Struggles within the Younger family in the play A Raisin in the Sun - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1811 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/04/01 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: A Raisin in the Sun Essay Did you like this example? A raisin in the sun is a story and also a play that illustrates the struggles of a poor African American family who uses figurative language, symbols, and poems such as a way to relate to the audience and portray its relation to everyday issues incurred by people, especially African Americans. A family of five deals with poverty and consistently growing oppression of a black family whos moved in a small neighborhood in Southside Chicago. Throughout the play, the oppression and tension within the family grows from the frustration of waiting patiently for an insurance check from Walters death that is reliable to fix their financial needs for a better living, education, and personal wants. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Struggles within the Younger family in the play A Raisin in the Sun" essay for you Create order However, while waiting on the check, living in an dominant white neighborhood leads to the family encountering racial tensions that result in neighbors bribing the family with money to move out to keep it that way. Disregarding the idea, Walter and his family continues to crumble under the tension from the disposition of the money from the insurance check which starts to threaten his marriage, family, and his own business that he dreams of investing plenty more into. When Walter finally gets a portion of the check and puts it into the wrong hands, he is then put into a predicament that makes him consider taking his neighbors offer but then realizes the importance behind the money and denies the offer and aim for a better way of living. A Raisin in the Sun confronts not only racial but real life issues that African Americans have faced. With the family dysfunction, poverty, large family in the urban ghetto and the struggle. The characters also complete the story by depicting the strong, the weak, and the backbone of the African American family that either holds the family together or the one who creates conflict or tension but realizes the bigger picture or whats really important and unites with the rest of the family for a better living or in this case, to achieve a dream. African American families have dealt with issues with poverty and racism back in the 1950s like the author discusses in this story. Many African Americans encounter hardships and conflict in their lives because of their race. They have dealt with a lot of adversity and have been strong to overcome the issues they have been dealt. There is still a lot of poverty in the world today among African American families. Back in the 1900s African Americans were not able to vote, they were not able to ride in the front of the bus. They were not able to drink out of the same water fountain as white Americans and they also had a separate restroom to use. They worked jobs but were not able to support their families with much and that is why there was so many of them living in poverty. African Americans were slaves and had to work for white Americans who paid them little to nothing. Whites and blacks were not mixed they were always segregated. There were African Americans who fought hard for justi ce for blacks and they were the voices for them. Martin Luther King Jr. was a powerful man who fought hard for African Americans and had dealt with a lot of racism himself. African Americans who had to deal with poverty experienced other issues also just like the Younger family. With them being poor it had the family in turmoil because they all had dreams that they wanted to pursue but couldnt because they could not afford to. Poverty and racism continue to undermine our nations most basic promise of liberty and justice for all. Even as the 40th anniversary of his assassination approaches, Martin Luther King, Jr.s aspiration for America, a dream of a land where men [and women] of all races, of all nationalities, and all creeds can live together as brothers [and sisters] remains a dream as yet unfulfilled.2 Racism and poverty go hand and hand because people who are trying to get away from poverty are always judged and looked at differently. Not all people who are dealing with poverty are black you also have some white Americans dealing with poverty. The highest rates of poverty are among children, especially children of color. The poverty rate for white children is 10 percent, while it is 28 percent for Latino children, 27 percent for Native-American children, and 33 percent for African-American children.3. In the world today there are more people helping others so there is not as much poverty because there is so much assistance. In the story there were white Americans who did not want the Youngers to move into their neighborhood because they did not want any blacks in their neighborhood. There were times back in the 1950s when blacks could not eat on the same side as whites in restaurants. Blacks had to wait and be last and let the whites go before them. Rosa Parks was a black activist who went to jail because she refused to give up her seat on a bus to let a white person sit down. That was the beginning of a new era of life. Blacks had to suffer beatings and go to jail all because they were standing up for what they believed in. Black Americans were not able to vote back in the 1950s but so many of them have fought for the rights of African Americans to have the same as white Americans. Racial disparities play a part in healthcare also because there is poverty and many cant afford healthcare or the treatment if they are sick and need medications. Most people in poverty require assistance from the state suc h as Medicaid and food stamps to help support their family if they have one. The Younger family wanted to better themselves that is why when they got the insurance check the mom wanted to start by living in a better home. Dealing with racial issues when you have children you have to lead by example and that is why Walter denied the white guys money even though he needed it. In the story Walter worked for a white man as his chauffer and that was how it was. Black Americans were the maids, chauffers, butlers, and nannys to the white Americans. Walter and his family all dreamed of living a better life and was willing to work hard to fulfill their dreams. Blacks had to work much harder than whites to fulfill their dreams. There are many issues that people deal with when they are in poverty, not only racism but there are usually social issues. When families dont have a lot it tends to be animosity amongst each other. In the story when the insurance check came everyone had a plan for the money and that started a family feud. Walter wanted to invest the money to make money but ended up losing out on everything because the guy left town with his money. They dealt with social issues amongst each other but in the end they were united as one. When you are living in poverty there is only so much you can do. The money that you do receive you have to eat and if you have children which most people do they have to make sure they are fed. The Youngers lived in a roach infested crowded apartment and did not have much of a social life. They had nothing but dreams of becoming better people and leaving the ghetto. In this story there are many issues that the Younger family is dealing with. They dealt with racism, poverty, social and economical issues. The mother of the family seemed to hold the family together. There was a lot symbolism used in this story also. The mother showed the family how to stay united even though they were facing many adversities. The mother of the family was the glue that held everyone together because they were dealing with so much and everyone had a different dream. When facing so many adversities you have to stay focused on your dream and stay determined. Walter wanted to show his son that just beating segregation and not giving the whites the satisfaction of having power over blacks with their wealth and proving to his son about dignity and whats more important even though the money would have been helpful. This story could help someone who is dealing with racial discrimination or poverty issues and has dreams. The Younger family never gave up on their dreams and each one of them had a different dream. Even though they had some family issues after the insurance check came and they got the new home that united the family. When the family moves into the new home they are leaving so many memories behind and that will help them to look back and appreciate things more. The family did not let the fact that the whites did not want them in their neighborhood stop them. That was the mothers dream and she fulfilled it even when they were racially discriminated. They had many struggles of life but never gave in or let things defeat them. The mother of the story was faced with difficult decisions throughout the story but she made sure to keep her family united as one. The family wandered apart after feuding over the insurance check but the important part in the end is that they were united in their new house that the whites did not want them in. In the world today there are not as many people dealing with poverty and racism is not like it was before. Racism does still exist but nothing like back in the 1950s. White and blacks have all the same rights and the only difference in the two is the color of ones skin. The activist for African Americans worked really hard and made many sacrifices to make sure that all Americans were treated the same way not matter what. Things that happened in this story reflects back on the Civil Rights Movement and how hard they worked to get equal opportunities for all. In conclusion of this story, the Younger family overcame many obstacles that they were faced with. They were a poor black family that was determined to make it out of the ghetto and they did. Even though they were faced with family tension and racial discrimination they never gave up on their dreams for a better life. No matter what you are faced with you should never give up. This story described several adversities like racism and poverty but it also talks about dreams and family References Cited https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Policy-Paper-Poverty-and-Racism-1.pdf 2 Martin Luther King, Jr., A Testament of Hope, edited by Melvin Washington (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1986) 208 3 U.S. Census data, 2005

Hamlet A Tragic Hero Essays - 873 Words

â€Å"A tragic flaw is an error or defect in the tragic hero that leads to his downfall.† (http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/literature/bedlit/glossary_t.htm) In the history of literature, if the question of who was the most indecisive character was brought up, Hamlet would be a prime candidate. Hamlet had numerous chances to reap revenge for his father’s death but was only able to follow through after the accidental murder of his mother. Hamlet’s inability to make a decision ultimately leads to his demise, and for that is his tragic flaw. What makes a tragic hero? Dr. Peter Smith, Associate Professor of English at Kentucky State University, broke the archetypical characteristics of a tragic hero down into six groups. Of the six, four will†¦show more content†¦Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his inability to act. We are first introduced to this flaw in Act I Scene iv through Act I Scene v. Hamlet encounters the apparition that appears to be his father in scene iv and agrees with Horatio and Marcellus that it does resemble the late king. When he is beckoned to follow the spirit, he does so only after questioning the spirit’s intent: â€Å"Be though a spirit of health or goblin damn’d/ Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell/ Be thy intents wicked or charitable†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Clark, 1014) He wonders if the spirit is truly his father or only the devil trying to trick him. In scene v the spirit tells him that he was murdered by his brother and that Hamlet must â€Å"revenge his [fatherà ¢â‚¬â„¢s] foul and most unnatural murder.† (Clark, 1015) Hamlet does not jump to conclusions but rather decides that he must prove his uncle’s guilt by having a play performed (Act III Scene ii) that emulates what may have happened when his father was killed. Claudius’ reaction will uncover his guilt or innocence. In the course of the play Claudius calls for the play to be stopped and leaves abruptly. Hamlet takes this to be a sign of guilt. In Act III Scene iii, Hamlet encounters his uncle alone, in his room, praying. As he prepares to kill his uncle, he realizes killing him while in prayer will save his soul and send him to heaven. His father was not able to repent before his death and neither should his uncle. Instead, heShow MoreRelatedHamlet As A Tragic Hero850 Words   |  4 Pagesas a hero if they revenge? Well In the novel Hamlet the author, William Shakespeare creates tragic events where his main character Hamlet has to overcome to achieve his goal of killing his evil uncle Claudius. â€Å"In life one has to do bad thing in order to be a hero,the hero also has to make sacrifices in order to be successful† (John Barrowman). In Shakespeare Hamlet, should hamlet be considered a tragic hero judging by him following the hero steps. Shakespeare proves that Hamlet was a tragic heroRead MoreHamlet, A Tragic Hero1003 Words   |  5 Pagesmemorable tragic hero’s Hamlet is the definition of a tragic hero. In the book, Hamlet, Shakespeare’s character hamlet is determined on killing his uncle the king. This goal proves to be challenging to him due to his morals. He often struggles with this throughout the book. This proves to be his downfall for not deciding to kill the king until the very end. A tragic hero has to have a fatal flaw that, combined with fate, brings tragedy. This is one of the key characteristics of a tragic hero. He hadRead MoreHamlet As A Tragic Hero1071 Words   |  5 Pages Hamlet as a Tragic Hero The Webster dictionary defines tragedy as, â€Å"a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror.† (Webster Dictionary) So a tragic hero is a character who goes through a conflict and suffers catastrophically as a direct result of his choices. You will see throughout this story that the character Hamlet is a clear example of Shakespeare’s tragic hero. ShakespeareRead MoreHamlet : A Tragic Hero995 Words   |  4 PagesHamlet: A Tragic Hero William Shakespeare is known through the ages as a brilliant playwright. He has written several comedies and tragedies that people have loved through decades. Shakespeare’s plays have been interpreted in many different ways and have been debated on which interpretation is correct. Some of these included even the basis of the character’s persona. In the Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet, the main protagonist, Prince Hamlet, is fated by the ghost of his late father that, becauseRead MoreHamlet as a Tragic Hero2505 Words   |  11 Pagesterror. A tragic hero, therefore, is the character who experiences such a conflict and suffers catastrophically as a result of his choices and related actions. The character of Hamlet is a clear representation of Shakespeares tragic hero, as he possesses all the necessary characteristics of such a hero. Hamlet is seen as a tragic hero as he has doomed others because of a serious error in judgment, also Hamlet is responsible for his own fat e and Hamlet has been endowed with a tragic flaw. TheseRead MoreHamlet As A Tragic Hero1305 Words   |  6 Pages Sympathy is a feeling of sorrow, pity, or understanding of someone else’s misfortune. Hamlet, in this case, is the tragic hero due to many different sources that cause the reader to have an immense amount of sympathy for him. A series of events such as murder, failed relationships, and all the madness, created the feeling of sympathy from the audience. These specific sources cause the reader to see the development of the overall themes of deceit, justice, and revenge. Deceit is one of the mainRead MoreHamlet; Tragic Hero3618 Words   |  15 Pages Hamlet; The Tragic Hero            Ã‚  Ã‚      In many plays there is always one person that is the tragic hero. They always possess some type of tragic flaw that in turn leads to their tragic deaths. In the Shakespearean play Hamlet the main character Hamlet is considered to be a tragic hero. By carefully analyzing the Shakespearean play Hamlet one can debate whether the main character Hamlet is a tragic hero. Although it is debatable whether or not Hamlet is a tragic hero, one wouldRead MoreIs Hamlet A Tragic Hero Essay961 Words   |  4 PagesTo be, or not to be: a hero. That is the question often asked of William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet: whether Hamlet II, Prince of Denmark, can be considered a hero. Throughout the play Hamlet proves himself to be a hero, although different from the usual sense of one. Hamlet is a tragic hero, â€Å"a great or virtuous character . . . who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat . . . who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw tha t, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedyRead MoreHamlet As The Tragic Hero Of The Play Hamlet 1314 Words   |  6 PagesIn order to better understand Hamlet one must first asses, and define man. According to webster dictionary a man is a male often having the qualities associated with bravery,script or toughness(site webster dictionary www.define a man.com here). We know the male figure is known to exhibit distinctive male traits such as strength, dignity, courage and be a provider and supporter. As seen in Hamlet one must understand the male figure to better understand Hamlet and why the male behave in such waysRead MoreHamlet: A Tragic Hero Essays697 Words   |  3 Pagestragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a m odel example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be

Management and Interpersonal Roles Free Essays

In this article Mintzberg reviewed that managing through people bringing them one step closer to managerial action instead of information roles. The author used Hawthorne’s organizational experiments as their data gained which demonstrated in 1930s to describe the importance of interpersonal roles. His research focused on the managerial roles, which are interpersonal, informational and decisional roles towards management. We will write a custom essay sample on Management and Interpersonal Roles or any similar topic only for you Order Now This article is useful for my research topic, as Mintzberg stated that interpersonal roles dealt with leadership. The main limitation of the article is that the author more concerned about leading. However, Mintzberg indicated that most of the managers seemed to spend most of their time in interpersonal roles. This article will help me to form the base of my research essay. Lamond,D. 2003, â€Å"Henry Mintzberg vs Henri Fayol: Of Lighthouses, Cubists and the Emperor’s New Clothes, The Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, vol 8, no. 4, pp. 5. In this article Liamond reviewed the management of Mintzberg as the nature of managerial work. Based on the author article, Mintzberg used structured observation techniques for his research. His article differentiates the management of Henri Mintzberg and Henri Fayol. This article is useful for my research topic, as Liamond explained how Mintzberg’s management works. The main limitation of this article is that the author used generalization as a description of his article. Thus, his article discusses the works of Mintzberg and Fayol theoretical understanding about managerial. This article will help me as additional information to my research. Mintzberg, H. 1975. The manager’s job: folklore and fact. Harvard Business Review, 53(4), pp. 49-61. In this article Mintzberg stated that there are 3 main roles in management, which are interpersonal roles, informational roles and decisional roles. Mintzberg studied and researched to maintain his point of view. His article focused on the manager’s job. This article is useful for my research topic by how Mintzberg separate those roles in detail. The limitation of this article is it doesn’t fully focus on my research topic, which are the interpersonal rules. However, he also gives us some important information about the various types of interpersonal roles. This article will help me to complete the base of my research topic. How to cite Management and Interpersonal Roles, Papers

Analyse the Macro Environment of Oman †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Analyse the Macro Environment of Oman. Answer: Introduction This is a report which portrays the personal computer market and the various products that are underperforming. Oman is one of the most liberal countries in the middle and the market of the personal computer is shrinking all over the world. The shrinkage in the personal market is also affected in Oman and the demand for general personal computers have decreased significantly. This is because of the fact that the thin line between the technological borders of different products have almost been diminished and all products have similar features in the modern era. The report will analyse the macro environment of Oman to identify the challenges and opportunities for the underperforming products in the market. Then the report will include themarketing strategy and mix for the underperforming products in the market. The report will deal with the various personal computers on the lower ranges which do not belong to gaming editions as they are mostly the underperformers. The shrinkage in the market of the personal computers will have to be mitigated by changing themarketing strategy for all the companies in the market. Macro environment analysis PESTLE analysis Political Economic Social High government stability Policy reforms is high Good international relation Internal security is high GDP growth rate is high Inflation is moderate Per capita income is moderate Interest rate is high Industrial production is high Foreign direct investment is high Population growth rate is moderate Unemployment rate is moderate Urbanization rate is high Corruption rate is high Labour cost is moderate Technological Legal Environmental Spending on research and development is high Technology transfer impact is high Impact of obsolete technology is medium Penetration of the online medium for business purposes is medium Connectivity through mobile is moderate Corporate tax impact is moderate Value added tax impact is medium Tax incentive impact is medium Impact of Kyoto protocol is moderate Impact of Euro emission standard is moderate Public opinion impact on green issue is medium Impact of opinion of the government on the pollution of water is medium Table 1 (Source: Esfandiary and Tabatabai 2017) The pestle analysis of Oman shows that the political environment of the country is stable and is one of the most liberal countries in the middle east. There is stability in the government of the country and the government is showing good amount of support to the business organizations in the country (Esfandiary and Tabataba 2017). The stability of the government has high impact on the business environment and there is growth in the economy of the country. The impact of policy reforms on the business market is high but the policy reforms taken by the government is for the betterment of the industrial development. The policy reforms are going in a positive direction and government has made policies for the growth of the business sector. International relations of the country are good and impact of international relation on the business is high (Rocha 2017). This had lead the advent of foreign multinational companies and investments which will facilitate in the growth of the company. Th e internal security of the country is very high and has a lot of impact on the business market and the companies in Oman are free to operate without any security issues. The economic conditions of the country show that the growth in the GDP is high and there is large impact of the GDP on the business market. The inflation rate is moderate and the impact of the inflation on the business market is medium (Al?Mataani, Wainwright and Demirel 2017). The income per capita of the country is good and is increasing which has a moderate effect on the business environment of the country. The interest rates in the business market is high and the is huge impact of the interest rates on the business environment. The industrial production of the country is also on the higher side and have a great impact on the business market. Foreign direct investment in the country is moderate but more and more FDI is coming in to the picture due to liberal government policies and schemes (Hackney, Al Habsi and Dey 2017). FDI has tremendous impact on the business market and part of the business is dependent on the foreign investments. The growth rate in the population of the country is medium and the impact of the population growth rate is also moderate. The rate of unemployment in the country is moderate and impact is also moderate (Al-Aufi, Al-Azri and Al-Hadi 2017). The rate of urbanization of the country is very high and Oman is rapidly moving towards urbanization. The impact of urbanization has great impact on the business environment and given opportunity to further develop the business market. However, the rate of corruption in the country is also high and this has significantly affected the business environment of the country (Alshubiri 2017). The cost of labour in the country is moderate and the impact of the labour cost is very much significant in the business environment of the country. The corporate tax and the value added tax for the country is stabilizing and so the impact of this taxes on the business environment is moderate (Gazdar, Grassa and Hassan 2017). However, the tax incentives in the country are increasing at a rapid rate and so the impact of the tax incentives on the business environment is high. Oman spends a lot of money on the research and development of the country and the impact of research and development has been positive on the business environment. The impact is relatively on the higher side which is the reason for the flourishing of the technological field in the country (Jabur and Bouazza 2017). Technology transfer is progressing at a rapid rate and there has been significant growth in this field. That is why there has been significant impact of technology transfer on the business environment. The usage of obsolete technology has become minimal and most of the companies have shifted to new advanced technology. However, the impact of using obsolete technology is moderate as online medium has emerged in the country. The penetration of the internet in the country is high and this highly impacted the business environment of Oman. The connectivity via mobile has increased significantly and this has helped the business environment of the organization. Thus, the mobile co nnectivity has significant impact on the business environment of the country (Thomas and Al-Humaidi 2017). The government of the country is very much concerned about the degrading environmental conditions in the country. The country has attempts to make sure that they are able to reduce the amount of green gas emission in the country. The country consists of major petroleum industry which causes the emission of greenhouse gases. The Kyoto protocol, Euro Emission Standard and other reforms show that the country has taken measure to improve the environmental condition. Marketing strategy The personal computer market has been shrinking in the past few years and the demand has been going down. However, the market for the gaming hardware and computers is still increasing at a rapid rate and so the companies have the opportunity to make to utilize this factor to customize this product and the change the target market for the personal computers. Segmentation The segmentation of the market is done based on the demographics, psychographics and the behavioural segmentation. However, the company will have to grab the attention of consumers who are relatively and technologically savvy. The companies will have to target consumers below the age of 30 who have an interest in gaming (Christopher, Payne and Ballantyne 2013). The demand of the gaming configuration is high in the personal computer segment so the hardware and the graphics quality of the product has to be changed. The new product will be made available in different colours to grab the attention of more and more consumers. The product will be priced at a mid-range and will have an extended product line where the same product can be brought with better configuration. The technology market is booming the country and there is high demand for gaming personal computers so the product will be altered based on that. Target market The target consumers for the product are the younger generations and the people who are interested in gaming. The market of professional gaming is increased significantly and the globalization of the professional gaming has motivated lot of people to buy gaming computers and be a professional gamer (Dadzie et al. 2017). The marketing will be niche marketing and the products will be only target towards gamers and those who are interested in gaming. Positioning The product will be positioned with a unique value proposition and will marketed towards the youth of the country who are interested in gaming (Schlegelmilch 2016). The position will include unique features for enhancement in gaming experience by using superior technology. Marketing Mix Product The product will be customized according to the needs of the consumers and as the target market is the gaming generation, the product will be technologically superior with extended product which will consist of variety of products in different colours (Murshid, Halim and Osman 2014). The hardware and the graphics interface of the product will be of very high quality which will enable the user as a smoother experience of gameplay. The product will consist of four fans which will prevent the system from overheating and can be used for long duration at a stretch. Pricing The pricing of the product will start form the medium range and will go up to the highest range available. The specification of the product will determine the price and as it has as extended product line with other products with different configuration the price range will be medium to high (Adner, Ruiz-Aliseda and Zemsky 2016). Promotion The online medium has entered the country and the popularity of the online medium will be put to use. The company will be using both the traditional medium and the online medium to promote the product. The product will be promoted by popular gamers who have made their name in their respective fields (Gengler and Mulvey 2017). Promotion will also be done with the help of the print media and advertisement. The company will sponsor gaming tournament to promote their new models which will improve their market penetration. Place The urbanization of the country has to lead to emergence of various premium locations and the stores are located in that premium areas. The company will be conducting test marketing in that areas to improve the knowledge and awareness of the consumers (Beke and Bach 2017). The companies have conducted survey in the country of Oman and have found out that the demand of the gaming personal computers is high all over the country. Thus, the company will target all the places where the demand of the products is high. Conclusion Thus, after evaluation of the macro environment of the country and the market it can be seen it is quite favourable for launching of a product in the field of technology. The demand of technological advanced computers and other machineries is high. Thus, the companies have the opportunity to reinvent their product to a gaming configuration to gain competitive advantage in the market. The product that has been developed is targeted towards a niche market where the configuration is made in such a way that it will improve the gaming experience and take it to a different level. The company will be implementing aggressive market strategy to improve the market penetration of the product. The company will be using professional gamers as the models to promote their products. The strategies if applied in a correct way will provide positive result for the company. However, there may be some contingencies os the company will have to be ready with back up strategy to ensure that if the strategy fails then the loss can be minimized. Thus, it can be concluded from the report that the market for personal computer is growing in Oman and companies can utilize it by innovating their product to gain competitive advantage in the market. References Adner, R., Ruiz-Aliseda, F. and Zemsky, P., 2016. Specialist versus generalist positioning: Demand heterogeneity, technology scalability and endogenous market segmentation.Strategy Science,1(3), pp.184-206. Al-Aufi, A.S., Al-Azri, H.M. and Al-Hadi, N.A., 2017. Perceptions of Information Literacy Skills Among Undergraduate Students in the Social Media Environment.International Information Library Review, pp.1-13. Al?Mataani, R., Wainwright, T. and Demirel, P., 2017. Hidden entrepreneurs: Informal practices within the formal economy.European Management Review. Alshubiri, F., 2017. The impact of green logistics-based activities on the sustainable monetary expansion indicators of Oman.Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management,10(2), p.388. Beke, G. and Bach, C., 2017. Demystifying McCarthys 4 Ps Of The Marketing Mix; To Be Or Not To Be. Christopher, M., Payne, A. and Ballantyne, D., 2013.Relationship marketing. Taylor Francis. Dadzie, K.Q., Amponsah, D.K., Dadzie, C.A. and Winston, E.M., 2017. How Firms Implement Marketing Strategies in Emerging Markets: An Empirical Assessment of The 4A Marketing Mix Framework.Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice,25(3), pp.234-256. Esfandiary, D. and Tabatabai, A.M., 2017. Scent of an Oman.Foreign Affairs. Gazdar, K., Grassa, R. and Hassan, M.K., 2017.Openness, culture, legal environment and Islamic finance(pp. 47-71). Edward Elgar Publishing. Gengler, C.E. and Mulvey, M.S., 2017. Planning pre-launch positioning: Segmentation via willingness-to-pay and means-end brand differentiators.Journal of Brand Management,24(3), pp.230-249. Hackney, R.A., Al Habsi, Z.S. and Dey, B., 2017. The Dynamic of Value Co-Creation and its interrelationship with employer branding: a study on the hotel industry in Oman. Jabur, N. and Bouazza, A., 2017. Harmonizing information users' readiness with the digital information environment.Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries,3(3), pp.653-659. Murshid, M.A., Halim, M.S.B.A. and Osman, A.B., 2014. Assessing the relationship between marketing mix strategy and physicians' satisfaction through perceived value in Yemeni pharmaceutical industry.Advances in Environmental Biology, pp.662-675. Rocha Menocal, A., 2017. Political Settlements and the Politics of Transformation: Where Do Inclusive Institutions Come From?.Journal of International Development,29(5), pp.559-575. Schlegelmilch, B.B., 2016. Segmenting Targeting and Positioning in Global Markets. InGlobal Marketing Strategy(pp. 63-82). Springer International Publishing. Thomas, M.K. and Al-Humaidi, S., 2017. Neoliberalism, discourse, and educational technology in Oman.INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY.

Vlcc Presentation Essay Example

Vlcc Presentation Paper VANDANA LUTHRA CURLS CURVES (VLCC) VANDANA LUTHRA (FOUDER OF VLCC) WHAT IS VLCC †¢ ONE –STOP-SHOP SLIMMING CLINIC †¢ HEALTH CARE CLINC VLCC REVOLUTION †¢ The guiding vision of VLCC Group is â€Å"Transforming Lives†. By â€Å"Transforming Lives†, we imply transforming self, spreading happiness and transforming future. These three pillars have been the hallmarks of our Company since it was founded by MRS. VANDANA LUTHRA in 1989. They remain the foundation upon which we continue to build our success today. EXPERTS AT VLCC MARKETING BRAND BUILDING STRATEGIES Company has appointed the leading creative agency OGILVY MATHER for all its business in India with investment of 75 crores in next coming year. †¢ VLCC also engaged with Bpo company called aegis communication an Essar group to manage its domestic call centre operations. †¢ The group has a pan-India presence with more than 225 outlets in 75 cities. Its overseas operations include 11 VL CC Centres in four countries, including eight in the UAE and one each in Oman, Bahrain and Nepal. †¢ As part of the company’s growth plan in the MARKETING BRAND BUILDING STRATEGIES †¢ VLCC has revealed her mission to get listed in the stock market by 2010-11 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR SEGMENTATION AND TARGETTING †¢ LUNCH SEGMENT †¢ VLCC is supplying ‘nutritious and healthy’ food †¢ VLCC plans to open exclusive ‘salons for men’. †¢ Targeting Audience †¢ VLCC boosts regional roll-out plan, set to open 35 centres in 24 months PRODUCT DESIGN SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY †¢ NGO Kushii is headed by Legendry Cricketer Kapil Dev and Mrs. Vandana Luthra (Founder and Mentor of VLCC) as the President. VLCC partners with Amar Jyoti Tamana to educate disabled children. For vocational training, VLCC institute has trained their beauty staff and restructured the curriculum. We also provide scholarships to deserving SPONSOR FOR DABUR VATIKA MISS CROWNING GLORY †¢ As you all are aware, VLCC was the Grooming Sponsor for Dabur Vatika Miss Crowning Glory, the finals of which were held in Turf C lub, Pune on the 2nd of March08. †¢ On the D-Day morning, we rendered our Salon Services for all 14 contestants at Pune 3 Aundh centre. We will write a custom essay sample on Vlcc Presentation specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Vlcc Presentation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Vlcc Presentation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In the evening, our stylists did the makeup hair styles for all. We had Dr. Sushant Shetty visit the event as the judge for VLCC Miss Beautiful Skin which was presented to DABUR VATIKA CROWNING GLORY AWARD RECOGNITION AWARDS †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ The ‘Superbrand’ status one of the most recognizable brands in the country today. Images Retailer of the Year Award 2004, 2005 2006 (Health Beauty category). ICICI Bank Retail Excellence Award 2005 (Health Beauty). The Institute for Marketing Management (IMM) Award for the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2004. Whirlpool/Gr8 Magazine Award for the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2004. The FICCI Ladies Organisation, (FLO) honored the endeavors of Smt. Luthra for promoting a healthy way of life by felicitating her as a Successful Business Woman in the Health Fitness Category, April 20, 2005. Amity Woman Achiever Award for promoting Health and Fitness Solutions, 2006. Outstanding Business woman award by PHD Chamber of Commerce Industry, 2007. VLCC Alive was awarded the Most Admired Retailer Of The Year -Innovative Concept at Images Retail Awards 2007. †¢ †¢ †¢ THANK YOU

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Employee Resistance to Organizational Change

Employee Resistance to Organizational Change Methodology/Approach The research for this study was conducted by using secondary research and primary research. The secondary research reviewed current literatures on the natural, symptoms and reasons of employees resistance to organizational change, followed by the factors affect employees resistance. The main focus of the factors reviewed on employee personal factors consists of age, gender, personality (locus of control) and educational level. The primary research was deployed though distribution of questionnaires to employees from the agribusiness organization. Findings   All of four factors including age, gender, personality and educational background shaped individual difference on the value, perception, adaptability towards organizational change. Research Limitations As the research is carried out though a big agribusiness organization which has been and are undertaking change plans, the research result may deviate due to sample size, respondents bias, past organizational change experience as well as the choice of questions. Implications The research urge the improved understanding and identification of factors effect employee resistance to change, and underlies the importance of managing workforce diversity in an organization. The research suggested management to develop a framework and theorize on how to create a climate, educate, persuade, communicate and reward employees to alter their fundamental mental psychology resistance, aim to direct and motivate them initially involve and commit to organizational change. An exploratory study on the factors of resistance to change from employees perspective Chapter 1- Introduction Change comes from anywhere, and is the only constant. Propelled by the driving force of technology and globalization, the economic landscape continuously transform in a way that has come to undermine the relevance of received wisdom on how a firm should be managed and what underlies its success (Gregory Prastacos, et al., 2002). In this new millennium, it is more challenging for an organization to sustain its competency or even survive in the diversity market. When an organization is threatened by environmental changes such as crisis or competition, it results in the increasing needs for communication as technology develops rapidly and higher customer demands will be foreseen. Organizational change is not an option; it constitutes a fundamental necessity for success within the new competitive landscape (Hamel and Prahalad, 1996). An organization need to evaluate its performance and review its business strategies, corporate structure, operational process and HR policies to identify th e areas that need transformation. To maintain its competitive advantages,  an organization must make effort to implement changes accordingly. Usually changes to be made in an organization is for the seeking of extending the ability of the organization to achieve the strategic goals but sometime changes do not necessarily contribute to the improvement of the organization (Stroh, 2001). The expected result of the change might vary due to other unexpected factors, such as resistance to change. Resistance is a phenomenon that affects the change process, delaying or slowing down its beginning, obstructing or hindering its implementation, and increasing its costs (Ansoff, 1990). Effect of resistance of changes in organization will cause distorted perception, interpretation barriers and vague strategic priorities, low motivation among the people and lack of creative response (Val, 2003). It is crucial for change initiators to deal with resistance for a successful change. Forasmuch as employees are the one who get the job done, and possess the knowledge, skills, tools and experiences, it is clear that organizational changes cannot be achieved without employees support and involvement. Employee acceptance and commitment are the key factors for successful changes. Effective change management should recognize the importance of its employees and the way to minimize the resistant from employees. Therefore, understand why it is caused, the forms of resistance and the factors determine employees reactions to change is significant. 1.1 Research Objective This research will study on the factors of resistance to change from employees prospective. The aim of this research is to review the factors by better understanding these which a shift in perception could occur, the paper hope to develop a framework to managers of how certain group of employees is the likely to react and behave to change that being unleashed by the value and perception, this knowledge will enable change initiators to design change plan and training programs which recognize the values of employees, and to interact with diverse others in order to optimize the expected change affect. The research attempt to explore the followings areas as a systematic way to rationalize the value of this project study: To identify the natural of employee resistance to change. To identify the symptoms of employee resistance to change. To identify the reasons of employee resistance to change To determine the various factors to effect employees resistance to changes. To evaluate the effect of these factors on organizations future development. 1.2 Chapter Summary Chapter 1 of Introduction has provided a background of the circumstances that force organization to change, and examined the inevitable resistance can undermined organizational change. By identifying the importance of employee in the organizational change, research objectives were generated to study on the resistance of change from employees perspectives and listed done the areas of the study to be explored on. The research was planned in a systematic way to rationalize the value of this project. Next chapter of this project will touch on a review of current literatures on the natural, symptoms and the reasons of employee resistance to change and factors affect employee resistance, followed by the research methodology, samples and limitation of the research. The subsequent chapter will be the questionnaire data analysis presentation and lastly the paper will conclude the findings and its implications for change initiators. The aim of this research is to review the factors that affect employee resistance and evaluate it thought the target samples. Chapter 2- Literature Review 2.1 Employee Resistance to Change 2.1.1 The nature Organizations can be confronted with incremental changes that focus on doing things better through a process of continuous tinkering, adaptation and modification or transformational changes that are regarded as revolutionary and break with the past.(John Hayes, 2010) Although the incremental changes rarely presented any abrupt challenges to the assumptions people make about how they related to the world (John Hayes, 2010), this is not always that case. People are not duplicate, the values, beliefs, assumption and knowledge of that person will be developed over the time, formed as a set of personal opinion, perceptions, views of the world to guide their behaviors (Hallie Preskill and Rosalie Torres, 1999). It is concerned with whether employees regards view change can bring present or future personal benefit and opportunities or change is a threat to their job, skills or any other interests. The implementation of changes inevitably involves the vital interests of various shareholders, and especially employees.Resistance occurs since most employees desire to be successful in their work environments due to they have basic needs which must be satisfied. To begin with, employees want to know their role and their responsibilities within the organization. In additional, employees want to be able to predict what they will face in the future (Appelbaum, S.H. et al, 1998). Even though old procedures that were initially regarded as cumbersome, costly or ineffective, after a prolonged recursive execution, employees become comfortable and are used to the ways things were done. Employee might fear in a changing organization, therefore change are frequently be seen as a threat to ones existence within an organization if upgrading or acquiring new skills are a problem because of time constraints , or the inability of the person to learn these new techniques. Change within an organizational setting usually poses several problems and challenged by the pressure in aspect of money , ego, and power for those who resist it. Employees resist change because the associated negative feelings since their basic needs may now be threatened (Mealiea, 1978). Thus it is human nature that employees look at Change negatively, resistance thereby coming into play. 2.1.2 The symptoms Resistance, described by Kilian M. Bennebroek Gravenhorst (2003) is commonly considered to be standard or even natural in reaction to organizational change. It is described as an most inevitable psychological and organizational response that seems to apply to any kind of change, ranging from rather modest improvement to far-reaching change and organizational transformation. Symptoms are the specific behaviors exhibited when employee resistance to change (Albert F. Bolognese, 2002) According to Bhutan (1995), it is important to distinguish between the symptoms of resistance to change and the causes behind them. Symptoms can be reflected in varies of forms, which Marc Maltz (2008) categorized it into the two varieties: overt and covert. Overt resistance is concern with obvious opposition, disagreement, arguing, debating, etc., to any change effort. While, covert resistance comes in two forms: one is conscious covert which employees are concerned about the consequences of their actions that they apparently agreed but actually not following though or withhold information and avoid implementation. Secondly is the unconscious covert resistance, which is the most difficult to see symptoms among employees as employees are unaware their resistance. 2.1.3 The Reasons There are many causes attribute to employees resistance to change, such as Coch French (1948), studied the workers of a clothing manufacturer and find that lower employee participitation causing the mistrust of management and increase their resistance to change. Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) identify four common reasons why people resist organizational change: people focus on their own interest and fear of losing something of value, it can be power and status, autonomy and control, or specific skills; Misunderstanding the change will cost them more than they will gain and lack of trust to the person who initiating change; Different assessment of the necessity and benefit of change situations; Low tolerance for change, sometimes people just resist to change emotionally even they understand the need for change. Several studies have acknowledged what Kotter and Schlesingers publication and enhance these categories with further researches, according to Prosci- A business process reengin eering directory and resource companys study (2003) in past six years in 288 organizations from 51 countries, result shows the top reasons employee resist to change is because of corporate history and culture, which the organizations past performance of change project failed or did not make much sense, employees are less interested to take initiatives to support the current change, they are not in the flavor the month , thus employee expected it go away like what happened in the past. Lorenzo (2000) also acknowledge that one attribute to employees resistance is that past failures leaves negative image for future changes. Another reason added on in Prosci (2003)s research is that employee often opposes to change because of the added job responsibilities, new processes or technologies. Changes with lower motivation to get employees involved and less consideration of employees interest and their emotional and perceptual perspectives thereby eliminate their initiatives and level of comm itment. Pardo Del Val, Manuela and Martinez Fuentes, Clara (2005) conclude above sources to employees resistance are most likely happen in change formulation stage, they further identify some reason rise resistance that consist of: (a) organizational values in relation to change values that cause a strong implementation climate to determine whether employee to accept or oppose to change; (b) departmental politics that form employees resistance. 2.2 Factors affect employees resistance to change Literatures have identified variety of factors affect employee resistance to change, the most cited views of the factors fall on the organizational level, for instance the communication process, employee participation, change facilitation procedures in change process (Ricky Griffin ,2008) to improve organizational effectiveness. Moreover, employee motivation (David Clarence and McClelland, 1987) and quality of leadership (Ken W. Parry, 1999) have been widely acknowledged to have influence on employees work initiatives, involvement and commitment, so that it can argues to be a significant factor to affect employees willingness to change. Above factors virtually are the ways to deal with the subtext of organizational humanity on the stage of change process. However, one must understand the root factors played to affect employees perception towards organizational change. Fail to understand the intrinsic factors govern employees values and beliefs guided behavior in the context of the way they were doing and expected in the future, and all the necessities organization attempt or should to do to implement and facilitate change is crucial. Therefore, the research will mainly explore on the personal factors played to affect employee resistance to change including age, gender, personality traits (Locus of control) and employee educational level as follows: 2.2.1 Age Baby Boomers refer to people who are born between 1945-1964. This generation grew up in an era of unprecedented economic growth and stability, so as to be regarded as a generation that finds comfort with long term employment with one organization. This has provided them with a false sense of stability (Loomis, 2000).Their perceived working values emphasize on chain of command, teamwork, technically challenged, team work and loyal to employer As they born after War II, which they entered the economic boom era, Money and job security such as life time employment are definitely extremely important for them to sustain their living. In this regard, it is argued that Baby Boomers are easier to accept organizational change as their working value of chain of command which they tend to commit to the hierarchical order. Moreover, the inception of organization loyalty also attributes them to be more committed rather than resistant or any other negative reactions. (Hui-Chun, Yu and Peter Miller, 2003) Another neuropsychological research held by (Stanford University professor Laura L. Carstensen et al. 2000) on the relationship between age and emotional experiences found that the periods of highly positive emotional experience were more likely to endure among older people and periods of highly negative emotional experience were less stable. With age, older adults report relatively low levels of worrying (Sandra Hunt, Patricia Wisocki and Julianne Yanko, 2003), experience less anger (Schieman,1999), and have lower levels of emotional distress after natural disasters (Bolin Klenow, 1982-1983). The implication of these findings are older employees have better capability to regulate their negative emotions with organizational change and adjust themselves to adapt the environment.Employees adaptability has been seen a key attribute to a successful organizational change (Heslin , 2005). Compared with Baby Boomers, Generation X refers to those people who were born between 1965 to 1980. This generation of employee tend to more independent, self-motivated and self-sufficient (Loomis, 2000). This is because most X generations did not have enough of their family attention as children because their parent may have been single or working parents. X generations therefore became adaptive at handling things on their own and in their own ways. Their work value is perceived more on personal satisfaction, and their attitudes towards work are focus on flexibility empowerment, loyal to skills. (Hui-Chun, Yu and Peter Miller, 2003). Hence, when the change conflict with their own interest such as against what they used to do , their skills, or leave less empowerment to them, they will feel unmotivated towards to commit to the change. However, David J. OConnell, Eileen McNeely and Douglas (2004) argue that since Xers entered the workforce under the employment of deal, in which career planning and development are largely individual responsibilities and where the average worker can expect to make several changes during their working lives. In this regards, it seems like Xers are more adaptive to change. However, there are also many scholars debate the relationship between the age and the personal adaptability to change, such as Mirvis and Hall, 1996. Recent research held by OConell, McNeely and Hall, 2008 also support this assertion, reporting that age is limited measured as a categorical variable namely the characteristics about an individual . 2.2.2 Gender Although many literatures have acknowledged the impact of gender difference on the management practice, there had been little systematic attention focus on identifying the gender roles on effective change management relatively. Feminist perspectives have tended to highlight not only the impact of organizational change on womens relatively marginalized position but also the role of women in the change management (Melissa Tyler, 2005). Jamie L, Michael G and Homer Tolson (2005) research findings suggest that there is a difference between male and female executive of their emotional expressiveness, and women are regarded to process better skill at encoding and decoding emotions (Laura K. Guerrero and Kory Floyd, 2008). Emotions are intensive feelings that are directed at someone or something (Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge, 2010). Goleman-the founder of emotional intelligence theory also mentioned that women are good at reading others feelings than men averagely in his book pub lished in 1995. The skills to encode and decode emotions generally have advantage to develop and maintain relationships (Laura K. Guerrero and Kory Floyd, 2008), because skilled encoders have ability to express their internal emotional state so that other people can decode their emotions more easily and accurately (Burgoon and Bacue, 2003). In this regard, the chances such as misunderstanding and conflict due to implicit or unclear message delivered or received prone to be decreased, the communication becomes more easily and effective. In many literatures, communication has been widely acknowledged as a useful approach to eliminate resistance to change. Therefore, women are deems to be more successfully engaged in change circumstances. Maddock (1999) added that Women focus on relational aspect of how to do things,  while men tend to be expected to think what to do. It appears that women are emotionally discreet on how they are going to process the information, express and interpret their view points to react to change before making any decision. Combined with womens secondary position in labor market due to gender discrimination, especially in Confucian countries, in addition to their greater responsibilities in family and child care than men, which cause women are relatively powerless to challenge the situation (Melissa Tyler, 2005). Hence Melissa argues that women in change management appear to be positioned as performing an interpersonal function associated with safety; providing security in times of unexpected turbulence and anticipating. On the basis of these arguments, it seems that women tend to avoid conflict in working in this regard and to accept the change accordingly. 2.2.3 Personality Traits (Locus of Control) Some people are quiet and reserved, while others are aggressive and outgoing. Some people are trustworthy, some are not. People differ with each other in various dimensions as a result of different behavior and attitude towards things in personal life and working. The individuals differences are shaped by personalities (Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge, 2010) Personality refers to the traits and characteristics that make individuals unique (Greenberg and Baron, 2002). The most frequent used definition of personality was produced by Gordon Allport nearly 70 years ago which he commented that personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment. Personality thus becomes an important reason mangers need to know to generate a view of employees likely behaviors and examine their coping reaction. Meselaar and Cozijnsen (1997) further highlighted the personality is a determinate of individ ual reaction to organizational change. Locus of control refers to the degree people believe their own behaviours determine what happens to them. People believes they have more control over their destiny are referred as internal, and people who believe they have less control over their life and the results are attributing to the will of God, or to the fortune of being born in the right social class or family are referred as external. At this point, it is suggested that people behave differently towards change. Wilson (1992) developed an approach referred as determinism to study change management portrays the manager and other organizational members as pawns affected by change rather than as agents who can initiate and secure change. Their ability to influence is limited because of the main determinates lie outside the organization. John Hayes (2010) argues that those who are overcommitted deterministic view of change may be inclined to believe that the locus of control is external to themselves and the organization and may therefore develop view that there is little they can do to influence events. Hence, people who think this way is less likely to attempt to adopt a proactive approach to the management of change than those who have more internal view about locus of control. 2.2.4 Educational Level Although there were not many literatures specifically emphasize the employees educational level to their resistance to organizational change, it is widely acknowledged (e.g.: George H. McCall, Karl E. Ristow and Daniel J. Cimini, 2004) that higher education improves employees personal management, time management, communication skills and problem solving skills. Higher education defined by Roberg (1987) refers to the instruction that was obtained at university or colleague. According to Thomas Kent Gaylor (2001)s research on 286 police officer from two North Texas Police department in 2001, result shows no significance relationship between the educational level and employees openness to change. However the limitation of his research was lack of variation in respondents education level. Nevertheless, the author believe that higher education of employees will be more likely to support and commit organization change with more positive thinking of why the change is needed, hence the resea rch intend to do further evaluation with different samples on the relationship of educational level to employee resistance to change since it is a logic factor that higher education equipped with employees more knowledge and broader thinking and believe, which reduce the tendency to be dogmatic and to be more creative. 2.3 Chapter Summary Chapter 2 of Literature Review has explored on the current literatures on employee resistance to change in terms of the natural, symptoms and reasons. The inevitable resistances from employee impulse the research to further find out the factors that affect employee resistance to change. The research noted many factors including communication process, employee participations, change facilitation process, employee motivation and quality of leadership, and lastly mainly reviewed the personal factors played consist of age, gender, personality traits (locus of control) and employee educational level influence various aspects from values and beliefs and emotions as a result of different behavior and levels of adaptability reacted to change After exposit the literature review of factors affect employees resistance to change, the paper will tackle the main objectives of this research. Starting with the description of research methodology, samples and limitation of the research, then paper will touch on the analysis part of the questionnaire, to examine the reflected results against with the literatures reviewed earlier on, so as to evaluate its universality of the factors in the sampling organization. Chapter 3- Research Methodology 3.1 Secondary Research The research was carried out at the beginning though a secondary research to review the current literatures on the areas of the study, which contains of the nature, symptoms and the reasons of employee resistance to change and the factors affect employee resistance to change from a more intrinsic view by looking at employee personal factors. The factors focus on the employees adaptability to change determined by age and gender, one dimension of personality traits -locus of control, and employee educational level. The information is collected from textbooks, journals and articles from reliable and creditable online Journal Publications, National Library and Campus Library. 3.2 Primary Research In order to evaluate the factors been presented in literature review, the research will primarily employ questionnaires as the main methodologies for information gathering. The questionnaire will be carried out with various employees working in a large organization. The methods allow directly and original information to be gathered from participants. Questionnaire results are to be consolidated, and will be analyzed using various questionnaire analyze techniques, to interpret the data. The main reason of using questionnaire and interview is because data is collected directly from specific target respondents. Interviewers have the ability to ask extra intensive questions of the respondent concerning survey responses. 3.2.1 Research Samples The research was conducted using data collected from a large size agribusiness organization located in Singapore, mainly doing palm oil plantation and trading. The reason of choosing this organization is because it is currently undergoing turbulence and change on merger with one small size palm oil trading company and one ship chartering company. And it also has experienced many merger and change in the past. Therefore the target samples of the questionnaire participants in the organization must have many varies views on organizational change to enable the research generate more practical reflections from employees perspective on organizational change and change effect on them, aims to evaluate the universality application of all those factors on employee resistance to change presented in literature on the target sampling. The questionnaire attempt to invite 150 employees in this organization from four departments who are affected by the merger plan, respectively 25 employee from IT department, 35 employees from logistic department, 25 employee from finance department and 65 employees from operation department. 3.2.2 Limitation of This Research During the research, data collected could be deviated due to limitation in the research methodology as follows: Data may not represent the entire population due to the limitation of sampling size As the four department employees may experience different kinds of minor changes in their department respectively, whether the change offend their interest or not might bring subjective bias towards their response to the questionnaire, hence the accuracy of data collected will be deviated. Respondent who experience the past organizational change may bring different perceptions towards new change. The choice of the question may limited respondents response. 3.3 Chapter Summary Chapter 3 presented the methodology of this research which employed on secondary research to review the current literatures on the area of the study, and also the primary research using questionnaires to collect data. Research Samples chosen was a large agribusiness organization who is experiencing turbulence and undergoing merger and work structural change. The limitations of the research were also discussed including the sample size, respondents bias, past organizational change experience as well as the choice of questions may also affect the accuracy of the survey result. Next chapter will touch on the research result analysis and discussion. Chapter 4- Result Analysis and Discussion The questionnaires were distributed to 150 employees in IT, Logistic, Finance and Operation department respectively as planned in Chapter 3, the responding rate is about 76%, namely 114 employees attend the questionnaire. Following are the result of each factors being tested. 4.1 Age The research finding on age factors shows that respondents in different age group perceived change differently and appears with different level of resistance. The result shows that in the age group of 20 to 65+, employees are more resistant to change as they age; an interesting finding is that for employees aged below 20, whom were surprisingly scored higher marks on resistance. Figure 4.1.2 shows details of scores on resistance in each age group. This is in contrary with literatures presented earlier on which Laura L. Carstensen et al. (2000) found that the periods of highly positive emotional experience were more likely to endure among older people. While elder people emphasize working value on the obedience of chain of command and organizational loyalty to commit the work instead of resisting and challenging hierarchical order (Hui-Chun, Yu and Peter Miller, 2003). All the earlier findings demonstrated elder people are more adaptable and emotional stable to organization change, yet this research findings reflect an even more complicated relationship between age and resistance level. The possible causes lead to this result might because when younger people firstly enter the workforce with no experience and lower educational background, they are uncertain about their skills and abilities. They may behave self-concerned and less flexible dealing with working matters, and not mature enough to regulate their emotions as they are undergoing a transition from childhood to adult, school life to working life with increased responsibilities, time is needed to help them accept such big changes and adapt themselves in the new environment. As they age and become more mature, they seek for competence, career movement and relationship, they are more flexible and motivated to change themselves in the organization to achieve their objectives. As time goes on, they feel tired and queried about what supposed to be. They are loyalty to their skills and fear losing it in the future. Stability, job security and sense of seniority may become the main values after they age 46. Hence th ey might act more resisting to change as demonstrated in below figure. Super (1980)s Life Stage Theory displayed some common characteristics against to the above analysis and assumptions, which the author would like to research further. 4.2 Gender Out of total 114 respondents, 78 are women, and 36 are men, most of men respond strongly agree that organizational change is necessary and beneficial, and express t

Anne Sexton Essay -- Literary Analysis

Most of us accept the stories we were told as children were false, or at least romanticized. At some point, the illusion was shattered, and Santa, the Easter Bunny and Cinderella were characters we fondly remembered. But although we recognized these figures and legends as illusions, we held on to many of the sentiments the stories, without questioning their application to adult life. Anne Sexton often uses these innocent, childlike images juxtaposed with cynical but more realistic situations in order show that the lessons society teaches children, ones that children retain as adults, are illusions that do not properly illustrate the corrupt, violent world we actually live in. Sexton’s poem Cinderella, about rags to riches stories, clearly follows this pattern. First, the speaker tells four stories: one of a plumber who wins the lottery, one of a nursemaid who marries her boss’s son, a milkman who makes a fortune in real estate, and a charwoman who becomes rich after a bus she was on crashes, and she collects on insurance. The progression of these stories themselves lay cynicism into the form of the poem. The speaker starts with a story about a lottery winner, which is something lucky and could be taken as the universe helping a man struggling to take care of â€Å"the twelve children.† Next comes the nursemaid, who does have a romantic journey too, though not quite as incidental as this lucky plumber, because she â€Å"captures the oldest son’s heart.† The choice of the word â€Å"capture† could be viewed as merely an idiomatic happenstance, or more possibly an implication that the speaker feels the nursemaid had some ulterior motive to love in her interactions with the son. After the nursemaid is the milkman. The milkman still has a romantic ... ...ton’s issue is not with people on an individual level, but instead with the society that puts them in the situations that it does. This is significant because it shows Sexton’s goal is to illuminate society’s flaws and lies rather than those of people. Often, the reader cannot help but feel a bit disheartened after reading a collection of Anne Sexton’s poems. Sexton herself was disheartened with the prospect of life, killing herself at the age of 45 after years in and out of mental facilities. Her poems certainly take cynicism to an extreme, but they remain the type of extreme valuable to the literary canon. Her poetry leaves the reader questioning the world around him, now able to see stories and past experiences in a new light. And although in the case of Sexton this light may be a shadow, the new depth it adds highlights to us that which we hold truly pure.

The Indigo Spell Chapter Four

I FROZE. I didn't trust myself to respond. What was Adrian thinking? Putting aside all the drama between us, it was absolutely unforgivable to ask this here, in front of other Moroi and Alchemists. Maybe in Palm Springs, where things were a little more casual with my friends, it might not be that crazy a request. But here? He risked exposing that we knew each other, which in turn risked Jill. Almost as bad, it could be a tip-off of his feelings for me. Even if I insisted that I had no matching feelings, the fact that things had progressed this far could get me in serious trouble with the Alchemists. As all these thoughts raced through my mind, a more concerning one suddenly popped up. A good Alchemist shouldn't be worried about any of those things. A good Alchemist would have simply been horrified at the immediate problem: dancing with a Moroi. Touching a vampire. Realizing this, I quickly mustered an outraged expression, hoping I looked convincing. Fortunately, everyone else was too shocked to pay much attention to me. Good relations only went so far. Stanton and Ian wore legitimate looks of disgust. The Moroi nearby while not appalled, were astonished at the breach of etiquette. And yet . . . I also saw a couple exchange looks that said they weren't entirely surprised Adrian Ivashkov would suggest something so outrageous. This was an attitude I'd seen a lot with him. People often shrugged off his behavior with, â€Å"Well, that's Adrian.† Ian found his voice first. â€Å"She . . . no! She absolutely can't!† â€Å"Why not?† Adrian glanced between all our faces, his expression still sunny and unassuming. â€Å"We are all friends, right?† Abe, who was rarely shocked by anything, managed to shake off some of his surprise. â€Å"I'm sure it's not that big a deal.† His tone was uncertain. He knew that Adrian wasn't a total stranger to me but undoubtedly assumed I had the usual Alchemist hang-ups. As tonight had demonstrated, most Alchemists still struggled with handshakes. Stanton seemed to be waging a mental war. I knew she thought it was an outlandish request . . . yet she was still conscious of the need to keep things pleasant. She swallowed. â€Å"Perhaps . . . perhaps it would be a nice gesture.† She shot me a sympathetic look that seemed to say, Sometimes you have to take one for the team. Ian jerked his head toward her. â€Å"Are you crazy?† â€Å"Mr. Jansen,† she snapped, conveying a stern warning in just his name. All eyes turned toward me as everyone realized that ultimately, it was my decision. At this point, I didn't know if I should be shocked or scared – and the thought of dancing with Adrian made me feel both. I met Stanton's eyes again and slowly gave a nod. â€Å"Sure. Okay. Good relations, right?† Ian's face turned bright red, but another sharp look from Stanton kept him silent. As Adrian led me to the dance floor, I heard a few whispered comments from curious Moroi mentioning â€Å"that poor Alchemist girl† and â€Å"there's no predicting what he does sometimes.† Adrian put his arm around my waist, perfectly proper and distant. I tried not to think about the last time I'd been in his arms. Even with appropriate spacing between us, our hands were still clasped, our stances still intimate. I was hyperaware of every single place his fingers rested on my body. His touch was light and delicate but seemed to carry an extraordinary heat and intensity. â€Å"What were you thinking?† I demanded once we were moving to the music. I was trying to ignore his hands. â€Å"Do you know how much trouble you may have gotten me in?† Adrian grinned. â€Å"Nah. They all feel bad for you. You'll achieve martyrdom after dancing with a mean, wicked vampire. Job security with the Alchemists.† â€Å"I thought you weren't going to pressure me about . . . you know . . . that stuff. . . .† The look of innocence returned. â€Å"Have I said a word about that? I just asked you to dance as a political gesture, that's all.† He paused for impact. â€Å"Seems like you're the one who can't get ‘that stuff off your mind.† â€Å"Stop turning my words against me! That's not – no – that's not right at all.† â€Å"You should see that Stanton woman watching us,† he remarked with amusement, glancing behind me. â€Å"Everyone's watching us,† I grumbled. It wasn't like the entire room had come to a standstill, but there were certainly a number of curious onlookers, gawking at the unlikely sight of a Moroi and a human – an Alchemist, at that – dancing. He nodded and swept me into a turn. He was a good dancer, which wasn't entirely a surprise. Adrian might be brash and impertinent, but he knew how to move. Maybe dance lessons had been part of growing up in an elite tier of Moroi society. Or maybe he was just naturally skilled at using his body. That kiss had certainly show a fair amount of talent. . . . Ugh. Adrian was right. I was the one who couldn't get over â€Å"that stuff.† Unaware of my thoughts, he glanced over at Stanton again. â€Å"She's got the look of a general who just sent her army on a suicide mission.† â€Å"Nice to know she cares,† I said. For a moment, I forgot my dance floor woes as I thought angrily back to Stanton's â€Å"need to know† attitude. â€Å"I can pull you closer, if you want,† he said. â€Å"Just to see how much she cares. I'm always willing to help like that, you know.† â€Å"You're a real team player,† I said. â€Å"If putting me in danger is for the greater good, then Stanton probably wouldn't do anything about you moving in on me.† Adrian's self-satisfied smirk faded. â€Å"Did she ever come clean about that guy you were trying to find? Martin?† â€Å"Marcus,† I corrected. I frowned. Her denial still bothered me. â€Å"She keeps claiming she doesn't know him, and I can't push too hard if I don't want her to get suspicious.† â€Å"I thought of a way you might find him,† said Adrian. I would've thought he was joking if his face wasn't so serious. â€Å"You did?† I asked. The Alchemists had vast information at our disposal, with hands in all sorts of agencies and organizations. I'd been scouring them these last few weeks and found it unlikely that Adrian would have access to something I didn't. â€Å"Yup. You've got his picture, right? Couldn't you just do the same spell you did the other night? Locate him that way?† I was so surprised, I nearly tripped. Adrian tightened his grip to keep me from falling. I shivered as that small gesture brought us closer. The tension between us kicked up a notch, and I realized that along with our bodies being nearer, so were our lips. I had a little difficulty speaking, both because of how it felt to be so close to him and because I was still stunned by what he'd said. â€Å"That's . . . wow . . . that's not a bad idea. . . .† â€Å"I know,† he said. â€Å"I'm kind of amazed myself.† Really, the circumstances were no different from finding Ms. Terwilliger's sister. I needed to locate someone I'd never met. I had a picture, which was what the spell required. What was different was that I'd be initiating the spell myself. It was a difficult piece of magic, and I knew Ms. Terwilliger's coaching had helped me. There was also the moral dilemma of working that type of spell on my own. My conscience had an easier time handling magic when I felt coerced. â€Å"I couldn't try until next month,† I said, thinking back to the spell book. â€Å"I mean, I have the picture with me, but the spell's got to be done during a full moon. This is the last night for the current one, and I'd never be able to get the components in time.† â€Å"What do you need?† I told him, and he nodded along, promising he could get them. I scoffed. â€Å"Where are you going to get anise and hyssop at this time of night? In this town?† â€Å"This town's full of quirky boutique shops. There's some herbal place that sells soaps and perfume made of anything you can imagine. I guarantee they've got what you need.† â€Å"And I guarantee they're closed.† He swept me into another flourish-filled spin, and I kept up with him perfectly. The song was wrapping up. The time had flown by faster than I'd thought. I'd forgotten about the onlookers. I'd even forgotten I was with a vampire. I was simply dancing with Adrian, which felt easy and natural, so long as I didn't think about our audience. His roguish look returned. â€Å"Don't worry about that. I can find the owner and talk her into making an exception.† I groaned. â€Å"No. Not compulsion.† Compulsion was an ability vampires had to force their wills on others. All vampires had it to a small extent, and spirit users had it in excess. Most Moroi considered it immoral. Alchemists considered it a sin. The song ended, but Adrian didn't release me right away. He leaned a little closer. â€Å"Do you want to wait another month to find Marcus?† â€Å"No,† I admitted. Adrian's lips were a breath away. â€Å"Then we'll meet in two hours by the hotel's service door.† I gave a weak nod, and he stepped back, releasing my hands. â€Å"Here's one last sign of good relations.† With a bow that could've come straight out of a Jane Austen novel, he gestured to the bar and spoke loudly. â€Å"Thank you for the dance. May I escort you to get a drink?† I followed without a word, my head spinning with what I'd need to do in two hours. At the bar, Adrian astonished me by ordering ginger ale. â€Å"Nice restraint,† I said, realizing he'd need to stay sober to work spirit. I hoped he hadn't indulged too much already. For him, the only thing better than an open bar would be a case of cigarettes showing up at his door. â€Å"I'm a master of self-control,† he declared. I wasn't so sure of that but didn't contradict him. I sipped my Diet Coke, and we stood there in comfortable silence. Two Moroi men sidled up the bar near us, talking with the volume and exuberance of those who hadn't held back on sampling free liquor. â€Å"Well, no matter how liberal that girl is, she's certainly easy on the eyes,† one guy said. â€Å"I could look at her all day, especially in that dress.† His friend nodded. â€Å"Definitely an improvement over Tatiana. Too bad about what happened to her, but maybe a change of scenery was for the best. Did that woman ever smile?† They both laughed at the joke. Beside me, Adrian's own smile vanished, and he went perfectly still. Tatiana, the former Moroi queen, had been Christian's great-aunt. She'd been viciously murdered this summer, and though Adrian rarely spoke about her, I'd heard from a number of people that they'd been close. Adrian's lips twisted into a snarl, and he started to turn around. Without hesitation, I reached out and grabbed his free hand, holding it tightly. â€Å"Adrian, don't,† I said softly. â€Å"Sydney, they can't say that.† There was a dangerous look in his eyes, one I'd never seen. I squeezed his hand harder. â€Å"They're drunk, and they're stupid. They're not worth your time. Please don't start a scene here – for Sonya's sake.† I hesitated. â€Å"And for me.† His face was still filled with rage, and for a moment, I thought he would ignore me and throw a glass at one of those guys. Or worse. I'd seen angry spirit users, and they were terrifying. At last, that fury faded, and I felt his hand relax in mine. He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, they were dazed and unfocused. â€Å"No one really knew her, Sydney.† The sorrow in his voice broke my heart. â€Å"They all thought she was some draconian bitch. They never knew how funny she was, how sweet she could be. You can't . . . you can't imagine how much I miss her. She didn't deserve to die like that. She was the only one who understood me – even more than my own parents. She accepted me. She saw the good in my soul. She was the only one who believed in me.† He was standing in front of me, but he wasn't with me. I recognized the rambling, consuming nature of spirit. It messed with its users' minds. Sometimes it made them scattered and distant, like he was now. Sometimes it challenged people's grip on reality. And sometimes, it could create a despair with devastating consequences. â€Å"She wasn't the only one,† I told him. â€Å"I believe in you. She's at peace, and nothing they say can change who she was. Please come back to me.† He still stared off into someplace I couldn't follow. After a few frightening moments, he blinked and focused on me. His expression was still sad, but at least he was in control again. â€Å"I'm here, Sage.† He removed his hand and glanced around to make sure no one had seen me holding it. Thankfully, the bride and groom had taken to the dance floor, and everyone was too mesmerized watching them. â€Å"Two hours.† He knocked back the rest of his drink and walked away. I watched him until he disappeared into the crowd, and then I returned to my own table, glancing at the clock along the way Two hours. Ian jumped out of his seat at my approach. â€Å"Are you okay?† No Moroi well-wishers were around, so only Stanton was nearby to hear him. She seemed to share his concern. â€Å"I'm sorry you had to endure that, Miss Sage. As always, your dedication to our work is admirable.† â€Å"I do what I can to help, ma'am,† I said. I was still worried about Adrian and hoped he wouldn't slip back into spirit's grip again. â€Å"Did he hurt you?† asked Ian, pointing. â€Å"Your hands?† I looked down and realized I'd been rubbing my hands together. They were warm from where Adrian had touched me. â€Å"Huh? Oh, no. Just, um, trying to rub the taint off. In fact . . . I should probably go wash up. Be right back.† They seemed to find this a perfectly reasonable idea and didn't stop me as I hurried to the restroom. Free of their concern, I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd dodged two bullets here, by not letting the Alchemists know that I was friendly with a vampire and also that I was plotting magic with him. â€Å"Sydney?† I was so distracted when walking out of the restroom that I hadn't noticed Rose standing nearby with Dimitri Belikov. They stood arm in arm, smiling at my surprise. I hadn't seen Dimitri tonight, and his black and white guardian attire told me why. He was on duty here and had undoubtedly been one of the shadows darting among the trees of the greenhouse, keeping a watch on everyone. He must be on a break now because there was no way he'd be standing so casually here, even with Rose, otherwise. And really, â€Å"casual† for Dimitri meant he could still leap into battle at any moment. They were a striking couple. His dark-haired, dark-eyed looks matched hers, and they were both dazzlingly attractive. It was no wonder Adrian had fallen for her, and I felt surprised at how uncomfortable that memory made me. Like Sonya and Mikhail, there was a bond of love between Rose and Dimitri that was almost palpable. â€Å"Are you okay?† asked Rose, eyes kind. â€Å"I can't believe Adrian did that to you.† She reconsidered. â€Å"Then again, I kind of can believe it.† â€Å"I'm fine,† I said. â€Å"I think the other Alchemists were more appalled than I was.† I remembered belatedly that even if Rose and Dimitri knew I knew Adrian from Palm Springs, I still couldn't act too at ease here. I put on my earlier look of outrage. â€Å"It was still out of line, though.† â€Å"Propriety's never been Adrian's strong suit,† Dimitri observed. Rose laughed at the understatement. â€Å"If it makes you feel any better, you guys looked really good together out there. Made it hard to believe you're mortal enemies . . . or whatever it is Alchemists think.† She gestured to my dress. â€Å"You even coordinated.† I'd totally forgotten what I was wearing. It was a short-sleeved silk dress, almost entirely black save for some splashes of royal blue on the skirt. That was a bolder color than I would normally wear, but the black tempered it. Thinking back to Adrian's shades of blue, I realized our palettes had indeed complemented each other. You guys looked really good together. I don't know what expression I wore, but it made Rose laugh again. â€Å"Don't look so panicked,† Rose said, eyes shining. â€Å"It was nice seeing a human and a Moroi look like they belong together.† Belong together. Why did she keep saying things like that? Her words were messing with the cool, logical demeanor I tried to maintain. I knew she was speaking in that friendly, diplomatic way that everyone was pushing so hard for. But as progressive as Rose and Dimitri were, I knew even they would be shocked if they knew the truth about Adrian's feelings and that monumental kiss. I spent the rest of the reception with a knot of anxiety building within me. Fortunately, I didn't have to hide it. Moroi and Alchemist alike expected me to feel that way. In fact, Stanton soon got her own share of â€Å"diplomacy† when a middle-aged Moroi guy asked her to dance, obviously taking a cue from Adrian's display of goodwill. Apparently, as outrageous as Adrian's behavior had been, some Moroi thought it had been a smart move and decided to follow suit. Stanton could hardly refuse after encouraging me, so she took the dance floor with gritted teeth. No one asked Ian to dance, which was probably just as well. He didn't look at all disappointed. Adrian stayed away, presumably to gather my spell components. Time ticked down, and as the two-hour mark approached, I realized that although I'd brought Marcus's picture with me on this trip (I rarely let it out of my sight), it was still in my room. I excused myself from Ian, telling him I needed to go back to the inn to change shoes and would take one of the cars that had been ferrying wedding guests around town. Ian's face immediately grew protective. â€Å"Do you want me to go with you? It's not safe out there.† I shook my head. â€Å"No, you need to stay here. Stanton's in more danger.† She was standing near the bar, speaking to two Moroi men. I wondered if she had another dance in her future. â€Å"Besides, it's early, so there's still more of them here than out there. At least the inn is run by humans.† Ian couldn't fault my Alchemist logic and reluctantly let me go. Catching a town car was easy, and I was able to make the round trip in almost the perfect amount of time. I even changed shoes so that I'd have proof for my story. Although I'd worn heels to the wedding, I'd packed flats in my suitcase, just in case. That was just smart planning for any occasion. When I reached the service door, however, I realized my clever planning had failed. Filled with haste and anxiety, I'd left my warm, heavy shawl in the car, which was probably long gone. Now, waiting for Adrian in the bitter Pennsylvania cold, I wrapped my arms around myself and hoped I wouldn't freeze before he showed up. He was good to his word, though, and arrived at exactly the appointed time with a tote bag over one shoulder. Even better, he was completely back to his normal self. â€Å"Ready to go,† he told me. â€Å"Seriously?† I asked, my teeth chattering. â€Å"You found everything?† He patted the bag. â€Å"You ask, I deliver. Now where do we need to do this?† â€Å"Somewhere remote.† I scanned around. Beyond the hotel's parking lot was a vacant field that I hoped would suffice. â€Å"There.† Walking across the well-salted parking lot wasn't a problem, but once we â€Å"off-roaded† into the snowy field, even my practical flats were of no use. I was also so cold that I suspected my skin was as blue as my dress. â€Å"Stop,† said Adrian at one point. â€Å"We need to go a little farther,† I protested. Adrian, who'd had the sense to put on a wool coat, was taking it off. â€Å"Here.† â€Å"You'll be cold,† I protested, though I didn't stop him when he stepped forward and helped me put the coat on. He was taller than me, so the three-quarter length was mercifully full length on me. Its scent was a mix of smoke and cologne. â€Å"There.† He pulled the coat more tightly around me. â€Å"I've got long sleeves and the jacket. Now come on – let's hurry.† He didn't have to tell me twice. Aside from the temperature, we had to do this before we were caught by others. Even I wasn't going to be able to explain this away to the Alchemists. The moon was still crisp and bright when we finally found an acceptable spot. I sifted through Adrian's bag, amazed that he'd come through with everything, from the mirror to the dried leaves and flowers. He stayed quiet as I set it all up, only speaking when I was just about ready to go. â€Å"Is there anything I can do?† he asked gently. â€Å"Just keep watch,† I said. â€Å"And catch me if I pass out.† â€Å"Gladly.† I'd memorized the spell when Ms. Terwilliger and I had performed it. Still, I was nervous about going solo, especially since the environment was so distracting. It was kind of hard to find the mental focus I needed while kneeling in snow. Then I thought back to Stanton and the lies the Alchemists were telling me. A spark of anger flared in me, creating warmth of a different sort. I used that to direct my thoughts as I stared at Marcus's picture. He was Adrian's age, with shoulder-length blond hair and a pensive look in his blue eyes. The tattoo on his check was a tangle of indigo crescents. Slowly, I managed to sink into the spell. I felt that same euphoria as the mirror shifted into a city image. No fog blocked me this time since presumably Marcus wasn't wielding the kind of protective magic that Ms. Terwilliger's sister had been using. The scene before me showed what looked like a very modest studio apartment. A mattress lay on the floor, and an ancient TV sat in one corner. I looked around for any identifying features but found nothing. The room's one window finally gave me a clue. Outside in the distance, I could see a Spanish-style building that looked like a church or monastery. It was made of white stucco, with red-roofed domed towers. I tried to get a closer look, to fly up like I had in the other spell, but suddenly, I became aware of the Pennsylvania cold seeping into me. The image shattered, and I was back to kneeling in the field. â€Å"Ugh,† I said, putting my hand to my forehead. â€Å"So close.† â€Å"Did you see anything?† Adrian asked. â€Å"Nothing that'll help.† I stood and felt a little dizzy but managed to stay upright. I could see Adrian ready and waiting to catch me in case I did indeed keel over. â€Å"You okay?† â€Å"I think so. Just a little light-headed from the blood sugar drop.† I slowly gathered up the mirror and bag. â€Å"I should've had you get orange juice too.† â€Å"Maybe this'll help.† Adrian produced a silver flask from his suit jacket's inner pocket and handed it toward me. So typical, Adrian helpfully offering alcohol. â€Å"You know I don't drink,† I said. â€Å"A few sips won't get you drunk, Sage. And it's your lucky night – it's Kahlua. Packed with sugar and coffee-flavored. Trade me and try.† Grudgingly, I handed him the bag and then took the flask as we began walking back to the hotel. I took a tentative sip and grimaced. â€Å"That is not coffee-flavored.† No matter how much people tried to dress up alcohol, it always tasted awful to me. I didn't understand how he could consume so much. But, I could taste the sugar, and after a few more sips, I felt steadier. That was all I drank since I didn't want to get dizzy for different reasons. â€Å"What'd you see?† asked Adrian, once we reached the parking lot. I described the spell's scene and sighed in frustration. â€Å"That could be any building in California. Or the Southwest. Or Mexico.† Adrian came to a halt and slung the bag over one shoulder. â€Å"Maybe. . . .† He took out his phone from his jacket and typed in a few things. I shivered and tried to be patient as he searched for what he needed. â€Å"Did it look like this?† I peered at the screen and felt my jaw drop. I was looking at a picture of the building from my vision. â€Å"Yes! What is it?† â€Å"The Old Mission Santa Barbara.† And then, just in case I needed help, he added, â€Å"It's in Santa Barbara.† â€Å"How did you know that?† I exclaimed. â€Å"What that building is, I mean.† He shrugged. â€Å"Because I've been to Santa Barbara. Does this help you?† My earlier dismay transformed into excitement. â€Å"Yes! Based on the window's position, I can get a pretty good idea of where the apartment is. You may have found Marcus Finch.† Caught up in my elation, I squeezed his arm. Adrian rested a gloved hand on my cheek and smiled down at me. â€Å"And to think, Angeline said I was too pretty to be useful. Looks like I might have something to offer to the world after all.† â€Å"You're still pretty,† I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them. Another of those intense moments hung between us, the moonlight illuminating his striking features. Then it was shattered by a voice in the darkness. â€Å"Who's there?† Both of us flinched and jerked back as a black-and-white-clad figure seemed to materialize out of the shadows. A guardian. It was no one I knew, but I realized I'd been foolish if I thought we could slip in and out of the hotel unseen. The grounds were probably crawling with guardians, keeping watch for Strigoi. They wouldn't have cared much about two people leaving, but our return would naturally be challenged. â€Å"Hey, Pete,† said Adrian, putting on that easygoing smile he excelled at. â€Å"Nice to see you. Hope you're not too cold out here.† The guardian seemed to relax a little upon recognizing Adrian, but he was still suspicious. â€Å"What are you two doing outside?† â€Å"Just walking Miss Sage back,† said Adrian. â€Å"She had to get something from her room.† I gave him a puzzled look. The inn wasn't in this direction. Pete looked dazed for a moment. Then he nodded in understanding. â€Å"I see. Well, you'd better get back inside before you freeze.† â€Å"Thanks,† said Adrian, steering me away. â€Å"Make sure you get a break and try the canapes. They're amazing.† â€Å"You compelled him,† I whispered, once we were safely out of earshot. â€Å"Only a little,† said Adrian. He sounded very proud of himself. â€Å"And being outside to walk you is a valid reason, one he won't think too much about later. Compelling someone into believing a story works best if there's a little truth – â€Å" â€Å"Adrian? Sydney?† We'd almost reached the back of the building now and were suddenly face-to-face with an ivory-clad figure. Sonya stood before us, a fur stole wrapped around her. Once again, I was struck by her beauty and the happy glow she seemed to radiate. She gave us a puzzled smile. â€Å"What are you two doing out here?† she asked. Both of us were speechless. Adrian had no brash words or tricks. Sonya was a spirit user too, and compulsion wouldn't work on her. Frantically, I groped for some excuse that wasn't: We were out using illicit magic in a continuing effort to uncover secrets the Alchemists don't want me to know about. â€Å"You can't tell,† I blurted out to her. I held up the flask. â€Å"Adrian was letting me sneak some of his Kahlua. Stanton'll kill me if she finds out.† Sonya looked understandably startled. â€Å"I didn't think you drank.† â€Å"Tonight's been kind of stressful,† I said. It was hardly a lie. â€Å"And it's coffee-flavored,† Adrian pointed out, as though that might aid our cause. I wasn't sure if Sonya was buying it, so I attempted a change in subject. â€Å"Congratulations, by the way. I didn't have a chance to talk to you earlier. You look beautiful.† Sonya let go of her inquisitiveness and offered me a smile. â€Å"Thank you. It's kind of unreal. Mikhail and I have been through so much . . . there were times I never thought we'd reach this moment. And now . . .† She glanced down at the diamond sparkling on her hand. â€Å"Well, here we are.† â€Å"What are you doing out here, Mrs. Tanner?† Adrian had recovered himself and was back to his outgoing self. â€Å"Shouldn't you be inside gazing adoringly at your husband?† She chuckled. â€Å"Oh, we've got a lifetime of that ahead. Honestly, I just needed to get out of the crowd.† Sonya took a deep breath of the crisp, cold air. â€Å"I should probably get back soon. We're about to throw the bouquet. You aren't going to miss your chance, are you?† That was to me. I scoffed. â€Å"I think I'll sit this one out. I've already caused too much speculation tonight.† â€Å"Ah, yes. Your infamous dance.† Sonya glanced between us, and a bit of her earlier puzzlement returned. â€Å"You two look very good together.† Awkward silence fell for a few seconds, and then she cleared her throat. â€Å"Well, I'm getting in where it's warm. Hope you'll change your mind, Sydney.† She disappeared through the service door, and I resisted the urge to beat my head against the wall. â€Å"She knows we're lying. She can tell.† Spirit users were good at reading subtle cues from people, with Sonya being one of the best. â€Å"Probably,† agreed Adrian. â€Å"But I doubt she's going to guess we were out working magic in a field.† A terrible thought came to me. â€Å"Oh God. She probably thinks we were off doing – you know – romantic type, um, things – â€Å" That amused Adrian far more than it should have. â€Å"See, there you go again. That's the first thought that comes to your mind.† He shook his head melodramatically. â€Å"I can't believe you keep accusing me of being the obsessed one.† â€Å"I'm not obsessed!† I exclaimed. â€Å"I'm just pointing out the obvious conclusion.† â€Å"Maybe to you. But she's right about one thing: we need to get inside.† He anxiously touched his hair. â€Å"I think my hair gel's frozen.† I handed him back the flask and opened the door. Just before stepping through, I hesitated and glanced back at him. â€Å"Adrian? Thanks for helping me.† â€Å"What are friends for?† He caught the door from me and motioned for me to go inside. â€Å"Yeah, but you went above and beyond tonight for something that has nothing to do with you. I appreciate that. You didn't have to help. You don't have the same reasons I have for cracking open the Alchemists.† Not knowing what else to say, I gave him a small nod of thanks and went inside. As the warmth and noise of the crowd swallowed us, I thought I heard him say, â€Å"I have different reasons.†