The Importance of Characterization

Characterization is the process by which the author brings a character to life. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses exceptional characterization throughout the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. There are four methods of characterization which can be revealed through direct characterization and indirect characterization. The most common method of characterization is the narrator’s direct description of a character. This is a very important method as it enables the reader to have a vivid picture in their mind. The method of the character’s own words and actions or the method where the character’s reveals their own feelings allows the reader to become engulfed in the novel. The fourth and final method is how the other characters react to him and what they say about him. This allows the reader to interact with the other characters as well. Sir Henry, Mr. Barrymore and Mr. Stapleton are excellently characterized throughout the novel. Characterization is a method used by an author to develop a character. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle explicitly uses characterization to describe Sir Henry Baskerville. The reader can clearly visualize Sir Henry when the author uses the narrator’s direct description. â€Å"The latter was a small, alert, dark-eyed man about thirty years of age, very sturdily built, with thick black eyebrows and a strong, pugnacious face† (Doyle 40). The reader can sense the grief put upon Sir Henry as the author uses characterization to describe the character’s own feelings. â€Å"He walked slowly back the way he had come, his head hanging, the very picture of dejection† (123). The author’s technique of using the method of how other characters react to him and what they say about him enables the reader to understand how others feel about himâ€Å" Our friends title, his fortune, his age, his character, and his appearance are all in his favour, and I know nothing against him, unless it be the dark fate which runs in his family† (126). Sir Henry is thoroughly described using the methods of characterization. Mr. Barrymore is also accurately described using characterization. Mr. Barrymore is a trustworthy individual which is demonstrated by the character’s own words and actions. â€Å"It is my business, and not yours. I will not tell† (131). Mr. Barrymore is vividly described using the narrator’s direct description. â€Å"The man is a striking-looking fellow, very well equipped to steal the heart of a country girl† (118). It is made obvious to the reader how one character reacts to another using the fourth method of cha racterization. â€Å"It seemed to me that the pallid features of the butler turned a shade paler still as he listened to his master’s question† (87). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described Mr. Barrymore to the exact degree using characterization. Mr. Jack Stapleton is described precisely using many methods of characterization. Mr. Stapleton is a secretive man and kept his opinions to himself. This is demonstrated by using the method of the character’s own feelings. â€Å"Stapleton was guarded in his replies, but it was easy to see that he said less than he might, and he would not express his whole opinion out of consideration for the feelings of the baronet† (109-110). It was evident that Mr. Stapleton was a naturalist using the narrator’s direct description of the man. â€Å"A tin box of botanical specimens hung over his shoulder and he carried a green butterfly-net in one of his hands† (90). The reader can clearly sense Dr. Watson’s reaction to Mr. Stapleton using the reactive characterization. â€Å"The words took away my breath for an instant but a glance at the placid face and steadfast eyes of my companion showed no surprise was intended† (92). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is genuinely able to describe Mr. Stapleton by using characterization. Characterization generates a plot and is revealed by actions, speech, thoughts and other characters’ thoughts. All four distinct characterizations are used throughout the novel. Sir Henry, Mr. Barrymore and Mr. Stapleton are excellently characterized in the novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles. All four methods of characterization are equally important to produce a bestsellin g novel. Characterization is essential in all novels as it aids the reader to visualize a character to their fullest potential.

Process Design and Management Essay

Increased co-production of goods and services (Process Design and Management) The Internet has opened new ways for the customer to interact directly with a firm. Simple direct entry and monitoring of orders is only the first step in the progression of value-added services made possible through information sharing. 1. 0 Introduction The topic of process design and management will generally goes on explaining the word ‘design’, in its broadest sense, is right at the heart of operations management. The design is an activity that can be approached at different levels of detail. Design must reflect the needs of customers, and able applies to products, services and processes. It can be managed as an operations transformation process in its own right. Moreover, the design is starts with something very abstract which represents a concept and ends with something very specific, which means by the final design. Some defines that to ‘design’ is to conceive the looks, arrangement, and workings of something before it is created. First, the position of the process according to its volume and variety characteristics must be defined. Eventually the details of the process must be analyzed to ensure that it fulfills its objectives effectively. Product/service design and process design are interrelated. Small changes in the design of products and services can have profound implications for the way the operation eventually has to produce them. Similarly, the design of a process can constrain the freedom of product and service designers to operate as they would wish. The relationship between designing products and services on one hand and designing the processes that make them is an important point to consider. It is possible to separate product design and process design in manufacturing sector, however it is impossible in practice to separate service design and process design. This is because many services (especially high visibility services) are the same thing. Even in manufacturing industries there has recently been considerable effort put into examining the overlap between product and process design. There is a growing recognition that the design of products has a major effect on the cost of making them. Many of the decisions were taken during the design of products (for example, choosing the material from which the roduct is going to be made, or the way in which the various components are fastened together) will all define much of the cost of making it. , Therefore, to evaluate the various choices which the designer faces in terms of their effect on manufacturing cost as well as on the functionality of the product itself. Also, the way in which product and process design overall has a significant effect on the time between starting the initial concept design for the product and eventually getting it to market. 2. 0Discussion 2. 1Internet Contributed in Online Purchase Process With the advancement of technology, many aspects of the face-to-face interpersonal dynamics in service encounters between sellers and customers have been replaced with technology-based Internet interfaces. Internet can be regarded as sets of connected firms. A retailer can use an Internet presence to reach consumers all around the world. The Internet makes the expanded range of products, services, and information accessible for consumers from geographically distant and/or emerging markets. In recent years, e-commerce has grown dramatically in terms of volume and variety of goods and services traded. This has created significant opportunities to serve customers through internet stores. It is important for internet stores to focus on achieving higher customer satisfaction to increase co-production of goods and services and to retain customers. According to Field and Smith, internet interaction between a retailer and a customer from the point the customer arrives at the retailer’s website to the point the retailer fulfills the customer’s order, has quickly emerged to become an important class of service operations (Field et al. , 2004; Smith et al. , 2007). Co-production of goods and services in internet is growing steadily. For example, in the third quarter of 2009, internet retailing sales in the U. S totaled approximately $34 billion, a 4. 5% increase from the previous quarter. The quality of the internet on the purchase process has been found to affect customers’ purchase decisions, satisfaction, and loyalty in online retailing (Zeithaml et al. , 2002; Wolfinbarger and Gilly, 2009). Hence, to be competitive in the market place, internet is the paramount and as the new ways for the customer to interact directly with a firm. Besides that, the internet is responsive and convenient for customers in the online purchase process. Through internet, the firms being able respond to the unique needs and wants of individual customers by providing the â€Å"right content in the right format to the right person at the right time. † Retailers can facilitate a convenient and responsive online purchase process, serve their customers better, improve customer satisfaction and increase retention. Customer satisfaction is the ultimate result of meeting a consumer’s expectation from the performance of products. Most satisfied customers normally have the intention to re-purchase the products if product performance meets his or her expectation. Like traditional business, online businesses also need to satisfy their customers. Customer satisfaction is one of the central constructs in the study of consumer behavior both in traditional and online business environment (Alam et al. , 2008) found that website design is one of the unique features affecting online shopping environment (Shergill and Chen. , 2005) identified web site design characteristics as the dominant factor which influences consumer perceptions of online purchasing. It can be argued that online shoppers want to receive the right quality and right quantity of items that they have ordered within the stipulated time offer by the e-tailers. In addition, time and cost saving are the main advantages of online shopping. Time efficiency and store efficiency are reflected in time cost and price savings respectively (Devaraj et al. , 2002). These are the determinants of satisfaction. Delivery performance has significant influence on customer satisfaction (Lee and Joshi et al. , 2007; Ahn et al. , 2004; Ho et al. 2004); Grewal et al. , 2004 and Shih et al. , 2004). One of the examples of online firm that successfully increase their co-production of goods and services via internet is Amazon. In an annual study tracking customer satisfaction ratings with the top 10 online retailers, perhaps the biggest takeaway is that Amazon is the world’s biggest e-retailer for a reason that it just plain makes customers happier than their competitors (show by Table 1 below). Amazon continues to set the standard for e-retailers. For instance, upon arrival at the Amazon. om website, a registered customer is greeted by the customer’s name. The customer is then provided with recommendations of products that the customer might be interested in, based on the product searched for or those previously bought by the customer. The website provides the option of receiving reminders of special events like birthdays of loved ones or information about the arrival of the latest books by their preferred author. When the customer is ready to make the purchase, the website retrieves the personal account information such as shipping and payment. In the early stages of Internet development, trust is a critical factor in stimulating purchases over the Internet. Trust is not only a short-term issue but the most significant long-term barrier for realizing the potential of Internet marketing to consumers. An experiential survey of U. S. -based online surfers, new to Internet based shopping, found the shoppers fascinated by international shopping opportunities on the Web, but they were skeptical about actual purchasing from overseas sites. Others report widespread distrust among consumers about Internet-based merchants. To improve customer loyalty, some websites offer discussion groups in their websites and promote common interest to pull targeted customers. When the website contains valuable information about the product then the customer would be motivated to visit the website again. Just like any other medium of business, internet business should also focus on making their customers feel ‘special’. In any business, customer loyalty is a result of exceptional personal services and exceeding customer expectations. 2. 2Internet Strive to Born Global Firms More and more firms’ even very small ones have operations that bridge national borders soon after their founding. Due to the Internet and related information technologies (IT) that enable many of them, this new breed of firms began emerging in the 1990s and is dubbed â€Å"born-global† because their operations often span the globe early in their existence. The definition of born global firm is â€Å"a business organization that, from inception, seeks to derive significant competitive advantage from the use of resources and the sale of outputs in multiple countries. Born global firms begin with a borderless world view, and immediately develop strategies to expand themselves abroad. This is striking, given the great changes that have taken place in the marketing environment due to introduction of the Internet and other modern technologies that enable bypassing of conventional channels (Frazier et al. , 1999). It therefore seems justifiable to study the Internet-based channel strategies of born globals (Moen et al. , 2002). It is particularly interesting to examine the global expansion of the born globals and their use of the Internet as a sales channel (Servais, Madsen, & Rasmussen, 2007). A few studies have investigated the role of information and communications technologies in the international performance of born global firms. Loane (2006) examined the role of the internet in the internationalization of small entrepreneurial firms from various countries (Loane, 2006). Born globals use the internet for communication, for marketing communications, and to lesser degree for managing customer relationships as well as sales transactions and fulfillment activities. Most of the investigated firms also se the internet to support off-line sales, and about one-quarter used the internet to support distribution channels and intermediaries. A significant number of firms used the internet to support relations with partners, suppliers, clients, agents and distributors, R&D partners, and software coding developers, both nationally and internationally. The born globals also used the Internet as a tool for acquiring knowledge, such as market and competitive intelligence, which the n become part of the collective wisdom of the firm. The internet makes borders between countries less relevant and facilitates direct interaction between all types of business entities around the world. Born globals use the internet to convey their market presence abroad, support relationships with foreign partners, offer services related to their products, facilitate product development, and maintain relations with foreign customers (Servais, Madsen, and Rasmussen et al. , 2007). Logitech, the computer peripherals company, is perhaps one of the best early examples of a successful born-global firm. According to Benjamin M. Oviatt and Patricia Phillips McDougall, â€Å"Global Start-Ups: Entrepreneurs on a Worldwide Stage. † Focusing first on the PC mouse, the company was founded by two Italians and a Swiss. The company’s operations and research and development were initially split between California and Switzerland, and then it expanded rapidly with production in Ireland and Taiwan. With its stylish and ergonomic products, Logitech captured 30 percent of the global computer mouse business by 1989, garnering the start-up a healthy $140 million in revenues. 2. 3 . Value and Productivity in the Internet Economy Nowadays, many business companies had started practiced in using internet to make interaction with consumer, business people, corporate, and trading partners. The product and service designs and the management play an important role in their profitability and their company sustainability. The company had created the website as haphazard compilations of company brochure ware or static personal web pages as well. These things had come out it with the images that users merely shared with friends and family. It has quickly evolved into a myriad of highly sophisticated online pplications and business processes. On the other hand, the forward thinking company had introduced to attain new heights in productivity and the forward thinking companies could created by leveraging the internet massive public technology infrastructure. To increase the co- production of goods and services, the innovation and awareness of using internet are important to create value through the technologies component. Other than that, the human capitals are also important in operation of the business and managing the design in the company. Therefore, the employers must to be selective in recruiting, and hiring people, whomever that he or she are able to give their efforts into the jobs or task. The value added service could be made by proposing the internet way user whereby the customer can interact directly to the company to improve and enhance their quality service and product through fulfil the customer needs and satisfaction. All of these elements are need depends on the capability of the human resource which in not only posses the technologies equipment. The company have to construct the internet economy’s structure by referred the economics performance in traditional, among other things, technology, the transportation infrastructure, availability of raw materials, and the quality of a skilled labor force. In contrast, the Internet economy comprises the four-layered model shown in Figure 1. The Internet’s infrastructure consists of two layers which are including the global high-speed IP-based networks and applications, and consulting, training, and integration services. Each Internet economy layer has a complementary relationship with every other layer. For example, with advances in layers 1 and 2, ? rms at layers 3 and 4 can provide media-rich content to consumers as well as offering new digital products and services Besides that, complementary relationship implies that the value of doing more of one factor increases by doing more of another. Internet applications and e-commerce are strong complementary relationship between the network infrastructures in the Internet economy. For example, as the Internet bandwidth increases dramatically with the spread of broadband technology, application vendors are rushing to develop powerful multimedia software that can take advantage of the increased bandwidth. These factors lead to increased economic activity on the Internet in the form of media-rich content. The Internet had open the nature stimulates innovation in the network and applications infrastructure, leading to the vastly accelerated development and deployment of new technologies in the Internet marketplace. Figure 2 shows an import/export view of the Internet and physical economies that groups businesses in ? ve categories: 1st : pure digital-products businesses that offer content, knowledge, or services directly over the Internet. 2nd Internet-based companies that deal with physical products, importing goods to be sold from the physical economy. 3rd Traditional businesses that sell some of their products or services directly over the Internet. 4th content developers, Internet service providers, Web and applications hosting services. 5th companies that do not sell directly over the Internet. Unlike the physical economy, which relies heavily on physical resources, the Internet economy thrives on information and knowledge to create value, productivity, and efficiency. Firms that rely on these intangible assets are more likely to succeed in this new world than those that continue to focus on physical processes. The Web’s information and knowledge intensity is a crucial factor in driving performance metrics like online revenue and gross margin, and every partner in a value Web must adopt the Internet in its daily operations to maximize the bene? s of electronic business. T here were few examples for these phenomena that might be able to be the related with it. One of the example is car assembly lines, which had ? rst appeared in the dictionary in 1930 (Hirschhorn, 1984: 9), were argued to be the keystone to prevailing 20th century concepts of human management (Emery, 1976). It is thus hardly surprising that industrial value production was conceptualized in terms of the value chain. The taxation system developed at that time re? cts this. In industrial value creation, customers were seen as destroying the value which producers had created for them. On the other hand, the accounting systems emerging at that time thus wrote down the value of what was acquired to zero over a shorter or longer depreciation period. The end user in this scheme equals the ? nal customer. For producers, industrial value was realized in the transaction, which joined and separated them from customers. Value here equalled the price which the customer paid: in competitive terms, value is the amount buyers are willing to pay for what a ? rm provides them (Porter, 1985: 38); or, value is what customers are willing to pay (Porter, 1985: 3). 2. 4 The Impact Of Design Management And Process Management On Quality: An Empirical Investigation. Design management and process management are two important elements of total quality management TQM implementation. They are drastically different in their targets of improvement, visibility, and techniques. In this paper will review the establishment of framework for identifying the synergistic linkages of design and process management to the operational quality outcomes during the manufacturing process internal quality and upon the field usage of the products external quality. Through a study of quality practices in manufacturing plants from multiple industries, the both design and process management efforts have an equal positive impact on internal quality outcomes such as scrap, rework, defects, performance, and external quality outcomes such as complaints, warranty, litigation, market share. A detailed contingency analysis shows that the proposed model of synergies between design and process management holds true for large and small firms, for firms with different levels of TQM experience, and in different industries with varying levels of competition, logistical complexity of production, or production process characteristics. Finally, the results also suggest that organizational learning enables mature TQM firms to implement both design and process efforts more rigorously and their synergy helps these firms to attain better quality outcomes. These findings indicate that, to attain superior quality outcomes, firms need to balance their design and process management efforts and persevere with long-term implementation of these efforts. The manufacturing strategy literature has viewed product quality as one of the major competitive priorities for attaining a sustainable competitive advantage Hill, 1994. Recently, the speed of new product introduction has also been added to this list of priorities Kim, 1996 . From a quality management perspective, the speed of new product design and development indicates the importance of designing quality into new products. Because design efforts often have a limiting impact on attainable product quality, several researchers have stressed the importance of designing quality into products Juran, 1981; Juran and Gryna, 1993; Hauser and Clausing, 1988; Dean and Susman, 1989; Taguchi and Clausing, 1990; Boothroyd et al. , 1994; Mizuno and Akao,1994 . External and internal quality outcomes the notion that overall market and business performance can be realized through long-term product quality improvement is a cornerstone of the contemporary quality revolution George and Weimerskirch, 1994; NIST, 1998. Customers form their impressions about a firms products based upon their current and past experience with these products Garvin,1987. A satisfactory field performance of the products is accompanied by lower customer dissatisfaction, greater customer loyalty, and improved market share Crosby, 1979; Buzzell and Gale, 1987; Hardie,1998 . We label this aspect of quality outcome as external quality because it is related to the customer’s perspective of the products upon field usage. It captures Juran’s fitness for use dimension of product quality Juran, 1981; Juran and Gryna, 1993 . Specifically, we focus our attention on four long-term indicators of external quality: warranty work, litigation claims, customer complaints, and market share. The quality of products passing internal tests of reliability should affect the experience of customers who use the products in two prominent ways. First, customers perceive product quality in terms of their net value defined as the ratio of performance to cost: Artzt, 1992. Thus, for products with the same performance levels, lower price will drive customer choice and satisfaction. Second, customers willing to spend a certain amount of money will choose the products that offer maximum performance for that money. 2. 5Internet as tool to enhance global strategy It’s can’t be deny that the internet plays a major role in every aspect of our modern life. Moreover, Internet technologies play a major role in business. The internet has contributed to the success and growth of businesses. This journal article is emphasizing on Internet are used to enhance global strategy. Internet is a driver of globalization. Observing the more successful applications, commentators and researchers have suggested a number of industry characteristics which promote Internet use (Andal-Ancion et al. ,2003): digitizability of the end product (e. g. , most information-based products such as directories and encyclopedias), time sensitivity of the end product (e. g. , airline travel), high search costs (e. g. , books), potential for customization (e. g. , clothing retailers), insufficient matching of buyers and sellers (e. g. , business- to-business exchanges and consumer-to-consumer auction sites), and a tradeoff between richness and reach (e. . , retail brokerage, Evans and Wurster, 1999). First at all, the internet makes communication fast and cost efficient. Businesses use internet technologies such as Skype internet and video calls, email and video conferencing to make communication virtually instant. Next, the internet plays a big role in the growth of businesses. It gives businesses an opportunity to reach a wider global audience. Promoting through the internet is also a way to increase sales and reach the desired growth level. Business can also expand by having an online division. The effect of this decentralization of transactions and information transfer raises major questions about the role of bodies which would have traditionally had functions of control, such as governments and regulatory institutions. In terms of transferring, accessing information, companies are now much less dependent on local infrastructures. In the aspect of marketing, Internet was playing important role in advertising. Most businesses are taking advantage of the internet to market their products and services to a global audience. The most notable internet technologies here include search engines such as Google. Social networking websites play a role in business networking by connecting like-minded professionals. Through the internet, people have found business partners and great employees. Moreover, the internet has helped cut costs by outsourcing services to countries where it is cheaper to provide these services. Apart from that, outsourcing enables businesses to concentrate on their core services and become more efficient. One role of internet in business is the birth of ecommerce websites and online payment solutions that allow people to shop online from the comfort of their own homes. Furthermore, the internet has opened up new business opportunities and giving rise to a group of successful online business owners. This is a powerful role as anyone can now start an online business. Cost and speed advantages are also substantial. The Internet is a much less expensive way to send information, and this information can be received in real time anywhere in the world. For global businesses this has massive implications for the possible scale and scope of operations and redefines the traditional trade-off between richness and reach, allowing both to be achieved for relatively little cost. Internet also brings effects on global products and services. Global products and services are seldom totally standardized worldwide, but they are designed with global markets in mind, and they have as large a common core as possible. Some industries and categories, such as personal computers and air travel, allow the potential for a very large common core, while others, such as furniture and legal services, allow for less commonality. Deciding on the extent of global standardization poses a major dilemma for MNCs. Use of the Internet and websites eases this dilemma by making it easier to offer an array of global, regional, or local products, and local customization options for standard core products. While the same can be done through traditional media (brochures or sales calls), but the Web provides more options and the interactivity of the Internet provides for customization by the customer. This can seen from Dell Computer’s ordering system. As the lesson 4 in this article has mentioned the use of the Internet enables both globally standardized and locally customized products and services. Companies can now use the Internet to lessen the globalization tradeoffs they have had to make in regard to products and services. Now, let have a seen on co-production, which means delivering public services in an equal and reciprocal relationship between professionals, people using services, their families and their neighbours. Where activities are co-produced in this way, both services and neighbourhoods become far more effective agents of change (David B & Michael H. ) the co-production has a significantly role in the process design and management. As the Internet has designed to interrelated the product and service jointly to the customer. For instance, Dell Computer has promoted Dell Online Self Dispatch to the customer as it is a comprehensive part dispatch program designed to support efficient hardware resolution. Dell also declared the Dell Online Self Dispatch (DOSD) as one global portal for efficient hardware resolution. The customers can access the Website through Internet to had the hardware support from Dell by self-service. 3. 0 Conclusion In summary, product/service design and process design are interrelated. Small changes in the design of products and services can be profound implications for the way the operation eventually has to produce them. The process design and management is right at the heart of operations management. The design is an activity of approaching at different levels of detail and it must be reflecting the needs of customers, and able applies to products, services and processes. The design is starts with something very abstract which represents a concept and ends with something very specific, which means by the final design. The company must follow the processes designs according to its volume and variety characteristics. Eventually the details of the process must be analyzed to ensure that it fulfills its objectives effectively. The proposed model of synergies between design and process management holds true for large and small firms, for firms with different levels of TQM experience, and in different industries with varying levels of competition, logistical complexity of production, or production process characteristics. Finally, the results also suggest that organizational learning enables mature TQM firms to implement both design and process efforts more rigorously and the synergies between design and process management help these firms to attain better quality outcomes. Q5. Raising senior management awareness of operations as a significant competitive weapon (Job Design and Performance Management). 1. 0 Introduction Many senior executives entered the organization through finance, trategy, or marketing and built their reputations on work in these areas, and as a result often take operations for granted. The executives have creatively used operations management for competitive advantage. Raising senior management awareness of operation as a significant competitive weapon refers to the job design of the senior management and the performance of the management. Theoretically, workers  are  motivated  by  jobs  in  which  they  feel  they  can  make a  difference  in their perf ormance and the way the  tasks  give are  combined  to  for complete  jobs. Clear  job  descriptions  will motivate  workforce  and  be successful  in completion  of  tasks. It also important to have both of the employer and employee needed to share understanding of the work to be done with it and comfort with working environment. The employee and employer also need to face the challenges associated with employing a large of people in a wide variety of people in a wide of capacities. Most of the employee is assigned to do a job because they are perceived to be able to fill its requirements. Many  tasks  depending on ability time allotment and other constraints. The role of HR in the present scenario has undergone a sea change and its focus is on evolving such functional strategies which enable successful implementation of the major corporate strategies. In a way, HR and corporate strategies function in alignment. Today, HR works towards facilitating and improving the performance of the employees by building a conducive work environment and providing maximum opportunities to the employees for participating in organizational planning and decision making process. Today, all the major activities of HR are driven towards development of high performance leaders and fostering employee motivation. So, it can be interpreted that the role of HR has evolved from merely an appraiser to a facilitator and an enabler. Performance management is the current buzzword and is the need in the current times of cut throat competition and the organizational battle for leadership. Performance management is a much broader and a complicated function of HR, as it encompasses activities such as joint goal setting, continuous progress review and frequent communication, feedback and coaching for improved performance, implementation of employee development programmes nd rewarding achievements. The process of performance management starts with the joining of a new incumbent in a system and ends when an employee quits the organization. Performance management can be regarded as a systematic process by which the overall performance of an organization can be improved by improving the performance of individuals within a team framework. It is a means for promoting superior performance by communicating expec tations, defining roles within a required competence framework and establishing achievable benchmarks. A  performance management process  sets the platform for rewarding excellence by aligning individual employee accomplishments with the organization’s mission and objectives and making the employee and the organization understand the importance of a specific job in realizing outcomes. By establishing clear performance expectations which includes results, actions and behaviours, it helps the employees in understanding what exactly is expected out of their jobs and setting of standards help in eliminating those jobs which are of no use any longer. Through regular feedback and coaching, it provides an advantage of diagnosing the problems at an early stage and taking corrective actions. To conclude, performance management can be regarded as a proactive system of managing employee performance for driving the individuals and the organizations towards desired performance and results. It’s about striking a harmonious alignment between individual and organizational objectives for accomplishment of excellence in performance. 2. 0 Discussion 2. 1 JOURNAL: THE EFFECT OF MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT TO SERVICE ON EMPLOYEE SERVICE BEHAVIORS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF JOB SATISFACTION Refer on the journal; the proposed model in the Thai hotel work setting indicates that management service initiatives, particularly training, rewards, and empowerment deliver a strong message to employees that the management is devoted to quality service, ultimately creating the positive affect (i. e. , employee satisfaction). Furthermore, the result showed that when employees are satisfied with their job, this positive feeling about their job motivates them to go the extra mile for customers and help co-workers and supervisors in need. Currently, not all hotel operators in Thailand favour the four management service initiatives because those options can be costly. However, it seems to be clear that management should consider allocating more resources to implement such initiatives. Among the four management service initiatives, rewards displayed the largest effect on Thai hotel workers’ job satisfaction, with the largest path coefficient. In general, two kinds of rewards are available: financial and nonfinancial rewards. Rewards also range from a simple thank-you note for an exceptional service to a large reward such as wage increase and promotion. Rewards given to employees, regardless of the type, must be meaningful to the employees and the organization. In other words, rewards should be based on employees’ job performance and reflect the organization’s goal and service standard. Most rewards in the Asian culture, including Thailand, are in monetary form. However, because of the growing influence of the Western style of management, rewards in the form of recognition, such as being selected as employees of the month (or the year) with a certificate, are getting popular in Thailand. This kind of recognition can increase employees’ morale and make workers feel that they are appreciated and valued as a member of the organization, leading to job satisfaction and organizational loyalty. Panmunin (1993) reports that Thai hotel employees suffer from low self-esteem because the Thai caste system disparages servants as low caste individuals. The result of the present study seems to emphasize the importance of appropriate rewards for Thai frontline hotel workers, who may be often neglected and unappreciated in the caste system (high-power-distance culture), to improve their work morale. Next, this study demonstrates that training cannot be overlooked to satisfy hotel workers. Through training, Thai employees master the basic skills necessary to perform the daily duties of the position and develop job competence. In addition to the basic skills, more Thai hotels are offering training such as dealing with guests’ complaints. It is a new type of training that originates from the Western hotel companies. Typically, when Thai employees encounter disgruntled or difficult guests, they have supervisors or mangers handle the situation. This new training program broadens frontline employees’ responsibilities and teaches proper techniques to resolve conflicts and deal with problems immediately to build customer satisfaction. The result of this study seems to suggest that Thai hotel personnel are satisfied with this new, additional training. Third, this study implies that empowered Thai employees are satisfied and exert more positive service behaviours. This result contradicts the proposed hypothesis. Despite the vertical culture, more and more hotel organizations in Thailand are embracing the concept of empowerment by allowing frontline personnel to make more decisions to take care of in-house guests. Although empowerment is a relatively new concept for hotels in Thailand, the result indicates that line employees are quickly adopting such a work practice and are happy about it. In general, frontline employees are much younger than managers in Thai hotels. The young generation has been more exposed to the global influence of U. S. culture. Thus, young Thai hotel employees may regard a Western management practice such as empowerment highly. We also speculate that the positive empowerment outcome is attributed to the new additional training and the Western style of rewards. Research has shown that empowerment often involves training and rewards to be more effective. Another possible explanation regarding the positive effect of empowerment is the growing size of tourism. Thailand is one of the popular travel destinations in the world, and hotels are receiving large numbers of international customers. In Western countries, it is common to see frontline employees empowered to meet the guests’ needs immediately. Travelers, particularly from the United States and Europe may be accustomed to such a level of customer focus and expect Thai hotels to offer a comparable level of service. The management in Thailand is becoming aware of the phenomenon and therefore expending more effort to make use of empowerment to please international hotel guests. Finally, there is no significant effect of organizational support on hotel employees’ job satisfaction. In this study, organizational support focuses on help offered to frontline workers when necessary, appropriate job design, and support for frontline employees’ goals and values. This insignificant result may be partly associated with the high power distance between supervisors and subordinates. In the Thai hotel organization, managers are more likely to be valued and respected than frontline personnel, and Thai managers with authoritative leaderships are least likely to place a high priority on the well-being of frontline employees and assisting in their job. Although the organizational culture is changing slowly, and large Thai hotel companies are adopting Western management styles, it takes a long time for employee perceptions to change. Thai frontline personnel are more likely to recognize strong organizational support (i. e. , they feel they receive enough help at work, their job is designed to be rewarding, and their goals and values are as important as managers’ goals and values) in the future. In the conclusion of organizational behaviour, service quality initiatives such as rewards, empowerment, training, and organizational support have been a revolving theme tied with employee satisfaction and performance. This study presents how these initiatives work in a culturally different setting such as Thailand. The results of this study indicate that the service quality initiatives, which mostly originate from the U. S. or Western (horizontal) culture, are worthy of trial in Asian hotels (with a vertical culture) because such initiatives may help improve frontline employees’ morale and self-esteem and ultimately increase the overall effectiveness of the hotel operation. In summary, hoteliers should continue to increase decentralization of authority, develop attractive compensation, and improve frontline workers’ knowledge and skills through ongoing training. Then, all these efforts are likely to pay off by yielding happier, committed staff members who care about guests and other co-workers. 2. 2 ARTICLE JOURNAL: SHAKING UP INTEL’S INSIDES Performance-based, standardized job descriptions provide employees with clear and attainable job duties and responsibilities as well as the resources needed to accomplish them (Mahdieh,2013). We work with employees to explain the tools and their importance to achievement of the organization’s mission and goals a critical factor in retaining valuable staff and preventing costly burnout. Employees are an organization’s most valuable resources. Companies spend considerable amounts of money and time developing and supporting their human resources. A critical component of this development and support is employee performance management. An employee’s performance is a measure of the ways in which their work-related behavior contributes to achievement of the organization’s business objectives. In this article, they have problem in new employee, employees are now â€Å"on stage† when they’re meeting with customers and â€Å"off stage† when they’re in a back office handling paperwork. And he implemented an exhaustive â€Å"playbook† that has scripts for everything down to the language with which tellers are supposed to greet customers. Still, at one Boston branch McGee visited, Paul J. Hillson, a consumer marketing manager, concedes that he encountered initial resistance from some FleetBoston tellers: â€Å"What you hear is, ‘But I already know that customer. â€Å"‘ McGee agrees that changing employee behavior â€Å"is still a work in progress. â€Å". Managing this performance is the key to producing high achieving and reliable human resources. Performance management is a process by which managers and employees work together to plan, monitor and review an employee’s work objectives and overall contribution to the organization(Memoona,2013). More than just an annual performance review, performance management is the continuous process of setting objectives, assessing progress and providing on-going coaching and feedback to ensure that employees are meeting their objectives and career goals. In this case we can see analysts said, has been the efforts of McGee and his team to overhaul Fleet’s branches, from products to training to culture. To lure new customers, BofA dangled free checking and free online bill-paying, a service for which many New England banks still charged. And while the old FleetBoston simply gave customers the 800 number for an outside mortgage lender, BofA has outfitted roughly two-thirds of Fleet branches with special software that approves or rejects a customer’s application for a mortgage or home-equity loans within 30 minutes. As a conclusion, this is in line with results in the emotions and justice literature that negative appraisals are influential drivers of employee behaviours and attitudes (Brown et al. ,2011). Performance appraisals are a basis component of human resource management, the outcomes of appraisals are used as the foundation of many human recourse decisions. While organizations devote considerable resources and time into performance appraisal this collected study has demonstrated that the quality of the employee performance appraisal experience are different. There are employees with low quality performance appraisal experiences while at the other end of the scale, there are some employees who state high quality experiences of the performance appraisal process. Moreover, this research demonstrates that organizations pay a price for letting low quality performance appraisal experiences, when employees have low quality performance appraisal experiences the organization will likely to bring a penalty in forms of lower job satisfaction and higher intentions to quit. 2. 3 ARTICLE: BOFA’S HAPPY SURPRISE In this world of competition as organizations effort to remain competitive and sustainable, human resources professionals and strategic planners should collaborate strongly in designing strategies which are more productive and useful (Dazel. 2103). Among these functions, one of the most critical ones that bring global success is performance appraisal . It is more considerable than other processes because its results show the success of the awareness of the other areas in the field of Human Resources and other personnel activities. In the other perspective, assumptions of corporate management show that performance appraisal makes people to be really engaged in the business of the organization. In this situation, the article shows he’s making it clear to employees that, under his leadership, Intel truly are entering a new era. Otellini, who officially takes the helm on May 18, will be the first chief executive without an engineering degree at a company where gear heads have reigned supreme. He believes that to keep Intel growing, every idea and technical solution should be focused on meeting customers’ needs from the outset. So rather than relying on its engineering prowess, Intel’s reorganization will bring together engineers, software writers, and marketers into five market-focused units: corporate computing, the digital home, mobile computing, health care, and channel products PCs for small manufacturers. The development of an organisational culture indicator followed a review of the organisational culture literature, in which particular attention was given to the instruments that have been most commonly used in its measurement (Michael, 2013). In this article, we can see that the new regime will cause a jolt to the culture. For decades, employees have been compensated for their own work. Now teams will be judged as a whole. Engineers, long the top dogs, may resist working with others. â€Å"It’s like saying to a baseball player, ‘Gee, we’re deciding to play pro football,†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ says Edward E. Lawler, a professor at USC’s Marshall School of Business. â€Å"All of a sudden, the rules of the game are very different. † Otellini has begun to put the pieces in place. Now he’ll need the teamwork of his people to pull it off. As conclusion, this article established that there was no existing tool which adequately met our requirements for a comprehensive, up-to-date measure, easily completed by all levels of the workforce. Through the review process we were able to identify the cultural dimensions most frequently assessed in organisations and deemed important in this extensively researched field. A parallel search of literature on current manufacturing practice highlighted other areas less traditionally examined in culture research, but which we thought relevant in capturing critical aspects of organisational culture in the manufacturing sector. Performance  management  is a significant tool in business  management  today. Management activity of this type makes it easier to evaluate the productivity of individual employees as well as entire departments. As a result, the company will function more efficiently, may keep overhead low, and has a better chance of succeeding. There are many benefits of  performance management  that have a direct bearing on the day-to-day operation, which in turn makes the overall picture for the company much brighter. Inside the company of The New York Times, there have a lot of job design and performance management that occur and be built by the employer to their employees. Many advantages can we get by doing the implementation of job design and performance management. Through the implementation of performance management, the employer can get the result for what actually their employees doing in managing their work. The use of specific metrics in a performance management program allows employer to make decisions regarding performance breakdowns. Initially, it allows employer to pinpoint problems and take the proper corrective actions to immediately rectify them. For example, as our research in year 2003, according to the journal of The New York Times, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. , the current proprietor, faced what seemed to be a publisher’s ultimate test after a loosely supervised young reporter named Jayson Blair was found to have fabricated dozens of stories. The crisis was emerged between the employer and its employees after the employer getting know about their employee’s attitude. The employer can strictly blot for whom employees that making a wrong attitude and breaking the rules of their job ethics. The effects of these crisis has causes the company’s performance lagging. The companies had difficult moments eventual through allegations received due to errors employees. However, it can be improved by making implementation of performance management. Performance management allows employer to make decision and focus their feedback on issues or crisis directly related to the achievement of the individual employee’s goals and objectives. Any other issues or crisis distracting the employee that don’t contribute to the unit or department’s performance can be quickly and effectively handled and eliminated. One of the examples of performance management that can be found in the journal of The New York Times is where Keller has made so many high-level personnel changes whereby two-thirds of all newsroom workers now report to a new boss. Other than that, Keller has also put into practice a string of reforms suggested by several internal committees formed in the wake of the Blair affair. Meaning to say, these include the appointment of a standards editor and a public editor, or ombudsman. After making this system, the company performances was increase and improved and at the same time the whole of operation managements can be run smoothly. According to journal, The Times posted its gains despite boosting the price of a subscription by more than 20% on average. As a conclusion, a good performance management system works towards the improvement of the overall organizational performance by managing the performance of teams and individuals. That is for ensuring the achievement of the overall organizational ambitions and goals. The Times can built more an effective performance management system that can play a very crucial role in managing the performance in an organization such as ensuring the employees understand the importance of their contribution to the organizational goals and objectives. Other than that, by ensuring each employee understands what is expected from them and equally as pertaining whether the employee possess the required skills and support for fulfilling such expectations. Ensuring proper aligning or linking of objectives and facilitating effective communication throughout the organization and facilitating a cordial and a harmonious relationship between an individual employee and also the line employer based on trust and empowerment. 2. 4 The Effects of Job Rotation Practices on Motivation: A Research on Managers in the Automotive Organizations This article is about the use of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to calculate and analyze the level of technical, allocate and cost efficiencies of Australian hospital food service operations. As we know, every provision of food to the patients is the responsibility of each individual hospital. To prepare the food their must cooked and plated and serve it in hot condition, that can we call as a â€Å"cook-serve system†. Therefore this system required substantial labor input and always created tension arising because of the necessity of working tight schedules and need to achieve high quality standards. In 1970, the new system of foodservice was introduced which is the introduction of the hybrid and cook-chill system. These new system require large initial capital investment. There has been an essential expansion in the use of cook-chill systems throughout the different states because of the technology changes. However, the last health service report published that inefficiency is still a problem with most hospital foodservice operation because of the underutilization of production capacity. Actually, this is the on how performance management taking place to overcome this problem. There are a lot of the significant of making implementation of performance management. The primary reason to make sure performance management processes are functioning properly is to tighten the link between strategic organizational objectives and day-to-day actions. Effective goal setting (including timelines), combined with a method to track progress and identify obstacles, contributes to success and bottom line result. Frequently tracking progress against performance goals and objectives also provides the opportunity to recognize and reward employees for performance and exceptional effort, contributing to job satisfaction and productivity. Employees want to feel successful, to do well at their job and feel there are making a valuable contribution. In order to ensure this happens, employees need a clear understanding of individual goals and how they fit into the larger organization. New technology-based solutions offered can provide goal visibility across entire organizations, offer extensive reporting option and can reduce paperwork by as much as 90%. Clear visibility, regular individual analysis and company-wide employee appraisals help identify corporate competencies and skill gaps. With this valuable data, organizational can identify training and development plans. Performance management best practices result in a wide range of the advantages for employees, employer and whole organizational. In a nutshell, the performance management inside every organizational is one of the essential tool to gain a goal and objectives of organizations. Therefore, the organization like hospital can considered more about their performance management to overcome their problem. At the same times gain successful services to their patient. 2. ARTICLE JOURNAL: THE FUTURE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES – BUSINESSWEEK Human Resource is the most important resource compared with other resources like machine, material, land, etc. In the organizational context, the effectiveness of human resource depends on designing the job according to human capability and characteristics. Job design is the most important function of Human Resource Management. It indicates that, designing of contents, metho ds, functions of a job. The performance of an employee is that, how well an employee performs his or her task duties and responsibilities. Employees’ performance is also crucial. Because the achievement of goals and objectives of the organization is assessed by performance of its resources, employees’ performance should be assessed and maintained periodically. At work, in a human-focussed approach, the human oriented process designs have shown its importance as much as the technical issues, from a productivity aspect. Several human-focussed applications such as increasing motivation at work, improving workers’ physical working conditions, obtaining job security, and increasing job satisfaction, increasing quality nd productivity, decreasing costs to become competitive are increasing it’s importance by the day. Within the natural development process of work, maybe human-centred problems exceed technical problems and even the cost of investment in personal has gone beyond the point of technical investment. Job analysis, training, performance measurement, re-organisation projects, re-engineering studies and especially applications related to job design which support this approach have an important place among human resources applications. Job design related applications began to take shape with a scientific management approach in the 1900s. Models related to job design able to be classified as job rotation, job enlargement, job enrichment, job engineering, quality of work life, social information processing approach and job characteristics approach, have extremely important effects on increasing the productivity of human resources. It is predicted that job satisfaction and productivity will be highest when both job enlargement and job enrichment are jointly applied to redesigning work systems From a conceptual perspective, job design is defined as determining the specific job content, the methods used at work and the relationships between jobs to correspond the firm’s technological and organisational, and the employees’ social and personal expectations. In accordance with this definition, it is stated that a well-designed and defined job increase employees job satisfaction, increases motivation, decreases workplace-related stress, encourage learning efforts and is therefore have a positive effect on employees’ performance. There are many studies published in related literature investigating the relationship between job design and employees’ motivation. The common points of these studies is that the application of job design has a positive effect on the specifics of job performance, like motivation, flexibility, job satisfaction, self-control, and skill development. The relevant studies are shown in Table below.

Shadow Kiss Chapter 24

Twenty-four THE WHOLE WORLD WAS still. At this time of night, there were no birds or anything, but it seemed quieter than usual. Even the wind had fallen silent. Mason looked at me pleadingly. The nausea and prickling increased. Then, I knew. â€Å"Dimitri,† I said urgently, â€Å"there are Strig – â€Å" Too late. Dimitri and I saw him at the same time, but Dimitri was closer. Pale face. Red eyes. The Strigoi swooped toward us, and I could almost imagine he was flying, just like vampire legends used to say. But Dimitri was just as fast and nearly as strong. He had his stake – a real one, not a practice one – in his hand and met the Strigoi's attack. I think the Strigoi had hoped for the element of surprise. They grappled, and for a moment they seemed suspended in time, neither gaining ground on the other. Then Dimitri's hand snaked out, plunging the stake into the Strigoi's heart. The red eyes widened in surprise, and the Strigoi's body crumpled to the ground. Dimitri turned to me to make sure I was all right, and a thousand silent messages passed between us. He turned away and scanned the woods, peering into the darkness. My nausea had increased. I didn't understand why, but somehow I could sense the Strigoi around us. That was what was making me feel sick. Dimitri turned back to me, and there was a look I'd never seen in his eyes. â€Å"Rose. Listen to me. Run. Run as fast and as hard as you can back to your dorm. Tell the guardians.† I nodded. There was no questioning here. Reaching out, he gripped my upper arm, gaze locked on me to make sure I understood his next words. â€Å"Do not stop,† he said. â€Å"No matter what you hear, no matter what you see, do not stop. Not until you've warned the others. Don't stop unless you're directly confronted. Do you understand?† I nodded again. He released his hold. â€Å"Tell them buria.† I nodded again. â€Å"Run.† I ran. I didn't look back. I didn't ask what he was going to do because I already knew. He was going to stop as many Strigoi as he could so that I could get help. And a moment later, I heard grunts and hits that told me he'd found another. For only a heartbeat, I let myself worry about him. If he died, I was certain I would too. But then I let it go. I couldn't just think about one person, not when hundreds of lives were depending on me. There were Strigoi at our school. It was impossible. It couldn't happen. My feet hit the ground hard, splashing through the slush and mud. Around me, I thought I could hear voices and shapes – not the ghosts from the airport, but the monsters I'd been dreading for so long. But nothing stopped me. When Dimitri and I had first begun training together, he'd made me run laps every day. I'd complained, but he'd stated over and over again that it was essential. It would make me stronger, he had said. And, he'd added, a day could come when I couldn't fight and would have to flee. This was it. The dhampir dorm appeared before me, about half its windows lit. It was near curfew; people were going to bed. I burst in through the doors, feeling like my heart was going to explode from the exertion. The first person I saw was Stan, and I nearly knocked him over. He caught my wrists to steady me. â€Å"Rose, wh – â€Å" â€Å"Strigoi,† I gasped out. â€Å"There are Strigoi on campus.† He stared at me, and for the first time I'd ever seen, his mouth seriously dropped open. Then, he recovered himself, and I could immediately see what he was thinking. More ghost stories. â€Å"Rose, I don't know what you're – â€Å" â€Å"I'm not crazy!† I screamed. Everyone in the dorm's lobby was staring at us. â€Å"They're out there! They're out there, and Dimitri is fighting them alone. You have to help him.† What had Dimitri told me? What was that word? â€Å"Buria. He said to tell you buria.† And like that, Stan was gone. I had never seen any drills for Strigoi attacks, yet the guardians must have conducted them. Things moved too fast for them not to have. Every guardian in the dorm, whether they'd been awake or not, was in the lobby in a matter of minutes. Calls were made. I stood in a semicircle with other novices, who watched our elders organize themselves with amazing efficiency. Glancing around, I realized something. There were no other seniors with me. Since it was Sunday night, all of them had returned to the field experience to protect their Moroi. It was oddly relieving. The Moroi dorms had an extra line of defense. At least, the teenage Moroi did. The elementary campus did not. It had its normal guardian protection, as well as a lot of the same defenses our dorm did, like gratings on all the first-floor windows. Things like that wouldn't keep Strigoi out, but they would slow them down. No one had ever done too much more than that. There'd been no need, not with the wards. Alberta had joined the group and was sending out parties throughout campus. Some were sent to secure buildings. Some were hunting parties, specifically seeking out Strigoi and trying to figure out how many were around. As the guardians thinned out, I stepped forward. â€Å"What should we do?† I asked. Alberta turned to me. Her eyes swept over me and the others standing behind me, ages ranging from fourteen to just a little younger than me. Something flashed across her face. Sadness, I thought. â€Å"You stay here in the dorm,† she said. â€Å"No one can leave – the whole campus is under lockdown. Go up to the floors you live on. There are guardians there organizing you into groups. The Strigoi are less likely to get up there from the outside. If they get in on this floor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She scanned around us, at the door and windows being monitored. She shook her head. â€Å"Well, we'll deal with that.† â€Å"I can help,† I told her. â€Å"You know I can.† I could tell she was about to disagree, but then she changed her mind. To my surprise, she nodded. â€Å"Take them upstairs. Watch them.† I started to protest being a babysitter, but then she did something really astonishing. She reached inside her coat and handed me a silver stake. A real one. â€Å"Go on,† she said. â€Å"We need them out of the way here.† I started to turn away but then paused. â€Å"What does buria mean?† â€Å"Storm,† she said softly. â€Å"It's Russian for ‘storm.'† I led the other novices up the stairs, directing them to their floors. Most were terrified, which was perfectly understandable. A few of them – the older ones in particular – looked like I felt. They wanted to do something, anything to help. And I knew that even though they were a year from graduation, they were still deadly in their way. I pulled a couple of them aside. â€Å"Keep them from panicking,† I said in a low voice. â€Å"And stay on watch. If something happens to the older guardians, it'll be up to you.† Their faces were sober, and they nodded at my directions. They understood perfectly. There were some novices, like Dean, who didn't always grasp the seriousness of our lives. But most did. We grew up fast. I went to the second floor because I figured that was where I'd be most useful. If any Strigoi got past the first floor, this was the next logical target. I showed my stake to the guardians on duty and told them what Alberta had said. They respected her wishes, but I could tell they didn't want me to be too involved. They directed me down a wing with one small window. Only someone my size or smaller could probably fit through, and I knew that particular section of the building was nearly impossible to climb up, due to its outside shape. But, I patrolled it anyway, desperate to know what was going on. How many Strigoi were there? Where were they? I realized then that I had a good way of finding out. Still keeping an eye on my window as best I could, I cleared my mind and slipped into Lissa's head. Lissa was with a group of other Moroi on an upper floor of her dorm too. The lockdown procedures were undoubtedly the same across campus. There was a bit more tension in this group than with mine, probably due to the fact that even while inexperienced, the novices with me right now had some idea how to fight Strigoi. The Moroi had none, despite those adamant Moroi political groups wanting to instigate some sort of training sessions. The logistics of that were still being figured out. Eddie was near Lissa. He looked so fierce and so strong – like he could single-handedly take on every Strigoi on campus. I was so glad that he among my classmates was assigned to her. Since I was completely inside her mind now, I got the full force of her feelings. Jesse's torture session seemed meaningless now compared to a Strigoi attack. Unsurprisingly, she was terrified. But most of her fear wasn't for herself. It was for me and Christian. â€Å"Rose is fine,† a voice nearby said. Lissa glanced over at Adrian. He'd apparently been in the dorm rather than guest housing. He had on his usual lazy face, but I could see fear masked behind his green eyes. â€Å"She can take on any Strigoi. Besides, Christian told you she was with Belikov. She's probably safer than we are.† Lissa nodded, wanting desperately to believe that. â€Å"But Christian†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Adrian, for all his bravado, suddenly looked away. He wouldn't meet her eyes or offer any conciliatory words. I didn't need to hear the explanation because I read it from Lissa's mind. She and Christian had wanted to meet alone and talk about what had happened to her in the woods. They'd been supposed to sneak out and meet at his â€Å"lair† in the chapel's attic. She hadn't been fast enough and had been caught by curfew just before the attack, meaning she remained in the dorm while Christian was still out there. It was Eddie who offered the words of comfort. â€Å"If he's in the chapel, he's fine. He really is the safest of all of us.† Strigoi couldn't enter holy ground. â€Å"Unless they burn it down,† said Lissa. â€Å"They used to do that.† â€Å"Four hundred years ago,† said Adrian. â€Å"I think they've got easier pickings around here without needing to go all medieval.† Lissa flinched at the words easier pickings. She knew Eddie was right about the chapel, but she couldn't shake the thought that Christian might have been on his way back to the dorm and been caught in the middle. The worry was eating her up, and she felt helpless with no way to do or find out anything. I returned to my own body, standing in the second floor hallway. Finally, I really and truly grasped what Dimitri had said about the importance of guarding someone who wasn't psychically linked to me. Don't get me wrong; I was still worried about Lissa. I worried more about her than any other Moroi on campus. The only way I wouldn't have been worried would have been if she were miles away, ringed in wards and guardians. But at least I knew she was as safe as she could be right now. That was something. But Christian †¦ I had no idea. I had no link to tell me his whereabouts or to even let me know if he was alive. This was what Dimitri had meant. It was an entirely different game when you didn't have a bond – and it was a scary one. I stared at the window without seeing it. Christian was out there. He was my charge. And even if the field experience was hypothetical†¦ well, it didn't change things. He was a Moroi. He might be in danger. I was the one who was supposed to guard him. They came first. I took a deep breath and wrestled with the decision before me. I'd been given orders, and guardians followed orders. With the dangers around us, following orders was what kept us organized and efficient. Playing rebel could sometimes get people killed. Mason had proven that in going after the Strigoi in Spokane. But it wasn't like I was the only one who faced danger here. Everyone was at risk. There was no safety, not until all the Strigoi were gone from campus, and I had no clue how many there were. Guarding this window was busy work, meant to keep me out of the way. True, someone could invade the second floor, and I'd be useful then. And true, a Strigoi could try to get in through this window, but that was unlikely. It was too difficult, and, as Adrian had pointed out, they had easier ways to get prey. But I could go through the window. I knew it was wrong, even as I opened the window up. I was exposing myself here, but I had conflicting instincts. Obey orders. Protect Moroi. I had to go make sure Christian was okay. Chilly night air blew in. No sounds from outside revealed what was happening. I'd climbed out of my room's window a number of times and had some experience with it. The problem here was that the stone beneath the window was perfectly smooth. There was no handhold. There was a small ledge down by the first floor, but the distance to it was longer than my height, so I couldn't simply slide down. If I could get to that ledge, however, I could walk off to the corner of the building where some scalloped edging would let me climb down easily. I stared at the ledge below. I was going to have to drop down to it. If I fell, I'd probably break my neck. Easy pickings for Strigoi, as Adrian would say. With a quick prayer to whoever was listening, I climbed out of the window, holding onto its sill with both hands and letting my body dangle as close to the lower ledge as I could. I still had two more feet between it and me. I counted to three and released my hold, dragging my hands along the wall as I dropped. My feet hit the ledge and I started to wobble, but my dhampir reflexes kicked in. I regained my balance and stood there, holding the wall. I'd made it. From this point, I easily moved to the corner and climbed down. I hit the ground, barely noticing I'd skinned my hands. The quad around me was silent, though I thought I heard some screams in the distance. If I were a Strigoi, I wouldn't mess with this dorm. They'd get a fight here, and while most Strigoi could probably take out a group of novices at once, there were easier ways. Moroi were less likely to put up a real fight, and anyway, Strigoi preferred their blood to ours. Still, I moved cautiously as I set out toward the chapel. I had the cover of darkness, but Strigoi could see in it even better than I could. I used trees as covers, looking every way I could, wishing I had eyes in the back of my head. Nothing, save more screams in the distance. I realized then that I didn't have that nauseous feeling from earlier. Somehow, that feeling was an indicator of nearby Strigoi. I didn't entirely trust it enough to walk off blindly, but it was reassuring to know I had some kind of early alarm system. Halfway to the chapel, I saw someone move out from behind a tree. I spun around, stake in hand, and nearly struck Christian in the heart. â€Å"God, what are you doing?† I hissed. â€Å"Trying to get back to the dorm,† he said. â€Å"What's going on? I heard screaming.† â€Å"There are Strigoi on campus,† I said. â€Å"What? How?† â€Å"I don't know. You have to go back to the chapel. It's safe there.† I could see it; we could get there easily. Christian was as reckless as me sometimes, and I almost expected a fight. He didn't give me one. â€Å"Okay. Are you going with me?† I started to say I would, and then I felt that nauseous feeling creep over me. â€Å"Get down!† I yelled. He dropped to the ground without hesitation. Two Strigoi were on us. They both moved in on me, knowing I'd be an easy target for their combined strength, and then they could go after Christian. One of them slammed me into a tree. My vision blurred for half a second, but I soon recovered. I shoved back and had the satisfaction of seeing her stagger a little. The other one – a man – reached for me, and I dodged him, slipping out of his grasp. The pair of them reminded me of Isaiah and Elena from Spokane, but I refused to get caught up in memories. Both were taller than me, but the woman was closer to my height. I feinted toward him, and then struck out as fast as I could toward her. My stake bit into her heart. It surprised both of us. My first Strigoi staking. I'd barely pulled the stake out when the other Strigoi backhanded me, snarling. I staggered but kept my balance as I sized him up. Taller. Stronger. Just like when I'd fought Dimitri. Probably faster too. We circled and then I leapt out and kicked him. He barely budged. He reached for me, and I again managed to dodge as I scanned for some opening to stake him. My narrow escape didn't slow him down, though, and he immediately attacked again. He knocked me to the ground, pinning my arms. I tried to push him off, but he didn't move. Saliva dripped from his fangs as he leaned his face down toward mine. This Strigoi wasn't like Isaiah, wasting time with stupid speeches. This one was going to go in for the kill, draining my blood and then Christian's. I felt the fangs against my neck and knew I was going to die. It was horrible. I wanted to live so, so badly†¦but this was how it would end. With my last moments, I started to yell at Christian to run, but then the Strigoi above me sudde nly lit up like a torch. He jerked back, and I rolled out from underneath him. Thick flames covered his body, completely obscuring any of his features. He was just a man-shaped bonfire. I heard a few strangled screams before he grew silent. He fell to the ground, twitching and rolling before finally going still. Steam rose from where fire hit the snow, and the flames soon burned out, revealing nothing but ashes underneath. I stared at the charred remains. Only moments ago, I'd expected to die. Now my attacker was dead. I nearly reeled from how close I'd been to dying. Life and death were so unpredictable. So close to each other. We existed moment to moment, never knowing who would be the next to leave this world. I was still in it, barely, and as I looked up from the ashes, everything around me seemed so sweet and so beautiful. The trees. The stars. The moon. I was alive – and I was glad I was. I turned to Christian, who was crouched on the ground. â€Å"Wow,† I said, helping him up. Obviously, he was the one who had saved me. â€Å"No shit,† he said. â€Å"Didn't know I had that much power.† He peered around, body rigid and tense. â€Å"Are there more?† â€Å"No,† I said. â€Å"You seem pretty certain.† â€Å"Well†¦this is going to sound weird, but I can kind of sense them. Don't ask how,† I said, seeing his mouth open. â€Å"Just roll with it. I think it's like the ghost thing, a shadow-kissed side effect. Whatever. Let's get back to the chapel.† He didn't move. A strange, speculative look was on his face. â€Å"Rose †¦ do you really want to hole up in the chapel?† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"We just took out two Strigoi,† he said, pointing to the staked and charred bodies. I met his eyes, the full impact of what he was saying hitting me. I could sense Strigoi. He could use his fire on them. I could stake them. Provided we didn't hit a group of ten or something, we could do some serious damage. Then reality hit. â€Å"I can't,† I told him slowly. â€Å"I can't risk your life†¦.† â€Å"Rose. You know what we could do. I can see it in your face. It's worth risking one Moroi life – and, well, yours – to take out a bunch of Strigoi.† Putting a Moroi in danger. Taking him out to fight Strigoi. It pretty much went against everything I'd been taught. All of a sudden, I remembered that brief moment of clarity I'd just had, the wonderful joy of being alive. I could save so many others. I had to save them. I would fight as hard as I could. â€Å"Don't use your full power on them,† I finally said. â€Å"You don't need to incinerate them in ten seconds like that. Just light them up enough to distract them, and then I'll finish them. You can save your power.† A grin lit his face. â€Å"We're going hunting?† Oh man. I was going to get in so much trouble. But the idea was too appealing, too exciting. I wanted to fight back. I wanted to protect the people I loved. What I really wanted was to go to Lissa's dorm and protect her. That wasn't the most efficient idea, though. Lissa had my classmates on hand. Others weren't so lucky. I thought about those students, students like Jill. â€Å"Let's go to the elementary campus,† I said. We set off at a light run, taking a route we hoped would keep us away from other Strigoi. I still had no idea how many we were dealing with here, and that was driving me crazy. When we were almost to the other campus, I felt the weird nausea hit me. I called a warning to Christian, just as a Strigoi grabbed him. But Christian was fast. Flames wreathed the Strigoi's head. He screamed and released Christian, trying frantically to put the flames out. The Strigoi never saw me coming with the stake. The whole thing took under a minute. Christian and I exchanged looks. Yeah. We were badasses. The elementary campus proved to be a center of activity. Strigoi and guardians were actively fighting around the entrances to one of the dorms. For a moment, I froze. There were almost twenty Strigoi and half as many guardians. So many Strigoi together†¦Until recently, we'd never heard of them banding together in such large numbers. We'd thought we'd disbanded a large group of them by killing Isaiah, but apparently that wasn't true. I allowed myself only a moment more of shock, and then we jumped into the fray. Emil was near a side entrance, fending off three Strigoi. He was battered and bruised, and the body of a fourth Strigoi lay at his feet. I lunged for one of the three. She didn't see me coming, and I managed to stake her with almost no resistance. I was lucky. Christian meanwhile set flames to the others. Emil's face reflected surprise, but that didn't stop him from staking another of the Strigoi. I got the other. â€Å"You shouldn't have brought him here,† Emil said as we moved to help another guardian. â€Å"Moroi aren't supposed to get involved with this.† â€Å"Moroi should have been involved with this a long time ago,† said Christian through gritted teeth. We spoke little after that. The rest was a blur. Christian and I moved from fight to fight, combining his magic and my stake. Not all of our kills were as fast and easy as our early ones had been. Some fights were long and drawn out. Emil stuck with us, and I honestly lost count of how many Strigoi we took down. â€Å"I know you.† The words startled me. In all this bloodshed, none of us, friend or foe, did much talking. The speaker was a Strigoi who looked to be my own age but was probably at least ten times older. He had shoulder-length blond hair and eyes whose color I couldn't make out. They were ringed in red, which was all that mattered. My only answer was to swing out with my stake, but he dodged that. Christian was setting a couple of other Strigoi on fire, so I was handling this one on my own. â€Å"There's something strange about you now, but I still remember. I saw you years ago, before I was awakened.† Okay, not ten times my age, not if he'd seen me when he was a Moroi. I hoped his talking would distract him. He was actually pretty fast for a young Strigoi. â€Å"You were always with that Dragomir girl, the blonde.† My foot hit him, and I jerked my kick back before he could grab me. He barely budged. â€Å"Her parents wanted you to be her guardian, right? Before they were all killed?† â€Å"I am her guardian,† I grunted. My stake swiped dangerously close to him. â€Å"She's still alive, then†¦There were rumors that she'd died last year†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There was a sense of wonder in his voice, which mixed weirdly with the malice. â€Å"You have no idea what kind of reward I'd get to take down the last living Drag – Ahh!† He'd dodged my stake from hitting his chest again, but this time I managed an upward strike that dragged the stake's tip across his face. It wouldn't kill him there, but the touch of a stake – so filled with life – would feel like acid to the undead. He screamed, but it didn't slow his defenses. â€Å"I'll come back for you after I finish her,† he snarled. â€Å"You'll never get near her,† I growled back. Something shoved into me from the side, a Strigoi that Yuri was fighting. I stumbled but managed to drive my stake through Yuri's Strigoi's heart before he could regain his balance. Yuri gasped his thanks, and then we both turned to other parts of the battle. Only the blond Strigoi was gone. I couldn't find him anywhere. Another took his place, and as I moved toward that one, flames lit up around him, making him an easy mark for my stake. Christian had returned. â€Å"Christian, this Strigoi – â€Å" â€Å"I heard,† he panted. â€Å"We have to go to her!† â€Å"He was messing with you. She's across campus, surrounded by novices and guardians. She'll be okay.† â€Å"But – â€Å" â€Å"They need us here.† I knew he was right – and I knew how hard it was for him to say that. Like me, he wanted to run off to Lissa. Despite all the good work he was doing here, I suspected he would rather have sunk all his magic into protecting her, keeping her ringed in a wall of fire no Strigoi could cross. I had no time to deeply investigate the bond, but I could sense the important things: She was alive, and she wasn't in pain. So I stayed on, fighting with Christian and Yuri. Lissa hovered at the back of my mind, the bond telling me she was okay. Aside from that, I let battle lust consume me. I had one goal and one alone: Kill Strigoi. I couldn't let them get into this dorm, nor could I let them leave this area and possibly go to Lissa's dorm. I lost track of time. Only the Strigoi I was currently fighting at any given moment mattered. And as soon as that one was gone, it was on to the next. Until there wasn't a next one. I was sore and exhausted, adrenaline burning through my body. Christian stood beside me, panting. He hadn't engaged in physical combat like me, but he'd used a lot of magic tonight, and that had taken its own physical toll. I looked around. â€Å"We gotta find another one,† I said. â€Å"There are no others,† a familiar voice said. I turned and looked into Dimitri's face. He was alive. All the fear for him I'd held back burst through me. I wanted to throw myself at him and hold him as close to me as possible. He was alive – battered and bloody, yes – but alive. His gaze held mine for just a moment, reminding me of what had happened in the cabin. It felt like a hundred years ago, but in that brief glance, I saw love and concern – and relief. He'd been worried about me too. Then Dimitri turned and gestured to the eastern sky. I followed the motion. The horizon was pink and purple. It was nearly sunrise. â€Å"They're either dead or have run away,† he told me. He glanced between Christian and me. â€Å"What you two did – â€Å" â€Å"Was stupid?† I suggested. He shook his head. â€Å"One of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Half of those are yours.† I looked back at the dorm, shocked at the number of bodies lying around it. We had killed Strigoi. We had killed a lot of them. Death and killing were horrible things†¦but I had liked doing what I just did. I had defeated the monsters who had come after me and those in my care. Then I noticed something. My stomach twisted, but it was nothing like my earlier Strigoi-sensing feeling. This was caused by something entirely different. I turned back to Dimitri. â€Å"There are more than just Strigoi bodies there,† I said in a small voice. â€Å"I know,† he said. â€Å"We've lost a lot of people, in all senses of the word.† Christian frowned. â€Å"What do you mean?† Dimitri's face was both hard and sad. â€Å"The Strigoi killed some Moroi and dhampirs. And some†¦some they carried away.†

Business information system Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

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