Jcm Model

1)What is JCM model? Job characteristic model defines the task characteristics and its relationships with motivation, performance and satisfaction in work settings. It has a high potential to provide insights into the organizations structures or designs necessary for enhancing motivation. It is a potential tool for understanding motivation and devising strategies for motivating individuals.Relevance and utility of major JCM components in enhancing motivation in classroom settings are discussed It focuses on the behavior of the job 5 job characteristics- Skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feed back- Structural elements 3 critical psychological states-experienced meaningfulness of work, experienced autonomy, knowledge of actual results 1 increased personal and work outcomes 1 growth need strength Unification of various structural elementsCause and effect of these structural elements to the psychological states Links the complementary literatures of education and psychological work 2)How might a team leader’s understanding of the JCM model enhance his/her effectiveness at improving the productivity of the work unit? Please be specific as possible. As team leader one of my responsibilities is to create, sustain and enhance the motivation of the employees. In order to achieve this I need clarity in the variety of skill sets present within my employees.For example, one of my team members is a very creative person. I perceive him as a very valuable asset to team especially when the team is in the â€Å"Analysis Paralysis† mode. He comes in as a zero gravity thinker and provides an out-of-box perspective. Because the whole team is ingrained in the problem, he brings in fresh-air and perspective to the problem and in many instances this perspective leads to the team to think in different directions which ultimately lead to the solution.One of my other team mates is very task oriented. He will do the task whatever it takes to complet e it. So when there is a project with tight deadline with methodical work involved then I choose this individual to complete the task. It is more of an adaptive approach which needs incremental innovation capabilities rather than breakthroughs. So identifying the individuals strength and aligning the tasks according to their strengths is critical for creating sustaining and enhancing the motivation of individuals in the team.The challenge is to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the early stages of the team building efforts. This example gives an insight of identifying the skill set among the employees, aligning the task with the skill, appreciating the value the team members bring in to achieving the common goal- Success of the team, giving feedback on their performance and added value to the team’s success from their contribution, giving them the autonomy to perform their best for the benefit for themselves and for the organization.

Year of Wonders Essay

The plague brings out the best in the village. Do you agree? Throughout the plague year many of the villagers were affected by the tragic hit of the plague. One of the main themes in the novel ‘’fear’’ is something that highly affects the actions and and can completely change their values and morals. Fear which comes complimentary with the plague and can bring out the best and the worst in the villagers. Times of crisis can bring out a monster in all of us, but can a just like jon said â€Å"these times they do make monsters of us all†lso but times like this can also bring out the good.As the plague hit Anna’s town lack of scientific and medical information lead the villagers to draw their own conclusions and superstitions, of the plague. We see fear and emotions take control of the villagers through the lynching of Anys Gowdie, by the angry mob. the crazed mob which accuses Anys of witchcraft just exemplifies the notion that faith can blind p eople along with fear. This event was uncalled for and horrific. The villagers were put under a permanent state of stress and terror, which led people to do some horrendous actions and behave in inhumane ways.In her last words Anys criticises the town and attacks them for their ignorance rather than professing a love for God, which may have saved her. Through these actions Brooks is able to explore the strength of one’s beliefs and morals in distressing situations. Anna however is not blinded by her faith like most of the villagers and does not believe that the plague is an act of God, or witchcraft and simply concludes that it was brought on by nature. perhaps the plague was neither proof God nor the Devil but simple a thing in nature as the stone on which we stub a toe† here Anna show her first signs of apostasy, question faith and shows the development of her new mindset This accentuates how Anna is wise beyond her time and her logic allows her to flourish in this un fortunate chain of events. Times of crisis and the plague can also bring out the good and courageous people like Anna, who are willing to support others and continue to maintain their values and morals no matter what. Anna selflessly works to help the village in all she can do to help fight the plague.Throughout the plague year Anna flourishes. Despite the tragedy of her two sons and husband passing she moves on with her life and give it to helping others. anna develops a sense of identity and independence and begins to step up over the patriarchal standards of women at that time, questioning her faith and society. Crisis of the plague also brought about evil, along with those people who exploit the situation of death, fear and suffering. Jos exploits the villagers who are already suffering immensely, he buries people alive, takes their money and household goods.He shows no regard for humanity in his immoral behavior and is clearly driven by greed and his own selfish desires. Fear a nd tragedy can do many things to people. In Year of Wonders fear brought out the best and the worst in people. The villagers feared death and loss which was a powerful emotion. Times of crisis can change people and make monsters of all of us. The novel shows how fear can exploit bad epople like Anna’s father and Jos. But in others can bring out the best, and change a person for the better.

Current Diverse Environmental Events Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Current Diverse Environmental Events - Essay Example According to Davis (1), a ban must exist on activities that emit CO2. This article implies that there can be maintenance of climate change using appropriate technology. Such technologies include the introduction of wedges. Throughout this article, there are suggestions that current technologies are insufficient in the reduction of carbon emissions. The creation of new ways to manage dangerous emissions is extremely necessary. This article recommends that there needs to be establishment of policies that would reduce these emissions. For example, the article implies that policies need to conduct advanced research that will probably discover safe ways of creating energy. There also needs to be additional efforts that will reduce all these emissions that keep affecting the environment. Another article by the US Department of Energy reports the benefits of proper carbon dioxide storage. Hakun (1) depicts that it is possible for permanent arrest of diverse green house gases. The article al so states that the available storage spaces in the US can arrest these gases from their respective sources. An example of CO2 storage facility is the atlas 4 that has current updates on the emissions. This article explains the details of the atlas that include the following. The first is the ability of the atlas to detect all the locations of potential carbon dioxide deposits. The final article by Eisenberg suggests that people need to check the emissions of CO2 in the air. This is because there is an extremely rapid growth in the levels of C02 emissions across the globe. In this article, she reports the relevance of carbon engineering to the environment. The article further explains that it is possible for industries to store these gases and later sell them. She highlights diverse ways of harvesting CO2 and proves that the entire process is advantageous. In the article, one notices that direct air capture of CO2.

Contemporary Latino Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Contemporary Latino Film - Essay Example The first three films of Inarritu depicted his unique style of storytelling having multiple stories with non-chronological scenes which were interconnected to one another. Biutiful was not a film in that style of storytelling rather it had linear and chronological events occurring (Deleyto 19). 21 grams is a story of three individuals who come from different walks of life and somehow their stories connect to each other. The director shows the past, present and future of every character with scenes set non-chronologically. The main issue is an accident and how it changed the lives of the three individuals. The film plot shows scenes from the past and the future arrangement (Russo 63). The main characters are Jack, Paul and Cristina. Jack is an ex-convict who has been sent and released from prison several times, and then he is finding his new religious faith in order to overcome his drug addiction. Paul is a mathematician who is living his last days due to a bad heart condition and nee ds an organ donor. His wife continually insists to donate his sperm so that she could get pregnant even after he dies. The third character is Cristina who was a former drug addict and is recovering towards a normal life with her husband and children. The three individuals connect to each other when Cristina’s family is killed by Jack in an accident and the heart of her husband is donated to Paul who starts to recover. Paul wants to start a new life but is not content with his wife’s constant forcing to donate his sperm, and also finds out she has had an abortion in the past, thus Paul leaves her and sets off to find out his heart donor. Cristina had returned to drugs when Paul finds out about her and they both get into a relationship. Both of them make a plan to murder Jack for what he did with Cristina’s family after he had been released. Jack, on the other hand is extremely guilty and after he is released he leaves his family. When Paul and Cristina find out w here Jack is living they go to him, and Paul takes him to a corner with the intention to kill him. When Paul fails to do so, he tells Jack to simply disappear and lies to Cristina about Jack’s death. The same night, Jack returns to the couple due to guilt and Cristina starts beating him. Paul suffers a heart attack and to avoid dying from asphyxia, he shoots himself. Cristina’s revenge remains unresolved and Jack returns to his family in the end. The urge for revenge of Cristina and the guilt of Jack resulted in the death of the relatively innocent Paul (Ebert 705). 21 Grams is a powerful dramatic film with themes such as death occurs by chance not by choice, our lives are tragic, appreciate relationships, life goes on, looking at life beyond money and God. Some of the most powerful relationships are also presented in the film including mother and daughter, father and son, men and women which resulted in a fusion of a dramatic film plot. The film Biutiful is about a si ngle parent who rises up his children in the worst conditions of a poor family living in Barcelona. Uxbal does not have a stable job and yet takes good care of his children like a responsible parent; providing food, care, after-school care etc. Soon after he finds out that he is suffering from a terminal disease which is incurable and he has

Ostemyelitis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ostemyelitis - Research Paper Example entist defined this disease as â€Å"corruption of the bones†, in 1830 Gross used the term â€Å"necrosis†, Paster called this disease â€Å"carbuncle† in 1860 as he thought that the infectious agent of ordinary abscesses and bone infection was the same. In 1931 Nowicki called it â€Å"osteitis†as he was sure that this disease infect mainly the bone tissue and bone marrow involve only in suppuration. Finally Lannelongue firstly used the term ostemyelitis in 1879 as he thought that an infection starts primary from the bone marrow. The causation of osteomyeltitis remained unclear until Pasteur proved the existence of microorganisms in 1860 and showed that they can provoke this disease. The nature of the osteomyelitis was more deeply described using X-rays by Roentgen in 1896. Later on modern imaging procedures such as ultrasonography, isotope bone scan, MRI and computed tomography helped to fully understand the pathology and diagnosis of different stages of osteomyelitis. Also some predisposed factors were discovered such as malnutrition, debilitating diseases, immunological and genetic factors. Therefore, through a long historical period scientist describe pathology, diagnosis, treatment of the osteomyelitis. (Abulfotooh M. Eid,2003) Osteomyelitis usually caused by bacteria, but may be provoked by fungi or other germs. Different bacteria can cause osteomyelitis depends on age of the patients. Newborns at age of under 4 months are infected by Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter and group A and B Streptococcus species. Children at age 4 months -4 years can be infected by Haemophilus influenza, S. aureus, Enterobacter and group A Streptococcus strains. Osteomyelitis in adolescents and adults in 80% of cases caused by S. aureus. Osteomyelitis in children usually affects the long bones of the upper and lower extremities while adults have likelihood for development of the infection in the bones that forms the spine called vertebrates. In patients with sickle cell anemia the

Social and Cultural Factors Affecting Early Year's Education Provision Essay

Social and Cultural Factors Affecting Early Year's Education Provision in UK - Essay Example In practice, United Kingdom’s education system has a holistic purpose. United Kingdom’s education curriculum states that education is a conventional process in which the society intentionally channels its amassed dexterity, skills, knowledge, values and customs from one coeval to the other. Education is one of the fundamental units for an individual’s development and immiseration reduction. For the child to learn effectively, there are various factors that need to be weighed and evaluated (Hodgeson & Spours, 2008, p. 12). Children surrounded by a strong learning environment that is supportive and informative improve on their educational improvement. When considering the role of education and the desired goal and the result, it is necessary to observe where the current education system stands and the effects that have impacted upon it (Hodgeson & Spours, 2008, p. 20). Students exposed to underprivileged, and poor educational surrounding are at a high peril of a ne gative learning effect. United Kingdom has distinct metropolitan boroughs. Each borough has a different social set up. This paper will focus on Barking and Dagenham borough. The fact that children are particularly vulnerable makes early childhood education accomplishment a rough and tough experience. This is because there are social, cultural and economic factors that affect the provision of early childhood education. ... In adapting to the environment, the child assimilates and accommodates the new experiences within her or himself. Social factors are the elements within the society or social environment (Pugh & Duffy, 2006, p. 25). These elements include family, locality, political system, mobility rate and the child’s relations. Barking and Dagenham borough has a high number of educational institutions and a high number of learned and affluent adults. It is one of the most developing metropolitan boroughs in the region. Barking and Dagenham borough consists of affluent families and learned adults. A family is a social unit where related people live together. It can either affect early year’s education of a child positively or negatively (Pugh & Duffy, 2006, p. 30). Relatively, a parent’s education will affect the child’s education. An affluent parent has a high consideration for education and sets academic goals for the child. The educated parent has a higher access to e ducational resources for the child. A child with either one of the parents as a doctor or an engineer is motivated to attain a higher education level than the parent (Pugh & Duffy, 2006, p. 38). A community with educated and learned parents, such as Barking and Dagenham community will have a higher demand for education. From this fact, we can conclude that the parent's level of education in Barking and Dagenham determines a child’s early education provision in a given society or community. The family environment affects a child’s education (Pugh & Duffy, 2006, p. 45). From various studies conducted by the not-for-profit organizations across all the boroughs, most of families are peaceful, and cases of family violence are minimal. A peaceful

A lawsuit involving one or more tort claims Case Study

A lawsuit involving one or more tort claims - Case Study Example Brody Green’s mother who sued Blitz for liability for the death of Mr. Green from an explosion of Blitz manufactured can when he poured gasoline into fire. Blitz won this case but was later ordered by the court to pay $250,000 to Mr. Green’s mother for failing to provide documents related to flame arresters. The other case involved a father, Mr. Calder, of a 2-year old girl in Utah, who sued Blitz in 2010 for damages resulting from the death of his daughter when a can exploded after he, David Calder, was pouring gasoline on the flame. In this case, the court ordered Blitz to pay David Calder $4 million. The article also mentions one case among 36 other cases against Blitz that are still open; the case involves Chad Funchess, a volunteer fire fighter, from South Carolina whose half body was seriously burned when a can exploded in 2007, South Carolina when filling up a chain saw. Generally, these suits claim that the Blitz manufactured cans were predisposed to flashback explosions resulting from gasoline vapors followed the trail of the vapor into the container and ignited. Therefore, they argue that, Blitz ought to have installed flame arrester shields at the containers mouth in order to prevent flashback explosions. This is a case of tort-liability lawsuit, in which plaintiffs are suing the defendant for damages, asking the court to award the compensation on the grounds that the defendant’s negligence resulted on injuries to them. These cases are under the state court although some of the cases-the case of Mr. Green’s mother v. Blitz and that of David Calder v. Blitz-were heard a United States District Court, which are federal courts. As for the cases, Mr. Green’s mother v. Blitz and that of David Calder v. Blitz, Chad Funchess v. Blitz were heard in federal courts because the courts had jurisdiction over the subject matter of the cases as the plaintiffs in the said two cases did not share state of

ADVANCED AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY; CASE STUDY ON ALLERGY Essay

ADVANCED AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY; CASE STUDY ON ALLERGY - Essay Example However, the most common protein causing milk allergy is alpha S1-casein. Others may me caseins and whey. In case of egg allergy, the most common allergen is ovomucoid while others present in egg white are ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, and lysozyme. The egg yolk also contains some allergens that start an antibody reaction and among the most common are apovitillin, livetin and vosvetin. In case of peanut allergy the mostly common allergen found is a Lupine which is a legume and causes severe allergy in patients sensitive to it. 4. Th-2 like cells can be identified in the peripheral blood and lesions of atopic-dermatitis patients producing IL-4, 5, 13 and also IL-17 from Th17 cells. Explain the role(s) of these cytokines in allergy (10 Marks). The Th2 response is characterized by the release of several interleukins that ultimately goes through a chain of responses that leads to ‘humoral immunity’ by neutralizinge the non-cytolytic antibodies. The Th2-type cytokines include Interleukins 4, 5 and 13. IL 4, 5 and 13 are linked with the support of IgE and eosinophilic response in atopy. Other than this IL-17 has more of anti-inflammatory effect. Therefore, Th2 finds to be counteracting the Th1 medicated microbial action and thus produces a well balanced response to an immune attack (BMJ 2000). At homeostasis, Mast cells are the important cells that are present not only in skin but also in mucosal tissues. Both mast cells and quantity of eosinophils in mucosa are related to hyperactivity of lungs. There are several studies that suggest a correlation between mast cells and eosinophills that at some extent related to Eosinophil Cationic protein release. On stimulation, mast cells release IL-5 and PAF to enhance Eosinophil Cationic Protein (ECP) release from eosinophils. Since the number of mast cells is elevated in Asthmatic patients thus this assay is quite helpful in finding the allergic reaction. Hygiene Hypothesis suggests that the

Based on a Case Study - Management in Technological Change Essay

Based on a Case Study - Management in Technological Change - Essay Example Technological developments and innovation has paved a way for the emergence of new digital marketing channels such as mobile phones. Mobile phones are powerful channels that allow personalisation and interactivity of the content and context of the messages. (Kim, Han, & Schultz, 2004) The mobile channel is seen as an automated, reliable, personal, and customised channel that allows an efficient way to reach mobile phone users directly. It provides a direct call-to-action that would be almost impossible via other channels. (Barnes & Scornacava, 2004) This paper will focus on the feasibility of the application of mobile CRM on Evergreen Investment. The company is a leading asset management firm serving institutional investors through a broad range of investment products. The company has an existing CRM system developed by Onyx. However, the sales representatives find the system taxing on their job and not value-adding on their operations. Management has considered the system ineffective and inefficient. A proposed solution of the paper is the development and implementation of a mobile CRM. The mobile software is a commercially available application developed by Pyxis. It is run in the Blackberry platform using the handheld mobile phone. This paper introduces the CRM capabilities and features of the Blackberry device with the Pyxis-Onyx database link. It enumerates the different impacts of the new system on the organisation, operation, costs, and current process of the company. It also identifies the potential benefits of a mobile CRM to both the Evergreen company and its sales representatives. Evergreen Investment is a mutual fund company with over $247 billion in assets under management. The company concentrates on providing institutional investors with asset management and client service solutions instead of focusing and marketing on individual consumers. The people behind the

The Fly by Katherine Mansfield and Disabled by Wilfred Owen Essay Example for Free

The Fly by Katherine Mansfield and Disabled by Wilfred Owen Essay Exploring the connections between memory and trauma in â€Å"The Fly† by Katherine Mansfield and â€Å"Disabled† by Wilfred Owen In these works â€Å"The Fly† by Katherine Mansfield and â€Å"Disabled† by Wilfred Owen both reflect on the relations with memory and trauma from the First World War. Mansfield shows her connection through a father who lost his son at war and struggles with reminiscing his son’s death. Mansfield shows how the character starving for attention on the looks of his office to forget the painful damage the war has caused him. Owen writes his story from a soldier’s point of view that was in war and is now disabled from the war. The former soldier was unaware of what war actually was and only signed up because of the attention he got from others. Mansfield shows the terrifying memories of war coming from a family member’s mental point of view: â€Å"He did not draw old Woodifield’s attention to the photograph over the table of a grave-looking boy in uniform† (425), the photograph above the table is of the boss’s son. Mansfield writes; â€Å"‘My son’ groaned the boss. But no tears came yet† (page 427), she shows the boss is struggling with memories of the death of his son. Owen presents his speaker as one who was in the war and faces trauma physically: â€Å"He sat in a wheeled chair†¦.Legless, sewn short at elbow† (line 1-3), the former soldier lost his limbs at war. He loses the feeling of being with a woman: â€Å"Now he will never feel again how slim girls’ waists are,† (11,12) he lost his sense of caressing a woman again. Mansfield shows her character in hunger for the attention of others, she writes: â€Å"‘I’ve had it done up lately, he explained, as he explained for the past-how many?-weeks† (425) the boss craves the attention of others noticing his office and the fine details. When the boss repeats the phrase: â€Å"‘Look sharp’† (429), it shows that the character has high expectations for the people around him and for his son’s return home from the war. Owens shows the speaker engaging the attention of others by signing up for war not knowing the possible outcomes: †Å"He thought he’d better join. He wonders why†¦.Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts [unpredictable women]† (24-27), he signs up only to get the attention from others especially women. Owen writes: â€Å"Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal† (37) the attention the speaker had got when he first signed up was not the attention he had gotten anymore. Both characters are now left with permanent damage from the war, Mansfield shows that the character is more mentally damaged from the war with loss of his son: â€Å"Six years ago, six years†¦. How quickly time passed!† (428), the war has robbed his son from him. When the boss is tormenting the fly with his ink: â€Å"The last blot fell on the soaked blotting-paper, and the draggled fly lay in it and did not stir† (429), he is reminded the constant struggle in remembering the death of his son. The speaker in Owens poem is not only left with constant memories of the war but also left with physical damage too: â€Å"There was an artist silly for his face, For it was younger than his youth, last year. Now he is old; his back will never brace; He’s lost his color very far from here† (14-17) the war stole his baby face looks and replaced him with a face that was trampled by war. In these works the writers have different views of the war. Mansfield’s story is presented from family members view and how the war affected his mental view. He is struggling with himself in remembrance of his son’s death so he craves the attention of others but is still reminded what the war has robbed him of. Owen’s writes his story more in first person; his character was ignorant about war and signed up to get the attention of others. The speaker is now left with mental and physical damage from the war. Each works provide insight on how cruel war is by the views the writers present them in. Works Cited Mansfield, Katherine. â€Å"The fly.† Introduction to Literature 5th Ed. Eds, Findlay et. al. Toronto: Nelson 2004. 425-429. Owen, Wilfred. â€Å"Disabled.† Introduction to Literature 5th Ed. Eds, Findlay et. al. Toronto: Nelson 2004. 247-248.

A Plan To Sell Products

A Plan To Sell Products Merchandising, advertising, promotion, a plan to sell products, sales to the meet needs of customers, media planning are all well to be known as marketing. While these activities may be regarded as part of marketing, none of them is marketing itself. It is remarkable that there are two conditions that must be met before marketing is possible. Firstly, there must be a person or company that desires to sell a product or a service. Secondly, there is a need for potential buyers of the product or service. No matter which comes first, but both must exist. If both factors exist, marketing is the process or series of activities that the prospective purchaser of the product or service with the product or service. If there is a no problem in selling your product or service for profit, the marketing has been a success. If the problem is not to make profits, the marketing has failed. It is important to recognize, then that marketing is the sum of all activities related to bringing buyer and seller profitably together. 1.2 Introduction to Mauritius Mauritius was first explored by the Portuguese in the 16th century and subsequently settled by the Dutch who named it in honor of Prince Maurits van NASSAU in the 17th century. Uninhabited until the 17th century, the island was ruled first by the Dutch and then the French after the Dutch had abandoned it. The British took control during the Napoleonic Wars and Mauritius became independent from the UK in 1968. Mauritius is a parliamentary republic and is member of the Southern African Development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa the African Union and the Commonwealth of Nations. The main languages spoken in Mauritius are Mauritian Creole, French and English. English is the only official language but the lingua franca is Creole and the newspapers and television programs are usually in French. Ethnically, the majority of the population is Indian and there are also many people of African descent on the island and there are also European and Chinese minorities. It is the only African nation where the largest religion is Hinduism although Christianity and Islam also have significant populations. The dodo has been extinct since the mid-to-late 17th century 1.3 Introduction to Maradiva Maradiva Villas Resort Spa, Mauritius, (member of Leading Small Hotels of the World) is an exclusive haven of luxury spread over 27 scenic acres with 750 m of pristine beach. It overlooks the serene, blue waters of Tamarin Bay at Wolmar. The 65 Suite Villas (from 163 to 345 m ²) draw inspiration from the charming local architecture, each with a private pool adjoining a tranquil living-dining area, with the benefit of full butler service to ensure that every guest need is met. The villas are wonderfully spacious and include a large daylight bathroom with an indoor and an outdoor shower, a walk-in wardrobe, flat-screen television, DVD, music system, internet connectivity, espresso machine, personal bar and in-room safe. The blossoming park of Maradiva enhances already an appealing feature of the resort into a lush tropical garden with sculptured landscaping. The resort offers to its guests a choice between 65 picturesque villas with a private pool of their own. The following is a table depicting the various categories of rooms that the resort has to offer with their numbers: TYPE OF VILLAS NUMBER OF VILLAS Luxury Villas 46 Luxury Beachfront Villas 11 Luxury Suites Villas 6 Presidential Villas 2 Chapter 2 Micro Environment and Macro Environment 2.1 Micro Environment The micro environment includes internal factors close to the company that have a direct impact on the organizations strategy. These factors include: 2.1.1 Consumers The maximum numbers of consumers staying in the hotel are from France, then Europe, USA, Middle East, India and other countries. All the cliental from these places are of niche class. There are different types of clientele like corporate, Leisure, Business domestic clientele. Maradiva basically caters types of clientele they are: Corporate clients: since the hotel is well connected it has a huge corporate client Leisure Clients: since Maradiva is marketed as a leisure property it caters to many clients from around the global. Domestic clients: since the hotel is seasonal it offers a special rate of 14,000 MAU throughout the year for Mauritian guests. In this way it caters to the niche segment of the domestic clients (Source: From the hotel monthly Occupancy report) 2.1.2 Suppliers It is directly linked to the companys overall customer value delivery system. The suppliers provide resources to Maradiva to produce these services. If it faces any problems from suppliers it will directly affect the marketing strategies of the hotel. The local travels agents that Maradiva deals with are:- Mauritours The White Sand Tours Summer Times Elite Voyage Connections Expression holidays 2.1.3 Competitors Maradiva provides different strategies packages to generate customer value satisfaction. These strategies help them to compete with their competitors. The hotel by using these strategies must gain strategic advantage by positing their offerings strongly against competitors offerings. EXISTING ROOMS Maradiva Villas and spa, Mauritius 65 Four seasons, Mauritius 145 Sugar Beach resorts, Mauritius 258 Shanti Ananda Maurice 61 Sofitel imperial resort spa 191 Total 720 2.1.4 Media The modes of advertisements that are used there are printed media and the hoardings. In the printed media local newspapers were used and the local newspapers were Le Mauricien and l ´express. 2.2 Macro Environment 2.2.1Political 2.2.2 Economical GDP (2009 est., official exchange rate): $9.156 billion Real growth rate (2009 est.): 2.1% Per capita income (2009 est., purchasing power parity): $12,400 Avg. inflation rate (2009 est.): 3.4% Agriculture (4.5% of GDP): Productssugar, sugar derivatives, tea, tobacco, vegetables, fruits, flowers, cattle and fishing. Manufacturing, including export processing zone (19.4% of GDP): Typeslabor-intensive goods for export, including textiles and clothing, watches and clocks, jewelry, optical goods, toys and games, and cut flowers. Financial services: (10.9% of GDP) Tourism sector (8.7% of GDP): Main countries of originFrance, including nearby French island Reunion, South Africa, and west European countries. (Source: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2833.htm) 2.2.3 Social The forebears of the various ethnic groups composing Mauritian society arrived as settlers, slaves, indentured laborers, and immigrants. Ethnicity, religion, and language have been important factors in shaping the way Mauritians relate to each other in the social spheres. The Mauritian Constitution makes no mention of an official language and its one million citizens speak Mauritian Creole, a French-based Creole, English or French. It is only in the Parliament that the official language is English but any member of the National Assembly can still address the chair in French. Population: Island of Mauritius only: 1,288.2 (In Thousands 2009) Population growth rate: 0.7% Birth rate: 16.66 births/1,000 population (2000 est.) Death rate: 6.83 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.) Sex ratio: Total population: 98 male(s)/100 female Infant mortality rate: 17.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.) Life expectancy at birth: Male: 66.98 years female: 75.04 years (2000 est.) Ethnic groups: Indian 68%, Creole 27%, Chinese 3%, French 2% Religions: Hinduism 52%, Christianity 28.3% (Roman Catholicism 26%, Protestant 2.3%), Islam 16.6%, other 3.1% Literacy: Total population: 82.9% male: 87.1% female: 78.8% (1995 est.) (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Mauritius, http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/socind/population.htm#tech) 2.2.4 Technological It is commonly assumed in the literature that the successful accumulation of technology in a given developing country depends only on access to new information, stable macroeconomic conditions, market-driven signals and the supply of human capital. Mauritius is an outlier in the African scene in terms of its trade, industrial and macroeconomic regime. From the 1970s, Mauritius followed a mixed trade policy of import substitution coupled with incentives for exports through the Export Processing Zone. There have been three phases of adjustment since the mid-1980s, each with a different pace and coverage. Industries also plays an important role in an economy, the main industries in Mauritius are textiles, chemicals, food processing, tourism, metal products, non-electrical machinery and transport equipment. The food processing industry in Mauritius is largely composed of sugar milling. The Sugar cane industry arrived in Mauritius in the year of 1639. There are so many sugar-cane fields in Mauritius. There is also now organic sugar production on the island. Textiles industries have been one of the major industries in Mauritius for past 30 years. The Chinese population is mainly responsible for the development of textile on the island. (Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ricky_Morgan Oxford Development Studies, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2002 Firm Size, Technological Capabilities and Market-oriented Policies in Mauritius GANESHAN WIGNARAJA*) 2.2.5 Environmental In recent years, the United Nation Development Programme UNDP Environment Unit Mauritius has succeeded in mobilizing resources and increasing environmental sustainability in both Mauritius and Seychelles. The main achievements include: The adoption of a sustainable environmental management plan for an industrial estate that has served as a model for replication in other industrial estates; The creation of a co-management unit and the designation of a Marine Protected Area in Rodrigues; A comprehensive portfolio of Global Environment Facility (GEF) projects developed for implementation; Promotion of biodiversity conservation in Seychelles; Supporting the development of an Energy Policy for Mauritius Assessment of national capacity gaps for environmental management in Seychelles National Plan for phase out of POPs in Mauritius UNDP remains committed to the continuation and enhancement of support and local and regional initiatives so as to promote environmental protection in Mauritius, Seychelles and the region. (Source: http://un.intnet.mu/UNDP/html/mauritius/energy_env.htm#top) 2.2.6 Legal Governments objective is to transform Mauritius into an international financial and business hub built on strong foundations. A number of important legislations were passed over the past few years to ensure that the legislative framework meets all the international standards and also aimed at improving the efficiency and competitiveness of our financial services sector. Company law Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 (Act No. 21 Of 2006) Business Registration Act 2002 Co-operatives (Amendment) Act 2006 (Act No. 6 Of 2006) Development Works Corporation (Repeal) Act 2007 (Act No. 1 Of 2007 Regulations made by the Minister under section 360 of the Companies Act 2001(purchase of own shares) Regulations made by the Minister under sections 355 and 360 of the Companies Act 2001 The Companies Act 2001 The Trust Act 2001 (Source: http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxwemau.htm) Chapter 3 SWOT of Maradiva, Maurituis Strengths A perfect destination for honeymooners, with complete silent surrounding and privacy. Only all a la carte menu provided on the island. Offering a novel sort of idea to the customers An all villa concept Basic category of the villa starts from 163 m ², and is the largest square footage accommodation per room in Mauritius. Each Villa has its own private plunge pool. The Only resort with Ayurvedic Spa in Mauritius which is a big competitor for Shanti Ananda hotel Mauritius, who are world famous for their spas. Cilantro, one of its restaurants has a live teppanyaki Japanese Cuisine which is very famous all over Mauritius. Weakness Due to the removal of brand Taj, the product Maradiva is unknown to the market, and has to create its new position in the market. Proximity from the airport isnt that good; it takes more than an hour from the airport. The resort does not have a mix of rooms and villas, due to which it faces severe business losses in the slack season. Lack of qualified and trained personnel is a very big problem in Mauritius due to the reason that most of the staff members are employed just after the schooling. Location- the resort is on the west coast, whereas most of the hotels, water sports activities, places to visit are on the other side of the island. The hotel only carters to the niche customers. Opportunity The resort should target more guests from the Middle East. They should try and target the tourist from Russia, China and Switzerland. The growing interest of tourist looking for private holidays. Threat Upcoming five star hotels. Duplication of concept with minor changes by new upcoming hotels. Being on seashore it always has a danger of the high tide in the sea. Segmentation Market segmentation is the identification of portions of the market that are different from one another. Segmentation allows the firm to better satisfy the needs of its potential customers. Customers within any market rarely have similar needs and expectations. As the country of Mauritius had been under the rule of British French people the place still holds a lot of common ideologies thus making it a hit destination amongst the British and French Nationals. Based on this fact the resort segmented various markets of the world into key markets (UK, France, Germany, and Switzerland) and developing markets (India, Russia, South Africa, Australia). As Mauritius has been known as a Honeymooners Paradise so the hotel based in this fact has targeted young and affluent individuals who would like to have their wedding done or a honeymoon. Not only the young but the place is a hit even with the elderly people Targeting Targeting or Target market selection is the process of deciding which market segments of the company should actively pursue to generate sales. After segmenting it various customers into segments has then found out those market segments which are highly profitable. The resort inorder to tap the honeymoon and wedding market has come out with two explicit packages targeting those clients and are looking for a unique and distinctive experience. On more generic terms the resort looks at targeting key opinion makers, corporate leaders, well traveled discerning, who have experience of finest luxury products and services, disposed towards high end luxury goods, looking for unique/distinctive experiences. Positioning Positioning is done to develop a unique selling proposition for the target segment. Positioning is the reason why hotels exist and why customers miss the company if it were to cease operation. Maradiva positioned itself as a destination resort. A company must be very specific in terms of its intended positioning or unique selling proposition if it wants to stand out among the clutter of choices confronting its potential customers. Chapter 3 Marketing strategies of Maradiva Maradiva majorly depends on foreign tourism, which states that the marketing stratergies can never be over emphasized. Marketing departing had the bonus of getting in the customers to the resort through various means and techniques. Maradiva knew that it cannot replicate the various marketing strategies being applied by other hotels as they offer a different sort of product and need to think out of the box in order to formulate new marketing strategies. 3.1 Pay for few nights and stay for more! Maradiva not only resorted to market themselves in the form of offers but also marketed themselves in the form of various packages which are designed as per the guest needs and preferences. Various packages like free night offer which includes, the guest has to pay for five nights and stay for seven or pay for seven nights and stay for nine nights etc. such type of offers are called tactical offers. Maradiva is well aware of the booking patterns that take place and in accordance with the same; various offers are launched during lean as well as peak season. During periods of low occupancy these tactical offers are provided to boost sales from their key markets mainly the major tour operators who provide maximum business to the hotel. they are implemented with an idea of generating occupancy levels so as to keep the business running comfortably. The tactical offers are designed in such a way so as to garner maximum amount of business during lean season and to maintain the influx of guests during peak season. As the tactical offers are different for different tour operators and vary a lot with the country as well, in U.K (5nights=10nights); France ( one spa treatment per person); 3.2 Mauritian Promotional Offer A tool to capitalize on domestic market Mauritius even though is a small island and the potential of domestic tourism is not phenomenal but every marketer feels that there is an opportunity in every situation. There is no dearth of people who want to live a life of luxury or would want to spend a day or two at a place where they feel theres value for money. Taking all that into consideration the Sales Marketing team of the resort came up with an offer known as Mauritian Promotion Offer in order to attract some local niche clientele. The offer was officially launched in December 2006 as a tactical offer but later owing to its potential it was later upgraded to an all year round offer. The offer included a rate of MRU 14,000 per night for a Luxury Villa with pool, with a HB meal plan inclusive in the package. 3.3 Wedding and Honeymooners Maradiva is the perfect place for romantic luxurious holidays, the ideal love nest for newlyweds. During earlier times when the resort just came into being they had a basic and simple marketing strategy: to market the hotel as a wedding or a honeymoon destination among young couples in the form of wedding and honeymoon packages which would include the accommodation along with the various formalities that need to be performed which is taken care of by the guest relation manager. The guests are also provided with various facilities like candlelit dinner, champagne breakfast, and massage for the groom and various beauty treatments for the bride. The honeymoon package would constitute of providing a 50% discount on the brides twin sharing rate along with various added values like coffee scrub, candlelit dinner, champagne breakfast, rose petal bath etc. 3.4 Affiliation packages Maradiva is affiliated to Leading group of small hotels, Great hotels of the world, Leading Spas f the world which helps the resort to generate more room nights than its competitors. The customers had the choice of choosing the package amongst a wide array of packages depending on their needs. For example a guest could choose a 5 day Maradiva Spa Stress Relief and Relaxation which would spread across a span of 5 days and has been carefully designed inorder to provide absolute relaxation to the guest. The package would encompass things like Level 1 2 of Yoga Meditation, Yoga Nidra, Trataka, Aroma Bath + Scrub Wrap, Surya Namaskar and Pehlwan Malish. The resort also boosted of a Golf Package as the resort was in close proximity to the Tamarina Golf Course. Recommendation In this section the researcher has illustrated various marketing stratergies implemented by Maradiva, Mauritius; and the SWOT analysis done by the researcher on the marketing strategies would enlisting few recommendations based on the knowledge and experience garnered during the operational and project stage of understudy: Maradiva should look at penetrating other new emerging markets such as South Africa, Middle East, Australia, Russia and India by developing a holistic approach, with the use of explicit marketing tools catering in specific to the particular market. By doing so the resort would be able to remove the dependability factor on its few restricted key markets and in turn would help them in being better prepared for unforeseen situations. With the growing spending power of people in the developing countries it would not be wrong to target those people who prefer travelling abroad during holidays by having country specific holiday packages in order to profit from situation. The hotel needs to take into consideration various countries trend for holidays. Internal marketing: Hotels should practice internal marketing; the hotel should motivate their customer contact employees and all their service people to work as a team to provide customer satisfaction. External marketing: The sales marketing should have good communication skills and should provide more interactive sessions to their clients should be able to market the product efficiently. The resort has done a lot to their micro site but the researcher still feels that the website can be made more appealing by adding blogs, interactive event / activity calendars, hotel guest scrapbooks, photo sharing contests, testimonials which helps in generating interests site stickiness ultimately increase the bookings. The airfare for a place like Mauritius is quite expensive and this discourages budget travellers from coming to the country. A possible solution for this could be combinable offers with airlines like Air Mauritius and Emirates which could help create a new segment of customers for the hotel. The hotel from its side needs to establish a healthy relationship with such airlines so that offers such as room fare inclusive of airfare would entice customers to come to the hotel. In this tech savvy age the resort can also look at establishing a database of e mail id of their loyal customers and can optimally use the e mail marketing technique in order to reward customers and offer lower rates to them which do not generally feature on the website. Conclusions Marketing has been and would always be an integral part of the smooth functioning of a hotel. Without proper marketing strategies there wouldnt be any guests coming to the property or even if they would be the hotel would be targeting the wrong sort of clientele to cater to. Marketing in hospitality industry is a balanced form of being an art with a lot of science behind every decision being taken under its domain. A more common view is that marketing activities are prepared in order to inform the customers about the products that they may enjoy or that they may improve their life in some way. Few marketers also see it as an opportunity for specific reasons like encouraging repeat purchases and building brand loyalty and affinity. Mauritius, having a very small population with large number of hotels coming up hospitality personnel are not afraid of losing their jobs. Their attitude is laid back, with the habit of procrastinating things. In order to attract and retain repeat guests it is necessary to primarily retain honest and loyal service personnel. The main reason why Maradiva had to roll down its shutters was its inability to attract guests to occupy its villas. There were a few minor errors with the marketing aspect. It was the price that did not suit many tourists pocket. Maradiva also faced a problem of its inventory being less i.e.only has villas. Other five star hotels which had a mixture of villas and rooms did roaring business at the same time. This clearly goes to show that the hotel should have done a more precise market survey before going into such a loss.

Genetic Engineering: The Controversy of Genetic Screening Essay

The Controversy of Genetic Screening      Ã‚   Craig Ventor of Celera Genomics, Rockville, MD, and Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health and Wellcome Trust, London, England, simultaneously presented the sequence of human DNA in June of 2000, accomplishing the first major endeavor of the Human Genome Project (HGP) (Ridley 2). As scientists link human characteristics to genes-segments of DNA found on one or more of the 23 human chromosomes-prospects for genetic engineering will increase dramatically. One relatively simple but powerful application of the HGP is genetic screening. By abstracting and analyzing DNA from embryos, fetuses, children or adults, one can detect the presence or absence of specific genes. While some people think of genetic screening as a great scientific and medical advancement, others see it as a frightening and dangerous enterprise. With careful regulation, I believe genetic screening can affect individuals in a beneficial manner.    Pre-natal genetic screening is currently used in high-risk pregnancies for detection of diseases such as Down Syndrome and Huntington's chorea (Ridley 55, 98). As scientists determine the genes for additional genetic conditions, screening of embryos will provide more information to potential parents before their fetus is fully developed. If a screened fetus were found to carry genes for a particular disease or disability, its parents might selectively abort it. Many individuals who believe in pro-choice abortion laws advocate pre-natal screening for genetic diseases because the abortion of fetuses with undesirable traits may decrease the number of unwanted children. Those against abortion strongly oppose pre-natal screening, predicting an increase in abor... ...guidelines could eliminate many of these destructive effects. Pre-natal screening should only test for 'abortion-worthy' diseases determined by a national or international bioethics committee. Children and adults should be screened for particular diseases or conditions when/if family medical histories or physical examinations find reason to do so. With such policies, I believe that genetic screening will beneficially revolutionize obstetric and preventative medicine.    Works Cited Gibbs, Nancy and Michael Duffy. "We Must Proceed With Great Care." Time. Hubbard, Ruth and Elijah Wald. Exploring the Gene Myth. Boston: Beacon Press. Lemonick, Michael P. "Smart Genes?" Time 13 Sept. 1999. Ridley, Matt. Genome: the Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters. Perennial. Snell, Marilyn B. "Tempest in a Pill Box." Sierra 85 (2000): 18-19.   

Why Do I Volunteer? :: Contribution to My Community Service

Some people volunteer to gain career experience, to build their resume. Develop skills or learn new ones. In addition volunteer work enables others to make contacts with people in their chosen career. Some people volunteer to build self-esteem, to make themselves feel better. To feel needed, to feel that they have a place in this world. To truly feel like they are making a contribution to society. Some people volunteer for the social aspect, to climb the social ladder while helping those less fortunate. Some people volunteer as a result of the instilled set of values they have a set of values that compel them to act on deeply held beliefs about the importance of helping others. Some people volunteer because they have felt the cruel sting that life may have afflicted them or a loved one with. For example someone might volunteer for the American Cancer Society because a family member died of cancer. And some people do it because they want a better understanding about different people or the organization they serve, "bridging the gap," so to speak, in order to better understand their community and themselves. However, I volunteer to give back to my community. I am grateful for the help I received from others. When I was in high school I participated in the Upward Bound program. There I was influenced by the academic success of my tutors. I was challenged by them to exceed all of their expectations, and to broaden my horizons of thinking. Through Upward Bound I was able to acquire skills and opportunities that have helped me become the person that I am today. So I give back to enable kids to have the same chances at life that I have had. Volunteering is the ultimate payback to those who helped me on the road to success. I remember asking a counselor when I was in Upward Bound how I could repay him. He smiled and said "You can help me by helping another." A statement so simple, yet so deep in its meaning. The feeling that I can shape someone's life for the better is unexplainable. When I got my first volunteer position as a junior counselor at my local Boys and Girls club, I was eager to be a great role model for the kids. But things did not work out as I initially thought. Why Do I Volunteer? :: Contribution to My Community Service Some people volunteer to gain career experience, to build their resume. Develop skills or learn new ones. In addition volunteer work enables others to make contacts with people in their chosen career. Some people volunteer to build self-esteem, to make themselves feel better. To feel needed, to feel that they have a place in this world. To truly feel like they are making a contribution to society. Some people volunteer for the social aspect, to climb the social ladder while helping those less fortunate. Some people volunteer as a result of the instilled set of values they have a set of values that compel them to act on deeply held beliefs about the importance of helping others. Some people volunteer because they have felt the cruel sting that life may have afflicted them or a loved one with. For example someone might volunteer for the American Cancer Society because a family member died of cancer. And some people do it because they want a better understanding about different people or the organization they serve, "bridging the gap," so to speak, in order to better understand their community and themselves. However, I volunteer to give back to my community. I am grateful for the help I received from others. When I was in high school I participated in the Upward Bound program. There I was influenced by the academic success of my tutors. I was challenged by them to exceed all of their expectations, and to broaden my horizons of thinking. Through Upward Bound I was able to acquire skills and opportunities that have helped me become the person that I am today. So I give back to enable kids to have the same chances at life that I have had. Volunteering is the ultimate payback to those who helped me on the road to success. I remember asking a counselor when I was in Upward Bound how I could repay him. He smiled and said "You can help me by helping another." A statement so simple, yet so deep in its meaning. The feeling that I can shape someone's life for the better is unexplainable. When I got my first volunteer position as a junior counselor at my local Boys and Girls club, I was eager to be a great role model for the kids. But things did not work out as I initially thought.

A substitute for royalty Essay

As I reluctantly strode towards my final year of school I pictured the scenes that would await me. Without Jack, my best friend since infant school I felt depressed and gloated in my state of solitude. Jack had left to be an author, although he did not seem either a novelist or an intellectual. I had never read his work before but still I encouraged and supported him. During lunch I noticed the solemn expressions on the teacher’s faces, they lacked their usual humour and were drained of all normal colour. My efforts to replenish their vitality were useless; their expressionless behaviour dampened my own spirits. I left school as I arrived, upset, weary and worried. I couldn’t explain why the staff had acted so out of character. I thought continuously until in the corner of my eye I noticed a pupil from last year. He was pale and surrounded by cigarette butts. In the attempt to cheer myself up I dared to make conversation â€Å"I heard about your four A levels,† I muttered. Realising he may not have heard me I raised my voice â€Å"Has the fact you’ve achieved four A levels stressed you out that much that you’ve started smoking,† I said jokingly. Yet again he blanked me. I approached him gently placing my hand on the bench. I looked closely at his face. His skin was stretched over his bones; his cheekbones and eye sockets bulged out abnormally. â€Å"What’s wrong?† I asked reassuringly â€Å"It looks as if you’ve had an alien encounter,† He arose rapidly â€Å"Yeah something like that,† he finally replied. Then briskly he t rickled away into the distance. The following day I had games first lesson. In an attempt to secure a place in the first side this year, I subtly began to make conversation â€Å"I bumped in to Chris yesterday, he’s smoking very heavily, shame really he made such a good player.† â€Å"I don’t blame him† was the immediate response, bewildered and confused I questioned him â€Å"what do you mean?† â€Å"Ask Mr Lewis† he said in a faint voice as he rapidly relieved himself from my company. As soon as I reclothed myself from the shower I paced towards Mr Lewis’ office. Mr Lewis was a short middle-aged man who was consistently joyous; he was certainly not a stereotypical head teacher. I halted abruptly as he came into view. He was pinning up a notice on his door ‘There will be no welcome Prom, Sorry’ Shocked and upset I realised that this was maybe the only night a female would look at me twice. The anger swelled inside me and at that moment I was determined the prom would go ahead. So I decided to take the news well and acted as if the prom meant nothing to me. During the remaining day I secretly organised the traditional event and felt rather proud of myself as even the most popular guys in the school congratulated me for coming up with such an ingenious plan. The night of the prom lurked as the school bell echoed throughout the corridors signalling the end of school. As the hordes of pupils proceeded towards the exit I cunningly knocked the Janitors keys out of his hand and kicked them forward. A person up ahead picked up the keys, removing the key that would unlock the hall. He then discarded the rest of the keys by hiding them in someone’s bag. After returning home to get changed I entered the ceremony as a hero disguised in a turquoise suit with cue-ball cufflinks. I had arrived fashionably late, just as the votes were being passed around for who would be this years Prom King. Not surprisingly Karl won substantially, he seemed to possess some inhuman magnetism which melted girls hearts. His personality was nothing to be admired but his muscular build was all it took. The party did not warm up until 11 o’clock when a slender figure with a revealing dress approached me with the crown. â€Å"I think Karl must have left, I found this by the fountain,† her voice was so feminine I temporarily found myself in a hazy dream. The girl forcefully placed the crown in my hands. I hesitantly thanked her before asking Mark to come up and be crowned. However just over half an hour later a group of boys I recognised as Mark’s friends approached me soaked through and smelling of chlorine. They handed me the crown, â€Å"we found it floating in the Jacuzzi, Mark must have left.† I had no choice but to call up another contestant, his name was Tony. I hoped he would stay until the majority of people had left otherwise I would be forced to crown myself. A few girls had voted for me but I’m sure it was a joke. However, to my disgust a rather drunk pupil wandered clumsily in my direction, he fumbled with the crown. I removed it into the safety of my hands. † I found it by the lockers,† he uttered just before a huge lurch was followed by harmful amounts of vomit. He sat contently and upright next to a wall as I walked on to the stage. I introduced myself and explained the situation. I raised the crown high. It hovered menacingly above my head, until a powerful, shrill cry caused me to stop, it was Mr Lewis he burst in and broke down. The crown was dropped. He was extremely angry. We poured out everywhere. Unfortunately I had to face him next morning, he was in tears and gradually explained next to nothing just that last years prom was a disastrous tragedy. He handed me one piece of blood stained paper, which was addressed to me. It said ‘I’ve personally published this novel’ I frowned for a few seconds and handed it back I told him that I did not understand. Mr Lewis quietly murmured â€Å"come and see me after school if you don’t figure it out.† I thought hard all day but I couldn’t unlock the mystery. I went back and he showed me a picture of Jack my old friend. He was at the prom dressed in a dinner suit. Mr Lewis handed me a book. I noticed it was the book Jack had given me before he left. I had left it in my locker on my last day. The Janitor must have found it. I noticed the title ‘My unpublished novel’, I opened it, page after page was decorated colourfully in harsh words such as die, hate, kill. They continued for hundreds of pages. Puzzled I eventually turned to the Synopsis. It was a statement from Jack ‘I’ll show the world that not publishing my novel was a fatal error.’ I stared at Mr Lewis in fright. He slowly explained that he had got in touch with the publishers, which Jack asked to publish his book. The publishers told him the basic plot, ‘It was a story of a boys battle to become popular. He was laughed at for being voted Prom King and swore revenge at the next prom. At the next prom the boy was collecting everyone’s votes, then he would take them away and replace them with fake votes, which he had prepared earlier, therefore he could kill each King in the order he pleased. Throughout the night the crown was left in random areas about the school. People returned the crown claiming that the King had left the prom so a new one was voted for. The boy had eventually killed three Prom Kings and planned to kill the fourth one by dropping weights on to him, which were suspended by a rope from the ceiling. Then he poured the entire chemistry departments acid content over his body until he was unrecognisable. He started from the feet up to give him a slow death. He had turned blue from the weight on his broken ribs and sternum. However as he prepared to pour the last test tube full of acid onto his face the prom king lashed out with a severely burnt leg tripping him. He landed on the empty test tubes, which impaled him through his back. The prom king was found in mostly ash and the boy was bleeding heavily from his mouth. He was left in hospital for a while until A close friend came to see how he was and realised he had left the hospital. No body remained. The hospital was baffled. The friend ran back to the death scene finding only a crown near where the body of the fourth victim was found on the floor. Spontaneously he realised a possible connection to the fact that his neighbour hadn’t returned from the party. He was first to be crowned. It took him a while to believe it but His friend thought the boy had killed his victims and left the crown to signify it. The book then says the boy’s friend traces down people who had found the crown and began to reveal dead bodies left around those areas.’Mr Lewis looked deep into my eyes asking, â€Å"Now you understand, I’ve personally published this novel?† He did not await a reply; he carried on saying the publisher’s rejected his book in fear of it causing some person to act in the same way. â€Å"We believe Jack has acted out his own story for real and committed suicide by impaling himself at the end of it,† claimed Mr Lewis. Now Jack is haunting the crown. Whoever wears that crown is a certain victim of another violent, merciless death. Mr Lewis also explains that I must be the friend, why else would the note be to me? Mr Lewis asks if he thinks Jack would act differently if I wore the crown. I was very unsure but knew that Jack’s spirit had to be exorcised to put us all to rest and release the tension capturing the school. First I had to find the bodies of the various boys who had been crowned that night. I clearly remember that young woman who had told me she had found the crown near the water fountain. I rushed there as if I could still save him but I was sadly mistaken. A foul, pungent odour wafted towards me from behind a locked door. I forcefully hurled myself at the door, it shattered easily. The stench in the room was unbearable. I saw Karl, well I recognised one half of his face, the other seemed as if he had been hit close range with a shotgun, but someone would have heard that. I turned to take a sip from the fountain and only then realised there was dried blood all around it. Karl must have been drinking from this fountain while Jack approached him cautiously and then crushed his face into the fountain, leaving a gaping hole in his head. I left Karl to run to the swimming pool where Mark’s friends had found the crown. The Jacuzzi was the only sound interrupting perfect silence. I hesitantly switched it off. As the bubbles dispersed Mark’s figure became visible. He had the most frightening expression portrayed upon his face. He was fixed in a position with outstretched arms as his cumber band fastened him to a grill in the floor. He must have struggled vigorously before he finally drowned. Next I vaguely recalled my incident with the drunk and he had found the crown near the lockers. I guessed he meant Tony’s locker. Sure enough Tony was stuffed tightly into his locker while a maths compass was dug deep into his throat. I returned to Mr Lewis confirming each death. Mr Lewis was not coping well with the strain, he occasionally spluttered and tears ran down his cheeks. The same feelings were not present in my mind though only those of determination flourished through me. I politely stepped outside and headed for the chemistry lab. There I cautiously placed the crown on my head. Jack instantly appeared. He looked no different to when I last saw him. He appeared no less normal than the average human being. We barely exchanged words in our entire encounter. The first gesture made was an order for me to go closer to a neatly lined up row of glass. Obviously Jack was asking me to commit suicide. â€Å"I thought you would prefer this, I’ve known you a long time, you’ve never struck me as a fighter,† his cocky remark only flared my anger more. I slowly edged towards the glass bottles. Every step I took the wider Jack’s smile seemed to grow. Accidentally I managed to knock a bottle on to the floor. Panic stricken I wondered if his mood would change, mine certainly had, this was by far the most fearful experience of my life. Kindly Jack leaned over to pick the bottle up off the floor. As he arose I placed the crown on his head. He looked at me aghast. â€Å"How smart you look,† I proclaimed â€Å"anyone would think you were a substitute for Royalty.† He fell back on to the glass. The crown glistened evilly beside the table

Introduction to corporate social responsibility Essay

Corporate social responsibility is a figure of business self-regulation incorporated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms. CSR is a process with the aim to embrace responsibility for the company’s actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere who may also be considered as stakeholders. There are four main parts to CSR fig 1: |Economic |Responsibility to earn profit for owners | |Legal |Responsibility to comply with the law | |Ethical |Not acting just for profit, but doing what is right, just and fair | |Voluntary and philanthropic |Promoting human welfare and goodwill | | |Being a good corporate citizen contributing to the community and quality of life | There are many substitute definitions of CSR. Examples of two are firstly An responsibility, beyond that mandatory by the law, for a business to follow long term objectives that are excellent for society. Secondly concerning how a business administer its business to create an overall constructive impact on the general public So in a brief social responsibly corporate involves †¢ Conducting business in an ethical way and in the interests of the wider community †¢ Responding positively to emerging societal priorities and expectations †¢ A compliance to take action ahead of regulatory confrontation †¢ Balancing shareholder interests against the interests of  the wider community †¢ Being a good citizen in the area

Internal Conflict in a Tale of Two Cities †Sydney Carton Essay

Every novel in history has conflict. Without it, the plot is boring, and uninteresting. In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, a character that has conflict within himself is Sydney Carton. Sydney Carton takes a backseat to Mr. Stryver in the novel. In reality, he is much more than that. He falls in love with Lucie Manette, but many others do as well. Sydney has to fight to win Lucie’s love, but there is still a chance that none of it will matter. Sydney Carton is the assistant to Mr. Stryver, an attorney. Also, Sydney is an alcoholic. Sydney has basically wasted his entire life, which he regrets. In the novel, Sydney falls in love with Lucie Manette. Lucie is a young lady who is desirable to many of the young men in the novel. Sydney doesn’t openly admit that he is attracted to Lucie at first. Eventually, Sydney admits to himself, and even to Lucie, that he loves her. The only problem with Sydney being in love with Lucie is that she is sought-after by many men. The fact that Lucie is wanted by so many other people makes Lucie nearly impossible for Sydney to win over. The cause of the conflict with Sydney is that he loves Lucie, but many other men do as well. Not only is Sydney not good enough for her, but she has lots of choices. Sydney Carton is someone who is looked down upon by many of the characters in the novel. Sydney is an assistant to Mr. Stryver, another of Lucie’s suitors, Sydney is an alcoholic, and he regrets wasting his life and not making more of it. Nothing Sydney does now will change it, making it hard for him to win Lucie’s love. Also, Sydney has many people to compete with for Lucie’s love. Many of the men who want to win Sydney over have a better reputation than Sydney. Together, these create a big problem for Sydney in his quest to win the love of Lucie Manette. Although Sydney could have resolved the problem of not being good enough for her by completely changing who he was earlier on, there is no way he could have gone back and changed how he acted in the past. Sydney is a bright person, and he is much brighter that his boss, Mr. Stryver. Sydney is a lot smarter than Mr. Stryver, and basically does all of Mr. Stryver’s work for him. Sydney needs to step up and show Lucie who he truly is. He needs to show her that he is smart, and that he is worthy of her. If Lucie had known who Sydney Carton truly was from the beginning, her thoughts and feelings about him would most likely have been a lot different. If he really wanted to win Lucie over, Sydney should have broken away from Mr. Stryver, shown Lucie who he truly is, and swept her off her feet. Sydney Carton falls in love with Lucie Manette. Lucie does not love Sydney back, and not being good enough for Lucie creates much internal conflict for Sydney. If he had become a better person earlier on in his life, he might have a chance with her. Sydney is not happy with himself for wasting his life and messing up his chances of pleasing Lucie.

Vacant Chapter 1 Alone

I grew up in a small house in a lower-class neighborhood, just my dad and me. My old man worked a blue-collar job with shit benefits. I can't complain too much though, because I never went hungry and always had a roof over my head. No, my dad didn't hug me every night or read bedtime stories by the glow of a nightlight, but he fed me, clothed me, and didn't knock me around. That's more than some of my friends had, so I was grateful. I hadn't known then, growing up, that there was anything more in life to want. I was fifteen when my father left just after dinner to buy a pack of cigarettes. He never came home. My dad was shot in a convenience store parking lot after he gave the wrong guy the wrong look. He walked down to get some smokes and didn't take his wallet, just five bucks for the cheapest pack he could get. He was shot at point-blank range, no cigarettes or money found on his person. He was listed as a John Doe at the morgue. There was no burial and no identity when he moved from this life to the next. I was on my own for a week before anyone realized I was alone. I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut, to get up and go to school every day. I figured I had at least three or four months before a bill collector came knocking, but the nosy bitch across the street hadn't seen the old man in a week and was â€Å"worried.† That's when I began my life in the system. It's not like on TV; when you're an orphan in an after school special, they ship your ass off to a relative and everyone lives happily ever after. In real life, though, if you don't have family that wants you – or family at all, you become a ward of the state. Sure, they have foster homes and pretend families that some kids get to live with, but there are a shit-ton of homeless kids and few foster families available. Many foster parents are in it for the money, so they aren't exactly the best option, either. Typically, you're stuck in a group home with other kids in the same messed up situation as you and a revolving door of caregivers. However, I had a bed to sleep in, clothes on my back, and I was not a victim of abuse. It wasn't all that different from living with my dad. At eighteen, Children's Services kicked my ass out. There were lots of kids to take care of and not a lot of money. Luckily, I'd gotten a job at a grocery store as a bag boy at sixteen and began saving. I wasn't stupid or naive enough to think the state was going to take care of me forever. I was fortunate enough to have graduated from high school before I got the boot; some kids had to worry about finishing school in addition to being homeless. My father told me many times I couldn't depend on anyone but myself, and I never realized how right he was before the day I was truly on my own. With my savings in hand and a promotion to stock-boy, I got my first place. It was the cheapest place I could find in a neighborhood without bars on the windows. It was small and dirty, but it was mine. There weren't gunshots whizzing by my windows or the sounds of screaming every night, so I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. My life hasn't changed much in the past three years. I get up every morning, walk to the grocery store, clock in, work a ten hour shift, clock out, come home, mind my own business, and do it again the next day. I don't have friends because they create lots of complications and drama. I spend my time at work smiling at the customers and doing my job. Co-workers ask me out from time to time, but the truth is I don't have extra money to have a few beers with the guys or take a girl on a date. I'm always careful with my rejection. There's no sense in hurting anyone's feelings when it's not necessary. Plus, it would lead to questions I'm not willing to answer. I'm sitting alone at my thrift store kitchen table, staring down at a day-old cookie. It's my twenty-first birthday today. I don't have any plans, and there are no cards in my mailbox. I'm having dessert for breakfast, a treat to myself, and I'm thankful for what little I have. It's sad as hell, but I don't have any candles so I light a match and jam it in the middle of the damn cookie. I don't even make a wish before I blow out the tiny flame so it doesn't burn down and ruin my treat. No sooner than the flame's gone out, there's a knock at my door. I look at my dollar store wall clock and see it's only nine. I can't imagine who would be at my door this early on a Saturday morning. Most of my neighbors sleep in after a late Friday night. Even though I'm twenty-one, I tend to think of myself as more mature than most people my age, so when I open the door and see a girl, petite and fragile in appearance, I automatically think she's young. She may even be my age, maybe younger, but my experience makes me feel like I'm over thirty, so she seems like a girl to me. She's standing there smiling as if she doesn't have a care in the world, obviously not knowing people around here don't smile. I peer at her through the ripped screen of my front door as the heat and humidity of the day filters in. â€Å"Hey, what's up? I'm Emily. I just moved in next door.†

Book Thief Essay on Hope

The Holocaust was a time in history where hatred and violence was expressed in many different ways. Millions of Jews were murdered, simply for their physical appearances. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, the time period is set during the time of Adolf Hitlers rule. The narrator, Death itself, follows the life of a young girl named Liesel Meminger and the struggles she faces. Although readers would assume that a young German girl would not be having many problems, Liesel’s life is constantly being thrown in the course of trouble.Although many of her friends and family members, and even herself go through many obstacles, they still find faith within each other. Through compassion, happiness and courage, many characters show the reader that optimism is still possible in such a hopeless time. Despite the setting of Nazi Germany being one of the darkest times in history, The Book Thief is a story ultimately about hope. Although the novel is set in such a dark and hateful ti me, compassion is still being shown and felt within different characters in the novel such as Hans Hubermann, Ilsa Herman and, the entire Hubermann family.Hans Hubermann shows compassion for the Jews as they walk by him in the street, and he left Liesel to help one. Hubermann is a German that is living under Hitler’s rule of dehumanizing Jews, but he does not agree with this, and instead of showing hatred towards them, he â€Å"held his hand out [to one] and presented a piece of bread, like magic† (Zusak, 394). In that time, associating with a Jew, or showing any type of kindness to one was considered an act of treason against Hitler’s rule. Therefore, to the Germans, Hans’ actions were considered disgusting.As a result, his paint cart was thrown over and â€Å"they called him a Jew lover† (395, Zusak). Although, to the Jew he tried to help, it was an act of such kindness that it caused him to fall â€Å"to his knees and [hold Hans’] shins. He buried his face between them and thanked [Hans]† (395, Zusak) as the Jew began to cry. Although the majority of Germans are brainwashed to believe that the mistreatment of the Jews was justified, people such as Hans thought otherwise and literally stretched out a compassionate hand in order to help them.This act of kindness shows how humans are capable of expressing compassion towards those in need, despite how out of the ordinary it may seem, and regardless of the consequences. Ilsa Hermann also shows kind-heartedness towards someone who is supposedly beneath her, according to social class. Ilsa Hermann is the mayor’s wife, and because of her social status in the town, the reader would not think to associate her with a poor little girl, such as Liesel. The mayor’s wife takes interest in Liesel because of her love for reading and even allows Liesel to come in at times to choose books from Ilsa’s library to read.This is considered an act of kindness bec ause Ilsa is fully knowledgeable for what is really going in Germany and with the Jews, and in order to shield Liesel from the horrible world outside, she allows her to stay in her luxurious house and read for a few hours. To anyone else, this act would be considered miniscule and unimportant, but to Liesel, this meant the world to her. Liesel has a strong passion for books, as she finds herself constantly getting lost in the words of any book she picks up, and Ilsa understand this as she used to be this way about reading as well.To Ilsa, this is not considered a small act either. She wants to protect Liesel, even if it is for only a few hours. Every time Liesel comes to the mayor’s house to pick up and drop off laundry, the mayor’s wife allows her to read some more in the library. During Liesel’s last visit to the mayor’s house, â€Å"[Ilsa] offered Liesel The Whistler, [and] she insisted on the girl taking it†¦she almost begged† (Zusak, 259) because she felt terrible that Liesel was no longer able to come to her house to read.She wanted to give Liesel a gift to help her forget about the outside world and â€Å"Liesel, touched by the strangeness of this woman, couldn’t bear to disappoint her† (Zusak, 259). Ilsa’s choice to allow Liesel to come into her home and read, and to give Liesel a book from her library shows that although most adults in this time are coldhearted and discriminating, there are some that still can show a special kind of care for others. This shows that in dark times, there are still going to be some adults that try to protect the innocence of children by shielding them from the outside world.The Hubermann family displays a great deal of compassion to someone that they, literally, have no right to. If authorities were to figure out what they were doing, the entire family could be separated and most likely convicted. Rosa and Hans Hubermann show a great deal of courage, compassion and kindness for taking in and deciding to hide a Jew in their basement. Max is the son of Hans’ friend from war, and Hans promised Max’ father that he would help him by any means necessary in the future, and in this case, it was to hide his son from being internalized in a concentration camp.During these times, it was not uncommon for Germans to try and help their Jewish friends, but more often than not, it resulted in them being discovered and both the Jews and the Germans would be killed. Knowing this, the Hubermann’s still decided to allow Max to live in their basement, in hopes that the madness with all the Jews would pass and Max would be free again. What makes this family remarkable, is that they did not know who Max was or what he looked like, before he showed up on their front porch one night and still, â€Å"Hans Hubermann shook [Max’s] hand and introduced himself.He made him some coffee in the dark,† (Zusak, 195) to allow Max to rest an d become acquainted with his saviors. There were many times where the Hubermann’s were almost caught with a Jew in their basement, but luckily, they were never actually discovered. Although it was a fearful time for the entire family, they still knew what they were doing was the right thing to do. When Max first came to the house, â€Å"there was a look of triumph on [Rosa’s] face†¦the triumph of having saved another human being persecution.† (Zusak, 197)Was clearly shown and Max was just as grateful. Max was aware of the danger he was putting the family in, but had no other choice unless he was to go into a concentration camp. He grew a strong friendship with not only Rose and Hans, but Liesel as well. Liesel would go into the basement every night and read with Max, and although most of the times they sat in silence, that is when their friendship grew the strongest. They bonded through Liesel’s readings, and Max’s books that he later gives to Liesel as a present.Max was afraid of being sent away, but he was more afraid of putting this family in danger, especially a little girl like Liesel that had already been through so much. Max knew that Liesel had already lost her first family, so he felt guilty that she could lose this family too, because of him. Although it was a great risk taking Max in, the Hubermann’s knew that it was the right thing to do. Their act of kindness, in the end, benefitted Max as well as their entire family as it brought the three of them closer.This shows that in a place where there is so much hatred, there are still people that can show love and honor by helping those in need. Through Hans, Ilsa, and the Hubermann family, the reader is able to see that hope can be given as well as received through simple acts of kindness, regardless of the time or situation. Despite this many negative emotions going on in this time, happiness could still sometimes be found by both children and adults. Hans , Rudy and, Liesel all felt some degree of joy despite the negative world around them.Hans Hubermann’s happiness did not come from someone else, but from an object. His happiness came from his accordion. Liesel pays close attention to when her Papa plays the accordion, because not only does she notice his happiness, but hearing him play makes her happy as well. Liesel â€Å"often looks at Papa’s fingers and face when he plays. The accordion breathes†¦Sometimes [she] thinks [her] Papa is an accordion. When he looks at [her] and smiles and breathes, [she] hears the notes,† (Zusak, 527) which lets Liesel know that her Papa is being filled with joy as he plays his accordion.Hans has been playing the accordion for a long time now, and he uses his talent to bring delight in the Hubermann household every night when he plays the instrument to Liesel and Rosa, and even Max. Hans is a grown man that not only understands the war going outside his household, but has ev en been in war as well. Despite this knowledge, Hans refuses to give us the simple pleasures in life such as playing an instrument he loves, and allowing his daughter to hear him and receive the same joy he does when he is playing. Hans being happy gives himself, as well as the reader that Hans will never die a bitter man.This shows that adults are still capable of enjoying simple moments, even in times of great stress. During a time where most friendships were broken because of ethnical and physical differences, there was still hope for some new friendships to be made. Rudy and Liesel are two children, a boy and girl, which live on the same street that immediately connect when Liesel moves to Himmel Street. This friendship creates a bond between the two that can only bring a special kind of happiness to them, although neither would ever admit it. Rudy and Liesel’s friendship grew stronger with each new situation they experienced together.There bond grew the strongest after t he two decided to steal together because they both came from poor families. When Rudy was caught stealing a potato, he attempted to explain to the shop owner that his brothers and sisters â€Å"[were] all starving† (Zusak, 294) in order to escape punishment. â€Å"The problem with Rudy†¦was greed† (Zusak, 293), he could never steal enough to satisfy him and because Liesel was his friend she always tagged along with him. Rudy was even able to convince Liesel to start stealing from the mayor’s house. Although it seems like Rudy was a bad influence on Liesel, their friendship still kept them sane.Even as kids, they were able to understand that there was something going on, although they could not tell what is was. They still brought each other joy, whether it be when they played soccer in the street or after they stole something. They helped each other distract the other of what was really going on, and because of it they became inseparable. After they were to steal, â€Å"the book thief and her best friend, [Rudy], sat back to back on a patchy red toolbox in the middle of the street† (Zusak, 484), enjoying one another’s company in still happiness.These two children were able to understand what it means to become a true friend to someone, and because of it, each has gained a special kind of happiness in their life, because the other child was in it. These two’s friendship shows that children are able to bring happiness into anyone’s life, even their own. Regardless of the amount of destruction that surrounds Liesel’s life, she is able to find her own happiness through her readings. When Liesel’s little brother was being buried, Liesel found a book by his grave entitled The Gravedigger’s Handbook that goes through step by step how to perform a proper burial.Liesel steals this book from one of the workers, and when she arrives at the Hubermann’s house, Hans offers to help Liesel learn how to read. Because of Liesel’s nightmares from her brother, she and Hans are constantly awake in the middle of the night attempting to read her book. Liesel ended up with a passion for reading after learning how to with her Papa. She found her escape within her books, and she used her readings to bring others comfort, and herself happiness.During a bomb-raid, while everyone was in a basement taking cover, Liesel started to read in order to calm down the other children. They were crying because of the noises they heard, and once Liesel started reading from her book she â€Å"could feel their frightened eyes hanging onto her as she hauled the words in and breathed them out,† (Zusak, 381). As the kids started to calm down â€Å"a voice played the notes inside [Liesel]. This, it said, is your accordion† (Zusak, 381). Liesel’s reading became what Hans’ accordion is to him, their happiness.These objects were able to bring these two people such happine ss in their lives that it allowed them to forget about the harshness outside them. From this happiness that Liesel gets from books, readers can conclude that the simplest of objects can be the cause of great joy. Hans, Rudy and Liesel are all examples that humans are able to create their own happiness, or allow simple objects to bring them joy. Although these three are living through such a dark and angry time, their ability to feel and express happiness shows that there is still hope for a happier future for them.Nazi Germany consists of a time where those with enough courage to speak against Hitler are beaten down, physically and mentally, to the point where all they have left is fear. Knowing this, Liesel, Max and Hans all display a great amount of courage towards other Germans, Death itself as well as Hitler. Liesel expresses her boldness when she sees Max walking with the rest of the Jews, and decides to acknowledge and speak to him. Max was forced to leave the Hubermann househ old for fear that Nazi’s would come and discover the family was hiding a Jew in the basement.Unfortunately, Max was caught â€Å"halfway to Stuttgart† (Zusak, 511) and was placed in a concentration camp with other Jews. When Liesel saw Max walking with the other Jews on the street, â€Å"never had movement been such a burden. Never had a heart been so definite and big in her adolescent chest† (Zusak, 509). Liesel’s heart shattered when she Max because he was a genuine friend. Max and Liesel created such a strong friendship, that he had given her a story that he created, and she had read to him while he was in their basement.She told Max about her past experiences, about the books that she stole, about the nightmares she had and Max returned the favor by sharing his hallucinations, books and nightmares with Liesel. So, when Liesel saw Max walking with the Jews, â€Å"[she] shrugged away entirely from the crowd and entered the tide of Jews, weaving through them till she grabbed hold of [Max’s] arm† (Zusak, 510). Knowing that the soldiers were watching, she still grabbed ahold of him, wanting to let him know she was there.Max attempted to get rid of her, for fear that she would get in trouble but she would not leave his side. Once the solider realized Liesel was there, he ordered her to leave but â€Å"she ignored [the soldier] completely, [and he] used his arm to separate the stickiness of people†¦the soldier took her [and] his hands manhandled her clothes† (Zusak, 511) but she still insisted on seeing Max. After this, she once again approached max and â€Å"she was courageous enough to reach out and hold his bearded face† (Zusak, 512) and reassured Max that she was here for him.The soldier, seeing Liesel once again talking to Max, pulled out a whip and whipped both Max and Liesel. Even then, the only thing that stopped Liesel from running after Max, was Rudy tackling to the floor and â€Å"[collectin g] her punches as if they were presents† (Zusak, 515). Liesel was determined to be with Max, and this act of bravery shows her courage towards the soldier that was threatening to punish her severely. The courage she expresses shows that people can be brave enough to do what is considered crazy things, if motivated enough.While Max was living in the basement of the Hubermann’s, he was constantly fantasizing about fighting against Hitler himself in a boxing arena. He dreamt that he would finally one day be able to physically beat Hitler down, the way Hitler had done to him and his people. Max shows great bravery in the face of struggle and even Death. As a child, Max had this idea that when he died, he did not want to die a quiet death. The boy vowed that â€Å"when death captured [him],†¦ he will feel [Max’s] fist on his face† (Zusak, 189). Max has shown bravery in the face of many struggles.He had enough courage to travel on his own to seek out Hans H ubermann, with the very likely risk that Germans would catch him. His bravery continued when Nazi’s came to the Hubermnn’s and Max hid under the Swastika flag. Max also shows courage when Liesel discovers him walking with the other Jews after being caught, and instead of ignoring her, he talks to her and comments on how â€Å"it’s such a beautiful day† (Zusak, 512). This was something he used to always say to Liesel when he was living in her basement, so he knew that Liesel would appreciate him saying it to her.He knew that the soldiers would punish him with a whip if he did not stop talking to Liesel, but after everything she had done for him, and the friendship that the two had, he could not even think to ignore her. Max suffered many whippings from the soldier, and afterwards, still â€Å"hoisted himself upright† (Zusak, 514). Max showed courage against death, as well as a Nazi soldier which shows that fearless individuals still exist, and they will do whatever they need to in order to stand up for themselves and those they care about. These individuals also give hope to others around them, by not being afraid and by doing what is right.Hans Hubermann is a man that knows what is right and wrong. The reader learns very early that he has a good head on his shoulder by the decisions he makes with his life. Hans shows great courage when he makes the decision of not being a supporter of Hitler. Hans Hubermann belonged to the 10 percent of Germans that did not show unflinching support for Adolf Hitler (Zusak, 63). He knew what was going on, and he knew that it was wrong. The reason why he took Max in was because Max’s father was Hans’ friend, and rather than looking at it as helping a Jew, Hans saw it as helping a friend.It was very dangerous for Hans not to show support to Hitler. It could ultimately cost him his life, and the life of his family but he chose to boldly stand by his opinion, and not change it for th e sake of being a part of the majority. Hans knew that he could not â€Å"join a party that antagonized [Jews] in such a way† (Zusak, 180) because â€Å"he was a man who appreciates fairness [and] and Jew had once saved his life† (Zusak, 180) therefore Hans refused to be a part of a party that antagonized them.Hans’ refusal to join the party was very dangerous, and because of his decision Hans was constantly ridiculed and his business was even impacted from it. Although he had to go through many hardships as a result of his decision, Hans had the courage to stand by his choices, and because of this it shows that humans are, in fact, capable of doing the right thing. Even if the majority of people are following something that is wrong, there are a few individuals that will be able to stand up and voice their opinion over it, regardless of the consequences.Although The Book Thief takes place in the time of the Holocaust, a time in history that took the lives of ma ny people, this story’s characters continuously show the reader that this is a story about hope. Through characters showing compassion, feeling happiness and expressing their courage, it allows the reader to feel hope that each of those characters will be alright. Hope is something that can be found, even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to look for it.