Webvan Firm Analysis

Introduction Webvan is an online firm that deals with packaging, selling, and delivery of grocery products. The firm was established in 1996 under the leadership of Louis Borders. Borders’ vision was to establish a customer-focused grocery firm. The firm’s objective was to increase its customer base by nurturing a high level of customer satisfaction (McAfee and Ashiya 1).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Webvan Firm Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One of the ways through which the firm intended to achieve this goal entailed simplifying the consumers’ purchasing process. The firm intended to achieve a high level of effectiveness and efficiency in its operations. For example, Webvan ensured that orders were delivered within thirty minutes. Its efficiency regarding product delivery was facilitated by the fact that the firm established a number of distribution centres. Problem identific ation In a bid to achieve its vision, Webvan adopted the concept of online marketing. Webvan intended to exploit the niche market that is arising from the growth in the Internet and the high rate at which consumers are purchasing products online. The firm invested heavily in infrastructure, but it did not focus on marketing, which led to low sales. Consequently, the firm’s online model was adversely affected. This paper evaluates the problems faced by Webvan coupled with how they can be resolved in order to reposition the firm as a strong online company. Inherent complexities in Webvan’s business model Despite Webvan’s goals to attain an optimal market position in the e-groceries market, the firm faced a number of fundamental challenges. One of the major complexities faced by the firm relates to the fact that it did not understand how the groceries value chain operates. Therefore, the firm invested in a system that it had not tested (McAfee and Ashiya 3). Second ly, the firm also faced a major challenge in motivating consumers to adopt online shopping in their purchasing processes. During its inception, most consumers were only acquainted with purchasing groceries from convenient stores. By visiting the stores, consumers were in a position to access price discount in addition to gaining a unique experience during the purchasing process. Moreover, most consumers attached little economic value to the amount of time spent when shopping in the supermarket, which means that a significant proportion of consumers did not value convenience. Consequently, online shopping was a rather new concept to most consumers. Therefore, changing the consumers’ behaviour is one of the uphill battles faced by the firm.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Webvan intended to deliver a wide range of perishable and non-perishable products to customers thr ough its online model. However, the 30 minutes duration within which the firm intended to achieve this objective was relatively short. Moreover, this model was untested with regard to delivery of perishable products. Therefore, the likelihood of the model failing was relatively high. Dealing with grocery products was another major challenge that the firm faced, as such products were characterised by low profit margins of 1% to 5%. The firm also faced a major challenge with regard to sustaining its wide product range and meeting the temperature requirements in to preserve the products (McAfee and Ashiya 7). Technological discontinuities and behaviour changes necessary to implement Webvan’s business model Webvan’s failure arose from its inability to understand how it would successfully integrate online shopping technology to groceries. Despite its failure, Webvan can attain an optimal market position by improving its online shopping model. In order to achieve this goal, the firm should focus on a number of technological discontinuities. Technological discontinuities refer to the changes that the firm will be required to implement in order to maximise its sales revenue. Considering the volatile nature of the IT industry, it is imperative for Webvan to develop a well-structured framework to implement the technological changes. First, the firm should align its operations with market changes by identifying the possible technological discontinuities and market needs that might affect its ability to maximise online sales. In a bid to identify the technological discontinuities successfully, Webvan should take into account the customers’ future needs and the prevailing technological trends. This move will minimise the likelihood of the implemented ICT technology from becoming obsolete. The firm should also assess potential substitute technologies that can be incorporated and compare with the technology that has already been integrated (McAfee and As hiya 9). It is also imperative for Webvan to engage in a comprehensive marketing campaign. The campaign should focus at creating awareness on the benefits associated with online shopping. The firm should conduct its market awareness campaign on both traditional and emerging mediums, which will play a critical role in the firm’s effort to attract its customer base and hence its sales revenue.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Webvan Firm Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Some of the aspects that the firm should focus on relates to the economic benefits of online shopping. For example, online shopping saves on cost, as the consumer does not incur additional cost in their purchasing process due to transport. Moreover, online shopping is more convenient with regard to time, as it eliminates the amount of time that the customer may be required to queue. Target market Webvan targeted three main customer groups, which include the new technologists, price insensitive consumers, and time conscious consumers. Before adopting the online shopping model, Webvan conducted a comprehensive market research. From the market research, the firm identified a customer group that values their time. These customers include senior citizens, mothers with young children, upscale employees, students, and physically challenged customers. Some of these customers such as students, senior citizens, and upscale employees attach high value to the convenience associated with online shopping. Consequently, they prefer shopping perishable and non-perishable products online rather than visiting supermarkets. Challenges associated with Webvan physical plant infrastructure In an effort to exploit the online market, Webvan invested in a high capital and technology intensive project. The project entailed constructing a number of distribution centres in different parts of the US. The distribution centres were fitted w ith optimal warehousing and order management technologies (McAfee and Ashiya 11). Despite its commitment in implementing the online shopping technology, Webvan experienced a major challenge with regard to meeting the cost of the high-tech warehouse. For example, the firm incurred $40 million in constructing the distribution centres in Atlanta. The firm experienced a major challenge in sustaining the operations of the high-tech warehouses considering the fact that its grocery sales were relatively low. The high cost of operation forced the firm to implement the downsizing strategy. For example, in 2001, the firm retrenched 2000 employees. Most investors in Webvan lost the amount they had invested. Moreover, the firm was forced to apply for bankruptcy protection. Conclusion The case study shows that Webvan faced numerous challenges that hindered its success in the online shopping market segment. First, the firm did not conduct a comprehensive consumer market research in order to deter mine the consumers purchasing patterns. Consequently, its online shopping model relied on assumption rather than market facts.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For example, the firm assumed that the prevailing market size in the US would translate into sales, which motivated the firm to engage in an aggressive market expansion. The firm also incurred high cost in maintaining the distribution centres it had established in the US market. Moreover, Webvan’s management team assumed that the frequency of online purchases would enable the firm to maximise its sales. However, most consumers who purchased through the firm’s online shopping system did not engage in repeat purchase behaviour. Therefore, the firm was not in a position to develop and maintain a strong customer base. The firm also experienced a challenge due to technological discontinuities. Recommendation Despite the above failures, Webvan can improve its online business model and hence its performance. In order to achieve this goal, the firm should consider the following. Webvan should conduct a comprehensive consumer market research. The research will give the firmâ⠂¬â„¢s management insight with regard to the consumers’ purchasing behaviour. For example, the firm will be in a position to identify the products that consumers purchase online rather than selling all its products through the online business model. The firm should continually invest in research and development with regard to ICT, which will improve the firm’s competitiveness within the online market segment. The firm should also evaluate its target market in order to identify changes in consumers’ purchasing patterns, and thus the firm will improve its online shopping technologies to be aligned with the prevailing market trend. Works Cited McAfee, Andrew, and Mona Ashiya. â€Å"Webvan.† Harvard Business Review, 25 Sept. 2001: 1-28. Print. This report on Webvan Firm Analysis was written and submitted by user Marisa Tillman to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

How To Make Spanish Crossword Puzzles

How To Make Spanish Crossword Puzzles Are you a Spanish teacher who is tired of giving routine fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice vocabulary tests? If so, you can bet your students are wearier of them then you are. The answer may be a fun variation of fill-in-the-blank - crossword puzzles, known as crucigramas in Spanish. With software available for only the bother of a download, you can quickly create Spanish-language crossword puzzles with your own choice of words. Free Crossword Puzzle Software The free software, EclipseCrossword from Green Eclipse Software, lets you readily make your own word lists and definitions, so puzzles can be custom-designed for what youre trying to teach. One nice feature of EclipseCrossword that makes it particularly suitable for teaching Spanish and many other foreign languages is that it supports diacritical marks, so you can include words with the à ± as well as accent marks on the vowels. The software, which uses Windows, is free, so you cant expect it to have the capability of professional software that will let you develop crosswords with the density and symmetry of the puzzles youll find in top newspapers and magazines. But it is otherwise quite versatile, letting you specify the desired size (go too small, and the program will leave words out) and output format. You can print the puzzles directly, or you can save them to a Web page.

Chalice Chapter 9

He was introduced to her with a tremendous flourish, although no reason was given for his presence; which, with the air and the flourish, was explanation enough, and her heart plummeted. By the time the Grand Seneschal informed her, stiffly, that this was the Overlord’s choice for the next Master’s Heir, she didn’t need to be told, and in her anger and frustration she said, â€Å"That is hasty,† before she remembered to whom she spoke, and she bit her lip, waiting for the rebuke. But none came. She was so surprised she looked into his face. He scowled at her at once, the familiar contemptuous, disapproving scowl, but when she ducked her head and then glanced back again a moment later, his face had relaxed into what looked a lot like sadness. The new man’s name was Horuld. She paid little attention to his breeding, that several of his forebears’ lines ran directly from Willowlands, and several more had crossed in the ensuing generations, and which Deager was very eager to tell out, over and over and over, even to such unworthies as the demesne’s shabby and erratic new Chalice, who was herself one of the indications (Deager didn’t say this but he didn’t have to) that the demesne was still in trouble, over a year after she had taken her place in the Circle. So far as she knew no Chalice had ever been deposed. But she had never seen any record of a Chalice chosen when there was no Master to hold the land steady while the Circle did its work either. It had very occasionally happened that an apprentice died with or before her Chalice; but then too there had always been an experienced Master. And there were stories of Chalices who had not been able to bear the work they were called on to do – even those who had had their proper apprenticeships – and broken under it. There were only a few of these stories, but one was too many, and there was more than one. She believed that one such Chalice was the Chalice she herself followed. She was surprised – even more surprised than she had been at the Grand Seneschal missing a chance to reprimand her – when Horuld seemed disposed to talk to her. There were other, more prepossessing and conversationally skilful members of the Circle he could address himself to; demesne hierarchy declared that Chalice was Second of the Circle, but that had to be remembered only when there was work to be done. Her Circle recollected it only when they had to, as did the Overlord’s agent – or they always had done previously. She was, as Chalice, compelled to be present for the agent’s visit, and – as Chalice – she would serve whatever Master fate set over Willowlands. That was enough. Perhaps the training she hadn’t had would have included how to hold superfluous discourse with people she would rather avoid. When she was standing Chalice or performing a ritual she did not have to chat; but Horuld’s first visit was informal. In other circumstances this would have seemed friendly and considerate; as it was it seemed ominous and coercive. Deager, having proved to his own satisfaction, if not all of his audience’s, that Horuld’s bloodlines were an excellent choice, wished to make it clear – he said – that the Overlord was merely anxious that an unambiguous Heir should be in place, after the recent disaster. If such an accident should happen again, the demesne might fall apart entirely. It had been without a Master for seven months; it could not survive this a second time. She tried to tell herself that a declared Heir was a sensible precaution; their present Master was the end of his family. The previous Master should have declared an Heir when he sent his only brother to Fire. She wondered why the Overlord had not obliged him to do so; she had only been a small woodskeeper then, and small woodskeepers heard little about Overlords’ decisions. The demesne gossip said merely that the Master was a young man, and hale, and he would produce Heirs – had probably produced a few already, the uneasy joke went. But they would be bastards, and prohibited. By the time the ordinary folk of the demesne had begun to realise that their young Master seemed to have no intention of marrying and producing a proper Heir, especially in combination with his increasingly alarming general behaviour, the fear of what this meant also meant that no one wanted to talk about it. And then the worst had happened. Perhaps she should try to believe that the Overlord was merely doing the responsible thing – the responsible thing he had failed to do before – but again she wondered. It was too soon to tie an Heir to the present Circle; Willowlands was still too precarious. However necessary an Heir was, forcing him upon them now would unbalance it further. Would the next thing be that she was obliged to take an apprentice? She had no energy for the binding that would entail. Leaving aside that she had nothing to teach one. Perhaps it was only her dislike of both Deager and Horuld that made her feel the agent was making it clear that Horuld was being introduced to Willowlands as the Heir only after he had made something else even more clear, if not in so many words: that the Overlord would like to see Horuld taking up this inheritance soon. She was too quick to feel she needed to defend the Master, she told herself. But what she had taken from the agent’s description of Horuld’s bloodlines was that if he was the best that could be done for her poor demesne, the Overlord should be straining every muscle to support the present Master. Did the Overlord want to break Willowlands entirely? Surely not. The disruption would damage the Overlord’s grip too†¦no. He would be counting on riding it out; might he, more, be betting on the huge increase of his own power the successful changeover would produce? She knew almost nothing of the politics among Overlords. Demesne folk did not travel to the crown city nor visit the court of the king; and as practising Chalice she was furthermore indissolubly tied to her land. But whatever else she knew or thought of the Grand Seneschal, he would not have kept such a piece of news as a visit from the Heir from the rest of the Circle; and Deager glossed, or slithered, over the question of why Willowlands had not known who was coming with him, which made it plain that there had been no message that had gone awry. She had mixed the cup she would offer to the company before she came. She had mixed it for the visit from the Overlord’s agent, and that was all. That was how it was done; that was why it was important that a Chalice know in advance who would drink from her cup, and for what reasons. Last-minute changes were destabilising, which was why battlefield cups, which were perforce rare, were also notoriously volatile. It should not have been a good omen, that a Master’s Heir should be left out of the first cup he received from the Chalice. Perhaps the Overlord, or some other of his plotters, had decided that being left out was better than a Chalice throwing her weight against him, which a loyal Chalice might be suspected of doing upon the presentation of any outblood Heir. Chalices were parochial by definition; of all the Circle, only the Chalice could not set foot across her demesne’s boundaries. Some of the oldest records called the Chalice the Landtied – and because of this literal overidentification, the Chalice’s response to outbloodedness in any member of the Circle was considered crucial. This perhaps explained why Horuld was interested – indeed eager – to talk to her. Perhaps she could be disposed to include him kindly in her mixture for his next visit, after he had been careful to make a good first impression. She would not need to be disloyal. An y Master’s Heir was an important part in the demesne structure; most accepted Heirs attended at least some Circle gatherings; and under the present circumstances the only possible Heir was an outblood. A Chalice must at least punctiliously include her Master’s Heir in any cup he was present for; of course it would be better if she felt at least benign toward him, or even generous. But she did not feel benign or generous. She listened, smooth-faced, when the agent pronounced some blather about how the surprise of presenting Horuld unannounced would create â€Å"clarity† in an awkward situation; that he would be more able to see where he would best fit into difficult circumstances if no one was trying to soften the truth. She knew that a properly schooled Chalice would have some matching blather to offer in return, but she was not a properly schooled Chalice, and it gave her a little meagre pleasure that her silence discomfited the agent, and by his discomfiture he exposed that he knew his action had been dishonourable. Did she loathe Horuld because Deager was a toad? No. Sunbrightener was a toad, and his antics merely made her feel tired and sad. Or because the Chalice was repelled by outbloodedness? She looked at Horuld and every particle of her recoiled. No. She bore the Chalice, she was not engulfed by it. Mirasol had arrived a little late at the House for the meeting with Deager. Just as she was leaving her cottage a young mother had burst into the meadow carrying a wildly weeping child. Mirasol knew them, Kenti and her daughter Tis; they were neighbours. Tis had pulled a kettle of boiling water over. Fortunately it had only been half full, but the child still had a badly burned arm; and the local herbswoman, Catu, was gone to a lying-in, Kenti did not know where. Mirasol hadn’t spoken to Kenti or her husband Danel properly since she had become Chalice, in spite of the fact that Danel and she had grown up together; she had been jealous when he had been apprenticed to a ploughman, for the horses. Kenti said breathlessly, â€Å"Can you do anything? Can you help?† Her eyes went to the back of Mirasol’s right hand, which was holding the edges of her cloak together over the cup of congruence in her left hand, and then hastily rose to Mirasol’s face. But she couldn’t meet the Chalice’s eyes the way she had many times met Mirasol’s, and they dropped away again. Poor Tis was weeping in a miserable, exhausted way that was painful to hear. Mirasol brought them into the cottage and took down a small pot of the honey especially good for burns and smeared it carefully over Tis’ arm. The little girl cried out at the first touch but by the time Mirasol had finished she had fallen silent, and leant back against her mother’s body staring at Mirasol with huge still-wet eyes. Even as Mirasol looked back at her the eyelids drooped, and Tis was asleep. And then Kenti burst into tears. Mirasol led her to the big soft chair by the fireplace where Mirasol did much of her reading and let her collapse. â€Å"It was my own carelessness – I know what she’s like – I let myself be distracted – it was only a moment – and then I heard her scream – and I knew Catu was away – I didn’t know what to do – it was awful† and then she couldn’t say anything for a while. Mirasol made a tisane – a spoonful of her soothing honey with a spoonful of the calming herbs she’d had from Catu herself; in the early months of her Chalicehood she’d drunk it by the bucketful. When she brought a cup to Kenti, Kenti laid Tis tenderly down beside her on the chair, sticky arm uppermost, and took it. She breathed in the steam and gave a little half laugh: she recognised Catu’s mixture. â€Å"I’ve used honey for littler wounds – your mother taught me that when I wasn’t much older than Tis – but this one was so dreadful. And then I remembered – I remembered your hand. I thought, if your – if the Chalice’s honey can cure what a Fire-priest can do, then perhaps it can cure Tis’ arm.† Mirasol said gently, â€Å"The Master cured my hand.† â€Å"He – ?† said Kenti unbelievingly, and Mirasol saw the fear in her face, the same fear she saw in the Housemen’s faces before they bent nearer their Master to slide the chair under him as he sat down; the fear she saw in the faces of most of the others of the Circle when their part in a rite brought them too close to him – the fear of him that made the Master leave the burnt grove before any of his people saw him there. â€Å"Yes. He.† She wanted to say, Tell Danel. Tell your mother. Tell all your friends. But she watched Kenti’s face and knew that she would tell the story – if she believed it. Kenti’s face said that she wanted to believe it – she wanted that hope, not only for herself, but for her demesne. Kenti sat looking at her daughter for a long moment and then said wonderingly, â€Å"Look – the mark is already fading. Your mother’s honey could not have done so much so quickly. It is the Chalice in you, I know, but perhaps – perhaps – perhaps it is also that we have a Fire-priest for Master†¦.† Her voice had sunk to a whisper. Mirasol was still thinking about the hope in Kenti’s face when she walked up to the House. She knew she was late, but it was only Deager, the agent, coming for a – snoop, she thought uncharitably. Overlords’ agents were supposed to visit their Overlords’ demesnes, but she didn’t like the way Deager’s nose twitched, the way his eyes darted around, as if he were hoping to smell something rotten, to see someone doing something illicit or disgraceful. And then she arrived, and there was a surprising number of people churning around in the big hall behind the front doors, and a youngish, weaselly-faced man she had never seen before standing a little too close to Deager’s elbow. The situation was uncomfortable enough to begin with, when it was only Deager and Horuld, herself and the Grand Seneschal and the Seneschal’s apprentice Bringad, and four of the minor Circle (the others were hastily sent for when Horuld was revealed as the Heir) plus the attendants the visitors brought and their own Housefolk. As the word spread about Horuld, more and more people streamed in, and both the noise and the tension level, it seemed to Mirasol, rose, and the ever-worried Bringad looked more worried than she had ever seen him. But when the Master arrived†¦she did not know how to understand it, explain it, even to herself. It was as if the level ground tipped a little in one direction and the high curving sky changed its arc just a little in some other direction. A Master was not expected to greet a mere agent on his arrival; the Grand Seneschal did that. But as the representative of his Overlord, a Master would be churlish as well as foolish not to see him at some point during his visit. She assumed the Grand Seneschal had despatched a message to the Master about Deager’s unexpected companion; it was impossible to read any trace of surprise or disquiet on the Master’s shadowy black and strangely mutable face when he made his entrance. Mirasol heard with what was beginning to be a familiar sinking of the heart the conversation falter and then stop as he was noticed, before the head Houseman announced him. Perhaps all Masters are greeted with a respectful hush, but she doubted that most demesne folk drew together as if for protection when their Master appeared. When Deager (his voice positively quavering as he addressed the Master) described Horuld as the Overlord’s candidate for Heir, the Master merely bowed his head. There was a disagreeable pause, and then the agent rushed to begin telling Horuld’s bloodlines over again, speaking too loudly and too quickly, and at first forgetting his flourishes. But when a Master has no son nor other suitable close relative, the meeting between the Master and the Master’s newly declared Heir was as laboriously and ponderously formal as centuries of tradition could make it, including, in this case, the tradition that an unexpected situation should be treated even more formally than the same situation when everyone knew what was happening. The Grand Seneschal managed to insert an orotund phrase or two (rather like a pole through the spokes of a wheel, Mirasol thought) into the agent’s barrage of genealogy, which had a steadying effect. When Deager finally fell silent, his concl uding bow was as elaborate as if he were being presented to the king. But Mirasol found herself thinking that the Master had bowed his head so very ceremoniously indeed that perhaps he had somehow known of Horuld’s coming before the message from the Grand Seneschal. Most of the initial gestures among any group that required the presence of the Chalice were stylised, just as her offering of the cup was, but during Horuld’s first visit to Willowlands they all seemed to move as if they were puppets in a puppet show, their limbs made of wood, the pulling of their strings performed by a puppeteer. If there had been an audience Mirasol felt they would not have found the performance convincing. Although Deager had insisted in a manner that was obviously meant to be magnificent but came over as merely presumptuous, that this first informal meeting with the Heir should proceed as it would have if Horuld had not been there, this was not possible, as Deager would have known it was not possible. Furthermore any meeting involving the Circle to which the Chalice stood should be precise about the number of people present, the number of people who would be offered the Chalice’s cup – which Deager would also know. And the Willowlands folk were doubtless awkward with surprise. They had known an Heir would be chosen, and Mirasol had held Chalice during the gathering when the Master had acceded to the Overlord’s wish, as presented by Deager, that the Overlord do the choosing. But that had only been a few weeks ago, and they had heard nothing of the progress of the search. She had begun reading about the meeting of a Master with an unknown Heir, so she knew that if it had been a proper meeting she should offer her cup first to the Master and second to the Heir. After a moment’s invisible dithering behind the face she tried hard to keep in an expressionless Chalice mask she did so anyway: let Deager assume this was a manifestation of magnanimity and support; she considered it buying time. The contrast between the Master and an ordinary human had never been so marked, she thought, as between the Master and his Heir when she took the cup from one and offered it to the other. She had directed them to stand on either side of her – which would also have been the correct form for a planned first meeting between the two of them: she could see Deager smiling with satisfaction, but she ignored him. The Master seemed to tower over her, and his natural heat, as she stood close enough to him to hold a cup to his lips, wrapped itself around her as if claiming her – and briefly and disconcertingly she remembered riding home with him after the fire in the Onora Grove. Horuld, who was no more than average size, seemed puny and frail in comparison; and the fact that he was obviously struggling not to flinch away from the Master added to this impression of weakness. She might have helped him, as she often helped the Circle members who were still reluctant to approach the Master, by stepping toward him, by allowing him to maintain a greater distance; but she did not. She offered the cup to the Master with a bent arm, and then turned and offered the cup to Horuld, again with a bent arm, and waited, forcing him to step close, not only to her, but to the Master. He did not try to take the cup from her, but he did raise a hand to grasp it, and she could feel him trembling. There were beads of sweat on his upper lip which she doubted were only from the heat. Before she took the cup on to Deager and the rest of the Circle, she bowed, to the Master, and then to Horuld. The Master must receive the deeper bow, of course, but the Heir might have had one nearly as deep; her bow to the Heir was only enough more than perfunctory not to be offensive. She let her gaze pass as if carelessly over Deager, and saw that he had stopped smiling. She could feel, before she had got halfway round the Circle, that it was not a good binding. When she made her final bow it was almost difficult to stand upright again, and she was exhausted. She had to make a great effort to meet the eyes of Horuld and Deager; the Grand Seneschal’s eyes looked glassy and unfocused, and the Master’s were as unfathomable as they had been the first day, when his hand had slipped and burnt her, and his face was only blurred shadows. She tried to remember the sudden surprising joy of his healing of her hand, of talking to him about what he saw, about her bees being tiny golden sparks in his strange vision – of the night that she had helped him put out the fire in Onora Grove, and the ride home after. But she remembered these things as she might remember something out of a book, a story told of someone else. Even if, by some extraordinary accident, the Chalice had not known beforehand all those who would drink, a well-mixed cup should have had a more positive effect than this. Perhaps she had mixed it injudiciously; that was likeliest. Even without his bringing an unannounced Heir, her dislike of Deager made it onerous for her to mix a cup that she would have to offer to him. But even if a more experienced Chalice might have done better, it was still true that introducing an Heir without proper advance warning was like throwing a boulder on one side of a delicate scales and expecting them still to balance. But perhaps the lack of binding and balance in this gathering was because Horuld was wrong†¦wrong for the demesne, wrong as Heir, wrong even to be here. It had been known in the past that an outblood Heir was rejected by the demesne, however carefully the humans had tried to make the best choice. Perhaps the Overlord had overplayed his game by giving the Master and his Chalice no forewarning that the Overlord’s choice was coming to be introduced to his hoped-for inheritance. By the end of the day, when she could leave the House and make her way back to her cottage, she was shaking and sick. She pulled her hood over her head and held it bunched round her throat with her hands, feeling that what she really wanted to do was disappear: if she wrapped the ends of her cloak around her tightly enough and then tighter still, eventually there would be no one left inside†¦. Usually the gentle thumping of the empty Chalice cup against her hip was comforting: another ritual got through. Today it was not; she felt that she – they – Willowlands had indeed not got through the ritual of the introduction of the Heir. She concentrated on the thought of sitting in the last of the daylight in the clearing by the cottage, listening to her bees. She was still ten minutes’ walk from the cottage when some of her bees came to meet her. She stretched out her arms to them and they landed on her hands and forearms, stroking her skin as if the tiny hairs were sepals they expected to secrete nectar for them. She shook her hood back, and several landed on her face and neck; out of the corners of her eyes she could see more landing on her shoulders. As she walked the last few minutes to the cottage she found herself thinking that her head felt strangely heavy, and that the hum of the bees was unusually loud; and then when she came out of the tree-shadowed path into the sunny clearing around the cottage she saw a great cloud of bees lifting away from her and dispersing, and she realised that she had been wearing a hood and cloak of bees. She watched them scatter about their proper bee business, and wondered. Horuld came twice more in the next few weeks with Deager, and then a third time he came alone. When he came with Deager their visits were announced in advance; but now as the acknowledged Heir, he might come as he pleased – and stay as he pleased. She was in the House library when he came that third time, and the first warning she had was a shadow falling across the open door; she was deep into her research and would not have noticed, except that a half-familiar voice said, â€Å"Chalice,† and her body had recoiled before her mind had recognised who it was. She turned the recoil, she hoped, into a mere startle, and stood up at once to make a ceremonial sign of greeting, saying, â€Å"Forgive me, my mind was lost in what I was doing.† He said smoothly, â€Å"And I have interrupted you; forgive me.† She bowed her head and waited, hoping his appearance was a formal signal only and that he had no business with her. The demesne’s folk were growing used to their new Chalice, and they were now coming to her more and more; this was a relief in some ways, and she knew she must be grateful for the good this was doing Willowlands, but she often had to put aside what other work she had planned on doing. She had fled to the House library today and was hastily reading up on the behaviour toward and reception of outblood Heirs. Part of her problem, she thought, as she had thought many times since the Chalice had come to her, was that she was not by nature a formal sort of person; she found that side of the duties of the Chalice so difficult as sometimes to feel incompatible with her private self. She wondered if this was anything like trying to live in the human world when you were a priest of Fire. Chalice Chapter 9 He was introduced to her with a tremendous flourish, although no reason was given for his presence; which, with the air and the flourish, was explanation enough, and her heart plummeted. By the time the Grand Seneschal informed her, stiffly, that this was the Overlord’s choice for the next Master’s Heir, she didn’t need to be told, and in her anger and frustration she said, â€Å"That is hasty,† before she remembered to whom she spoke, and she bit her lip, waiting for the rebuke. But none came. She was so surprised she looked into his face. He scowled at her at once, the familiar contemptuous, disapproving scowl, but when she ducked her head and then glanced back again a moment later, his face had relaxed into what looked a lot like sadness. The new man’s name was Horuld. She paid little attention to his breeding, that several of his forebears’ lines ran directly from Willowlands, and several more had crossed in the ensuing generations, and which Deager was very eager to tell out, over and over and over, even to such unworthies as the demesne’s shabby and erratic new Chalice, who was herself one of the indications (Deager didn’t say this but he didn’t have to) that the demesne was still in trouble, over a year after she had taken her place in the Circle. So far as she knew no Chalice had ever been deposed. But she had never seen any record of a Chalice chosen when there was no Master to hold the land steady while the Circle did its work either. It had very occasionally happened that an apprentice died with or before her Chalice; but then too there had always been an experienced Master. And there were stories of Chalices who had not been able to bear the work they were called on to do – even those who had had their proper apprenticeships – and broken under it. There were only a few of these stories, but one was too many, and there was more than one. She believed that one such Chalice was the Chalice she herself followed. She was surprised – even more surprised than she had been at the Grand Seneschal missing a chance to reprimand her – when Horuld seemed disposed to talk to her. There were other, more prepossessing and conversationally skilful members of the Circle he could address himself to; demesne hierarchy declared that Chalice was Second of the Circle, but that had to be remembered only when there was work to be done. Her Circle recollected it only when they had to, as did the Overlord’s agent – or they always had done previously. She was, as Chalice, compelled to be present for the agent’s visit, and – as Chalice – she would serve whatever Master fate set over Willowlands. That was enough. Perhaps the training she hadn’t had would have included how to hold superfluous discourse with people she would rather avoid. When she was standing Chalice or performing a ritual she did not have to chat; but Horuld’s first visit was informal. In other circumstances this would have seemed friendly and considerate; as it was it seemed ominous and coercive. Deager, having proved to his own satisfaction, if not all of his audience’s, that Horuld’s bloodlines were an excellent choice, wished to make it clear – he said – that the Overlord was merely anxious that an unambiguous Heir should be in place, after the recent disaster. If such an accident should happen again, the demesne might fall apart entirely. It had been without a Master for seven months; it could not survive this a second time. She tried to tell herself that a declared Heir was a sensible precaution; their present Master was the end of his family. The previous Master should have declared an Heir when he sent his only brother to Fire. She wondered why the Overlord had not obliged him to do so; she had only been a small woodskeeper then, and small woodskeepers heard little about Overlords’ decisions. The demesne gossip said merely that the Master was a young man, and hale, and he would produce Heirs – had probably produced a few already, the uneasy joke went. But they would be bastards, and prohibited. By the time the ordinary folk of the demesne had begun to realise that their young Master seemed to have no intention of marrying and producing a proper Heir, especially in combination with his increasingly alarming general behaviour, the fear of what this meant also meant that no one wanted to talk about it. And then the worst had happened. Perhaps she should try to believe that the Overlord was merely doing the responsible thing – the responsible thing he had failed to do before – but again she wondered. It was too soon to tie an Heir to the present Circle; Willowlands was still too precarious. However necessary an Heir was, forcing him upon them now would unbalance it further. Would the next thing be that she was obliged to take an apprentice? She had no energy for the binding that would entail. Leaving aside that she had nothing to teach one. Perhaps it was only her dislike of both Deager and Horuld that made her feel the agent was making it clear that Horuld was being introduced to Willowlands as the Heir only after he had made something else even more clear, if not in so many words: that the Overlord would like to see Horuld taking up this inheritance soon. She was too quick to feel she needed to defend the Master, she told herself. But what she had taken from the agent’s description of Horuld’s bloodlines was that if he was the best that could be done for her poor demesne, the Overlord should be straining every muscle to support the present Master. Did the Overlord want to break Willowlands entirely? Surely not. The disruption would damage the Overlord’s grip too†¦no. He would be counting on riding it out; might he, more, be betting on the huge increase of his own power the successful changeover would produce? She knew almost nothing of the politics among Overlords. Demesne folk did not travel to the crown city nor visit the court of the king; and as practising Chalice she was furthermore indissolubly tied to her land. But whatever else she knew or thought of the Grand Seneschal, he would not have kept such a piece of news as a visit from the Heir from the rest of the Circle; and Deager glossed, or slithered, over the question of why Willowlands had not known who was coming with him, which made it plain that there had been no message that had gone awry. She had mixed the cup she would offer to the company before she came. She had mixed it for the visit from the Overlord’s agent, and that was all. That was how it was done; that was why it was important that a Chalice know in advance who would drink from her cup, and for what reasons. Last-minute changes were destabilising, which was why battlefield cups, which were perforce rare, were also notoriously volatile. It should not have been a good omen, that a Master’s Heir should be left out of the first cup he received from the Chalice. Perhaps the Overlord, or some other of his plotters, had decided that being left out was better than a Chalice throwing her weight against him, which a loyal Chalice might be suspected of doing upon the presentation of any outblood Heir. Chalices were parochial by definition; of all the Circle, only the Chalice could not set foot across her demesne’s boundaries. Some of the oldest records called the Chalice the Landtied – and because of this literal overidentification, the Chalice’s response to outbloodedness in any member of the Circle was considered crucial. This perhaps explained why Horuld was interested – indeed eager – to talk to her. Perhaps she could be disposed to include him kindly in her mixture for his next visit, after he had been careful to make a good first impression. She would not need to be disloyal. An y Master’s Heir was an important part in the demesne structure; most accepted Heirs attended at least some Circle gatherings; and under the present circumstances the only possible Heir was an outblood. A Chalice must at least punctiliously include her Master’s Heir in any cup he was present for; of course it would be better if she felt at least benign toward him, or even generous. But she did not feel benign or generous. She listened, smooth-faced, when the agent pronounced some blather about how the surprise of presenting Horuld unannounced would create â€Å"clarity† in an awkward situation; that he would be more able to see where he would best fit into difficult circumstances if no one was trying to soften the truth. She knew that a properly schooled Chalice would have some matching blather to offer in return, but she was not a properly schooled Chalice, and it gave her a little meagre pleasure that her silence discomfited the agent, and by his discomfiture he exposed that he knew his action had been dishonourable. Did she loathe Horuld because Deager was a toad? No. Sunbrightener was a toad, and his antics merely made her feel tired and sad. Or because the Chalice was repelled by outbloodedness? She looked at Horuld and every particle of her recoiled. No. She bore the Chalice, she was not engulfed by it. Mirasol had arrived a little late at the House for the meeting with Deager. Just as she was leaving her cottage a young mother had burst into the meadow carrying a wildly weeping child. Mirasol knew them, Kenti and her daughter Tis; they were neighbours. Tis had pulled a kettle of boiling water over. Fortunately it had only been half full, but the child still had a badly burned arm; and the local herbswoman, Catu, was gone to a lying-in, Kenti did not know where. Mirasol hadn’t spoken to Kenti or her husband Danel properly since she had become Chalice, in spite of the fact that Danel and she had grown up together; she had been jealous when he had been apprenticed to a ploughman, for the horses. Kenti said breathlessly, â€Å"Can you do anything? Can you help?† Her eyes went to the back of Mirasol’s right hand, which was holding the edges of her cloak together over the cup of congruence in her left hand, and then hastily rose to Mirasol’s face. But she couldn’t meet the Chalice’s eyes the way she had many times met Mirasol’s, and they dropped away again. Poor Tis was weeping in a miserable, exhausted way that was painful to hear. Mirasol brought them into the cottage and took down a small pot of the honey especially good for burns and smeared it carefully over Tis’ arm. The little girl cried out at the first touch but by the time Mirasol had finished she had fallen silent, and leant back against her mother’s body staring at Mirasol with huge still-wet eyes. Even as Mirasol looked back at her the eyelids drooped, and Tis was asleep. And then Kenti burst into tears. Mirasol led her to the big soft chair by the fireplace where Mirasol did much of her reading and let her collapse. â€Å"It was my own carelessness – I know what she’s like – I let myself be distracted – it was only a moment – and then I heard her scream – and I knew Catu was away – I didn’t know what to do – it was awful† and then she couldn’t say anything for a while. Mirasol made a tisane – a spoonful of her soothing honey with a spoonful of the calming herbs she’d had from Catu herself; in the early months of her Chalicehood she’d drunk it by the bucketful. When she brought a cup to Kenti, Kenti laid Tis tenderly down beside her on the chair, sticky arm uppermost, and took it. She breathed in the steam and gave a little half laugh: she recognised Catu’s mixture. â€Å"I’ve used honey for littler wounds – your mother taught me that when I wasn’t much older than Tis – but this one was so dreadful. And then I remembered – I remembered your hand. I thought, if your – if the Chalice’s honey can cure what a Fire-priest can do, then perhaps it can cure Tis’ arm.† Mirasol said gently, â€Å"The Master cured my hand.† â€Å"He – ?† said Kenti unbelievingly, and Mirasol saw the fear in her face, the same fear she saw in the Housemen’s faces before they bent nearer their Master to slide the chair under him as he sat down; the fear she saw in the faces of most of the others of the Circle when their part in a rite brought them too close to him – the fear of him that made the Master leave the burnt grove before any of his people saw him there. â€Å"Yes. He.† She wanted to say, Tell Danel. Tell your mother. Tell all your friends. But she watched Kenti’s face and knew that she would tell the story – if she believed it. Kenti’s face said that she wanted to believe it – she wanted that hope, not only for herself, but for her demesne. Kenti sat looking at her daughter for a long moment and then said wonderingly, â€Å"Look – the mark is already fading. Your mother’s honey could not have done so much so quickly. It is the Chalice in you, I know, but perhaps – perhaps – perhaps it is also that we have a Fire-priest for Master†¦.† Her voice had sunk to a whisper. Mirasol was still thinking about the hope in Kenti’s face when she walked up to the House. She knew she was late, but it was only Deager, the agent, coming for a – snoop, she thought uncharitably. Overlords’ agents were supposed to visit their Overlords’ demesnes, but she didn’t like the way Deager’s nose twitched, the way his eyes darted around, as if he were hoping to smell something rotten, to see someone doing something illicit or disgraceful. And then she arrived, and there was a surprising number of people churning around in the big hall behind the front doors, and a youngish, weaselly-faced man she had never seen before standing a little too close to Deager’s elbow. The situation was uncomfortable enough to begin with, when it was only Deager and Horuld, herself and the Grand Seneschal and the Seneschal’s apprentice Bringad, and four of the minor Circle (the others were hastily sent for when Horuld was revealed as the Heir) plus the attendants the visitors brought and their own Housefolk. As the word spread about Horuld, more and more people streamed in, and both the noise and the tension level, it seemed to Mirasol, rose, and the ever-worried Bringad looked more worried than she had ever seen him. But when the Master arrived†¦she did not know how to understand it, explain it, even to herself. It was as if the level ground tipped a little in one direction and the high curving sky changed its arc just a little in some other direction. A Master was not expected to greet a mere agent on his arrival; the Grand Seneschal did that. But as the representative of his Overlord, a Master would be churlish as well as foolish not to see him at some point during his visit. She assumed the Grand Seneschal had despatched a message to the Master about Deager’s unexpected companion; it was impossible to read any trace of surprise or disquiet on the Master’s shadowy black and strangely mutable face when he made his entrance. Mirasol heard with what was beginning to be a familiar sinking of the heart the conversation falter and then stop as he was noticed, before the head Houseman announced him. Perhaps all Masters are greeted with a respectful hush, but she doubted that most demesne folk drew together as if for protection when their Master appeared. When Deager (his voice positively quavering as he addressed the Master) described Horuld as the Overlord’s candidate for Heir, the Master merely bowed his head. There was a disagreeable pause, and then the agent rushed to begin telling Horuld’s bloodlines over again, speaking too loudly and too quickly, and at first forgetting his flourishes. But when a Master has no son nor other suitable close relative, the meeting between the Master and the Master’s newly declared Heir was as laboriously and ponderously formal as centuries of tradition could make it, including, in this case, the tradition that an unexpected situation should be treated even more formally than the same situation when everyone knew what was happening. The Grand Seneschal managed to insert an orotund phrase or two (rather like a pole through the spokes of a wheel, Mirasol thought) into the agent’s barrage of genealogy, which had a steadying effect. When Deager finally fell silent, his concl uding bow was as elaborate as if he were being presented to the king. But Mirasol found herself thinking that the Master had bowed his head so very ceremoniously indeed that perhaps he had somehow known of Horuld’s coming before the message from the Grand Seneschal. Most of the initial gestures among any group that required the presence of the Chalice were stylised, just as her offering of the cup was, but during Horuld’s first visit to Willowlands they all seemed to move as if they were puppets in a puppet show, their limbs made of wood, the pulling of their strings performed by a puppeteer. If there had been an audience Mirasol felt they would not have found the performance convincing. Although Deager had insisted in a manner that was obviously meant to be magnificent but came over as merely presumptuous, that this first informal meeting with the Heir should proceed as it would have if Horuld had not been there, this was not possible, as Deager would have known it was not possible. Furthermore any meeting involving the Circle to which the Chalice stood should be precise about the number of people present, the number of people who would be offered the Chalice’s cup – which Deager would also know. And the Willowlands folk were doubtless awkward with surprise. They had known an Heir would be chosen, and Mirasol had held Chalice during the gathering when the Master had acceded to the Overlord’s wish, as presented by Deager, that the Overlord do the choosing. But that had only been a few weeks ago, and they had heard nothing of the progress of the search. She had begun reading about the meeting of a Master with an unknown Heir, so she knew that if it had been a proper meeting she should offer her cup first to the Master and second to the Heir. After a moment’s invisible dithering behind the face she tried hard to keep in an expressionless Chalice mask she did so anyway: let Deager assume this was a manifestation of magnanimity and support; she considered it buying time. The contrast between the Master and an ordinary human had never been so marked, she thought, as between the Master and his Heir when she took the cup from one and offered it to the other. She had directed them to stand on either side of her – which would also have been the correct form for a planned first meeting between the two of them: she could see Deager smiling with satisfaction, but she ignored him. The Master seemed to tower over her, and his natural heat, as she stood close enough to him to hold a cup to his lips, wrapped itself around her as if claiming her – and briefly and disconcertingly she remembered riding home with him after the fire in the Onora Grove. Horuld, who was no more than average size, seemed puny and frail in comparison; and the fact that he was obviously struggling not to flinch away from the Master added to this impression of weakness. She might have helped him, as she often helped the Circle members who were still reluctant to approach the Master, by stepping toward him, by allowing him to maintain a greater distance; but she did not. She offered the cup to the Master with a bent arm, and then turned and offered the cup to Horuld, again with a bent arm, and waited, forcing him to step close, not only to her, but to the Master. He did not try to take the cup from her, but he did raise a hand to grasp it, and she could feel him trembling. There were beads of sweat on his upper lip which she doubted were only from the heat. Before she took the cup on to Deager and the rest of the Circle, she bowed, to the Master, and then to Horuld. The Master must receive the deeper bow, of course, but the Heir might have had one nearly as deep; her bow to the Heir was only enough more than perfunctory not to be offensive. She let her gaze pass as if carelessly over Deager, and saw that he had stopped smiling. She could feel, before she had got halfway round the Circle, that it was not a good binding. When she made her final bow it was almost difficult to stand upright again, and she was exhausted. She had to make a great effort to meet the eyes of Horuld and Deager; the Grand Seneschal’s eyes looked glassy and unfocused, and the Master’s were as unfathomable as they had been the first day, when his hand had slipped and burnt her, and his face was only blurred shadows. She tried to remember the sudden surprising joy of his healing of her hand, of talking to him about what he saw, about her bees being tiny golden sparks in his strange vision – of the night that she had helped him put out the fire in Onora Grove, and the ride home after. But she remembered these things as she might remember something out of a book, a story told of someone else. Even if, by some extraordinary accident, the Chalice had not known beforehand all those who would drink, a well-mixed cup should have had a more positive effect than this. Perhaps she had mixed it injudiciously; that was likeliest. Even without his bringing an unannounced Heir, her dislike of Deager made it onerous for her to mix a cup that she would have to offer to him. But even if a more experienced Chalice might have done better, it was still true that introducing an Heir without proper advance warning was like throwing a boulder on one side of a delicate scales and expecting them still to balance. But perhaps the lack of binding and balance in this gathering was because Horuld was wrong†¦wrong for the demesne, wrong as Heir, wrong even to be here. It had been known in the past that an outblood Heir was rejected by the demesne, however carefully the humans had tried to make the best choice. Perhaps the Overlord had overplayed his game by giving the Master and his Chalice no forewarning that the Overlord’s choice was coming to be introduced to his hoped-for inheritance. By the end of the day, when she could leave the House and make her way back to her cottage, she was shaking and sick. She pulled her hood over her head and held it bunched round her throat with her hands, feeling that what she really wanted to do was disappear: if she wrapped the ends of her cloak around her tightly enough and then tighter still, eventually there would be no one left inside†¦. Usually the gentle thumping of the empty Chalice cup against her hip was comforting: another ritual got through. Today it was not; she felt that she – they – Willowlands had indeed not got through the ritual of the introduction of the Heir. She concentrated on the thought of sitting in the last of the daylight in the clearing by the cottage, listening to her bees. She was still ten minutes’ walk from the cottage when some of her bees came to meet her. She stretched out her arms to them and they landed on her hands and forearms, stroking her skin as if the tiny hairs were sepals they expected to secrete nectar for them. She shook her hood back, and several landed on her face and neck; out of the corners of her eyes she could see more landing on her shoulders. As she walked the last few minutes to the cottage she found herself thinking that her head felt strangely heavy, and that the hum of the bees was unusually loud; and then when she came out of the tree-shadowed path into the sunny clearing around the cottage she saw a great cloud of bees lifting away from her and dispersing, and she realised that she had been wearing a hood and cloak of bees. She watched them scatter about their proper bee business, and wondered. Horuld came twice more in the next few weeks with Deager, and then a third time he came alone. When he came with Deager their visits were announced in advance; but now as the acknowledged Heir, he might come as he pleased – and stay as he pleased. She was in the House library when he came that third time, and the first warning she had was a shadow falling across the open door; she was deep into her research and would not have noticed, except that a half-familiar voice said, â€Å"Chalice,† and her body had recoiled before her mind had recognised who it was. She turned the recoil, she hoped, into a mere startle, and stood up at once to make a ceremonial sign of greeting, saying, â€Å"Forgive me, my mind was lost in what I was doing.† He said smoothly, â€Å"And I have interrupted you; forgive me.† She bowed her head and waited, hoping his appearance was a formal signal only and that he had no business with her. The demesne’s folk were growing used to their new Chalice, and they were now coming to her more and more; this was a relief in some ways, and she knew she must be grateful for the good this was doing Willowlands, but she often had to put aside what other work she had planned on doing. She had fled to the House library today and was hastily reading up on the behaviour toward and reception of outblood Heirs. Part of her problem, she thought, as she had thought many times since the Chalice had come to her, was that she was not by nature a formal sort of person; she found that side of the duties of the Chalice so difficult as sometimes to feel incompatible with her private self. She wondered if this was anything like trying to live in the human world when you were a priest of Fire.

Miracles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Miracles - Essay Example is not irrational to accept the testimony of witnesses who had nothing to gain from their testimony, of the occurrence of Christs resurrection" Scalia told the audience. "What is irrational is to reject ... without any investigation of the possibility of miracles†¦ ("Belief in Miracles Should," 2001) It is interesting to note the legal perspective that Justice Scalia engages and to wonder what the writer’s of the New Testament, especially in the area of the many miracles preformed, had intended further audiences to glean from such things. Is it a sense of absolute fact, a sense of complete incredulity, or is it a sense of hope? Take the example of Lazarus (John 11:38-44), perhaps the most famous miracle next to Christ’s own Transfiguration, Resurrection and Ascension. In a way Lazarus foreshadowed these events and even Christ’s remarks afterward bring some light for the reason behind any miracle. Before raising Lazarus from the dead, Christ speaks the following words to Martha and Mary, Lazarus’ sisters: (25) Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (26) And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? After Christ speaks the words, â€Å"Lazarus, Come Forth† and Lazarus rises many that were there were converted by the sight and became believers in Christ. Others, went to the Pharisees and told them who replied with a sense of jealous competition that they needed to stop him. â€Å"(48) If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him.† They did not, however, say they did not believe in his miracles. (33) And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; (34) And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. (35) And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. (36) And he charged

Customer satisfaction of fast food services in kuwait a survy study Essay - 1

Customer satisfaction of fast food services in kuwait a survy study - Essay Example Through the collaboration of Japanese scientists, engineers, governmental officials, and policy makers, along with the works of Deming and Juran, the Japanese developed a management philosophy that later entitled Total Quality Management (TQM) (Walton 1986; Powel 1995). In fact, the concept of quality has evolved from basic manufacturing and engineering-related activities to a philosophy that encompasses all organizational activities and processes. What today is defined as TQM has its origin in the ideas of quality gurus (Deming, Juran, Crosby, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa) whose primary goals were customer satisfaction and continuous improvement. Despite the number of articles and studies, TQM is an ambiguous concept (Dean & Bowen 1994). The differences between the various frameworks proposed by quality experts and scholars have contributed to the ambiguity of TQM definition, concepts, and constructs. Differences are due to the fact that different people have different understanding of the term â€Å"quality,† and, in that regard, the way they define quality may result in different constructs and models for TQM. This chapter presents a review of the total quality management and customer satisfaction literature. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a clear picture of total quality management, its components, and definition as well as overall customer satisfaction. The concept of TQM is explored within a global context and then expounded upon by offering operational definition as well as dealing with the subject within the context of customer satisfaction in the fast food industry. The concept of TQM has the same vagueness as the definition of â€Å"quality.† As Reed et al. (1996) indicated, there is no consensus on the definition for TQM. TQM definitions vary based on the approach taken towards quality. Flynn et al. (1994) defined TQM as: â€Å"An integrated approach to achieving and sustaining high quality output, focusing on the maintenance and

How would a Scholarship Assist Me After Graduation Essay Example for Free

How would a Scholarship Assist Me After Graduation Essay In my findings, it is not just enough to have enrichment of goal, fervency of passion and the keeping of focus, there is the place of vital impact played by pecuniary support from guardian(s) to actualize the desire. I strongly believe many brave and highly intelligent ones have been choked out of their academic dream in life after graduation. Statistical findings have unarguably revealed that financial incapability in one of the factors responsible for thwarted vision in academic excellence. I am very proud to note however, that our school is making part of her contributions in easing students’ financial burden as a responsible institution in the society. The scholarship is a gesture I really appreciate whole heartedly. I do forward this scholarship application to passionately appeal for my consideration in the grant in order to survive hardship in my future pursuit of academic excellence. See more: how to write a scholarship essay Being a promising member from a home with single mother who had lost his father as early as age five, I have only being struggling with ways out of incessant hopelessness, deprivation and unavoidable emotional abuse. I have labored assiduously with my parent to make both ends meet; during summer, I work at Boys and Girls Club to save some fund for school and trying hard to work-out element of laziness from exacerbating the poverty. Sooner after my graduation with me and my two other sisters in studying in college, the financial stress for our mother would climax. The cost of education even in a low grade school with the cheapest environment is overwhelming despite how hard I try to save. My two sisters also need optimum care to cater for their more demanding feminine nature. So huge are my worries despite the strong zeal to pursue academic excellence which I currently demonstrate in school for being among the top 10%. With the hope of scholarship aid, I look forward to a redemptive future from excellence incapacitation. In the college, the scholarship will assist to continual keep focus and meet up the grant expectation.

Female Deceit and Gender Bias in Death :: Feminism Feminist Papers

Female Deceit and Gender Bias in Death Death is the end to the natural cycle of life and is represented as dark, melancholic and even menacing. The underworld is depicted as a murky and sinister realm where the dead are trapped in a world of eternal darkness. Ancient drama, however, defies the conventional perceptions and representations of death. Despite the foreboding associated with it, characters in ancient drama embrace death in its frightening glory, rather than face the repercussions of their actions, especially when their honor and pride are at stake. Deceit is also an integral part of ancient drama and characters, particularly women, fall prey to it and unwittingly unleash chaos that more often that, negatively impacts the lives of the characters. This paper demonstrates how gender biases can be interpreted from the depiction of death and the characters’ justifications of it in two of Sophocles’ plays – Ajax and Women of Trachis and also demonstrates how female deception le ads to the death of the principal character(s). Interestingly, the concepts of death and deceit are intertwined. Deceit often leads to death and illustrates gender bias in even the portrayal of death. The woman’s suicide is almost always portrayed as the coward’s way out of a difficult situation, whereas the man embraces death in order to keep intact his pride and glory, being even braver in death than in life. In both instances of male and female death, female deception plays a vital role and the woman is frequently responsible for creating the unsavory situation. Warrior pride plays a vital role in Ajax, eventually propelling the hero to his death. Ajax is portrayed as an accomplished and mighty warrior, eulogized by even his worst enemy, Odysseus, as â€Å"The bravest man I ever saw / except for Achilles, the best and bravest who ever came to Troy† (Aj. 66, 83-85). Ajax’s whole sense of self is shattered in one swift moment of induced madness by Athena. She uses her divine powers and tricks him into confusing sheep as member of his army. Ajax seeking revenge on his army, slaughters the sheep, believing them to be the generals of his army and their followers, who had wronged him.

The Growth of the Chesapeake and Barbadian Colonies

Angela Young Professor Kelly Hopkins History 1377 June 18, 2012 The Growth the Chesapeake and Barbadian Colonies Many great examples of how pioneers blazed trails and discovered unchartered territories outline the fabric of American history. We put a man on the moon in the sixties and discovered cures for some of our modern diseases. These are valuable accomplishments, but there is another that is just as significant in the course of American history; the colonization of our nation. Detailed accounts decorate our history with the hardship and suffering of our forefathers.And although some historical accounts paint a bleak picture of early settlements and show that diseases, starvation and other factors were difficult to overcome, we need to recognize that there were successes. It would be unfair to only focus on the challenges without acknowledging their ability to thrive and prosper. To overlook the strategies that the Chesapeake and Barbadian societies used to grow and prosper woul d be a mistake, because we can contribute many of their decisions and actions to the structure of today’s political system and economy.Some historians may analyze these two societies and argue that their evolution was a result of learning from the mistakes of previous settlements. However, there is considerable evidence to show that the Chesapeake and Barbadian colonies successfully grew and progressed as a society due to the use of slaves as workers in the colonies, the acquisition of land, and agricultural exports to England to obtain wealth. The purpose of this paper is to examine the events responsible for the advancement of the Chesapeake and Barbadian societies in the mid 1700’s.The creation of the slave trade in America is arguably one of the major factors that led to the evolution of the Chesapeake and Barbadian colonies. The import of slaves caused a large population explosion in both colonies. The number of blacks in both settlements increased significantly a nd outpaced that of the white population each decade between 1730 and 1760. In 1730 the black population in the Virginia colony was 30,000 and doubled to 60,000 in 1740 and continued to increase steadily through 1770. 1 The Maryland colony showed similar population increases with the number of blacks almost doubling in ize from 24,031 to 43,450 from 1740 to 1750. 2 The profile of the population in the Barbadian colony was also significant. Unlike the Virginia and Maryland colonies, blacks outnumbered white almost 4 to 1 and were the majority in the population between 1655 and 1770. For example, slaves were 83 percent of the population in 1760 at 86,600 while the white population was 17,800. 3 What is the significance of this population growth and their evolution? The colonies created a formula that would secured their future for generations. When Chesapeake experienced economic growth large plantations became more common.This created a need for workers. In turn, slavery led to great wealth for the colonies and became one of their greatest resources for economic growth. Over the course of several decades more slaves were brought to America to fulfill the demand for workers to plant and harvest tobacco and other crops. The colonist understood the value of slave labor and the economic growth using slaves would provide. Most importantly, they also understood that the performance of the slaves influenced their profitability. We cannot discuss population growth in the colonies without acknowledging the ugly truth about slavery.Clearly one group of people suffered while another benefited. Many can criticize the colonies for implementing such a cruel system for economic growth, but we must ask ourselves did slavery help them reach their goal of prosperity. After all, slaves and indentured servants were a productive labor pool that helped them prosper economically during the early and middle years of colonization. Without needing to take a position on slavery, we plain ly understand that the back-breaking physical work of slaves is one of the contributing factors that led to great wealth in the Virginia and Maryland colonies.Another factor contributing to the evolution of the Chesapeake and Barbadian colonies is land ownership. Since the beginning, colonists placed great value on land ownership. Land was a resource of prosperity and the most important indicator of wealth. To attract new settlers to America, colonists permitted them to own land. Although the colonists encouraged ownership, land was not equally distributed and was highly concentrated in the hands of a few people. Based on evidence we can make a direct connection between plantation size in the Chesapeake and Maryland regions based on the number of slaves living on them.For example, between 1750 and 1770, twenty or more slaves lived on approximately one-third of all plantations. Specially, 31% of all plantations had 21 or more slaves living on them from 1750 – 1759. 4 This aver age continued through 1779. We can assume that white plantation owners possessing the largest plantations owned the largest number of slaves. There was a direct correlation between land ownership and wealth distribution. Those that owned the land owned the wealth. There was strong evidence of this in Barbados in 1680 where wealthy pioneers owning 60 or more slaves owned approximately 60% of all land and 60% of all slaves. Likewise, 14. 9% of Jamaican land owners possessed land valued at ? 1,000 or more. 6 This trend also started as early as 1669 and continued up through 1750 in the Virginia colony. For instance, between 1700 – 1719, the wealthiest 5. 6 % of the male population owned 61. 5% of the total wealth and between 1720 – 1750 the wealthiest 2. 7 percent of males owned 33. 2% of wealth. 7 One of the greatest values colonists recognized from land ownership was the acquisition of economic and political power. They could influence the future of their society because of the economic power they possessed.Most importantly, they had the ability to advance their own interests. For example, they could make the rules for who owned the land and where they owned it. They could give land to their heirs to ensure that it remained in their family’s possession for generations. Land ownership and wealth also meant political power. Those with the wealth could hold political office and shape the future of their colonies by making laws that would benefit them directly. The colonists experienced many long-term benefits from land ownership.However, they benefited at the expense of others by setting up a system that would intentionally prevent them from achieving any level of prosperity and success. Some people may disagree with the method used by the colonies to prosper. However, the fact that they used others to advance their own goals does not cancel out the fact that land ownership and wealth moved them one step closer to securing their position as a v iable society. Agricultural exports also played a role in progression of the of the Chesapeake and Barbadian colonies.Both colonies practiced exporting agricultural products to England and would eventually build the wealth and improve their standard of living. Prior to the 1620’s growing crops was difficult for the colonist because early settlements did not have the knowledge and tools needed to grow them successfully. Barbadian settlers tried to grow crops such as tobacco, cotton, ginger, and indigo, but were unsuccessful. Over time, they learned which crops would grow successfully in their region. After much trial and error, tobacco became the right plant to grow for Chesapeake and sugar for Barbados.Tobacco exports to England became the main source of income from Virginia and Maryland. Between 1660 and 1760 tobacco exports increased each decade. Along with the number of pounds increasing, the price per pound of tobacco also increased. In 1740 England imported 35,372 pounds of tobacco at a price of 0. 80 pence sterling/pound. By 1770 the amount increased to 38,986 at 2. 06 pence sterling/per pound. Furthermore, the value of exports to England reached $435,094. 8 Additionally, sugar exports to England from Barbados yielded positive financial results for the colonies.Sugar exports steadily increased from 1651 to 1698 with the highest being 15,587 tons in 1698. 9 This discussion about the impact of exports on the evolution of the colonies is not complete without acknowledging the role slavery played. As exports to England increased, the import of slaves also increased to support the demand for tobacco. The more slaves owned by the colonists, the more crops could be harvested and exported to generate more revenue for the colonies. A closer look at the evidence doesn’t always show a successful progression toward prosperity.Increases in the black population did not always significantly outnumber that of whites. Also, there is evidence that illustrate s a drop in the value of exports to England from 1755 to 1770. While the value of exports was at their highest in 1750 at ? 508,939, they decreased to as low as ? 435,094 in 1770. 10 Tobacco exports to England also dropped in 1770. Additionally, once land ownership opened up to indentured servants and other settlers in the Chesapeake colony, the largest distribution of wealth shifted from the wealthiest to the middle class.For example, between 1700 – 1719 5. 8% of the wealthiest males owned 61. 5% of the wealth. From 1720 – 1750, 2. 7% of the wealthiest males owned 33. 2% of the wealth while 26% of the male population owned 31. 3% of the wealth. 11 This shows an important shift in wealth within the colony. Some may read this evidence and disagree with the factors that contributed to their advancement and decide not to give full credit because of these inconsistencies. The Chesapeake colonies established a formula long before the mid-1700s to promote and sustain their f uture growth.Although the statistical evidence changes for some of the factors, it is clear that the Chesapeake and Barbadian colonies progressed as a society as a result of slavery, land ownership, and agricultural exports. The focus should not only be on the evidence, but the overall impact these factors had on the colonies’ ability to evolve and the impact their prosperity has on our economic situation today. Notes Population Growth, Virginia, 1640-1770, p 67 2 Population Growth, Maryland, 1640 – 1770, p 68 3 Population Estimates, Barbados, 1655 – 1770, p 73 Plantation Size in Virginia by Number of Slaves, 1700 – 1779, p 71 5 Wealth Distribution, Wealthy Planters, 1673 and 1680, p 74 6 Wealth Distribution, Jamaica, 1674 – 1701 (percentages), p 74 7 Wealth Distribution in Middlesex County, Virginia: Personal Property of Deceased Adult Males, 1699 – 1750, p 68 8 Tobacco Imported by England from Virginia and Maryland (in thousands of pounds) and Maryland Tobacco Prices (in pence sterling/pound), 1620 – 1770, p 69 9 Estimated Sugar Exports from Barbados to London, 1651 – 1706 (tons), p 75 10 Value of Exports to and Imports from England by Virginia and Maryland, 1700 – 1770 (in pounds sterling), p 72 11 Wealth Distribution in Middlesex County, Virginia: Personal Property of Deceased Adult Males, 1699 – 1750, p 68 Works Cited Wheeler, William Bruce, Susan D. Becker, Lorri Glover, and John Hart. Discovering the American Past. Kentucky: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print

The Sovereignty of American Indians and the Mainstream Community: Is There a Possibility to Coexist?

Nowadays we often hear the word ‘sovereignty' when it comes down to the issues related to American Indians. Sovereignty and related words such as self-sufficiency, self-determination and personal responsibility are everywhere. It's nothing new. Indian tribes long have regarded their status as sovereign nations as allowing them special permission to determine their own laws, customs and ways. They see this as something assured them by the U. S. Constitution, innumerable treaties (by the way, sometimes broken or ignored by whites), federal-court decisions and legislation.What gives sovereignty new currency, however, is an idea in Congress that in the future the tribes could make the subject to lawsuits from private citizens, while now they aren't. It raised a contentious question whether the sovereignty issues of American Indians form any problem for the larger society. To reply this question, it is useful to consider what Indian sovereignty means in modern interpretation and how it affects the mainstream society.It is common knowledge that three fundamental principles underlie the nature of American Indians' tribal powers: tribes originally possessed the powers of sovereign states; conquest terminated external sovereignty; this restriction did not affect the internal sovereignty of the tribe and its powers of local self-government. Thus, sovereignty is inherent to American Indians, and their privileges with respect to court trials, taxation and some kinds of businesses like gaming and fishing within reservation lands could not be considered as violating the rights of non–Indians. From the other standpoint, self–government implies approval by the U.S. authorities that a certain measure of tribal decision–making is essential but that this process should be monitored carefully so that its outcomes are compatible with the objectives and policies of the larger political power. It means that American Indians' sovereignty is not absolute, and it is logical, as the Indian tribes are subject to the laws of the U. S. A number of critics of Indians' sovereign immunity argue that it allows the Indians freedom from being sued and permits them to ignore valid property and fishing rights of non- Indians, especially those living and working in reservations.The states are also uneasy with their privileges. As the federal government continues to work out details of its relationships with tribes, state governments which are the tribes' closest neighbors have a separate relationship with them, and it's often strained. The lack of state jurisdiction over Indians and reservations, federal controls and inherent tribal sovereignty are all resulting in ongoing disputes between tribes and states. American Indians are not only citizens of the tribe, but also of the U.S. and the state in which they reside. This ‘triple citizenship' creates an ambiguous matrix of regulatory and other jurisdictional requirements for Indians, on and off their reservations. Jurisdiction over non- Indians living within Indian lands also seems murky. But as Indian tribes gain more and more influence, state leaders realize that it is more productive and mutually beneficial to work with, not against, them. In fact, states have a chance to profit economically from good relations with tribes.Mutually beneficial agreements can set up revenue sharing from tribal gas, liquor and cigarette taxes or gambling. Tribes are marketing natural resources and sport hunting and fishing. Some Indian bands are among the states' top employers with their manufacturing plants, hotels and casinos, and large tribal governments. With all this going on in many Indian–owned companies the most employees are non-Indians. Tribes successful at gaming are diversifying their economic ventures.Some tribes consider gaming as a means towards an end of their business diversity. The discussed above clearly testifies that American Indians' sovereignty in fact rather benefits than affects the mainstream American society. On this account it looks reasonable that states and Indian tribes need to sit down and try to work out together what their mutual needs and concerns are, and find a system by which they can, harmoniously and jointly, cooperate to reach some common ground.For sure states and tribes have mutual interests – human services, environmental protection and economic well-being create opportunities to cooperate and develop solutions, while maintaining autonomy. The first step in the process of cooperation is to gain mutual understanding. State legislators have to accept the growing tribal presence within the federal system so they can effectively address policy questions about shared governing. And tribes need to understand the effects of their actions on states.Ideally, state legislatures would provide the setting for state and tribal governments to work together to resolve issues. Legislation could be written to address state-tri bal negotiations in general, or specific issues such as health and human services, natural resources or gaming. The declared principles to which the nation has dedicated itself are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for American citizens, thus, the bonds of past Indian wardship must be broken forever.

Who Are Ghostwriters for Hire and Why Do You Need to Know That

Who Are Ghostwriters for Hire and Why Do You Need to Know That Who Are Ghostwriters for Hire and Why Do You Need to Know That? Ghostwriters for hire are professional writers who are there to help customers write something on their behalf. The way ghostwriting works is that the writer who is hired mirrors or mimics the writing style or voice of the client. This is usually done when a client sends over recordings of themselves speaking, interviews they gave, or papers they have published. Then the ghostwriter reviews all of that and produces a new report, essay, book, or any other form of writing as though they were the client. They write the content from the perspective of the client, in the voice of the client, and then the client publishes it as though they wrote it. The ghostwriters do not get any credit for the work they do. This type of service can be used by people who are pressed for time, unable or unwilling to write something themselves, or who lack the confidence to really write from the heart. That being said, ghostwriters can be hired by college students too for many tasks. They can: Work as Essay Writers too In fact, many writers have the flexibility and professionalism to help you write a great essay in your voice, because of the fact that ghostwriting uses the same skills. Write the Text for Your Future/Current Website When you start a website, whether for school or work purposes, you can turn to a ghostwriter to create all of the content you want to publish on the site and then you can credit it to yourself. Create White Papers for Your Future Company If you plan to start a company right out of school you can turn to a ghostwriter to craft a white paper for your future company, a business plan, or a marketing plan. Write an eBook for You on Any Topic You Want Ghostwriters can write an ebook on any topic students want, which means you can ask for a ghostwriter to give you an ebook covering creative writing, different citation methods, or research skills and then turn to that guide in the future. If there is something in your class with which you struggle, having a ghostwriter produce a short ebook on the subject will give you the background information you need. You might even be able to get a ghostwriter to produce an ebook on a topic you are going to write about for an upcoming essay, and then use the sources included in that ebook as a part of your research. Overall, ghostwriters are a great resource because of their natural ability to assume the voice and tone of someone else. They can do all of the research necessary to become familiar with someone’s way of speaking, their sentence structure, and how they often present ideas so that the finished product sounds just like something the client wrote. This is, again, perfect for students to keep as a resource both in school and beyond graduation.

Strategies for Promoting Ethical Decision Making in Health Care Essay

Strategies for Promoting Ethical Decision Making in Health Care Organizations - Essay Example Moral sensitivity and ethical awareness raises sensitivity to the details of the situation, case, or scenario, and promotes the professional to raise questions in order to justify the right and good, just and fair, respect for individual human dignity, benefits, and burdens. It signifies that ethical decision making a complex process with multiple angles with mainly social implications that tends to analyze factors such as ethical principles, social and interactional aspects, and situational and contextual factors. It is important to remain aware that all these factors need to be considered while making a decision in clinical practice. Taking the example of the issue of autonomic "right to die", this is common issue in clinical practice, especially in the critical care nursing practice. However, practically the issues surrounding death and dying is no longer simple for its legal implications and technological advances that can sustain life for unimaginable duration of time. In these situations, the nurses face dilemma for allocating resources to these patients, and this often enters into the decision making process. The patient's wishes and concerns of the family also impact decisions. For nurses, these ethical situations become more crucial due to invariable conflicts between professional duties and obligations and ethical responsibilities. This means the nurses are faced with the conflicts between the duty to meet the needs of the patients and the obligations to follow hospital policy in that particular issue, implying they are obligated to comply with doctor's orders and legal implications of various interventions and patient-related actions even though the ethical principles do not permit them. In the current scenario, the critical ethical principles will be examined in a critical manner based on this preamble and evidence for current policies would be sought as it is relevant to practice and clinical decision making (Vanlaere, L. and Gastmans, C., 2007). Case: This is the story of a 67-year-old man, who lost control of his vehicle and had struck a guardrail in a single-vehicle collision. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected through the windshield and sustained severely traumatic closed head and chest injuries. He was brought to the trauma center via helicopter and was admitted to the neurological intensive care unit. The staff provided support to the patient as per medical advice, and he was receiving mechanical ventilation and was unresponsive. Obviously he was surrounded by multiple invasive catheters and equipment. The trauma team briefly met the patient's daughter who was the only family present, soon after the admission, and they explained the grave prognosis of her father to her. This patient's care was complex, and the nurse preceptor along with a junior postgraduate nurse was administering the care. The investigations revealed that the patient had severe internal hemorrhage in the brain and in the chest, and some tra uma to the heart could not be ruled out. The patient was on mechanical ventilation through intubation, was in deep coma, was nil orally until the consciousness was restored. The other parameters that were being monitored did not show any sign of improvement, and the patient could not be stabilized to the required degree so as to be able to perform

Applying Balanced Scorecard Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Applying Balanced Scorecard - Assignment Example Businesses were faced by unclear situations of distinguishing an important aspect from what is not. Kaplan and Norton stated that the important aspects of a business should be presented in a balanced way. A balanced scorecard has three basic components that are important. They include strategic management framework, measurement system and communication tools (Blokdijk, 2008). The banking industry, greatly benefits from the balanced scorecard and management system. The BSC system helps managers in the banking sector accomplish the institution’s objectives. The major scorecard perspectives that can be implemented by managers are better-quality customer service and efficiency in the internal business processes (Blokdijk, 2008 p 113). Banks strategies are always based on the customer and therefore with improved customer service, the bank will end up improving on its profits, sales and turnovers. Banking industries are also able to improve by ensuring that they have efficient business processes. Blokdijk (114) states that with efficiency in the internal business processes, a banking industry will be able to retain its customers. With retained customers, the financial returns go up and the thus improvement in the