income tax rates of shareholders. Baker and Wurgler (2004a) note that the increase in the value of a company paying dividends reflects the risk assessment by investors. Indeed, dividend-paying firms are considered less risky than non-payers ones since this dividend premium disappears in periods of expansion and reappears in recession periods. Thus, investors who prefer cash dividend payments during gloomy period as an indicator of the firms safety and therefore are more willing to pay dearly to buy dividend-paying stocks. Ferris et al. (2006) conclude that the decline of the number of dividend-paying firms in UK can be explained by a shift in catering incentives. Li and Lie (2006) suggest that changes in corporate payout ratios of US firms depend on the market dividend premium. Ferris et al. (2008) find that investors place high value on dividend-paying firms. By contrast, Eije and Megginson (2008) investigate dividend policies in fifteen European countries over the period 1989-2003 and conclude that their findings do not support the catering hypothesis. Denis and Osobov (2008) find that reductions in the percent of dividend-paying stocks occur in countries where the dividend premium is largely positive. Tsuji (2010) finds that Japanese corporate managers do not cater to investors in either their dividend initiation decisions or their continuation decisions. 3. DATA and Methodology To form our main Tunisian sample, we start with all listed firms appearing at any point between 2000 and 2008. We restrict the sample to exclude financial firms  [1]  . The final sample covers 24 publicly traded Tunisian firms. Data were collected from Tunis Stock Exchange and completed from firms web sites. 3.1 Definition and measurement of variables The evolution of stock prices can be explained by variables specific to the firm such as cash dividend and profitability, by macroeconomic variables such as interest rates and inflation, and a variable which reflects the stock market performance. 3.1.1 Dividends According to the model of Gordon and Shapiro (1956), the current stock price equals the present value of its future dividends. Gordon and Shapiro assume that the dividend is a constant fraction of the profits carried out by the company. The expected receipt of dividend income is an incentive for investing in a given stock, particularly if the yield on the investment exceeds the return offered on other alternative investments like savings accounts. Investors may pay a premium for shares in issue. Tsoukalas and Sil (1999) find a strong correlation between the stock prices and dividends paid by U.K firms. 3.1.2 Profitability An improvement in profitability leads to an increase in stock price because investors become more optimistic about future performance of the firm. Demand increases for the shares that have a high prospect for growth (blue chip shares). Prices of such shares rise much faster than those of companies whose growth prospects are bleak. Vuolteenaho (2002) finds that firm-level stock returns are mainly driven by cash-flow news. By contrast, Kothari et al. (2006) show that stock prices are unrelated to past earnings and depend negatively on concurrent earnings. In this paper, Profitability is defined as earnings before interests and tax reported to total assets. 3.1.3 Inflation The impact of inflation on the stock price is not obvious. If households expect higher prices, they can increase their consumption and therefore reduce their savings. This behavior will lower stock prices. By contrast, if households choose to keep the value of their heritage, they will be more likely to invest in shares in order to hedge against a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services. Indeed, inflation erodes the purchasing power of money and other financial assets that have fixed values. Therefore, if households have a hedging purpose, inflation will have positive effects on share prices. Alagidede and Panagiotidid (2010) provide evidence of a positive long-run relationship between stock prices and inflation in five African countries (Tunisia, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria) and they conclude that common stocks in these countries represent a hedge against rising consumer price. Geyser and Lowies (2001) examine the relationship between share prices and inflation within a sample of firms listed in Namibian and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges. Their findings reveal a strong positive correlation between inflation and stock prices of Namibian firms. In South Africa, companies belonging to the mining sector cannot be served as an inflation hedge since stock prices of these firms are negatively correlated with the evolution of the Consumer Price Index, whereas stock prices of firms in other sectors (financial services, information technology and food and beverage) are slightly positively correlated with inflation. Bodie (1976) finds that in the U.S during the period from 1953 to 1971 common stocks failed to serve as hedges against either anticipated or unanticipated inflation. The inflation rate is defined as the percentage rate of change in consumer price index. 3.1.4 Interest rate The impact of changes in interest rates on stock prices is mixed. If rates rise, bonds become less expensive which encourages shareholders to arbitrate for bonds by selling shares that they hold and therefore stock prices fall. By contrast, a significant decrease of interest rate makes shares more profitable and persuades investors to buy back equity and pushing up prices. Cifter and Ozun (2008) find that stock prices in Turkey are negatively affected by the interest rate changes. represents the money market annual average rate for Tunisia. 3.1.5 Stock market performance A bull market is characterized by higher valorizations and a bear market is characterized by lower stock prices. In this paper, we used annual return rate of the index TUNINDEX to measure the performance of Tunisian stock market. 3.2 Descriptive statistics  ¶ Table 1 reports descriptive statistics for the dependant and explanatory variables. We note the higher level of the money market annual average rate that can be explained by the important rising consumer price Tunisia. The mean of the natural logarithm of dividend is negative suggesting that Tunisian firms pay annually on average less than 1 TND as cash dividend. Insert table-1 here Table 2 reports the correlations matrix for explanatory variables. The coefficients of correlation of explanatory variables are generally low. Using a test of Farrar-Glauber (1967), we can accept the hypothesis of the absence of multicollinearity among our independent variables. Insert table-2 here 3.3 Estimation methods The study was conducted on panel data. Using panel data can enhance the quality and quantity of data. It allows us to identify some effects that cannot be detected using time-series analysis. Panel data regression provides three estimators; pooled OLS, fixed effects, and random effects models. A pooled estimator takes as the same across all cross-section units. The fixed effects model assumes as a group specific term. The random effects approach takes as a group specific disturbance. Testing the significance of the group effects To choose between these three approaches we compute a test of homogeneity. The hypothesis of homogeneity of constants across all cross-section units can be formulated as follows: This test of Fisher is computed as follows: Where: : Residues square sum of the individual effects model : Residues square sum of the model Pooled. : Number of firms : Number of explanatory variables (constant not included) If calculated F is lower than tabulated F (p-value Hausmans test for fixed versus random effects If the effect is assumed to be individual, the Hausman specification test is carried out in order to decide whether the fixed or the random effects model should be used. The Hausman test compares the fixed and random effects estimates of coefficients. The tested hypothesis concerns the correlation of the individual effects and the explanatory variables. Under the null hypothesis, the individual effects are random and we then have to choose the estimator of GLS. Under the alternative hypothesis, the individual effects are correlated to the explanatory variables and we then have to choose the model to fixed effects. The test of Hausman compares the matrix of variance-covariance of two estimators: The statistic H is asymptotically distributed as with K degree of freedom, where K is the number of explanatory variables. If calculated H is lower than tabulated (p-value 3.4 Findings Table 3 reports regression results. We provide Pooled OLS, fixed effects and random effects results. The Hausmans test confirms that the estimator fixed effects is the proper one. Insert table-3 here Cash dividends have a significantly positive impact on stock prices of Tunisian firms. This result indicates that Tunisian investors reward cash dividend-paying firms by adding a positive premium to their shares prices. The profitability has a positive impact on stock prices. Highly profitable firms have higher stock prices. If the firm releases new positive results, investors will be more optimistic about its prospects and expected future cash flows and therefore they will be willing to pay dearly to buy its securities. The variable MARKET that measures the performance of Tunis stock exchange presents the expected sign. This result indicates that stock prices follow the overall trend of the market. Inflation affects negatively and significantly stock prices suggesting that common stocks of Tunisian firms cannot provide a hedge against inflation. The plausible explication for this result is that an increase of the consumer price index reduces the marginal propensity to save. Our result confirms findings in Geske and Roll (1983). 4. Conclusion This paper investigates the impact of cash dividend payments on stock prices of listed non-financial Tunisian firms. Our empirical results reveal that Tunisian investors reward cash dividend-paying stocks. This finding begs the question on the existence of a catering behavior as suggested by Baker and Wurgler (2004a). Future academic studies with larger datasets should investigate whether Tunisian firms behave according to the prediction of the catering theory by comparing the value of payers and non-payers firms.

Water in the Baptismal Ceremony :: Theology Essays

Water in the Baptismal Ceremony In the baptismal ceremony water is used during the baptism part of the ceremony. At this point the priest pours blessed water over the forehead of the baby three times whilst saying, "(Name), I baptize you in the name of the father, and of the son and of the Holy Spirit." Water is a powerful symbol. It is also a rich symbol it makes things clean. It is also a symbol of life and death. Without water plants, animals and humans would not be able to survive (life). It is a sign of destruction, causes floods and it can cause death through drowning. In the sacrament of baptism it is also a sign of life and death. Death in that it is death to original sin and old life of sin before baptism. Life in that it is a new life with God as a Christian free from sin. In the bible water has taken part in many miracles, including, Noah and the great flood, Moses and the red sea, Jesus walks on water and Jesus calms a storm. The story of Moses and the red sea is very relevant when talking about Baptism. Before Moses parted the sea he and the Israelites had been living in their old life of slavery. After they reached the other side of the water they had begun their new life of freedom. When they passed through the water death was brought to their old life and they had begun their new life, just when being baptized. In baptism when blessed with the water death is brought to the catechumens old life and they begin their new life. The White Garment. In the baptismal ceremony the priest clothes the catechumen with a white garment, usually a shawl. He then says, "See in this white garment an outward sign of Christian Dignity." The white garment represents putting on Christ. The parents, god parents and friends then promise to, by their words and examples, help the newly baptized child to bring that dignity unstained into the Heavenly eternal life.

President Bill Clinton :: William Jefferson Clinton Essays

Bill Clinton   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In recent history, one would be hard pressed to find one politician surrounded in more controversy than Bill Clinton. His scandals have included drugs, adultery, treason, and fraud. The latest opprobrium that has plagued his presidency resulted in him becoming only the second president in the history of the United States to be impeached.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After a long and drawn out sexual harassment trial, Paula Jones’ lawyers deposed former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. What would follow in the next 14 months, even Clinton’s most adamant critics couldn’t have predicted. It all began with Clinton’s now infamous words; “I have never had sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky.'; Several videotapes, sapeanas, and cigar jokes later, the American public found out that he did, indeed, had sex with that woman. Many were outraged, many thought it was his personal business, and many just didn’t care. The nation became divided on what actions should be taken against a popular president that had just admitted to lying to his public and possibly lying under oath. Every constitutional scholar had an opinion about what constituted high crimes and misdemeanors. The 146th congress had to determine that for themselves, and in early January of 1999, William Jefferson Clinton was impeached. As the focus then turned to the Senate, many debates arose. Did the President’s sexual indiscretion deserve to get him removed from office? Other options such as censorship were debated, but whether or not other options could even be discussed brought disagreement. In the end, the Senate voted against removing Clinton from office, but whether that will be the last of this matter, only time will tell. Fifty years from now, when our grandchildren are learning about our 46th President, what will the books say? Will they explain how his moral hypocracy divided a country? As a member of our United States armed forces, I find it hard to respect a man who can so easily lie to his citizens, deny responsibility for his actions, and expect the public to forgive and forget with no real repentance. It is a sad time for our country when parents can’t even use the head of state as a role model for their children. As a result of Clinton’s actions, his every decision is questioned for fear that he is just covering us another lie. Can Americans rely on Bill Clinton to make the best choices for our country when we don’t even trust him?

Digestive Disorders (liver) :: essays research papers

Digestive Disorders   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Amebic Dysentry is a disorder in which there is an accumulation of pus located in the liver. This is usually caused by an internal parasite or organism. When dealing with this liver disease there are a few symptoms to look out for. Jaundice, which is something that will make your skin and eyes go yellow is a symptom of Amebic Dysentry. Other symptoms to look out for are chills, a high fever, sweating, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, abdominal pain, possible joint pain and an all around basic discomfort.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Amebic Dysentry is caused by the same micro-organism that causes a variety of intestine infections. This organism is carried through the blood stream to the liver to where the abscess is formed. For starters, the collection of pus is the bodies white blood cells forming to protect the liver. However, it collects too much and that is how the abscess is formed. When you are diagnosed with amebic liver you are very likely to also have an intestinal infection from the disease as well. This is not true for all cases though. Most cases in which both occur are in places of high temperatures and poor sanitation. Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and India have many health problems associated with the disease. The most common way to get this disease is from one person to another. The other most common way is through unhealthy food and badly sanitized water. Not eating properly and excessive drinking will only worsen the disease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many ways that you can help prevent getting this disease. If you go to a foreign country, especially in the tropics, always drink purified water, always peel fruit and vegetables, and cook your food at any time possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you think that you may have amebic liver, you should get a liver scan and an ultrasound treatment. If you are diagnosed with it the usual treatment for this is Antimicrobial therapy is the

Bag of Bones CHAPTER ELEVEN

I woke in the early hours of the following morning convinced that there was someone in the north bedroom with me. I sat up against the pillows, rubbed my eyes, and saw a dark, shouldery shape standing between me and the window. ‘Who are you?' I asked, thinking that it wouldn't reply in words; it would, instead, thump on the wall. Once for yes, twice for no what's on your mind, Houdini? But the figure standing by the window made no reply at all. I groped up, found the string hanging from the light over the bed, and yanked it. My mouth was turned down in a grimace, my midsection tensed so tight it felt as if bullets would have bounced off. ‘Oh shit,' I said. ‘Fuck me til I cry.' Dangling from a hanger I'd hooked over the curtain rod was my old suede jacket. I'd parked it there while unpacking and had then forgotten to store it away in the closet. I tried to laugh and couldn't. At three in the morning it just didn't seem that funny. I turned off the light and lay back down with my eyes open, waiting for Bunter's bell to ring or the childish sobbing to start. I was still listening when I fell asleep. Seven hours or so later, as I was getting ready to go out to Jo's studio and see if the plastic owls were in the storage area, where I hadn't checked the day before, a late-model Ford rolled down my driveway and stopped nose to nose with my Chevy. I had gotten as far as the short path between the house and the studio, but now I came back. The day was hot and breathless, and I was wearing nothing but a pair of cut-off jeans and plastic flip-flops on my feet. Jo always claimed that the Cleveland style of dressing divided itself naturally into two subgenres: Full Cleveland and Cleveland Casual. My visitor that Tuesday morning was wearing Cleveland Casual you had your Hawaiian shirt with pineapples and monkeys, your tan slacks from Banana Republic, your white loafers. Socks are optional, but white footgear is a necessary part of the Cleveland look, as is at least one piece of gaudy gold jewelry. This fellow was totally okay in the latter department: he had a Rolex on one wrist and a gold-link chain around his neck. The tail of his shirt was out, and there was a suspicious lump at the back. It was either a gun or a beeper and looked too big to be a beeper. I glanced at the car again. Blackwall tires. And on the dashboard, oh look at this, a covered blue bubble. The better to creep up on you unsuspected, Gramma. ‘Michael Noonan?' He was handsome in a way that would be attractive to certain women the kind who cringe when anybody in their immediate vicinity raises his voice, the kind who rarely call the police when things go wrong at home because, on some miserable secret level, they believe they deserve things to go wrong at home. Wrong things that result in black eyes, dislocated elbows, the occasional cigarette burn on the booby. These are women who more often than not call their husbands or lovers daddy, as in ‘Can I bring you a beer, daddy?' or ‘Did you have a hard day at work, daddy?' ‘Yes, I'm Michael Noonan. How can I help you?' This version of daddy turned, bent, and grabbed something from the litter of paperwork on the passenger side of the front seat. Beneath the dash, a two-way radio squawked once, briefly, and fell silent. He turned back to me with a long, buff-colored folder in one hand. Held it out. ‘This is yours.' When I didn't take it, he stepped forward and tried to poke it into one of my palms, which would presumably cause me to close my fingers in a kind of reflex. Instead I raised both hands to shoulder-level, as if he had just told me to put em up, Muggsy. He looked at me patiently, his face as Irish as the Arlen brothers' but without the Arlen look of kindness, openness, and curiosity. What was there in place of those things was a species of sour amusement, as if he'd seen all of the world's pissier behavior, most of it twice. One of his eyebrows had been split open a long time ago, and his cheeks had that reddish windburned look that indicates either ruddy good health or a deep interest in grain-alcohol products. He looked like he could knock you into the gutter and then sit on you to keep you there. I been good, daddy, get off me, don't be mean. ‘Don't make this tough. You're gonna take service of this and we both know it, so don't make this tough.' ‘Show me some ID first.' He sighed, rolled his eyes, then reached into one of his shirt pockets. He brought out a leather folder and flipped it open. There was a badge and a photo ID. My new friend was George Footman, Deputy Sheriff, Castle County. The photo was flat and shadowless, like something an assault victim would see in a mugbook. ‘Okay?' he asked. I took the buff-backed document when he held it out again. He stood there, broadcasting that sense of curdled amusement as I scanned it. I had been subpoenaed to appear in the Castle Rock office of Elmer Durgin, Attorney-at-Law, at ten o'clock on the morning of July 10, 1998 Friday, in other words. Said Elmer Durgin had been appointed guardian ad litem of Kyra Elizabeth Devore, a minor child. He would take a deposition from me concerning any knowledge I might have of Kyra Elizabeth Devore in regard to her well-being. This deposition would be taken on behalf of Castle County Superior Court and Judge Noble Rancourt. A stenographer would be present. I was assured that this was the court's depo, and nothing to do with either Plaintiff or Defendant. Footman said, ‘It's my job to remind you of the penalties should you fail ‘ ‘Thanks, but let's just assume you told me all about those, okay? I'll be there.' I made shooing gestures at his car. I felt deeply disgusted . . . and I felt interfered with. I had never been served with a process before, and I didn't care for it. He went back to his car, started to swing in, then stopped with one hairy arm hung over the top of the open door. His Rolex gleamed in the hazy sunlight. ‘Let me give you a piece of advice,' he said, and that was enough to tell me anything else I needed to know about the guy. ‘Don't fuck with Mr. Devore.' ‘Or he'll squash me like a bug,' I said. ‘Huh?' ‘Your actual lines are, ‘Let me give you a piece of advice don't fuck with Mr. Devore or he'll squash you like a bug.† I could see by his expression half past perplexed, going on angry that he had meant to say something very much like that. Obviously we'd seen the same movies, including all those in which Robert De Niro plays a psycho. Then his face cleared. ‘Oh sure, you're the writer,' he said. ‘That's what they tell me.' ‘You can say stuff like that 'cause you're a writer.' ‘Well, it's a free country, isn't it?' ‘Ain't you a smartass, now.' ‘How long have you been working for Max Devore, Deputy? And does the County Sheriffs office know you're moonlighting?' ‘They know. It's not a problem. You're the one that might have the problem, Mr. Smartass Writer.' I decided it was time to quit this before we descended to the kaka-poopie stage of name-calling. ‘Get out of my driveway, please, Deputy.' He looked at me a moment longer, obviously searching for that perfect capper line and not finding it. He needed a Mr. Smartass Writer to help him, that was all. ‘I'll be looking for you on Friday,' he said. ‘Does that mean you're going to buy me lunch? Don't worry, I'm a fairly cheap date.' His reddish cheeks darkened a degree further, and I could see what they were going to look like when he was sixty, if he didn't lay off the firewater in the meantime. He got back into his Ford and reversed up my driveway hard enough to make his tires holler. I stood where I was, watching him go. Once he was headed back out Lane Forty-two to the highway, I went into the house. It occurred to me that Deputy Footman's extracurricular job must pay well, if he could afford a Rolex. On the other hand, maybe it was a knockoff. Settle down, Michael, Jo's voice advised. The red rag is gone now, no one's waving anything in front of you, so just settle I shut her voice out. I didn't want to settle down; I wanted to settle up. I had been interfered with. I walked over to the hall desk where Jo and I had always kept our pending documents (and our desk calendars, now that I thought about it), and tacked the summons to the bulletin board by one corner of its buff-colored jacket. With that much accomplished, I raised my fist in front of my eyes, looked at the wedding ring on it for a moment, then slammed it against the wall beside the bookcase. I did it hard enough to make an entire row of paperbacks jump. I thought about Mattie Devore's baggy shorts and Kmart smock, then about her father-in-law paying four and a quarter million dollars for Warrington's. Writing a personal goddamned check. I thought about Bill Dean saying that one way or another, that little girl was going to grow up in California. I walked back and forth through the house, still simmering, and finally ended up in front of the fridge. The circle of magnets was the same, but the letters inside had changed. Instead of hello they now read help r ‘Helper?' I said, and as soon as I heard the word out loud, I understood. The letters on the fridge consisted of only a single alphabet (no, not even that, I saw; g and x had been lost someplace), and I'd have to get more. If the front of my Kenmore was going to become a Ouija board, I'd need a good supply of letters. Especially vowels. In the meantime, I moved the h and the e in front of the r. Now the message read lp her I scattered the circle of fruit and vegetable magnets with my palm, spread the letters, and resumed pacing. I had made a decision not to get between Devore and his daughter-in-law, but I'd wound up between them anyway. A deputy in Cleveland clothing had shown up in my driveway, complicating a life that already had its problems . . . and scaring me a little in the bargain. But at least it was a fear of something I could see and understand. All at once I decided I wanted to do more with the summer than worry about ghosts, crying kids, and what my wife had been up to four or five years ago . . . if, in fact, she had been up to anything. I couldn't write books, but that didn't mean I had to pick scabs. Help her. I decided I would at least try. ‘Harold Oblowski Literary Agency.' ‘Come to Belize with me, Nola,' I said. ‘I need you. We'll make beautiful love at midnight, when the full moon turns the beach to a bone.' ‘Hello, Mr. Noonan,' she said. No sense of humor had Nola. No sense of romance, either. In some ways that made her perfect for the Oblowski Agency. ‘Would you like to speak to Harold?' ‘If he's in.' ‘He is. Please hold.' One nice thing about being a best selling author even one whose books only appear, as a general rule, on lists that go to fifteen is that your agent almost always happens to be in. Another is if he's vacationing on Nantucket, he'll be in to you there. A third is that the time you spend on hold is usually quite short. ‘Mike!' he cried. ‘How's the lake? I thought about you all weekend!' Yeah, I thought, and pigs will whistle. ‘Things are fine in general but shitty in one particular, Harold. I need to talk to a lawyer. I thought first about calling Ward Hankins for a recommendation, but then I decided I wanted somebody a little more high-powered than Ward was likely to know. Someone with filed teeth and a taste for human flesh would be nice.' This time Harold didn't bother with the long-pause routine. ‘What's up, Mike? Are you in trouble?' Thump once for yes, twice for no, I thought, and for one wild moment thought of actually doing just that. I remembered finishing Christy Brown's memoir, Down All the Days, and wondering what it would be like to write an entire book with the pen grasped between the toes of your left foot. Now I wondered what it would be like to go through eternity with no way to communicate but rapping on the cellar wall. And even then only certain people would be able to hear and understand you . . . and only those certain people at certain times. Jo, was it you? And if it was, why did you answer both ways? ‘Mike? Are you there?' ‘Yes. This isn't really my trouble, Harold, so cool your jets. I do have a problem, though. Your main guy is Goldacre, right?' ‘Right. I'll call him right aw ‘ ‘But he deals primarily with contracts law.' I was thinking out loud now, and when I paused, Harold didn't fill it. Sometimes he's an all-right guy. Most times, really. ‘Call him for me anyway, would you? Tell him I need to talk to an attorney with a good working knowledge of child-custody law. Have him put me in touch with the best one who's free to take a case immediately. One who can be in court with me Friday, if that's necessary.' ‘Is it paternity?' he asked, sounding both respectful and afraid. ‘No, custody.' I thought about telling him to get the whole story from the Lawyer to Be Named Later, but Harold deserved better . . . and would demand to hear my version sooner or later anyway, no matter what the lawyer told him. I gave him an account of my Fourth of July morning and its aftermath. I stuck with the Devores, mentioning nothing about voices, crying children, or thumps in the dark. Harold only interrupted once, and that was when he realized who the villain of the piece was. ‘You're asking for trouble,' he said. ‘You know that, don't you?' ‘I'm in for a certain measure of it in any case,' I said. ‘I've decided I want to dish out a little as well, that's all.' ‘You will not have the peace and quiet that a writer needs to do his best work,' Harold said in an amusingly prim voice. I wondered what the reaction would be if I said that was okay, I hadn't written anything more riveting than a grocery list since Jo died, and maybe this would stir me up a little. But I didn't. Never let em see you sweat, the Noonan clan's motto. Someone should carve DON'T WORRY I'M FINE on the door of the family crypt. Then I thought: help r. ‘That young woman needs a friend,' I said, ‘and Jo would have wanted me to be one to her. Jo didn't like it when the little folks got stepped on.' ‘You think?' ‘Yeah.' ‘Okay, I'll see who I can find. And Mike . . . do you want me to come up on Friday for this depo?' ‘No.' It came out sounding needlessly abrupt and was followed by a silence that seemed not calculated but hurt. ‘Listen, Harold, my caretaker said the actual custody hearing is scheduled soon. If it happens and you still want to come up, I'll give you a call. I can always use your moral support you know that.' ‘In my case it's immoral support,' he replied, but he sounded cheery again. We said goodbye. I walked back to the fridge and looked at the magnets. They were still scattered hell to breakfast, and that was sort of a relief. Even the spirits must have to rest sometimes. I took the cordless phone, went out onto the deck, and plonked down in the chair where I'd been on the night of the Fourth, when Devore called. Even after my visit from ‘daddy,' I could still hardly believe that conversation. Devore had called me a liar; I had told him to stick my telephone number up his ass. We were off to a great start as neighbors. I pulled the chair a little closer to the edge of the deck, which dropped a giddy forty feet or so to the slope between Sara's backside and the lake. I looked for the green woman I'd seen while swimming, telling myself not to be a dope things like that you can see only from one angle, stand even ten feet off to one side or the other and there's nothing to look at. But this was apparently a case of the exception's proving the rule. I was both amused and a little uneasy to realize that the birch down there by The Street looked like a woman from the land side as well as from the lake. Some of it was due to the pine just behind it that bare branch jutting off to the north like a bony pointing arm but not all of it. From back here the birch's white limbs and narrow leaves still made a woman's shape, and when the wind shook the lower levels of the tree, the green and silver swirled like long skirts. I had said no to Harold's well-meant offer to come up almost before it was fully articulated, and as I looked at the tree-woman, rather ghostly in her own right, I knew why: Harold was loud, Harold was insensitive to nuance, Harold might frighten off whatever was here. I didn't want that. I was scared, yes standing on those dark cellar stairs and listening to the thumps from just below me, I had been fucking terrified but I had also felt fully alive for the first time in years. I was touching something in Sara that was entirely beyond my experience, and it fascinated me. The cordless phone rang in my lap, making me jump. I grabbed it, expecting Max Devore or perhaps Footman, his overgolded minion. It turned out to be a lawyer named John Storrow, who sounded as if he might have graduated from law school fairly recently like last week. Still, he worked for the firm of Avery, McLain, and Bernstein on Park Avenue, and Park Avenue is a pretty good address for a lawyer, even one who still has a few of his milk-teeth. If Henry Goldacre said Storrow was good, he probably was. And his specialty was custody law. ‘Now tell me what's happening up there,' he said when the introductions were over and the background had been sketched in. I did my best, feeling my spirits rise a little as the tale wound on. There's something oddly comforting about talking to a legal guy once the billable-hours clock has started running; you have passed the magical point at which a lawyer becomes your lawyer. Your lawyer is warm, your lawyer is sympathetic, your lawyer makes notes on a yellow pad and nods in all the right places. Most of the questions your lawyer asks are questions you can answer. And if you can't, your lawyer will help you find a way to do so, by God. Your lawyer is always on your side. Your enemies are his enemies. To him you are never shit but always Shinola. When I had finished, John Storrow said: ‘Wow. I'm surprised the papers haven't gotten hold of this.' ‘That never occurred to me.' But I could see his point. The Devore family saga wasn't for the New York Times or Boston Globe, probably not even for the Derry News, but in weekly supermarket tabs like The National Enquirer or Inside View, it would fit like a glove instead of the girl, King Kong decides to snatch the girl's innocent child and carry it with him to the top of the Empire State Building. Oh, eek, unhand that baby, you brute. It wasn't front-page stuff, no blood or celebrity morgue shots, but as a page nine shouter it would do nicely. In my mind I composed a headline blaring over side-by-side pix of Warrington's Lodge and Mattie's rusty doublewide: COMPU-KING LIVES IN SPLENDOR AS HE TRIES TO TAKE YOUNG BEAUTY'S ONLY CHILD. Probably too long, I decided. I wasn't writing anymore and still I needed an editor. That was pretty sad when you stopped to think about it. ‘Perhaps at some point we'll see that they do get the story,' Storrow said in a musing tone. I realized that this was a man I could grow attached to, at least in my present angry mood. He grew brisker. ‘Who'm I representing here, Mr. Noonan? You or the young lady? I vote for the young lady.' ‘The young lady doesn't even know I've called you. She may think I've taken a bit too much on myself. She may, in fact, give me the rough side of her tongue.' ‘Why would she do that?' ‘Because she's a Yankee a Maine Yankee, the worst kind. On a given day, they can make the Irish look logical.' ‘Perhaps, but she's the one with the target pinned to her shirt. I suggest that you call and tell her that.' I promised I would. It wasn't a hard promise to make, either. I'd known I'd have to be in touch with her ever since I had accepted the summons from Deputy Footman. ‘And who stands for Michael Noonan come Friday morning?' Storrow laughed dryly. ‘I'll find someone local to do that. He'll go into this Durgin's office with you, sit quietly with his briefcase on his lap, and listen. I may be in town by that point I won't know until I talk to Ms. Devore but I won't be in Durgin's office. When the custody hearing comes around, though, you'll see my face in the place.' ‘All right, good. Call me with the name of my new lawyer. My other new lawyer.' ‘Uh-huh. In the meantime, talk to the young lady. Get me a job.' ‘I'll try.' ‘Also try to stay visible if you're with her,' he said. ‘If we give the bad guys room to get nasty, they'll get nasty. There's nothing like that between you, is there? Nothing nasty? Sorry to have to ask, but I do have to ask.' ‘No,' I said. ‘It's been quite some time since I've been up to anything nasty with anyone.' ‘I'm tempted to commiserate, Mr. Noonan, but under the circumstances ‘ ‘Mike. Make it Mike.' ‘Good. I like that. And I'm John. People are going to talk about your involvement anyway. You know that, don't you?' ‘Sure. People know I can afford you. They'll speculate about how she can afford me. Pretty young widow, middle-aged widower. Sex would seem the most likely.' ‘You're a realist.' ‘I don't really think I am, but I know a hawk from a handsaw.' ‘I hope you do, because the ride could get rough. This is an extremely rich man we're going up against.' Yet he didn't sound scared. He sounded almost . . . greedy. He sounded the way part of me had felt when I saw that the magnets on the fridge were back in a circle. ‘I know he is.' ‘In court that won't matter a whole helluva lot, because there's a certain amount of money on the other side. Also, the judge is going to be very aware that this one is a powderkeg. That can be useful.' ‘What's the best thing we've got going for us?' I asked this thinking of Kyra's rosy, unmarked face and her complete lack of fear in the presence of her mother. I asked it thinking John would reply that the charges were clearly unfounded. I thought wrong. ‘The best thing? Devore's age. He's got to be older than God.' ‘Based on what I've heard over the weekend, I think he must be eighty-five. That would make God older.' ‘Yeah, but as a potential dad he makes Tony Randall look like a teenager,' John said, and now he sounded positively gloating. ‘Think of it, Michael the kid graduates from high school the year Gramps turns one hundred. Also there's a chance the old man's overreached himself. Do you know what a guardian ad litem is?' ‘No.' ‘Essentially it's a lawyer the court appoints to protect the interests of the child. A fee for the service comes out of court costs, but it's a pittance. Most people who agree to serve as guardian ad litem have strictly altruistic motives . . . but not all of them. In any case, the ad litem puts his own spin on the case. Judges don't have to take the guy's advice, but they almost always do. It makes a judge look stupid to reject the advice of his own appointee, and the thing a judge hates above all others is looking stupid.' ‘Devore will have his own lawyer?' John laughed. ‘How about half a dozen at the actual custody hearing?' ‘Are you serious?' ‘The guy is eighty-five. That's too old for Ferraris, too old for bungee jumping in Tibet, and too old for whores unless he's a mighty man. What does that leave for him to spend his money on?' ‘Lawyers,' I said bleakly. ‘Yep.' ‘And Mattie Devore? What does she get?' ‘Thanks to you, she gets me,' John Storrow said. ‘It's like a John Grisham novel, isn't it? Pure gold. Meantime, I'm interested in Durgin, the ad litem. If Devore hasn't been expecting any real trouble, he may have been unwise enough to put temptation in Durgin's way. And Durgin may have been stupid enough to succumb. Hey, who knows what we might find?' But I was a turn back. ‘She gets you,' I said. ‘Thanks to me. And if I wasn't here to stick in my oar? What would she get then?' ‘Bubkes. That's Yiddish. It means ‘ ‘I know what it means,' I said. ‘That's incredible.' ‘Nope, just American justice. You know the lady with the scales? The one who stands outside most city courthouses?' ‘Uh-huh.' ‘Slap some handcuffs on that broad's wrists and some tape over her mouth to go along with the blindfold, rape her and roll her in the mud. You like that image? I don't, but it's a fair representation of how the law works in custody cases where the plaintiff is rich and the defendant is poor. And sexual equality has actually made it worse, because while mothers still tend to be poor, they are no longer seen as the automatic choice for custody.' ‘Mattie Devore's got to have you, doesn't she?' ‘Yes,' John said simply. ‘Call me tomorrow and tell me that she will.' ‘I hope I can do that.' ‘So do I. And listen there's one more thing.' ‘What?' ‘You lied to Devore on the telephone.' ‘Bullshit!' ‘Nope, nope, I hate to contradict my sister's favorite author, but you did and you know it. You told Devore that mother and child were out together, the kid was picking flowers, everything was fine. You put everything in there except Bambi and Thumper.' I was sitting up straight in my deck-chair now. I felt sandbagged. I also felt that my own cleverness had been overlooked. ‘Hey, no, think again. I never came out and said anything. I told him I assumed. I used the word more than once. I remember that very clearly.' ‘Uh-huh, and if he was taping your conversation, you'll get a chance to actually count how many times you used it.' At first I didn't answer. I was thinking back to the conversation I'd had with him, remembering the underhum on the phone line, the characteristic underhum I remembered from all my previous summers at Sara Laughs. Had that steady low mmmmm been even more noticeable on Saturday night? ‘I guess maybe there could be a tape,' I said reluctantly. ‘Uh-huh. And if Devore's lawyer gets it to the ad litem, how do you think you'll sound?' ‘Careful,' I said. ‘Maybe like a man with something to hide.' ‘Or a man spinning yarns. And you're good at that, aren't you? After all, it's what you do for a living. At the custody hearing, Devore's lawyer is apt to mention that. If he then produces one of the people who passed you shortly after Mattie arrived on the scene . . . a person who testifies that the young lady seemed upset and flustered . . . how do you think you'll sound then?' ‘Like a liar,' I said, and then: ‘Ah, fuck.' ‘Fear not, Mike. Be of good cheer.' ‘What should I do?' ‘Spike their guns before they can fire them. Tell Durgin exactly what happened. Get it in the depo. Emphasize the fact that the little girl thought she was walking safely. Make sure you get in that ‘crossmock' thing. I love that.' ‘Then if they have a tape they'll play it and I'll look like a story-changing schmuck.' ‘I don't think so. You weren't a sworn witness when you talked to Devore, were you? There you were, sitting out on your deck and minding your own business, watching the fireworks show. Out of the blue this grouchy old asshole calls you. Starts ranting. Didn't even give him your number, did you?' ‘No.' ‘Your unlisted number.' ‘No.' ‘And while he said he was Maxwell Devore, he could have been anyone, right?' ‘Right.' ‘He could have been the Shah of Iran.' ‘No, the Shah's dead.' ‘The Shah's out, then. But he could have been a nosy neighbor . . . or a prankster.' ‘Yes.' ‘And you said what you said with all those possibilities in mind. But now that you're part of an official court proceeding, you're telling the whole truth and nothing but.' ‘You bet.' That good my-lawyer feeling had deserted me for a bit, but it was back full-force now. ‘You can't do better than the truth, Mike,' he said solemnly. ‘Except maybe in a few cases, and this isn't one. Are we clear on that?' ‘Yes.' ‘All right, we're done. I want to hear from either you or Mattie Devore around elevenish tomorrow. It ought to be her.' ‘I'll try.' ‘If she really balks, you know what to do, don't you?' ‘I think so. Thanks, John.' ‘One way or another, we'll talk very soon,' he said, and hung up. I sat where I was for awhile. Once I pushed the button which opened the line on the cordless phone, then pushed it again to close it. I had to talk to Mattie, but I wasn't quite ready yet. I decided to take a walk instead. If she really balks, you know what to do, don't you? Of course. Remind her that she couldn't afford to be proud. That she couldn't afford to go all Yankee, refusing charity from Michael Noonan, author of Being Two, The Red-Shirt Man, and the soon-to-be-published Helen's Promise. Remind her that she could have her pride or her daughter, but likely not both. Hey, Mattie, pick one. I walked almost to the end of the lane, stopping at Tidwell's Meadow with its pretty view down to the cup of the lake and across to the White Mountains. The water dreamed under a hazy sky, looking gray when you tipped your head one way, blue when you tipped it the other. That sense of mystery was very much with me. That sense of Manderley. Over forty black people had settled here at the turn of the century lit here for awhile, anyway according to Marie Hingerman (also according to A History of Castle County and Castle Rock, a weighty tome published in 1977, the county's bicentennial year). Pretty special black people, too: most of them related, most of them talented, most of them part of a musical group which had first been called The Red-Top Boys and then Sara Tidwell and the Red-Top Boys. They had bought the meadow and a good-sized tract of lakeside land from a man named Douglas Day. The money had been saved up over a period of ten years, according to Sonny Tidwell, who did the dickering (as a Red-Top, Son Tidwell had played what was then known as ‘chickenscratch guitar'). There had been a vast uproar about it in town, and even a meeting to protest ‘the advent of these darkies, which come in a Horde.' Things had settled down and turned out okay, as things have a way of doing, more often than not. The shanty town most locals had expected on Day's Hill (for so Tidwell's Meadow was called in 1900, when Son Tidwell bought the land on behalf of his extensive clan) had never appeared. Instead, a number of neat white cabins sprang up, surrounding a larger building that might have been intended as a group meeting place, a rehearsal area, or perhaps, at some point, a performance hall. Sara and the Red-Top Boys (sometimes there was a Red-Top Girl in there, as well; membership in the band was fluid, changing with every performance) played around western Maine for over a year, maybe closer to two years. In towns all up and down the Western Line Farmington, Skowhegan, Bridgton, Gates Falls, Castle Rock, Morton, Fryeburg you'll still come across their old show-posters at barn bazaars and junkatoriums. Sara and the Red-Tops were great favorites on the circuit, and they got along all right at home on the TR, too, which never surprised me. At the end of the day Robert Frost that utilitarian and often unpleasant poet was right: in the northeastern three we really do believe that good fences make good neighbors. We squawk and then keep a miserly peace, the kind with gimlet eyes and a tucked-down mouth. ‘They pay their bills,' we say. ‘I ain't never had to shoot one a their dogs,' we say. ‘They keep themselves to themselves,' we say, as if isolation wer e a virtue. And, of course, the defining virtue: ‘They don't take charity.' And at some point, Sara Tidwell became Sara Laughs. In the end, though, TR-90 mustn't have been what they wanted, because after playing a county fair or two in the late summer of 1901, the clan moved on. Their neat little cabins provided summer-rental income for the Day family until 1933, when they burned in the summer fires which charred the east and north sides of the lake. End of story. Except for her music, that was. Her music had lived. I got up from the rock I had been sitting on, stretched my arms and my back, and walked back down the lane, singing one of her songs as I went.

Enlightenment Vs Romanticism

Enlightenment vs. Romanticism The enlightenment was an 18th century movement that emphasized reason to change society and advance knowledge. The enlightenment changed how people all over Europe, and later North America, thought about religion, hierarchy, monarchy, and science. People began to question the church and there was a loss of unity in the Christian church. It was a time in which people began to think more about themselves without the influence of the government and their church. The enlightenment brought an age of rational, scientific and secular thinking. TheEnlightenment resulted in greater freedom and more humane treatment for all individuals as well as the scientific process. Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century. It emphasized on individual's expression of emotions and imagination. Some people see it as the opening to modernity and others see it as the as the beginning of a tradition of resistance to the enlightenmen t. I see Romanticism as the new movement for cultural and aesthetic values and the rise of individualism. The way I understand it, enlightenment is more about basic morality and knowledge.Romanticism is more self-oriented, more about self-discovery. If I had to choose to which side I favor the most I'd go with the enlightenment because I believe more about that man are created equal and that education is important. However I can also favor romanticism because I believe every individual deserves freedom but also need to follow the rules so that we can be an orderly society. Hollywood Censored During the sass to sass moral censorship guidelines were established for many films produced by major studios in the United States.During the early sass there ere numerous of films that were morally questionable because they contained hardcore words, mature subject, and sexually suggestive dialogue. This lead to the creation of the motion picture production code, which established a series of re strictions to the production of films in the US. The church had to get involved on this subject because they were scared that their people would be morally hit. They turned in a list of the things that had to be restricted in the studios. Many of the restrictions were implemented because the studios didn't want the government to intervene.Many films even promoted traditional values that crime and sexual elation's were not attractive. Films showed that crimes had to be punished. Like in the movie surface the producers had to change the ending multiple times, the character was brought into trial at last. The studios worked under code for several decades until the sass when explicit films started appearing again and then in 1968 the code was dismissed and a new way of classifying films was established such as G for general, M for mature, and so on. I believe that the code was a good way to minimize crime because I think violent movies do a commit crimes. T us and make individual

CASE Analysis: Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Essay

The case describes how seven eleven has successfully established an innovative business model. Toshifumi Suzuki, CEO of Seven eleven Japan (SEJ), described Seven Eleven Stores as: â€Å"Stores where you can find a solution for any of your daily life’s problems. We always try to plan and design a store in such a way that our store neighbours, in particular, can get whatever they need at any time they want† SEJ, headquartered in Japan, leads the world wide seven Eleven chain, which had 24,912 stores in 18 countries in March 2003.In 2003 ranking of retailers by market value, SEJ was number one in Japan. Since its establishment in 1974, SEJ has never experienced a fall in income or profits. With 9,757 stores as of May, 2003, SEJ is the largest CVS chain in Japan. Its stores feature the same basic designs: large, highly visible sign in green, red and orange, a large store window, much brighter than average lightning and a spotlessly clean store. SEJ identifies their customer orientation, offering not only a rich assortment of products but total comfort to customers, as the source of SEJ’s rise to the top of the Japanese retail industry. Industry Background The Japanese Distribution System Prior to 1974: Traditional Japanese retailing consists of a conservative, multi-tiered system that combines large numbers of small wholesalers and retailers into complex exclusive networks. These networks are not based solely on economic efficiency but also on tight human relationships. The wholesale to retail level ratios (W/R) is measure of layers within distribution system. W/R ratio 1992 1998 US 0.98 – Japan – 2.3 Although the development of information technology in the industry has gradually improved the efficiency of the distribution system, small-to-medium-sized retailers owe their existence mainly to the multi-tiered and vertically integrated structure. Retail Business Environment The Japanese retail sector is still dominated by small retailers. Firms with one to four employees make up about 70% of the total number of stores. In these small shops, CVS still accounts for only 3.2% of all stores and only 5% of total sales Because of Japan’s small land area, most Japanese retail stores have too little space to maintain a wide assortment of products in either the store or inventory. These small, local â€Å"mom-and-pop† stores typically lack both managerial know-how and planning skills. In addition, given their limited size, they are often unable to bear large inventory risks and thus have to rely on manufacturers and wholesalers to bear part of that burden. Legal perspective Japanese government enforced in 1974 the Large-scale Retail Store (LRS) Law which regulated the business hours of larger outlets. Initially applied to stores over 1,500 m2, it was later extended in 1979 to stores with an area of over 500 m2. The law mandated that stores close by 7 P.M. each day and remained closed at least 30 shop days per year. Fueled by heavy pressure from abroad, the deregulation trend caused the LRS law to be changed in 1990 and practically abolished in 2001. While operating its large stores under the LRS law, Ito- Yokado, a parent company of SEJ, launched a new retail business based on small regional stores, which can effectively co-exist with large stores. As a result, CVS chains prove that small stores can compete against larger retailers by improving the efficiency and productivity of their franchise and continual striving to meet customer needs. Because of the density of the store network, CVS chains are not only places to sell products, but are also becoming an important part of the social infrastructure. Seven-Eleven Japan Ito-Yokado, a parent company of SEJ, was founded by Masatoshi Ito in 1964 as a 66-square-foot family clothing store in Tokyo. After starting a new chain of super stores offering a range of food and clothing products, he expanded his business into other distribution areas such as restaurants, department, discount and convenience stores. By 2002, the Ito- Yokado group was one of the largest retail groups in Japan with  ¥5,574 billion ($41.6 billion) in sales and 114,600 employees. Toshifumi Suzuki negotiated directly with Southland, then owner of Seven-Eleven, to bring the convenience store concept to Japan. Japanese consumers were generally more sensitive to product and service quality, more fickle and less price-sensitive. Therefore products had to be fresh, and the turnover rate very high. To meet such customer requirements within the constraint of limited shelf and storage capacity, it was necessary to forecast customers’ demand by the time of purchase, the store location and the weather. Providing the customer with well-targeted, differentiated products 24-hours a day, 7-days-a week was critical. As of 2003, SEJ is the largest convenience store chain with  ¥2,213 billion ($17.5 billion) revenue and 5,061 employees. Its market value of $21,721 million and consolidated net income of  ¥82,825 million ($690 million) are the highest in the whole of Japan’s retail industry. Strategy SEJ practice of continuous item control and well-organized delivery system, and the heavy use of information technology (IT). The basic mission of an SEJ store is to provide solutions for all the problems of everyday life. Each store offers a variety of high-quality products and services that are required daily or on an emergency basis to make life easier and more â€Å"convenient†. The two main reasons for the failure of existing retailers. They ignored: 1)  the importance of convenience to the customer and 2) the quality of the products and the service. SEJ developed some key principles to define a quality convenience store. 1. Reduction of lost opportunity: A missed opportunity to sell an item because it is out of stock is one of the most serious problems in retail business in terms of disappointing customers as well as missing the actual profit. 2. Effective Item Control and Well-Planned Product Supply Management: The American practice of keeping large inventories of a wide variety of products could not be applied in convenience stores in Japan where shelf and storage space are limited and maintaining a large inventory is prohibitive. SEJ pursued a strategy of supplying products in high demand with a rapid turnover rate and eliminating dead or slow-moving products through item-by-item analysis. The well-organized analysis and frequent replacement contributes to SEJ’s high product supply efficiency. 3. Commitment to Customer Satisfaction with Original Product Development and Friendly Service:SEJ not only sells manufacturers’ products but also researches customers’ potential needs. SEJ uses this research to provide original products at reasonable prices (such as a lunch boxes and prepared foods) Merchandising The store space available for a Seven-Eleven franchisee is, on average, only 110 m2. The items kept in stock and on the shelf are precisely selected for the targeted customers and product quality is kept high. Product turnover is high, and goods are always new and food fresh. SEJ discovered that customer loyalty was driven more by specific items than by item categories. To meet the demand and achieve such tight item-by item control, SEJ implemented the POS (Point of Sale) system in 1982, whereby storeowners could identify customer trends and enhance product differentiation. SEJ introduced its POS systems to collect sales data used to improve merchandising and the item-by-item control process. For instance, the cash register would not open  until the operator pushed the account button indicating the gender and estimated age of the customer. This information from the POS system was used for consumer trend analysis. Store Network Expansion SEJ considers its market dominating strategy of high-density, clustered store openings to be the key to efficiency and stability. The advantages of the market dominance strategy are: Improved brand awareness Increased customer visits to the stores Boosted distribution efficiency Enhanced productivity of franchisee-support services Improved advertising effectiveness Franchise Strategy Approximately 60% of SEJ stores were modified from old family owned stores (e.g., liquor or rice stores). The relationship between franchiser and franchisee is one of reciprocal obligations. The franchisee is an independent business which gives SEJ royalties and a long-term commitment, and concentrates on the tasks of selling and effectively managing inventory. The royalty that the franchisee pays to the franchiser is 43% of its gross profit. In exchange for their long-term commitment and royalties, SEJ provides franchisees with service from field representatives called Operation Field Counselors (OFC). Each of about 1,300 OFCs supervises between seven or eight stores, providing (i) advice on store operation and ordering and (ii) information on the portfolio of available items and on sales methods. This person-to-person contact with store managers is a key element of the SEJ franchise system. Each OFC visits each store at least twice a week and spends at least two hours providing adv ice and information. Such a close relationship not only motivates franchisees but also supports company-wide brand image and promotional strategies. Outsourcing Policy SEJ is known for its outsourcing policy and ability to manage supplier relationships. The rationalized distribution system crafted by SEJ created conflict within the traditional wholesale system. Over time, however, SEJ’s  system has proved highly reliable and efficient, covering everything from raw procurement to product deliveries. The collaboration between SEJ and the business partners includes shared information systems and know-how about operations management as well as quality control in the food manufacturers’ factories and delivery centres. By 2002, the company had built a network of 223 distribution centres and 195 factories dedicated to fast food production, all of them created and operated by wholesalers, suppliers and forward agents. Information Systems Strategy Daily, Seven-Eleven stores serve a total of 9.5 million customers, process five million order transactions and send 35 million sales transactions to the information systems centre where sales data is collected, integrated and analysed. The decisions have to be based on well-analysed hypothesis, order and validation. Information technology (IT) for SEJ is merely a method to support the cycle. SEJ prefers to outsource most of its information systems management to external service providers due to the speed at which the information technology market moves. This strategy allows the information systems department of SEJ to focus on developing a systems vision that fits with the business strategy, while the rest of the information systems management is outsourced. The department has evolved into a more strategic organization that links needs from stores with top management and proposes innovative system plans. SEJ regularly explores opportunities to gain first mover advantage by trying out state-of-the-art technologies: the first POS system in Japan in 1982, the first major use of Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) in 1991, etc. Operation Infrastructure Total Information Systems SEJ has continued to develop total information systems. In June 1999, the fifth generation total information system, in which SEJ invested  ¥60 billion ($500 million), was released in collaboration with 14 companies including NRI, NEC, Toshiba TEC, etc. High efficiency, maintainability and reliability of the total network system: The system connects 70,000 computers in stores, at headquarters and at supplier sites through satellite telecommunications, exclusive lines, ISDN and mobile networks via the most appropriate telecommunication technology. The combination of ISDN and satellite telecommunications realizes 45x faster speeds at 35x better cost performance. Terminals are constantly monitored and software and configuration can be updated remotely. The most critical systems such as online ordering and accounting systems are backed up at physically separated locations in Yokohama and Osaka. And in earthquake-prone Japan, satellite telecommunication provides an extra layer of safety. The system, now shared by 10,000 stores, is considered highly reliable due to the crisis management planning and high service levels. The store information system which encourages all store staff to participate in ordering: SEJ provides stores with multimedia information such as pictures, video, audio, text and numerical data, which is used by all employees in Seven-Eleven stores. The system platform shared with business partners: SEJ provides its business partners—vendors, distributors and manufactures—with a common infrastructure consisting of 1,800 terminals at 1,100 locations. The applications on the platform vary depending on the partner’s business: raw material ordering system, inventory management, production management, automated sorting system, for example. The broad system infrastructure facilitates collaboration among SEJ allies by improving the efficiency of delivery through the sharing of order, sales and inventory information. And finally, sophisticated analysis system which eliminates intuitive decision-making . Electronic Commerce Business SEJ categorizes its electronic commerce (EC) business into four major groups: 1) financial services, 2) Internet shopping site, 3) public and regional  services, and 4) in-store intelligent copy machines. Financial Services (settlement, finance, and card service): Launched in 1987, Seven-Eleven hasdeveloped the payment acceptance service whichprovides customers with a convenient means to paytheir bills 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Affiliatedcompanies number about 1,500 and the types ofpayment are mainly utilities: electricity, telephone,water, rent, and mail orders. This business has beensuccessful with 144 million yearly transactions witha total value of  ¥1.15 trillion (about $12.8 billion)and a 20% annual growth rate. Internet Shopping Site: 7dream.com, a subsidiary of SEJ, provides the internet shopping site by utilizing SEJ’s existing operating infrastructure in its EC activities. SEJ also ties into other internet sites and provides payment acceptance and pick-up service at the retail stores. Goods purchased via the Internet are picked up at stores 24-hours a day or delivered to customers’ homes, raising the value of Seven-Eleven stores and enhancing convenience for customers. Public, civil and regional services: SEJ’s meals-on wheels service, named Seven Meal Service, offers prepared meals and cooking ingredients to regional customers. Order can be made via the Internet. SEJ plans to expand its public services at stores via its EC platform so that customers can obtain civil services. In-store intelligent copy machines: Multipurpose copy machines at Seven-Eleven stores are connected the Internet and enable customers to print event tickets and documents created by customers at home as well as to pay for pre-ordered airline tickets. With the capability to attract 1,000 customers per day per store, SEJ is pursuing synergy between the existing retail and EC business units to encourage potential Internet users to visit Seven-Eleven stores and become new customers. SEJ also provides its EC platform service for EC partners with functions such as authentication, database, settlement, and distribution. Temperature-Separated Combined Distribution System Since 1976, SEJ has been developing a streamlined distribution system to efficiently integrate product supplies. The company established the Combined Delivery System, whereby the same kind of products coming from different suppliers can be centralized into 223 Combined Delivery Centres (CDCs). The combined distribution system allows products from different suppliers to be loaded on the same trucks for delivery to Seven-Eleven stores. Combined distribution consolidates product shipment from manufacturers to stores at similar optimum temperatures. In 22 years, SEJ has reduced the average number of vehicles visiting each store from 70 a day in 1974 to ten a day in 1998. Delivery routes and time are also well organized to maintain high efficiency. Competitors SEJ is the largest CVS chain in Japan in terms of the number of stores, sales, and net income followed by Lawson, C&S, Familymart, and Ministop. These top-five companies dominate the market with almost 90% market share. All four competitors operate franchise businesses with store networks expanding all over Japan. Competitors are increasingly investing in EC business to compete and establish dominance in a new area. In 1997, Lawson began implementing multimedia terminals in stores to gain first mover advantage. Lawson also tries to differentiate itself in the Internet shopping site named @Lawson by launching new services such net coupons, which was rare in Japan in 1999. Future Vision The company strives to achieve the maxim â€Å"the retail business should always keep up with change of customer demands† with three principles. 1. Responsiveness to changing customer needs and continuous improvement of customer services 2. Manufacturing retailer 3. The combination of demand chain and supply chain management with the common platform. Case Questions: 1. A convenience store chain attempts to be responsive and provide customers  what they need, when they need it, where they need it. What are some different ways that a convenience store supply chain can be responsive? What are some risks in each case? As In this increasingly competitive world, the whole concept of convenience stores from the existing concept of retail outlets have emerged to improve competitive advantage of businesses by enhancing customer service and by providing him with superior quality of products and experience. However, attaining this competitive advantage comes with added costs and risks. As responsiveness towards a customer’s demands increase, a convenience store chain gets exposed to greater uncertainty and risks- the risk of not having timely supply of essential goods, system breakdowns etc. A convenience store may deal in both perishable food items like processed fast foods and non-perishable items( life of more than 1 month) like frozen foods, magazines, beverages, and other consumer items like soaps, detergents etc. It is critical for any convenience store to have a tightly linked supply chain system for perishable items that need to be supplied to the final stores on daily basis. This distribution system ought to be flexible and highly responsive to alter delivery schedules depending on customer demands. The following are some ways that shall make convenience store supply chains operating on market dominance strategies more responsive- Local capacity: The convenience store chains can provide local cooking capacity that is, live counters at the stores and assemble foods on demand. The Inventory could be stored as raw material under controlled conditions at the stores and be supplied by the distributors at regular intervals. This would eliminate the need to supply fresh and fast foods from the to the outlets thrice a day thus bringing down the transportation cost of the entire distribution system and would add certainty to the production and distribution schedules. This strategy of selling fresh foods to customers would also enhance customer confidence in the brand. This is seen at the U.S. fast food restaurant franchise Subway where dinner and lunch sandwiches are assembled on demand. The main risk with this approach is that capacity is decentralized, leading to poorer utilization. High level of integration- One way of insuring more responsiveness is by further decentralizing the entire system. This can be attained by dividing each region further into  zones and having production plants in each zone nearer to each convenience stores. This would increase the set up cost for the parent company but in the long run but would also inhance the flow of information and service among the stores, suppliers and distributors thus increasing customer responsiveness and satisfaction. Local inventory: Responsiveness to customer demands can also be attained by having inventory available at the store at all times. This allows for the centralization of cooking capacity. But the main disadvantage of this way is not delivering fresh foods to customers thus increasing customer dissatisfaction and need for extra storage space. Rapid replenishment: Another approach is to set up rapid replenishment and supply the stores what they need and when they need it. This allows for centralization of cooking capacity, low levels of inventory, but increases the cost of replenishment and receiving. 2. Seven-Eleven’s supply chain strategy in Japan can be described as attempting to micro-match supply and demand using rapid replenishment. What are some risks associated with this choice? The main risk for convenience stores to adopt a supply chain system that works on rapid replenishment strategy is the potentially high cost of transportation and receiving at stores. The suppliers and factories are centrally located but the stores are scattered all across the city. So the company’s effort to supply fresh foods multiple times a day to all the stores increases the transportation costs. This one aspect can be taken care of by probably decentralizing the authority to produce fresh foods at convenience stores itself. Also, the fact that goods get unloaded multiple times a day reduces the store efficiency and increases customer dissatisfactions due to reduced services and frequent disruptions. This tends to fade away the customer’s experience at the store. Sudden breakdown of the information system or the transportation system connecting the stores to distribution centre and suppliers would also bring the functioning of the entire system to a halt leading to customer inconvenience and the resulting loss in sales. Thus convenience stores that attempt to micro-match supply and demand using rapid replenishment must take extra precautions to ensure timely delivery of goods, proper functioning of the information and transportation system, and customer’s convenience 3. What has Seven-Eleven done in its choice of facility location, inventory management, transportation, and information infrastructure to develop capabilities that support its supply chain strategy in Japan? Seven-Eleven Japan has chosen to operate a highly responsive operation and has chosen a supply chain design that supports this strategy. Their facility location choices are to saturate an area with stores, thereby making it easy for customers to shop and their own delivery trucks to move from store to store to replenish inventory. Seven-Eleven’s inventory system is run on an information system that transmits directly to the supplier and distribution centre; goods are produced using a pull system to replace what has been sold during that delivery period. The transportation system is flexible to maximize responsiveness while also achieving efficiency. All choices made by Seven-Eleven are structured to lower its transportation and receiving costs. For example, its area dominance strategy of opening at least 50-60 stores in an area helps with marketing but also lowers the cost of replenishment. All manufacturing facilities are centralized to get the maximum benefit of capacity aggregation and also lower the inbound transportation cost from the manufacturer to the distribution centre (DC). Seven-Eleven also requires all suppliers to deliver to the DC where products are sorted by temperature. This reduces the outbound transportation cost because of aggregation of deliveries across multiple suppliers. It also lowers the receiving cost. The information infrastructure is set up to allow store managers to place orders based on analysis of consumption data. The information infrastructure also facilitates the sorting of an order at the DC and receiving of the order at the store. The key point to emphasize here is that most decisions by Seven-Eleven are structured to aggregate transportation and receiving to make both cheaper. 4. Seven-Eleven does not allow direct store delivery in Japan but has all products flow through its distribution centre. What benefit does Seven-Eleven derive from this policy? When is direct store delivery more appropriate? Direct store delivery (DSD) would lower the utilization of the outbound trucks from the Seven-Eleven DC. It would also increase the receiving costs at the stores because of the increased deliveries. Thus, Seven-Eleven forces all suppliers to come in through the DC. DSD is most appropriate when stores are large and nearly-full truck load quantities are coming from a supplier to a store. This was the case, for example, in large U.S. Home Depot stores. For smaller stores it is almost always beneficial to have an intermediate aggregation point to lower the cost of freight. In fact, Home Depot itself is setting up these intermediate facilities for its new stores that are often smaller. In case of seven eleven, the benefit of delivery through its own distribution centre is total control of the system, aggregation of demand and minimal disruption at the retail outlets. If several suppliers tried to make two or three deliveries every day, it would detract from the store manager’s abil ity to provide customer service. Each of these suppliers would likely prefer their own way of doing things, their own inventory system, truck size, etc., which would make things more difficult for the Seven-Eleven system. The demand and production data would have to be shared rather than residing on Seven-Eleven’s system from cradle to grave. For items that cannot be prepared quickly, pull production may not provide the responsiveness that Seven-Eleven desires. In this case, the DC concept allows pooling of inventory which increases their overall service level while minimizing total system inventory of those items. Direct store delivery might be more appropriate if the items being delivered do not need bulk broken at a DC, have special handling requirements (lottery tickets, newspapers, or alcoholic beverages), or the supplier has a system that is consonant with Seven-Eleven’s (perhaps a regular bread run that has an information system that integrates with Seven-Eleven’s). 5. What do you think about the 7dream concept for Seven-Eleven in Japan? From a supply chain perspective, is it likely to be more successful in Japan or the United States? Why? 7dream makes sense given that Japanese customers are happy to receive their shipments at the local convenience store. From a logistics perspective, online deliveries can piggy back on Seven-Eleven’s existing distribution  network in Japan. Deliveries from the online supplier can be brought to the DC where they are sorted along with other deliveries destined for a store. This should increase the utilization of outbound transportation allowing Seven-Eleven to offer a lower cost alternative to having a package carrier deliver the product at home. The primary negatives are that 7dream will use up storage space and require the store to be able to retrieve specific packages for customers. One can argue that the concept may be more successful in Japan given the existing distribution network of Seven-Eleven and the frequency of visits by customers. Online delivery is able to link with the existing network. The high visit frequency ensures that packages are not occupying valuable store shelf space for a long time. Also, the frequent visits ensure that the marginal cost to the customer of picking up at Japanese Seven-Eleven is small. The 7dream concept allows e-commerce sites to use Seven-Eleven stores as drop-off and collection points for Japanese e-commerce customers. It has been extremely successful; a recent survey revealed that 92 per cent of the customers of one e-commerce company preferred to have their items shipped this way. It seems likely that this concept would work only for high density urban areas; It is being established in congested, less-safe urban areas for a service like package delivery. Suburban customers in the US would likely find it incredibly inconvenient and avoid it unless home delivery was not possible and the alternative was to pick up a package (for example, one that must be signed for) at the local carrier’s office. This is less likely to be the case in the United States. 6. Seven-Eleven is attempting to duplicate the supply chain structure that has succeeded in Japan in the United States with the introduction of CDCs. What are the pros and cons of this approach? Keep in mind that stores are also replenished by wholesalers and DSD by manufacturers. The supply chain structure for the US market can be close, but it can never be exactly as it is in Japan, and will probably not operate as smoothly as in Japan. Some of this is attributable to the culture and the corporate culture. Regardless of how like-minded supply chain partners claim to be, it would be extremely difficult to duplicate the collective spirit that  permeates Seven-Eleven Japan. The disadvantages of this system is that Seven-Eleven in the U.S. would probably have to run two system depending on whether the area could be treated as a dense urban location or a suburban or rural outpost. The cost of running the Seven-Eleven Japan system in middle-America would be prohibitive. The U.S. consumer in that region has too many alternatives that have 24 hour operations and are within a short drive. The difficulty of duplicating the Japan supply chain structure in the United States follows primarily from the much lower density of U.S. Seven-Eleven stores. This is compounded by the fact that Seven-Eleven stores are getting both direct store deliveries as well as wholesaler deliveries to its stores. Setting up its own DCs does not allow Seven-Eleven to get the same level of transportation aggregation as it gets in Japan. Its own distribution system would help more if all wholesaler deliveries and direct store deliveries were stopped and routed through the DC. Even then, having its own distribution system would add much less value than in Japan given the lower density of stores and larger distance between stores. Perhaps a hybrid system can be applied in select markets to test the system’s efficacy in the U.S. 7. The United States has food service distributors that also replenish convenience stores. What are the pros and cons to having a distributor replenish convenience stores versus a company like Seven-Eleven managing its own distribution function? The advantage of someone else replenishing stores is primarily cost; less transportation, material handling, and labour costs for your own system. Depending on how supply and reordering operations are designed, it might be possible for the distributors to perform the aggregation/demand smoothing function with minimal intervention by the individual Seven-Eleven franchise. One can contend that a distributor brings much more value to the table in the United States relative to Japan. Given the lower density of stores, a distributor is able to aggregate deliveries across many competing stores. This allows a distributor to reach levels of aggregation that cannot be achieved by a single chain such as Seven-Eleven. The disadvantage of the outsourced replenishment service is an overall loss of control, an increased  number of deliveries to each store, and the difficulty of integrating information flows across disparate systems. Also, Seven-Eleven is unable to exploit having a large number of stores. In fact, it may be argued that going through the distributor has Seven-Eleven subsidize deliveries to competing smaller chains that may also be using the same distributor