Wisdom: Question and H. Norman Wright

Wisdom Khaled Sabri Instructor Curtis Jones Christian Excellence March 18, 2013 Wisdom Wisdom is the practical translation and application of the word of God to everyday life. It is an integration of knowledge, experience, and deep understanding that incorporates tolerance for the uncertainties of life as well as its ups and downs. There's an awareness of how things play out over time, and it confers a sense of balance. There are four components to wisdom: (1) Words from the wise, (2) Asking wisely, (3) being a person of understanding and (4) showing a little kindness. Beginning with words from the wise; H.Norman Wright states in his book â€Å"How to get Along with Almost Anyone† that; â€Å"The words you use connect you to other people. But how are you connected: by a cord that binds you together or a barrier which keeps you at a distance? † Wright provides us with an example of real life describing the experience at the Department of Motor Vehicles: â€Å"Youâ€℠¢ll have to get in the other line. Didn’t you read the instructions? Or You’ll have to come back Monday Morning. When we use the word you as a part of an order or command, we usually end up punching someone’s resistance button†. Asking wisely connects with the words we use. H.Norman Wright states in his book â€Å"How to get Along with Almost Anyone† that; â€Å"Questions are an important part of human interaction. Some people use questions to deepen and enrich their relationships. But many people use questions to pry, maneuver, gain advantage, attack, trap, setup, or break down the defenses of the others. † We need to ask questions open ended as opposed to closed. A good example is â€Å"How do you like the restaurant? † as opposed to â€Å"Isn’t this restaurant awful? † One allows the other person to state their own thoughts and perspective while the other closes the other person out and just shows your own viewpoint.Th e third component is that we need to be a person of understanding. We need to understand where the other person is coming from and be able to put the attention on them and not just on ourselves. H. Norman Wright states in his book â€Å"How to get Along with Almost Anyone† that; â€Å"The major characteristic of a person of understanding is revealed in Proverbs 14:29: He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is hasty of spirit exposes and exalts his folly†. The Fourth component is that we also need to show a little kindness . We all know what it feels like to be taken for granted.H. Norman Wright states; â€Å"Do you know what it feels to be taken for granted? you continue to give of yourself over a period of time and yet there is no response to, or recognition for, your efforts. Even we should be able to give freely and lovingly without expecting anything in return, most people respond well when their efforts are acknowledged†(Wright, H. N. , 1989) A little kindness can take you a long way in our path to getting along with others. These four components of wisdom are all steps in better ways to get along with others.By better understanding each other, and by possessing wisdom, you will be able to have better relationships with the people around you. The component that I feel is most applicable to me is asking wisely. A lot people have problems with this issue and it makes hard to respond to their words. By giving me your opinion other than asking me a simple question sometimes makes me feels oblige to answer the question the same way you want, thus depriving me from the right to say my honest opinion. Let’s go back to the example provided earlier, if you said: â€Å"Isn’t this restaurant awful? I feel I have no place to state my opinion or tell you exactly how I feel. In summary, understanding that true wisdom is understanding and following the Word of God can take you a long was in getting along with othe rs. It is a two part system; translation and application. It is important to understand the Word of God; and it is equally important to apply it to our daily lives. References H. Norman Wright (1989). How To Get Along With Almost Anyone. Nashville, Tennessee: Royal Publishers Inc. Sackett Christopher (January, 22, 2013). Wisdom. Examiner. com retrieved march 17th, 2013 from http://www. examiner. com/article/wisdom-3

Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Everyone else got to decide what would become of their lives, while she was now going to have everything decided for her. While Kim tells her story, she makes several statements that key on the readers’ emotions and get us to take her side. Kim uses good imagery when she tells about her village being burned down and her clothes scorched off. She says â€Å"I saw an airplane getting lower and then four bombs falling down. I saw fire everywhere around me. Then I saw fire over my body, especially on my left arm. My clothes had been burned off by the fire.Anyone who could imagine this happening to a nine year old wouldn’t be able to help feeling sorry for this person. To make matters for the little girl worse, she was then forced to become a poster child for the Vietnamese government to show the rest of the world. Kim’s freedom to become what she wanted was taken from her. While telling her story, she does a very good job using these rhetorical pathos to make the re ader feel sorry for her and take her side. In the story, â€Å"Untold Stories of Kindness†, an American soldier tells about the brutal reality of war. He explains that even though you may not agree with the reason for the fight or even know the truth behind the war, if you are a soldier, you have to do your job and continue fighting. He hits on the point that people want to help each other even in times of war and despair. He says that if everyone will just accept people who are different, the world will be a more peaceful place. His idea that people always want to help each other is supported by an example of a time he remembers people helping each other during his campaign in the Iraq war. After one particular fire fight that lasted nearly eight hours, Iraqi civilians helped the American soldiers clear the streets of wounded men and try to aid their injuries. People would also care for children, rebuild hospitals and schools, and feed the poor. The author of this essay uses strong imagery to make the reader have emotion towards his story. He tells about the time when insurgents detonated several car bombs killing over a hundred people. The number of people killed in this incident helps to emphasize the reality of all the people who dying in this war. He says â€Å"Cars were covered in blood as if they’d been hit with a paint sprayer. † This makes the reader try to imagine what he had to see and tries to make the reader feel the same emotions he has toward the situation. The rhetorical pathos used here are very similar to the pathos used by Kim in her story. Both of these essays made good points support the logic behind the statements and opinions in their stories. They also used good details and imagery so the audience could picture some of the things they had to see. The imagery in these stories tried to make the readers feel emotional and take the authors’ sides.

From the Great Wall to the Pyramids

The Great Wall of China and the Egyptian Pyramids are both Manmade Wonders of the World and belong to two of the oldest civilizations. Ancient Egypt and ancient China both have history that date back over 4,000 years ago, and though the two civilizations co-existed simultaneously with one another, there were little contact between the two. Yet apart from some underlying differences, there are many similarities between the two cultures as is highlighted when examining the Analects and The Book of the Dead.On the surface, the social behavior and values emphasized in the Analects and The Book of the Dead resemble one another; however, upon closer examination it becomes apparent that the origin and purpose behind the actions different greatly. The purpose of the two literatures contrast due to the lifestyles and beliefs that were held during each of the corresponding civilizations. Though the texts preach similar values and achieve similar results in terms of human behavior, the factor t hat ignited the creation of these two historical pieces differ tremendously.The Analects was written by Confucius, also known as Kong Zi, who resided during the Era of Warring State, which was a sub-period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. This was a time of disunity and power struggle where the empire was divided into areas controlled feudal lords who desired to expand their land by conquering weaker neighboring states. In the midst of this, philosophies of humanity and order began to blossom, as people began to grow tiresome of the constant wars and chaos. Confucius emphasizes that, â€Å"If they [riches and honor] cannot be obtained in the proper way, they should not be held†(p. ). These philosophies flourished as people began wanting reforms towards a harmonious life. Confucianism contributed to the downfall of the Zhou Dynasty, bringing in new values and social behaviors to the civilization. The Book of the Dead, on the other hand, formed due to the Egyptians emphasis of the afterlife. The Ancient Egyptian society was centered on the Nile River that provided fertile soil for the Egyptians to be able to survive. They believed that this â€Å"gift† from the Nile was from the gods when the people found favor with them.To maintain the positive relationship with the Gods, and to insure a favorable afterlife, The Book of the Dead was created as a guide for the dead to pass over to the next life. A contrast can be drawn in what stemmed the creation for each of these texts. The Analects was created to bring about change in the Chinese Civilization while the Book of the Dead was designed to further the positive relationship Egyptian people had with the Gods. . Though the two texts have varying origins, similar values are emphasized throughout the two historical texts and the civilization as a whole.The Egyptian word â€Å"maat† is an important term in the Egyptian society and is seen throughout the Book of the Dead. It signifies not just truth, but also balance, justice, and order. The people are required â€Å"live on maat, and feed on maat† (p. 3), which further reveals that the people’s life revolve around order and truth. In a similar fashion, Confucius also emphasizes the revolving order of truth, education, and justice. In the Analects, Confucius instructs man to â€Å"recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness†, an obvious dedication to not only justice and equality, but also sympathy.Further, Confucius reinforces that â€Å"the object of the superior man is truth, not food. † Similarly, the same parallel exists between the justice and equality aspect of the Analects and the â€Å"maat†, the order and truth, found in the Book of the Dead. Thus, the values conveyed in the Book of the Dead, for motivational purposes for a â€Å"good† afterlife, mirror the ones found in the Analects, as the common Chinese civilization also take to heart said values for t he benefit of society overall and to improve their current circumstances.Therefore, although there is a difference in origin and intention abiding by such values, it is hard to avoid the fact that the common values and social rules revolving around both civilizations’ societies closely resemble one another. Though the messages revealed in the two historical texts are similar, how the same objective is delivered differs, which in turn also affects the people’s lifestyle. The Book of the Dead provides of list of actions that must and must not be done, as it serves as a checklist of things the Egyptians must do before death such as, â€Å"I have not caused pain, I have cause no man to hunger, I have made no one weep.. (p. 1). The Analects instead provides words of wisdom and guidance for the people when making the decision like, â€Å"What you do not want done to yourself, do not to do others† (p. 1). This empowers the people to make the decision and to find what it right and wrong. Another factor that further emphasis the difference in what motivates the people to conduct good behavior is education. Confucianism seeks to emphasize the importance of education and provide the genesis of the concept of morality.In other words, the priority and heavy emphasis given to education by Confucianism exists to enable the education of right from wrong, and it is their belief that only through such truth and knowledge can one be conscious of choosing right over wrong. As an extension of that philosophy, Confucianism also argues that to know the ethics between right and wrong is essentially useless without applying and acting upon it. In contrast, the Book of the Dead doesn’t emphasize such an innate and acute developed sense of morality and ethics, and instead, dictates several rules of what to do and what not to do.The mystery or education needed to identify right from wrong is not necessary, and practically doesn’t exist, and instead a s imple adherence to discipline and obedience is the true test of their morality. In other words, the Egyptians did not place an emphasis of conscience or the development of ethics and morality, but instead places a greater emphasis on structured obedience, abiding by the rules stated in the Book of the Dead. All in all, it is no surprise that the two ancient civilizations live completely dissimilar lifestyles with contrasting beliefs, as they were isolated from one another.As the two began developing their culture, it is interesting to point out that their values and favored social conduct behavior ultimately became quite parallel. The emphasis in harmony, truth, and social order would not be prevalent in other societies, yet are in both the ancient Egyptians and the ancient Chinese civilizations. And yet, it is no doubt that their beliefs of the afterlife and motivation for following such conduct differs tremendously and is what gives each civilization their unique culture.

McKinsey 7-S applied on Qatar Cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

McKinsey 7-S applied on Qatar Cinema - Essay Example the employees and managers to ensure high satisfaction rate and meet objectives of the company and employees is evident in the analysis of Qatar Cinema. However, Qatar Cinema is more focussed at meeting the needs of the general public through offering low pricing for its products showing that despite the lack of a clear-cut strategy, focus on producing for the average to low income earners is evident. The human resource system at Qatar Cinema is not living up to its billing owing to the low motivation, dissatisfaction with their environment, and the lack of task rewards at the company assessed through the respondents by the employees. Qatar Cinema comprises of male and female employees, but the management and administrative positions are predominantly men reducing the gender diversity in leadership that could negatively hamper decision-making and access to diverse ideas. From the primary research, 60% of the employees are not satisfied with the environment in which they work with 65% not satisfied with the salaries they receive at Qatar Cinema pointing to human resource inefficiency. Further, 50% of the employees answered to disagree with receiving any motivation with 20% strongly agreeing, and 30% agree on the receipt of motivation at the company. The data revealed that 55% of the employees disagreed on the presence of task rewards with 45% of them strongly disagreeing employee handling by supervisors showing the lack of enough measures for employee welfare at Qatar Cinema. Centralized decision-making is used in running the daily operations of Qatar Cinema with little to no involvement of the staff in the decision-making process (Lewis et al., 2006). A strong leadership has however allowed Qatar Cinema to access a high market share and cement its place as an affordable cinema for the consumers in Qatar. Qatar Cinema make use of skilled and semi-skilled personnel with the skilled personnel undertaking management and administrative positions at the company while

Starbucks and Its Difficulties During the Time of Economic Hardship Case Study

Starbucks and Its Difficulties During the Time of Economic Hardship - Case Study Example Branded firms have their unique approaches to improving their market reach, brand image of the product, and maintain the quality standard of the product. Keeping in view the rapid rate of their expansion and growth at multiple locations these companies manipulated their marketing strategy according to the location since different locations offered different marketing environment (Larson. 2008). These companies focused more on its quality standard by critically handling the entire process involved from the purchase of raw materials till it's possession by its end user. These companies took a great care of each and every step to avoid compromising the quality standard of their products. In case of Starbucks Corporation, the firm created a coffee culture and also provided an atmosphere of relaxation for their customers who helped them in bringing the concept of â€Å"third place† where the first and second places were considered to be the home and office respectively (Larson, R. (2008). Many efforts are made by these companies under its strategic approach towards marketing to gain their customers’ trust and offer a value-based service to their customers. The companies also face problems due to variations in their customer group which varies with the location. Under such circumstances, these companies faced challenges which were mainly of following types, what mode should be used by the company to exist in the international market, how they should design their product offering to their customers keeping in mind the variations among the behavior of customer group. Along with it, another major challenge for such companies was to compete with other brands of the same industry serving globally to their customers. The marketing strategies adopted by Starbucks Corporation worked like a magnet which drove their customers to do things as per the company’s expectation (Carroll. 2007). A brand name in watchmaking industry is Maurice Lacroix which is famo us for its luxurious watches adopted strategy to promote their product and also form the alliance with a brand name in movies production house Dream Works for their film named Time Machine.

Social Media Effect On Teenagers Annotated Bibliography

Social Media Effect On Teenagers - Annotated Bibliography Example Why youth (heart) social network sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social life. MacArthur Foundation series on digital learning–Youth, identity, and digital media volume, 119-142. Retrieved from http://sjudmc.net/lyons/civicmedia1/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/boyd-Why-teens-heart-social-media.pdf. This is a report documenting a comprehensive research on social networking peer-based sociality. The author evaluates the effects of social networking in relation to teenage identity and status. He also compares social networking interactions with face-to-face public life.Butler, M. G. I. (2010). Online social networking and the impact on well-being: implications for school counselors. Retrieved from http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/ETD-UT-2010-05-915/BUTLER-MASTERS-REPORT.pdf?sequence=1. This author reviews recent literature on online social networking and its psychological impact on teenagers. The article identifies and discusses cyber bullying a nd sexting as the greatest negative effects of online social networking on teenagers.Dinakar, K., Jones, B., Havasi, C., Lieberman, H., & Picard, R. (2012). Common sense reasoning for detection, prevention, and mitigation of cyber bullying. ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems. Retrieved from http://web.media.mit.edu/~lieber/Publications/Bullying-TiiS.pdf. This article focuses on cyber bullying as a negative effect of social networking sites and its effect on healthy interpersonal relationships in teenagers.

ETH501, Business Ethics, Mod 2 Session Long Project Essay

ETH501, Business Ethics, Mod 2 Session Long Project - Essay Example It is the company’s duty to inculcate such an environment in the company and practice such ethical behavior that employees have nothing bad to say about the company. Many companies, however, take the easier route, that is they coerce their employees to restrain from whistle blowing about the company. One such contract, where an employee was restrained from speaking anything bad about the company was offered Charles F. Frenette. The contract stated that the initial offer to him about a stock option will e forfeited if he is found disparaging or using bad words about the company. This was like stopping him from speaking what he wants or what he may want to speak in the future. And punishment levied on him for his freedom of expression would be forfeiting his monetary reward. As discussed before, you cannot force an employee to restrain from speaking and instead you should inculcate such policies with the company that it may never indulge in any wrongdoings and hence does not come under bad wording by its employees. Let’s now look at the issue under the two most important ethical frameworks of deontology and utilitarianism. Unitarianism is all about the good for the society. This principle states that every action should increase the goodness for the society in all cases. An action should only be taken if costs associated are less than the benefits attained from it. For example, if Coke’s decision to stop its employees from whistle blowing or from telling people about any wrong doing of the company, this action would bring upon people very negative effects and will save only the reputation of the company. In other words, the costs inflicted in the society might be very high as compared to the reputation of the Coca-Cola that will be protected from any controversy. Under this ethical framework, the clause added by the Coca-Cola Company is never justified. They are inflicting costs on the

Free File Sharing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Free File Sharing - Essay Example In this light, all parties involved in the sharing tend to believe that the internet is a free place for them to give away file to their friends and other interested parties. This occurs especially with the new technologies that are coming up, such as peer-to-peer file sharing and other sites. With such events transpiring, some unscrupulous file owners tend to sell the said files for a profit that they get to spend and rip off the original owners of their dues, both in terms of moral support and financially (Biron). This is tantamount to physical and practical theft, which on a moral scale, and according to social norms, is wrong. In addition, morally, it is innate for one to conform to social norms, of which downloading of copyrighted materials is analogous to looting of physical property due to the awareness of the wrongdoing. However, ignorance is no defense and is bliss thus; sharing of copyrighted material over the internet makes, those participating in the issue believe they ar e doing right, but it is wrong. Free file sharing of copyrighted materials leads to the loss of revenue to the all that are involved (Debatepedia). This is concerning the artist not making the amount of financial remuneration that is they should receive. In this light, the artists lose their revenue on a massive scale, meaning that the artists are robbed of their dues, which translates to poor living standards of the said parties. As a result, it is wrong of an individual, in his or her right mind, to deprive another of their deserved standards of living. In relation to the government, the artists that own the copyrighted materials end up making less amounts of money. For this reason, the government rates, which tend to charge higher taxes for increased amounts of revenue, charges the artist less. This means that the government loses large amounts of funds to the pirates that share files for free

Super Bowl Commercial 2014 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Super Bowl Commercial 2014 - Essay Example In less than ten seconds, each scene tells a story of a thousand words. There is no mention of the brand name or image of the Microsoft logo throughout the commercial until the very end of the commercial. I believe the commercial brings out the personality of Microsoft. Microsoft strives to invent and develop amazing computer software that caters for not only ordinary people, but people with specific or special needs also. Technology has made life simpler and better. Technology has made people’s dreams a reality and Microsoft is at the forefront of such initiatives. The Super bowl 2014 Apple Inc commercial a competitor of Microsoft known for its IOS operating systems and OS X computer software did not have such a creative well thought through commercial (O’Grady, 2014). The Apple Inc commercial concentrated on their product iPhone and not a broader perspective of what they are all about. The Microsoft commercial was far more superior in terms of quality and was able to market Microsoft as a brand that cares and not a brand that wants to sell only. My favorite spot in the Microsoft commercial was a scene showing a small girl jumping up and down and screaming from seeing her father probably through Skype. It brings out the aspect of how technology builds relationships. The Super bowl Microsoft Commercial 2014 was

Use Transnational Teams to Globalize Your Company Essay

Use Transnational Teams to Globalize Your Company - Essay Example arning (1996).† The various models of transnational teams presented in the article show effectiveness and efficiency, and prove that transnational teams contribute the strategic, tactical and operational business strategies, goals and objectives. Aside from contributing to the overall thrust of the company, transnational teams also are a source of leadership, staffing challenges, able to communicate globally using modern and emerging technologies and often comprised of multidiscipline and multicultural team members. In the globalize world of today, transnational teams are at the center of this evolution and are contributing vastly to the improvement of business processes aligned with information technology and other emerging ideas. The idea of forming transnational teams has always been an innovative idea for companies to find their niche in the global market. The different scenarios presented in the article proves that transnational teams indeed work from setting up new technologies, opening new markets or starting a regional or branch office. But the thrust of any business is to increase the bottom line and satisfy stakeholders thus in utilizing transnational teams; the company enables transfer of technology, manufacturing or production facilities in Third World countries or emerging economies. The reason for this is the lower labor, production and overall operating costs. From the social responsibility point of view, there could be questions of exploitations or unfair labor practices, and these are just one of the few issues that adjuncts to globalization and transnational teams. Aside from these, forming transnational teams with differing cultural and social beliefs may take time to fully enable the team t o work together. As Snow et al. states: â€Å"Today’s international companies – even large, sophisticated global leaders – probably will discover that they must dramatically improve their human resources departments to support transnational teams

Explain Kants Ethical theories Essay Example for Free

Explain Kants Ethical theories Essay Kant’s ethical theory is an absolute and deontological theory. This means that humans are seeking the ultimate end called the supreme good also known as the ‘summon Bonnum’. Kant says that morality is a categorical imperative, this is a duty which must always be obeyed in all possible situations. A categorical imperative is what is needed to find what is right or wrong. Kant argued that to act morally is to do one’s duty, and one’s duty is to obey the moral law. Kant also believe that there was no room for emotion. Kant believe that categorical imperative helps us to know which actions are obligatory and which are forbidden. There are three principles within the categorical imperatives these include Universal law, Treat humans as ends In themselves and Act as if you live in a kingdom of ends. Universal law is putting minority views first. If it is wrong for one person than it is wrong for everyone. An action must not be carried out unless the person believes that the same situation all people would act in the same way. Treat humans as ends in themselves is respecting a person. This means that you can never use human beings for another purpose or to exploit or enslave them, this is because humans are the highest point of creation and demand unique treatment. Act as if you live in a kingdom of ends, this means treat all with respect. Kant believed that all of these helped to create ‘maxims’. A maxim is an absolute moral statement about a universal truth. For example a maxim: Murder is wrong. Therefore it is a universal rule that murdering anyone is wrong. Kant believes that we can only be true moral agents if we are free to make our own decisions. He argues that our freedom to make rational choices is what separates us from animals. He says that is you can do something, you should be able to do something, and if you cannot do something it is unfair to be asked. E.g. it is unfair to ask someone in a wheelchair to run a marathon.

Teenage Pregnancy Essay Example for Free

Teenage Pregnancy Essay Statistics from the Malaysia Welfare Department for this year, from January to April 2010, reported that 111 unmarried young girls were pregnant. The figure, however, is just the tip of the iceberg as many cases go unreported and pregnancies terminated. It also reported in New Straits Times on 23rd July 2010, the body of a baby girl found in a bag at a bus stop near the Sultan Ismail Hospital, Johor Bahru in the morning. Also there a baby found buried. New Straits Times on 18th July 2010, reported that a fetus was found buried by the roadside in Jalan 12, Bandar Puteri Puchong, Selangor. Baby dumping is not the solution to a life problem and it could be charged under Section 317 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum jail term of seven years or fine or both according to the Malaysian law. For the past few years there are many newborn babies have been found, dead or live in the most unlikely places like rubbish dump. For instance, The Malay Mail on 26 July 2011 [5] reported that a fetus with the umbilical cord intact was found in a garbage can at Pulau Mutiara wholesale market in Jalan Makloom, Penang. This shows clearly that â€Å"baby dumping† is really serious problem that currently happened in our society. Based on Table 1, the statistic from the Headquarters of Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) [6] indicated that there were 407 cases of baby dumping, for the past five years starting from 2005 until 7th April 2010. On average, there are 68 cases every year and these cases keep increasing. While in Figure 1.2.1, it shows that, there are 472 babies found dumped nationwide since 2005 until 16th August 2010. In year 2010 alone, it already recorded 65 cases up to 16 August 2010. That is means average 8 cases per month solely in year 2010 and this figure is not included the cases that not reported. According to Federal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Director Commissioner Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin, this year alone (2010), as at 16 August 2010, 65 dumped babies had been. As compared to 42 cases during the same period last year (2009), there is an increase in these cases [7]. Recently, the Cabinet also informed that there were 21 recorded cases of students who got pregnant out of wedlock between 2006 and 2010. Then, what about the unreported and unrecorded cases? Public belief that the figure more than what we can imagine. After all the shocking incidents proven by the data produced by PDRM and Welfare Department, we found a strong base to do this study. 3. Methods Material A simple random sampling technique was conducted among 400 students (out of total 7535 students) from Form One until Form Six (Upper Six) in secondary schools at the area of Bakar Arang State Assembly under Sungai Petani Parliamentary, Kedah. The schools involved were Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan 138 Ibrahim, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sungai Pasir, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Khir Johari and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bandar Sungai Petani in Sungai Petani, Kedah.The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for  the Social Science (SPSS) in getting descriptive statistic and correlation. 4. Results Discussion 4.1. Profile of Respondents Out of 400 respondents, there were 183 (45.75%) male respondents and 217 (54.25%) female respondents. This finding showed the dominant of female respondents in this study. Regarding the age group, the respondents were in the age of 13 years old (18 students or 4.50%), followed by 14 years old (51 students or 12.75%), 15 years old (44 students or 11.00%), 16 years old (97 students or 24.25%), 17 years old (94 students or 23.50%) and lastly 18 years old and above which is 96 students or 24.00%. The highest respondents in this study was 16 years old, followed by 18 years old, 17 years old, 14 years old, 15 years old and the lowest respondents were 13 years old. The race of respondents in this study consist of three major races in Malaysia which is Malay, Chinese, and Indian and the balance was other races. From the finding, it can be concluded that the highest race in this study was Malay, which consist of 242 students (60.5%), followed by Chinese, 75 students (18.75%), Indian 67students (16.75%) and the lowest was other races which consist 16 students (4.00%). 4.2. Result of Findings H1: There is a significant relationship between awareness towards consequences of free sex and baby dumping issue from the secondary school students’ perspective. Table 2. Awareness on consequences of free sex towards a perspective of baby dumping issue Awareness towards consequences of free sex Baby Dumping Pearson Correlation 0.396** Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 N 400 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). There was a significant relationship between awareness towards consequences of free sex and a perspective of baby dumping issue from the secondary school students’ perspective whereas P =0.000 and r = 0.396. Significant level is P 0.05 (P = 0.000). So, the researcher accepts the H1. This means, the awareness  towards consequences of free sex has an influence towards perspective of the baby dumping issue. This finding was also supported by APWLD Annual Report 2010 [9]. H2: There is a significant relationship between knowledge on sex education and baby dumping issue from the secondary school students’ perspective. Table 3: Knowledge on sex education towards a perspective of baby dumping issue. Knowledge on sex education Baby Dumping Pearson Correlation 0.445** Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 N 400 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). There was a significant relationship between knowledge on sex education and perspective of the baby dumping issue from the secondary school students’ perspective whereas P = 0.000 and r = 0.445. Significant level is P 0.05 (P = 0.000). So, the researcher accepts H2. This means, the respondents agreed that knowledge on sex education is important in order to prevent or reduce the number of baby dumping that happen in Malaysia. Besides that, most of the respondent agreed 139  that by learning sex education, teenagers will be more matured and responsible to themselves and having knowledge on sex education is important to prevent free sex among teenagers. H3: There is a significant relationship between religious belief and baby dumping issue from the secondary school students’ perspective. Table 4.Religious belief and a perspective of the baby dumping issue. Religious Belief Baby Dumping Pearson Correlation 0.386** Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 N 400 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). There was a significant relationship between religious belief and a perspective of baby dumping issue from the secondary school students’ perspective whereas P = 0.000 and r = 0.386. Significant level is P 0.05 (P = 0.000). So, the  researcher accepts H3. Religious belief also plays an important role in order to prevent baby dumping that increase from time to time. Other than that, most of respondents also agreed that religious belief need to apply in their daily life activity. This finding was also supported by the Azmi (2010) [1] and Coleman Testa (2007)[8]. 5. Conclusion As a conclusion, awareness towards consequences of free sex, knowledge on sex education and religious belief showed the significant relationships with the baby dumping issues in our country. Most of the respondents agreed that these three variables have a significant impact on baby dumping cases. It is important for the teenagers to understand the consequences of free sex so that they can prevent the unwanted pregnancy at the young age. Besides that, the knowledge on sex education is important to ensure the teenagers have a better understanding about their body so that they will not easily involve in free sex which can lead to the baby dumping. On top of that, the important of religious belief and practices also play a vital function. Every religion has lay down and taught about the dos and don’ts, about the sin and reward, and all religion prohibited the act of free sex. In order to prevent it, the government, schools, parents and teenagers should take necessary actions to stop this baby dumping issue from becoming worst. 6. Recommendation In order to cope with this baby dumping cases, government should come out with several policies and programmes. First of all, the government may incorporate sex education in school curriculum as part of a holistic approach to tackle baby dumping cases. This approach is needed in order to provide awareness and better understanding of reproductive system and health at school level. Besides that, the government also can restructure or add the syllabus in certain subject such as â€Å"Pendidikan Islam† or â€Å"Pendidikan Moral† in order to create awareness and highlighted the consequences of social problems like free sex and baby dumping. The government also should promote Islam as a way of life especially to the Muslim youth as we can see nowadays; most of the people who involved in baby dumping were Muslims.  Islamic scholars and Ulama’ must take this responsibility to explain to the community about Islam. However, it is important for the religious persons to use suitable method according to target group in performing this task. The government also can bring the Ulama’ or others religious person from other religion to give talk to the teenagers based on their belief especially when there is a program for teenagers as well as when there is a national campaign to curb with this kind of social problem. Drastic step by the government in categorizing baby dumping as a criminal amounting to murder if it meets with all the legal specifications is also can be introduced. The government can give another chance to the guilty parents if their baby is found alive but if the baby is found dead, the guilty parents need to be penalized under this criminal act. 140 Government also can help to curb this problems by exterminate pornographic materials from internet and electronic multimedia. These pornographic materials also one of the biggest factors that can contribute to the baby dumping issues because it will influence teenagers to do bad things. It is also recommended that the government come out with new rule to restrict the teenagers below 18 years old to check-in hotel or motel without parents or guardian. This rule will able to reduce free sex among the teenagers. Besides government, parents also should actively play their role in coping with this issue. For instance, they should discuss â€Å"openly† about sex and things related to it with their kids. Even though this topic still â€Å"taboo† in certain culture but it will prevent teenagers to get wrong information about sex from wrong sources. Weak family ties also one of the contributing factors in the rising cases of baby-dumping. It is a signal to all the parents not to concentrate and busy with their works and forgets to spend time with their children. As caring parents, we should hug, kiss, love and give more attention to our children before other persons do it for them. 7. Acknowledgements Our sincere thanks goes to our colleagues in UiTM Kedah, Malaysia for whom we have great regard, and we wish to extend our warmest thanks to all those who have helped us with the creation of this paper especially to Abdullah Fathi Muslim,Izzatul Nadiah Isa, Noor Atiqah Idris, Nurul Farakhin Zahrin and Nurzawani Abd Salam. 8. References [1] Dali, A. (2010), â€Å"Gejala buang bayi meningkat†, Kosmo , 17 August, pp. 6. [2] New Straits Times (2010), Eight held over selling of babies available at: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1- 188506529.html (accessed 26 July 2011) [3] New Straits Times (2010), Foetus found buried by roadside available at: http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/27jani/Article (accessed 26 November 2010) [4] New Straits Times (2010), Newborn found in plastic bag, available at: http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/28sarr/Article/index_html (accessed 26 November 2010) [5] The Malay Mail (2011), Foetus of boy found in garbage can, available at: http://www.mmail.com.my/content/45796-foetus-boy-found-garbage-can (accessed 26 July 2011) [6] PDRM (2010) â€Å"Baby Dumping Statistic† available at: http://www.rmp.gov.my (accessed 26 November 2010) [7] The Star (2010), â€Å"CID Chief: 472 babies found dumped since 2005†, available at: http://thestarmobile.com/jsp/news/viewNews.jsp?newsID=151204catID=19 (accessed 16 August 2010) [8] Coleman, L.M. and Testa, A. (2007), â€Å"Preferences towards sex education and information from an ethnically diverse sample of young people†, Sex Education, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 293-307. [9] Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) Annual Report 2010. 141

The Management of Industrial Relations

The Management of Industrial Relations How Has The Management Of Industrial Relations In Britain Changed In The Last Three Decades? What Does This Tell Us About The Respective Roles And Influence Of Employers, Management, Trade Unions And The State In Industrial Relations? This paper attempts to examine the changes which have taken place during the 1980s, the 1990s and the period 2000-2010 within the field of industrial relations. According to Edwards (2003:9) The employment relationship is by definition a relationship between an employee and an employer this direct relationship may be mediated by the two other key institutions to IR, the trade union and the state. Therefore this essay will also seek to explore the respective strategies, roles and powers of these actors. The paper has two sections; the first one represents the 1980s and the 1990s whereas the second one represents the period from 1997 into the last decade. In the first section the essay starts by describing the interventionist role that the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher adopted when it came in power in 1979. The legislations passed by the government constitute the reason of the development of very confrontational industrial relations throughout the two decades as they caused an imbalance of power in favour of the management and against trade unions. After seeing the legislative initiatives launched by the government the paper will attempt to describe the advantageous position of managers and employers who managed to re-exert managerial prerogative and to impose harsh managerial strategies. With the power always on their side managers imposed their own â€Å"rules† in the employee relations and showed a preference for individualism (employee/management relationshi p) rather than collectivism (union/management relationship) as they saw benefits such as greater flexibility and greater control over employees. Managers in the UK also start placing attention to HRM policies in the 1980s and seek to implement them in an effort to achieve business goals. But evidence suggests that they failed to implement appropriate Human Resource Management strategies. After that this paper will examine the decline in union membership, in unions ideology and therefore the decline of their overall power. In the second section of the essay we will study the period during which â€Å"the New Labour† was in power. In its effort to put an end to the special relationship it had with the trade unions in the past and to promote neo-liberalism the â€Å"New Labour† kept most of the legislation of the previous government but also established its own. Its main goal was to promote workplace â€Å"partnership† which meant that all actors; employers, employees, trade unions and government would work in collaboration to obtain mutual benefits. The strategies implemented by the government in order to promote workplace â€Å"partnership†, on the one hand helped in fostering employee involvement and communication within the workplace and on the other hand helped unions to reassert some of their lost power. During the period 1979 and 1997 the government clearly allied itself with the side of managers and employers in an effort to protect capitalism (Salamon 2000:92). Later on we will see that the alliance between employers and government against trade unions and the unequal distribution of power meant the beginning of an adversarial employment relationship and industrial relations. Committed to its liberalist/laissez-faire ideologies the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher which came in office sought to achieve one goal: to aid management to reassert its authority and power by constraining the power of trade unions. By adopting a very interventionist role the government proceeded with the launching of eight legislations within thirteen years and targeted at curbing unions ability to organise, their ability to pursue industrial action and particularly strikes and it interfered with their internal affairs (Salamon 2000:103). Salamon (2000:65) itemises a number of laws passed by the government during the period 1989-1997 and which account for the decline of the power of trade unions: The Thatcher Conservative government abolished the closed shop and removed the statutory recognition procedure. It prohibited secondary industrial action. Trades unions were required to ballot union members and proceed to industrial action only with the consent of the majority. The government legally enforced the trade unions to use the ballot process for their national elections. Although the costs of conducting ballots were initially subsidised by the government, the Trade Union and Employment Right Act of 1993 put an end to the provision of funds but the procedure was still legally required (Salamon 2000:152). Furthermore they were considered responsible for unlawful actions authorised by unions officers, committees or shop stewards unless they denounced them. Unions were deprived of their right to punish members who opted not to partake in industrial action even if it was legal. In addition to all these, it was easier for employers to fire employees who took part in strikes. In addition to the legislative restrictions that the government imposed on trade unions it also proceeded with the abolishment of tripartite institutions on which the trade unions were represented such as the MSC and the NEDO (Salamon 2000:65). During the 1980s and 1990s managers saw the balance of power shifting towards their side. This was due as we have seen to national legislation suppressing trade unions. Salamon (2000 :248) argues that this reassertion of power as well as the economic climate with the economic recession, the high rates of unemployment and the competition taking place at the international level prompted managers to adopt a managerial style called macho management. Purcell (1982) cited in Salamon (2000:248) explained macho management as the style of tough managers who neglected and scorned trade unions and whose ultimate interest was to manage and establish order. They were characterised by a great unwillingness to change their policies, to negotiate and to make concessions and they preferred dealing directly with employees rather than through unions. This desire to deal with employees on a individual basis also accounts for the a shift from collectivism to individualism. In other words managers used to have to deal with employee issues through their intermediaries that is to say bodies that represented them, such as trade union whereas now they have to confront employees directly (Salamon 2000:66) . Salamon (2000:82) also explains that the new strategies initiated by the management during the period meant that employees were now engaged through individual contracts and whose terms and conditions were different than the rest of their colleagues and that their reward was dependent on their individual performance. Salamon (2000:66) explains that managers embraced individual employment relationships rather than collective ones as they were more flexible. This flexibility and this emphasis on individualism was also explained by managers attempt to introduce Human Resource policies which made their apparition in the UK in the early 1980s and promised managers what they sought: organisational effectiveness and increased performance (Salamon 2000:234) by eliciting employee commitment. According to Salamon (2000:235-236), these strategies were also ways of enhancing managerial authority because employees were directly now accountable to managers, managers were more able to obtain control and now had the freedom to design strategies that would limit empowerment conceded to employees, and set some boundaries to the terms and conditions of the employment contract. Generally from now on they had more freedom in the decision-making while at the same time employees were committed to them. Once more Salamon (2000:239) explores the possibility that managers took advantage of HR practices in order to manipulate employees and claims that in reality managers only desire is to be able to do their work with the slightest possible confrontation from employees. Kessler and Purcell (2003) claim that there is little evidence, from the WIRS data, demonstrating that organisations were willing or had the potential to use HRM strategies. Instead during the period most managers opted for Bleak House strategies. They also claim that managers mostly resorted to opportunistic and cost minimisation strategies. On the same tone, Blyton and Turnbull (2004:129) explain that the economic downturn during the 1980s and 1990s, the acute international competition, the low skills equilibrium in which the UK was entrapped and the feelings of job insecurity made it impossible for employees and employers to develop the trust needed for the implementation of HR practices and therefore the management relied on opportunistic and pragmatic strategies. The issue of employee voice and most particularly employee representation elicited great attention by the government and the management when the European Court of Justice held in 1994 that the legislative initiatives of the government run counter to the EU directives and that the UK had ended up not respecting employee collective consultation rights. The Conservative government was enforced to amend its regulation which had come to mean that managers should either recognise unions at their workplace or/and set up other forms of collective representative bodies elected by the employees. This prompted some organisations too set up work or company councils. The creation of these councils raises three issues. First of all, they might be a threat to employee rights because managers might use them to by-pass trade unions. Secondly, they are not legally recognized so they have no rights and thirdly, employee representatives in these councils have not the training or experience of trade unio n officials and might therefore not elicit the attention and the respect of the management (Salamon 2000:188). As an example Salamon (2000:189) presents the case study of Bristol West, a non-unionised company which in 1994 introduced the â€Å"partners councils† which were employee representative bodies which allowed employees to express their opinion on the firms Human Resource issues. Although the councils were reserved only for employee representatives the company tried to ensure that there was a professional or manager with them. However, according to Ackers and Payne (1998) cited in Salamon (2000:260), it turned out that the reassertion of managerial authority , the HRM strategies introduced aiming at promoting individualism and employee voice and participation and the decline of powers of trade unions did not give to managers what they sought: order, cohesion and employee commitment. That is why they turned to the â€Å"workplace â€Å"partnership approach in pursuit of these goals. The governments hostile position towards the trade unions as well as the harmful measures it took against trade unions had as subsequent repercussion the decline of union membership. This is illustrated by the figures presented by Salamon (2000:67) according to which during the period 1879-1998 union membership dropped by 5,5 million and by the figures provided by Blyton and Turnbull (2004: 139) which demonstrate that during 1979 and 1997 the number of trade union members fell by over 41 per cent. Nevertheless Salamon (2000:109, 111) also reckons that union membership experienced a striking decline in membership in the 1980s and 1990s because of the changes that took place in industrial and employment structures. The economic conditions of the time meaning low inflation and high levels of unemployment kept workers away from joining unions. Unions used to recruit as members full-time male manual workers who worked in large manufacturing firms as well as the public sector. The shift fo r the manufacturing sector to the service sector, the reduction in the size of firms, the rising female and part-time employment had meant that the trade unions not only lost members but they also had to turn to other types of industries and organisations, in order to seek members, which had not been easy because these organisations had no tradition in union organisation. Diamond and Freedman (2001) cited in Blyton and Turnbull (2004: 143) mention that many unemployed union members had no inducement in maintaining their membership because trade unions were not concerned by people who were on welfare while Cully et al. (1999: 212-213) cited in Blyton and Turnbull (2004:143) argue that other employees contested the unions ability to offer benefits and that is illustrated by the WERS98 data according to which only a 46 per cent of union members believed that trade unions actually provided them with benefits. The trade unions collective consciousness was also negatively affected by the governments legislative measures aiming to (Salamon 2000:152) promote ‘responsible unionism, ‘return the union to its members and protect the individual member against union ‘tyranny. Through the Employment Act of 1988 union members obtained individual rights to inspect the unions financial data to ensure that funds were not spent on illegal actions, to resort to the help of court in case the union would be pursuing unlawful industrial action affecting the member, to be protected from being punished by the trade unions whenever they refused to partake in industrial action even if it was lawful. Salamon (2000:153) argues that now the individual member had the right to refuse to accept and to call into questions decisions of the unions even if they were taken democratically. The individual member could go against the unions. Salamon (2000:124) also argues that the ideologies on which trade unionism relies with the most important one its â€Å"collective solidarity† had also declined due to the fact that trade unions started offering â€Å"modern services† to employees individually. The decline in union membership and collective solidarity that have been already discussed overwhelmingly account for the erosion of power of trade unions. Nevertheless other factors have also contributed. Trade unions found themselves not only confronted to managers and employers who have always been reluctant to cooperate but they also had to face the governments hostility (Salamon 2000:111). Moreover the trade unions were further alienated due to the shift from the concept of collectivism endorsed by trade unions to the concept of individualism embraced by the managers who introduced HRM practices such as direct manager/employee consultation and information or performance-related pay. Salamon (2000:118) discusses the loss of the power of conducting collective bargaining by trade unions due to three main reasons. First their collective bargaining power was curbed by the legislation launched by the Conservative government. Secondly there was the decentralisation of collective bargaining, meaning that the terms and conditions obtained in collective bargaining were no longer applicable across an industry. Furthermore the managers tended to prefer deciding the terms and conditions of employees based on an individual basis as well as to opt for a system of remuneration based on the individuals performance or ability. Millward et al. (2000:197) cited in Blyton and Turnbull (2004:150) claim that during the period 1984-1998 the proportion of employees covered by collective bargaining dropped from 70 per cent to 40 per cent. During the 1980s and the 1990s trade unions were on the defensive. They tried to survive during the 1980s and early 1990s because of the unfavourable economic, political and organisational conditions. In other words they had no choice but to make concessions in order to be become more attractive to managers. These concessions included the establishment of single-union agreements with no strike activity and employee councils (Salamon 2000:130). In 1997 The â€Å"New Labour† came in power with the intention to promote its neo-liberalism strategies. In the past the Labour party had close links with the trade unions with the most significant one their financial contributions to the party (Salamon 2000:122). However when it took over in 1997 it attempted to distance itself from the trade unions and in its intention to do so, it maintained most of the legislative initiatives of the predecessor government. Nevertheless it launched two laws in support of the trade unions. The first of them was the National Minimum Wage Act of 1998 which allowed for the introduction of a national minimum wage (Salamon 2000:68). The second one was the Employment Relations Act in 1999 which allowed for the establishment of a statutory procedure permitting union recognition, provided that an employer could not refuse to employ, punish, fire or discriminate against an employee who is or intends to join a trade union or has taken or intends to pa rticipated in industrial action. The legislation provided for time off from work for trade union officials of independent recognised trade unions without pay loss in order for them to respond to their responsibilities within the union and also allowed for union members to be accompanied by trade union officials during grievance and disciplinary procedures (Salamon 2000: 197). The labour government also signed the social protocol of the treaty of Maastricht and as a result the European Working Time directive as well as the European Works Council directive became part of the UK law (Hyman 2003:54). In addition, the government passed legislation regarding part time employment and parental leave. From the late 1990s towards the beginning of the 2000-2010 period the UK workplace experienced the emergence of the notion of â€Å"partnership† a notion that alludes to the idea that the state, employers, employees and trade unions can collaborate in order to achieve common targets and benefits (Salamon 2000:21). The emergence of the workplace partnership approach was allowed when the â€Å"New Labour† came in power. This approached seemed to be desired by the main actors involved in industrial relations who saw it as the solution to their concerns. The government was determined to eradicate the conflicts in the UK workplace, trade unions saw it as a way of striking an alliance with the management and the government in the pursuit of common benefits and the management saw is as way of achieving order and cohesion at the organisation level as they wished (Salamon 2000:260). Salamon (2000:263) highlights two attributes of the â€Å"partnership† approach which are the commitment for actors to cooperate in order to enhance organisational effectiveness and performance and the recognition that employers and employees have different interests and that is why they should use employee voice and communication mechanisms in order to foster their relationship. Blyton and Turnbull (2004: 253) mentions that during the last years the Labour governments wish to promote the aforementioned â€Å"partnerhip† and the European social policies and Britains effort to put in place the EC Information and Consultations Directive have resulted to an acute interest in various forms of employee involvement and participation. Apart from the improvements that took place during the previous two decades in the matter employee voice and employee representation with the set up of work councils (Salamon 2000:188) , the new governments decision to accept the European Work Council Directive has strengthened even more employee voice but most particularly the adoption by the management of direct forms of participation. Kersley et al (2006:139) searched for evidence of direct forms of communication such as face to face meetings, written two-way communication and downward communication and found out that 63 per cent of all workplaces offered face- to- face meeti ngs as well the opportunity for feedback, and that this figure covered 67 per cent of all employees. They also argued that the WERS2004 data demonstrated that there was a decline in union representation and an increase in direct forms of communication. Although union membership and union recognition had fallen between 1998 and 2004 this decline was much smaller than during the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1998 and 2004 methods of employee representation dropped from three-fifths to approximately one half. On the contrary direct forms of communication were more common and sometimes they had increased (Kersley at al. 2006:143) This emphasis on employee involvement and participation is illustrated by the case study provided by Marchington and Wilkinson (2008: 407) who mention the example of Midbank a firm which won a Saturday Times award for implementing high commitment Human Resource policies and facilitating Employee Involvement and direct and indirect methods of Participation. More precisely, some of the forms of information dissemination as well as employee participation they adopted were the presence of a single union, consultation forums and company newspaper to which employees could contribute. Within the context of partnership Johnstone et al (2007) cited in Marchington and Wilkinson (2008:417) give us the case study of NatBank which signed a partnership agreement in 2000 with the recognised union (Unifi) in their effort to ameliorate the union-management relationship , to contribute to organisational effectiveness and performance, to work for the interest of employees, shareholders and customers an d to commit to the implementation of best practice HRM. The partnership has so far proved to be a success with some of the advantages being a better decision making, and improved employment relations thanks to better communication. From 1997 trade unions were given the opportunity to reassert part of their lost power and influence due to the favourable legislation launched by the â€Å"New Labour†. Trade unions were now able to abandon their defensive position of the 1980s and 1990s and to adopt one more proactive position. Salamon (2000:21) argues that trade unions considered â€Å"partnership† at work as a way of developing a more positive and proactive relationship with managers and play the part in order for the idea of â€Å"social partnership â€Å" to successfully work. This would simultaneously allow them to defend their members interests and to contribute on their part to the workplace and society (Salamon 2000:21). Munro and Rainbird (2004) present the example of the UNISON/employer partnership, a partnership concerning workplace learning and explain that the partnership does not only generate benefits for union members but it also generates benefits to employers who provide cost-effec tive and high quality development to employees through this partnership. The government also seems to be placing great emphasis on this partnership as it has passed legislation (Employment Act of 2002) allowing to Union Learning Representatives to take paid time off in order to carry out their duties and most significantly it has set up the Union Learning Fund. Moreover in 2007 the government conceded the management of the fund to Unionlearn within the TUC acknowledging in this respect the important role of unions in governmental strategies.(Hoque and Bacon 2008). This essay has endeavoured to examine the changes in the roles and in the exertion of power of the actors involved in industrial relations, and most particularly the roles of the government, of the trade unions, of the management and of employers, during the 1980s, the 1990s and the period 2000-2010. It has demonstrated that during the 1980s and the 1990s the legislative agenda of the Conservative government led in very confrontational and adversarial industrial relations as it increased the gap between employers power and trade unions power. Macho management, shift from collectivism to individualism and the attempt of the introduction of HRM practices are the most important processes of the period. In 1997 the â€Å"New Labour† which was elected in power committed itself to implementing the European social model, by promoting fairness and social justice in UK industrial relations as well as harmonisation by promoting the model of â€Å"workplace† partnership. References Blyton, P. and Turnball, P. (2004). The Dynamics of Employee Relations. 3rd edit., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Edwards, P. (2003)(ed.). Industrial Relations: Theory Practice in Britain. 2nd edit., Oxford:Blackwell. Hoque, K. and Bacon, N. (2008). Trade Unions, Union Learning Representatives and Employer-Provided Training in Britain. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 46(4), 702-731. Hyman, R. (2003). The Historical Evolution of British Industrial Relations in Edwards, P. (2003)(ed.). Industrial Relations: Theory Practice in Britain. 2nd edit., Oxford:Blackwell. Kersley, B., Alpin, C., Forth, J., Bryson, A., Bewley, H., Gix, G. and Oxenbridge, S. (2006). Inside the Workplace: Findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004). London: Routledge. Kessler, B., and Purcell, J. (2003). Individualism and collectivism in industrial relations in Edwards, P. (2003)(ed.). Industrial Relations: Theory Practice in Britain. 2nd edit., Oxford:Blackwell. Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, A. (2008). Human Resource Management at Work. 4th edit., CIPD Munro, A. and Rainbird, H. (2004). Opening doors as well as banging on tables: an assessment of UNISON/employer partnership on learning in the UK public sector. Industrial Relations Journal, 35(5), 419-433. Salamon, M. (2000). Industrial Relations, 4th edit., London: FT Prentice Hall.

Emotional, Behavioral, and Psychological Disturbances in Neglected Chil

Every year millions of children are abused and neglected worldwide. Child abuse is a global concern. It has severe outcomes on the children who are victims, and often the effects are long-lasting. Child abuse is a highly under-reported crime although of those reported, neglect accounts for the majority of child abuse cases (Pala, ÃÅ"nalacak, & ÃÅ"nlà ¼oÄŸlu, 2011). Neglect in children often has more dire consequences than other types of child abuse (DePanfilis, Children’s Bureau, & Office on Child Abuse & Neglect, 2006). One consequence especially prevalent in neglected children is insecure or lack of attachment to a primary caregiver. John Bowlby’s research has shown the evolutionary importance of infant attachments, further research shows that infant attachment styles carry over into adulthood (Levine & Heller, 2011). Neglected children showed disturbed attachments that manifest into developmental delays and behavioral problems. Through treatment neglected childr en aim to learn how to create secure attachments (Hardy, 2007). Defining neglect Numerous teachers, family doctors, social workers, among other professionals will be faced with child abuse and have the responsibility of reporting mistreatment. Therefore, it is important for these specialists to be able to recognize signs of child abuse and neglect (Pala, et al, 2011). The World Health Organization Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention currently recognizes four types of child abuse: physical, sexual, emotional, and neglect. Dr. Bengà ¼ Pala and his colleagues found that neglect accounted for up to 71% of the child abuse cases in 2008 around the world. They defined neglect as a parent or caregiver’s precedence of failure to provide for the development and welfare of the child ... ...on regulation and emotional stability (Hardy, 2007). From 2000 to 2004, 7.6 out of every 1,000 children were reported as being neglected. The Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect found that less than a third of child maltreatment is reported. The signs of neglect can often be subtle and hard for other adults to recognize; this attributes to the underreporting of neglect cases (DePanfilis, et al., 2006). Due to the fact that child abuse distresses millions of children every year and millions more suffer silently, it is important to improve research on the dilemma. Several studies acknowledge that there is an absence of research on attachment theory in neglected children (Venet et al.) It is imperative that research on attachment disorders drastically advance so that effective treatments can be developed allowing neglected children to heal.

The Flawed Characters of Molieres Tartuffe :: Tartuffe Essays

The Flawed Characters of Tartuffe      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To be perfect is to be inhuman. Human nature is complete with many flaws and imperfections, one of which is represented in the play "Tartuffe", by Moliere. â€Å"Tartuffe† was written specifically to show the reader a basic flaw in human nature. This flaw is shown through two characters, Madame Pernelle and Orgon. These two are blind to the truth concerning Tartuffe and fall victim to his wiles. The fact that these two are too weak to see the truth is a basic human flaw as well as a major theme of the play, represented through their flawed characters.      If anything, Madame Pernelle and Orgon are incredibly gullible. One author suggests that this gullibility is a shared family trait, stating that â€Å"his mother shares his capacity for self-delusion even after Tartuffe has been found out (we cannot always judge by what we see)† (Weals). Orgon foolishly believes that Tartuffe is a man of God, and, because of this, he should put everything he has into Tartuffe's hands. He proves how much he believes this after Damis tells him that Tartuffe was flirting with Elmire. From this accusation Orgon replies to Damis: "I disinherit you; an empty purse / Is all you'll get from me - except my curse!" (III, vii , 68). Madame Pernelle shows the family trait that she shares with her son when she states: "He's a fine man, and should be listened to."(I, i ,44), while speaking of Tartuffe. Although they share this trait throughout the play, Orgon's eyes are finally opened at the end of the play while his mother is still held by the farce of Tar tuffe.    Although Tartuffe is portrayed as the main character of the play, Orgon is the character who should really be paid attention to the most. As suggested in an essay on "Tartuffe" audiences who concentrate on the character who titles the work may miss the author's point: "...vitriol and spleen vented on one man suggests that Moliere's satire of Orgon, nevermind Tartuffe, was steeped in truth." (Smaje). Orgon is the character who represents the weakness in human nature. This weakness is shown throughout the play. Orgon is so willing to entrust everything he has into the care of Tartuffe. He places Tartuffe above the well being of his family. When he returns from his trip and asks Cleante how the household was while he was gone, Cleante tells him that his wife had been very sick.

Chitosan and Weight Loss :: Health Diet Essays

Chitosan and Weight Loss Just What They Want To Hear Everyone enjoys a good fatty meal from McDonald's, KFC, or any other fast food restaurant from time to time. Or maybe just a bag of chips, a candy bar, or an ice cream cone. All of these are food items which people consume on a regular basis and are full of fat. For years, the public has worried about the intake of fat from items such as these and has almost obsessed over weight, figures, and fat. With all the hype about liquid diets, diet pills, diet programs, etc. who wouldn't jump at the idea of an all natural solution. The makers of this product has certainly done their share of work to create an image truly appealing to any and all that dream of losing that extra fat. This probable solution is called chitosan and is simply a fat inhibitor which appears to work miracles for those in search of a safe way to lose that body fat. The information surrounding this product is extremely impressive and appears to justify a revolutionary new discovery. However, is this truly wh at it is dressed up to be or is it yet another gimmick? Chitosan: Where did it come from? Regardless of chitosan's miraculous overview, it is a very simple substance which has been around for ages. It is taken from chitin, a polysaccharide found in the exoskeletons of crustaceans. It is processed by removing the shells from shellfish such as shrimp, lobster, and crabs. The shells are then ground into a pulverous powder. This powder is then deacetylated, or basically stripped of specific chemical groups which allows the compound to thus actively "soak up fats." Or so this is what the producers claim. It has been used in the past in the process of detoxifying water. It was simply spread over the surface of water, where it would immediately absorb any toxic substances such as greases, oils, or dangerous heavy metals. The process is so complete that a scum forms over the surface of water and is then easily removed. For this reason, chitosan is extremely popular all over the world in water purification plants. The present form of chitosan has just been introduced recently as a

Crystal Pepsi: A Giant’s Failure Essay

Introduction We all have heard and seen it over and over again in commercials, movies, documentaries, stories, about Pepsi and its huge line of products. But very few of us (nationally and internationally) know about the company and its history. PepsiCo, Inc. was established through the merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay. Pepsi-Cola was created in the late 1890s by Caleb Bradham while Frito-Lay Inc. was formed by the 1961 merger of the Frito Company, founded by Elmer Doolin in 1932. Throughout its history, PepsiCo has introduced number of products for its consumers from cola to water, to teas and dark chocolate mocha. It went through number of transformation and acquired several other companies along its way. Today, Pepsi is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world operating nationally and internationally1. However, it has seen many failures on its way to success. One of its failures is Crystal Pepsi, introduced in April 1992 as a colorless drink with a market slogan â€Å"You ’ve never seen a taste like this†2. The main strategy was to introduce its colorless drink with fewer sweeteners to its health conscious consumers. The marketing began in 1990s and was tested in Denver, Sacramento, Dallas and Providence that resulted positive3. The paper discusses about its making, marketing mix, target market, competition and failure in detail. Product Every big business whether it is retail, manufacture or service depends on some kind of a product or product line it’s introduced. A proper strategy is required to sustain in market especially when competition is tough and rival is continuously coming up with some strategy to get the first movers advantage. Products that lack continuous innovation often suffers up to the extent that the internal or external forces ultimately drive them out of business. Crystal Pepsi is such product that gained the attention of consumers by its fancy name but lost the market in no time due to its lack of innovation. Although, PepsiCo tried hard to sustain its beloved product by introducing it in diet and different flavors but all strategies failed miserably.4 The making Crystal Pepsi by Pepsi was first introduced in 1992 and remained a mystery not only for its consumers but also to its manufacturers in terms of sales, strategy and market share. It was one of the most fascinated drinks when introduced as it was a colorless cola that provides relief from thirst and has health benefits simultaneously. The idea, however, was captured from the remake of Ivory Soap from its classic milky solution. There were two reasons behind the launch of Crystal Pepsi; Competition and a shift of consumer taste towards healthier beverages5. Crystal Pepsi targeted the market right but failed in both as the drink was nothing but a combination sugar and water with little flavor in it. Taste It was first marketed as the caffeine free, naturally flavored with preservatives drink that is different from other colas in many ways as it uses fewer sweeteners, equating as clearness with purity and health. The drink also claimed to be lighter than other drinks and Pepsi itself. Moreover, the drink was then introduced in lime flavor as well which was a part of limited edition and sales promotion. PepsiCo tried to save its product by adding citrus flavor to it. The company also shorten its name to Crystal and added â€Å"from the makers of Pepsi† on the packaging to give it a new brand image and changed formula but failed again. As the sales went down drastically all major projects related to Crystal Pepsi were put to halt that resulted in its disappearance from the shelves and discontinued supplies6. Packaging After receiving the positive response from its test market, PepsiCo decided to launch the product in United States and Canada to gain the maximum market share. A large campaign was launched and it was the first time in the company’s history a first photo-realistic, computer generated bus wrap was invented to advertise the product. The bottles were designed in the most sophisticated packing with a combination of blue, red, and silver prominent colors giving it a refreshing looks. It was also available in different sizes from 2 liters bottles to 250 ml cans7. Promotion The promotion strategy is one of the most significant parts of business. One  of the best quotes about the importance of advertising is by Stuart Henderson Britt and goes like this: â€Å"Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does.† Obviously, like any other strategy promotion strategy consist of introduction, growth, maturity and decline but Crystal Pepsi is among those products that came in the market with a bang but suffered terribly since after. Advertising Crystal Pepsi started it full marketing campaign in 1992 nationally including media campaign featuring Van Halen’ music, â€Å"Right Now†. This gave boost to sales in the market for a short period of time but went down again due to its competition with its rival Coca Cola. The Advertisement also appeared in on network TV during Super Bowl XXVII on January 31st, 1993. PepsiCo has always been famous for its promotion and the time and money company spend on its every product line. PepsiCo was doing all it could to sustain the product in the market by using different electronic media resources available at that time. Promoting Crystal Pepsi through advertisements on buses and on merchandizes like pool float, glass and wall clock were few of its marketing strategies to improve the sales. Like many other companies, Pepsi also arranged promotions with major retailers like Walmart but it didn’t ended well. The other promoting methods that used were radio commercials and major newspapers including USA Today. The major factor that Pepsi was unable to recognize at the time of promotion was the differentiation. It stressed on the importance of product attributes like fewer sweeteners, less calories, flavored drink etc. when the time was to segregate itself from regular carbonate drink to more of an energy drink. Changing names, color of the packaging and commercial medium wasted time and money of the company that ultimately result in the failure of the product8. Price The pricing strategy is crucial in any decision making process. Often times products that are new in market are either priced too high or too low. For any company that has vast experience in customer relationship and dealing, pricing strategy is of greatest importance. The price of its product should reflect the quality of the product as well as the reaction of consumers. If  the price is set too low then the customers would reject the product and vice versa. In any case the strategy for Crystal Pepsi was the same; to penetrate. Pricing Strategy According to various sources, Crystal Pepsi was sold at regular cola prices which means no major efforts were put forth to enforce the selling of the product at higher prices. Crystal Pepsi at first gained a lot of attention from the other soda drinkers and they lined up to try this new refreshed cola that promotes healthy drink and fewer sweetener. The sales were skyrocketed and company made more than expected profits. However, the customers found no difference between sprite and 7up and eventually gave up on Crystal Pepsi. The price never went down but instead changes were made on its appearance to gain attention through attraction9. Consumer’s Reaction The pricing was not the issue in the case of the cola. Crystal Pepsi was selling good at the asking price varying from 89 cents to a dollar in 90s. When the cola was disappeared from the market it was due to its taste and by the end of its time period, the cola lost major part of its target market. Today, Crystal Pepsi is still available on websites such as eBay and Amazon where the ask prices vary from $50 to $10010. Lately, few videos were made by students at several universities on YouTube asking Pepsi to bring back Crystal Pepsi again. The future of Crystal Pepsi, however, is still unknown. Pepsi has tried many times to bring back Crystal Pepsi in National and International markets but was unable to fully penetrate because of severe competition posed by its either competitors or the companies that already have significant market share. Place The placing of the product plays a vital role in increasing sales revenue and gaining the maximum profit from the market. But like promotion, placing depending on emphasis. Crystal Pepsi has emphasized and stressed on promoting its formula and stretched to convince people that how different this cola is and what health benefits would they get after drinking it11. The mistake that was done by PepsiCo was in differentiation and positioning of its product. The product was different than regular Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola but had the same appearance and taste as of 7up and Sprite. That  is why it became hard for Crystal Pepsi to differentiate itself in the market and form a new image in its consumer’s minds. Distribution Crystal Pepsi was first taste tested by participants from different target markets and then was released to test market in April 1992. The launch was limited to test the reaction of its target consumers. The test markets were conducted in Denver, Dallas, and Providence, Rhode Island for nine months straight bringing all the possible changes to the formula according to the preferences of the consumers. It was then launched nationally during December 1992. Crystal Pepsi was among the favorite drinks of its consumers at that time and gained a good market share in matter of weeks. People tried it partially due to curiosity just to see what’s new in there12. It was available at all the major retailers like Walmart and did very well in sales. After its launch in the United States it was launched in Canada, Europe and Australia for limited time. The time span for Europe was the highest among all the markets but ultimately pulled off the shelves due to poor sales13. The Canadian and A ustralian Markets responded the same as United States but since Crystal Pepsi held different grounds in terms of taste and appearance, it lasted longer than United States. Pepsi later introduced Pepsi Max in Australia replacing Crystal Pepsi during the summer of 1993. Mexico A newer version of Crystal Pepsi under the name of Pepsi Clear was introduced in 2005 in Mexico. However, it was available for a limited time and in quantity in the market. It was another attempt to revive the product in an international market where diet colas are among the most favorite drinks. The product was not a failure but discontinued after the limited time14. Target Market One of the sensitive and time consuming decisions for any company to make is to get proper knowledge of its target market. Many companies have failed to properly evaluate the preference and taste of its target markets and vanished completely or at least their product lines were disappeared from the market. Crystal Pepsi focused on two types of consumers; 1. Health conscious individuals 2. People who prefer white soft drinks over colas Health Conscious Individuals The first target market was quite easy to capture because at the time of its launch people in most of the developed countries were getting health conscious. They made exercise their part of life. It was the start of an era where people begun to think of their fitness and gave workout and fitness priority15. PepsiCo targeted those individuals and presented them an innovative drink with fewer sweeteners and lower calories to help them in achieving their fitness goals. By removing the brown color from the regular cola, Crystal Pepsi easily made an impression of pure drink by presenting an image of â€Å"good health, purity and icy cold-water† to its drinkers. Soft-drinkers The other category was hard to tackle as many colorless soft-drinkers were already committed to their existed products and were brand loyal. However, the marketing strategy done by PepsiCo paid off during its launch and people tried the new product for the change. However, this market wasn’t captured at all and people went back to their original drinks completely ignoring Crystal Pepsi16. PepsiCo put all of their focus and attentions toward this group by changing formulas, packaging and differentiation, putting their health conscious group at stake. They lost both markets in matter of months17. Competitors PepsiCo has always been and still is in direct competition with Coca-Cola, another food and beverage giant. The competition is so severe that they spend millions of dollars to protect their secrets from one another just like many major companies in Silicon Valley. Although the rivalry between Pepsi and Coca-Cola is always severe, the other rivals were tough too. First Movers Advantage Crystal Pepsi was one of its kind products that was first introduced to a limited target market, made a huge impact in its test market, launched with a refined formula, failed and disappeared in 15 weeks. It is one of the most  anticipated products by PepsiCo still demanded by many consumers to date. Crystal Pepsi has enjoyed its top spot for few months and has gained the first mover advantage. They spell bound the market with its fewer sweeteners, low calories and new formula with amazing prices in the market. Consumers liked the taste initially as it was a 90s reason to drink cola without color, caffeine or preservatives1819. Competition Crystal Pepsi was introduced to directly compete with already existed products in the market such as Clearly Canadian. This and similar products were already held the major market share and stayed strong in its demand vs supply. They addressed the need and want of its consumers more strongly as compared to its competitors. Crystal Pepsi when came in targeted its competition in a unique way. Although the cola was colorless, it was a direct threat to Clearly Canadian and Quibell. Clearly Canadian and Quibell both offered non-carbonate drinks that were the market segment of soft-drinkers. Their products still exists in the market in many flavors. Coca-Cola, on the other hand, tried to come up with same product but with different strategy and named it as Tab Clear which also failed in market miserably. Although Coca-Cola also pushed its product like Pepsi, the results were the same for both the companies. Reason for failure As mentioned earlier in the discussion, the major contributor for failure of product was lack of differentiation. PepsiCo stressed over its new formula but failed to meet the expectation of consumers. It was hard for customers to tell the difference between Crystal Pepsi and 7up or Sprite. Crystal Pepsi failed to target its market accurately. The cola was launched for health conscious individual and soft-drinkers20 but lost its way to form a brand image in the minds of consumers. One other factor for failure was poor name execution. Crystal Pepsi was named crystal to give it an image of pure drink that was more attracted to older generation as compared to the younger ones. The younger generation was still drinking regular colas that had the same cost as of Crystal Pepsi. Evaluation/Critique The product was made with an intention to target the consumers that are health conscious and working their way out towards healthy lifestyle. The lack in differentiation and positioning of product made things worse for Crystal Pepsi that was in competition since its launch. Emphasizing on new formulas over and over again, cost the company enormous sum of money and time. Overall, the product was never seen as a failure, rather, an opportunity to study the market accurately for future products. References 1. Miller, Cyndee. (1993, February). Ebsco Host Database. Trendy marketers want consumers to see right through their products. http://gsuproxy.govst.edu:3963/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=95159dfc-8f54-472c-98c0-0c533cb0e06b%40sessionmgr115&hid=117&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=17599561 2. Lavinsky, David. (1993, March). Ebsco Host Database. â€Å"When Novelty wears off, soft drinks clearly will fail†. http://gsuproxy.govst.edu:3963/ehost/detail?vid=10&sid=95159dfc-8f54-472c-98c0-0c533cb0e06b%40sessionmgr115&hid=117&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=17598728 3. Triplett Tim. (1994, May). Ebsco Host Database. â€Å"Consumers show little taste for clear beverages†. http://gsuproxy.govst.edu:3963/ehost/detail?vid=13&sid=95159dfc-8f54-472c-98c0-0c533cb0e06b%40sessionmgr115&hid=117&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bsh&AN=9410311353 4. Laura Zinn. â€Å"Pepsi’s future becomes clearer†. Bloomberg Business week. January 31st, 1993 < http:// www.businessweek.com/stories/1993-01-31/pepsis-future-becomes-clearer 5. Eben Shapiro. â€Å"It’s a transparent attempt to revive Pepsi’s Cola sales†. The New York Times. April 13th, 1992. < http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/13/business/it-s-a-transparent-attempt-to-revive-pepsi-s-cola-sales.html?action=click&module=Search ®ion=searchResults&mabReward=relbias%3Ar&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry51%23%2Fcrystal%2Bpepsi%2F 6. Editorial review. â€Å"New Pepsi drinks offer clear choice†. Dayton Daily News. December 13th, 1992. < http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=0F5052CF4CD4FA55&p_docnum=7 7. Del Jones, USA Today. â€Å"Even good CEOs pick the wrong direction†. ABC News. November 7th, 2007. < http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3830073 8. Jeff Hirsch and Tom

Philosophical traditions of Confucianism, Daoism & Legalism Essay

In the middle of the chaos of political weakness and constant warring of the Zhou era, arose many creative thinkers that brought such a knowledgeable impact in politics, religion and philosophy. Confucianism became the primary school of thinking. Later important philosophies such as Daoism and Legalism gained great respect as well. Each party had their own plans for creating a dreamlike political society where many problems they faced in their everyday lives could be eliminated. All three approaches were very specific. At the same time, they contained certain similarities as well. In my reasoning, I find that Confucianism and Daoism could be paralleled in many ways to find several common grounds. On the other hand, Legalism takes a more uncommon approach. This was much different from the other two. Both Confucianism and Daoism disfavored a harsh government. Both thought systems consider it mostly as a mystery that the human mind cannot fully comprehend or alter. In Confucianism, they urged to lead the people with virtue and rituals as opposed to government policies and punishments. Confucianism believed that the ruler should gain respect through his deeds rather than achieving it through his status and authority. Likewise, Daoism disliked the emphasis of status being displayed in the political realm. Both beliefs also agree that individuals should foster compassion, humility and moderation for a successful society. Legalism was far different in its ideals and approach unlike its predecessors. While Confucianism tried to gain total harmony with social order and Daoism searched for the same result in nature, Legalist believed that a strong political structure was the answer. While the previous two believed that politics should be very basic, Legalism asked for a strict code of law and a distinct enforcement of it. They believed a strong rule with a strict hand was necessary in order to keep the citizens from growing lazy and disrespecting the authority. Out of the three different thought systems, Legalism was a success in the sense that it achieved what the other two systems desperately strove for – the unification of China. Many of the Legalist ideas were quite thought harsh and praiseworthy; they believed in equality for all and government  according to merit. However, the system gained a rotten reputation according to the ruthless rule of the First Emperor. Confucianism thus became the official Philosophy, gaining wide acceptance in China.

The Lost Duke of Wyndham Chapter Two

Several hours later Grace was sitting in a chair in the corridor outside the dowager's bedchamber. She was beyond weary and wanted nothing more than to crawl into her own bed, where she was quite certain she would toss and turn and fail to find slumber, despite her exhaustion. But the dowager was so overset, and indeed had rung so many times that Grace had finally given up and dragged the chair to its present location. In the last hour she had brought the dowager (who would not leave her bed) a collection of letters, tucked at the bottom of a locked drawer; a glass of warm milk; a glass of brandy; another miniature of her long-dead son John; a handkerchief that clearly possessed some sort of sentimental value; and another glass of brandy, to replace the one the dowager had knocked over while anxiously directing Grace to fetch the handkerchief. It had been about ten minutes since the last summons. Ten minutes to do nothing but sit and wait in the chair, thinking, thinking†¦ Of the highwayman. Of his kiss. Of Thomas, the current Duke of Wyndham. Whom she considered a friend. Of the dowager's long-dead middle son, and the man who apparently bore his likeness. And his name. His name. Grace took a long, uneasy breath. His name. Good God. She had not told the dowager this. She had stood motionless in the middle of the road, watching the highwayman ride off in the light of the partial moon. And then, finally, when she thought her legs might actually function, she set about getting them home. There was the footman to untie, and the coachman to tend to, and as for the dowager – she was so clearly upset that she did not even whisper a complaint when Grace put the injured coachman inside the carriage with her. And then she joined the footman atop the driver's seat and drove them home. She wasn't a particularly experienced hand with the reins, but she could manage. And she'd had to manage. There was no one else to do it. But that was something she was good at. Managing. Making do. She'd got them home, found someone to tend to the coachman, and then tended to the dowager, and all the while she'd thought – Who was he? The highwayman. He'd said his name had once been Cavendish. Could he be the dowager's grandson? She had been told that John Cavendish died without issue, but he wouldn't have been the first young nobleman to litter the countryside with illegitimate children. Except he'd said his name was Cavendish. Or rather, had been Cavendish. Which meant – Grace shook her head blearily. She was so tired she could barely think, and yet it seemed all she could do was think. What did it mean that the highwayman's name was Cavendish? Could an illegitimate son bear his father's name? She had no idea. She'd never met a bastard before, at least not one of noble origins. But she'd known others who had changed their names. The vicar's son had gone to live with relatives when he was small, and the last time he'd been back to visit, he'd introduced himself with a different surname. So surely an illegitimate son could call himself whatever he wanted. And even if it was not legal to do so, a highwayman would not trouble himself with such technicalities, would he? Grace touched her mouth, trying to pretend she did not love the shivers of excitement that rushed through her at the memory. He had kissed her. It had been her first kiss, and she did not know who he was. She knew his scent, she knew the warmth of his skin, and the velvet softness of his lips, but she did not know his name. Not all of it, at least. â€Å"Grace! Grace!† Grace stumbled to her feet. She'd left the door ajar so she could better hear the dowager, and sure enough, her name was once again being called. The dowager must still be overset – she rarely used Grace's Christian name. It was harder to snap out in a demanding manner than Miss Eversleigh. Grace rushed back into the room, trying not to sound weary and resentful as she asked, â€Å"May I be of assistance?† The dowager was sitting up in bed – well, not quite sitting up. She was mostly lying down, with just her head propped up on the pillows. Grace thought she looked terribly uncomfortable, but the last time she had tried to adjust her position she'd nearly got her head bit off. â€Å"Where have you been?† Grace did not think the question required an answer, but she said, nonetheless, â€Å"Just outside your door, ma'am.† â€Å"I need you to get me something,† the dowager said, and she didn't sound as imperious as she did agitated. â€Å"What is it you would like, your grace?† â€Å"I want the portrait of John.† Grace stared at her, uncomprehending. â€Å"Don't just stand there!† the dowager practically screamed. â€Å"But ma'am,† Grace protested, jumping back, â€Å"I've brought you all three of the miniatures, and – â€Å" â€Å"No, no, no,† the dowager cried, her head swinging back and forth on the pillows. â€Å"I want the portrait. From the gallery.† â€Å"The portrait,† Grace echoed, because it was half three in the morning, and perhaps she was addled by exhaustion, but she thought she'd just been asked to remove a life-sized portrait from a wall and carry it up two flights of stairs to the dowager's bedchamber. â€Å"You know the one,† the dowager said. â€Å"He's standing next to the tree, and he has a sparkle in his eye.† Grace blinked, trying to absorb this. â€Å"There is only the one, I think.† â€Å"Yes,† the dowager said, her voice almost unbalanced in its urgency. â€Å"There is a sparkle in his eye.† â€Å"You want me to bring it here.† â€Å"I have no other bedchamber,† the dowager snapped. â€Å"Very well.† Grace swallowed. Good Lord, how was she going to accomplish this? â€Å"It will take a bit of time.† â€Å"Just drag a chair over and yank the bloody thing down. You don't need – â€Å" Grace rushed forward as the dowager's body convulsed in a spasm of coughing. â€Å"Ma'am! Ma'am!† she said, bringing her arm around her to set her upright. â€Å"Please, ma'am. You must try to be more settled. You are going to hurt yourself.† The dowager coughed a few last times, took a long swallow of her warm milk, then cursed and took her brandy instead. That, she finished entirely. â€Å"I'm going to hurt you,† she gasped, thunking the glass back down on her bedside table, â€Å"if you don't get me that portrait.† Grace swallowed and nodded. â€Å"As you wish, ma'am.† She hurried out, sagging against the corridor wall once she was out of the dowager's sight. It had begun as such a lovely evening. And now look at her. She'd had a gun pointed at her heart, been kissed by a man whose next appointment was surely with the gallows, and now the dowager wanted her to wrestle a life-sized portrait off the gallery wall. At half three in the morning. â€Å"She can't possibly be paying me enough,† Grace mumbled under her breath as she made her way down the stairs. â€Å"There couldn't possibly exist enough money – â€Å" â€Å"Grace?† She stopped short, stumbling off the bottom step. Large hands immediately found her upper arms to steady her. She looked up, even though she knew who it had to be. Thomas Cavendish was the grandson of the dowager. He was also the Duke of Wyndham and thus without question the most powerful man in the district. He was in London nearly as often as he was here, but Grace had got to know him quite well during the five years she'd acted as companion to the dowager. They were friends. It was an odd and completely unexpected situation, given the difference in their rank, but they were friends. â€Å"Your grace,† she said, even though he had long since instructed her to use his given name when they were at Belgrave. She gave him a tired nod as he stepped back and returned his hands to his sides. It was far too late for her to ponder matters of titles and address. â€Å"What the devil are you doing awake?† he asked. â€Å"It's got to be after two.† â€Å"After three, actually,† she corrected absently, and then – good heavens, Thomas. She snapped fully awake. What should she tell him? Should she say anything at all? There would be no hiding the fact that she and the dowager had been accosted by highwaymen, but she wasn't quite certain if she should reveal that he might have a first cousin racing about the countryside, relieving the local gentry of their valuables. Because, all things considered, he might not. And surely it did not make sense to concern him needlessly. â€Å"Grace?† She gave her head a shake. â€Å"I'm sorry, what did you say?† â€Å"Why are you wandering the halls?† â€Å"Your grandmother is not feeling well,† she said. And then, because she desperately wanted to change the subject: â€Å"You're home late.† â€Å"I had business in Stamford,† he said brusquely. His mistress. If it had been anything else, he would not have been so oblique. It was odd, though, that he was here now. He usually spent the night. Grace, despite her respectable birth, was a servant at Belgrave, and as such privy to almost all of the gossip. If the duke stayed out all night, she generally knew about it. â€Å"We had an†¦exciting evening,† Grace said. He looked at her expectantly. She felt herself hesitate, and then – well, there was really nothing to do but say it. â€Å"We were accosted by highwaymen.† His reaction was swift. â€Å"Good God,† he exclaimed. â€Å"Are you all right? Is my grandmother well?† â€Å"We are both unharmed,† Grace assured him, â€Å"although our driver has a nasty bump on his head. I took the liberty of giving him three days to convalesce.† â€Å"Of course.† He closed his eyes for a moment, looking pained. â€Å"I must offer my apologies,† he said. â€Å"I should have insisted that you take more than one outrider.† â€Å"Don't be silly. It's not your fault. Who would have thought – † She cut herself off, because really, there was no sense in assigning blame. â€Å"We are unhurt,† she repeated. â€Å"That is all that matters.† He sighed. â€Å"What did they take?† Grace swallowed. She couldn't very well tell him they'd stolen nothing but a ring. Thomas was no idiot; he'd wonder why. She smiled tightly, deciding that vagueness was the order of the day. â€Å"Not very much,† she said. â€Å"Nothing at all from me. I imagine it was obvious I am not a woman of means.† â€Å"Grandmother must be spitting mad.† â€Å"She is a bit overset,† Grace hedged. â€Å"She was wearing her emeralds, wasn't she?† He shook his head. â€Å"The old bat is ridiculously fond of those stones.† Grace declined to scold him for his characterization of his grandmother. â€Å"She kept the emeralds, actually. She hid them under the seat cushion.† He looked impressed. â€Å"She did?† â€Å"I did,† Grace corrected, unwilling to share the glory. â€Å"She thrust them at me before they breached the vehicle.† He smiled slightly, and then, after a moment of somewhat awkward silence, said, â€Å"You did not mention why you're up and about so late. Surely you deserve a rest as well.† â€Å"I†¦er†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There seemed to be no way to avoid telling him. If nothing else, he'd notice the massive empty spot on the gallery wall the next day. â€Å"Your grandmother has a strange request.† â€Å"All of her requests are strange,† he replied immediately. â€Å"No, this one†¦well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Grace's eyes flicked up in exasperation. How was it her life had come to this? â€Å"I don't suppose you'd like to help me remove a painting from the gallery.† â€Å"A painting.† She nodded. â€Å"From the gallery.† She nodded again. â€Å"I don't suppose she's asking for one of those modestly sized square ones.† â€Å"With the bowls of fruit?† He nodded. â€Å"No.† When he did not comment, she added, â€Å"She wants the portrait of your uncle.† â€Å"Which one?† â€Å"John.† He nodded, smiling slightly, but without any humor. â€Å"He was always her favorite.† â€Å"But you never knew him,† Grace said, because the way he'd said it – it almost sounded as if he'd witnessed her favoritism. â€Å"No, of course not. He died before I was born. But my father spoke of him.† It was clear from his expression that he did not wish to discuss the matter further. Grace could not think of anything more to say, however, so she just stood there, waiting for him to collect his thoughts. Which apparently he did, because he turned to her and asked, â€Å"Isn't that portrait life-sized?† Grace pictured herself wrestling it from the wall. â€Å"I'm afraid so.† For a moment it looked as if he might turn toward the gallery, but then his jaw squared and he was once again every inch the forbidding duke. â€Å"No,† he said firmly. â€Å"You will not get that for her this evening. If she wants the bloody painting in her room, she can ask a footman for it in the morning.† Grace wanted to smile at his protectiveness, but by this point she was far too weary. And besides that, when it came to the dowager, she had long since learned to follow the road of least resistance. â€Å"I assure you, I want nothing more than to retire this very minute, but it is easier just to accommodate her.† â€Å"Absolutely not,† he said imperiously, and without waiting, he turned and marched up the stairs. Grace watched him for a moment, and then, with a shrug, headed off to the gallery. It couldn't be that difficult to take a painting off a wall, could it? But she made it only ten paces before she heard Thomas bark her name. She sighed, stopping in her tracks. She should have known better. The man was as stubborn as his grandmother, not that he would appreciate the comparison. She turned and retraced her steps, hurrying along when she heard him call out for her again. â€Å"I'm right here,† she said irritably. â€Å"Good gracious, you'll wake the entire house.† He rolled his eyes. â€Å"Don't tell me you were going to get the painting by yourself.† â€Å"If I don't, she will ring for me all night, and then I will never get any sleep.† He narrowed his eyes. â€Å"Watch me.† â€Å"Watch you what?† she asked, baffled. â€Å"Dismantle her bell cord,† he said, heading upstairs with renewed determination. â€Å"Dismantle her†¦Thomas!† She ran up behind him, but of course could not keep up. â€Å"Thomas, you can't!† He turned. Grinned even, which she found somewhat alarming. â€Å"It's my house,† he said. â€Å"I can do anything I want.† And while Grace digested that on an exhausted brain, he strode down the hall and into his grandmother's room. â€Å"What,† she heard him bite off, â€Å"do you think you're doing?† Grace let out a breath and hurried after him, entering the room just as he was saying, â€Å"Good heavens, are you all right?† â€Å"Where is Miss Eversleigh?† the dowager asked, her eyes darting frantically about the room. â€Å"I'm right here,† Grace assured her, rushing forward. â€Å"Did you get it? Where is the painting? I want to see my son.† â€Å"Ma'am, it's late,† Grace tried to explain. She inched forward, although she wasn't sure why. If the dowager started spouting off about the highwayman and his resemblance to her favorite son, it wasn't as if she would be able to stop her. But still, the proximity at least gave the illusion that she might be able to prevent disaster. â€Å"Ma'am,† Grace said again, gently, softly. She gave the dowager a careful look. â€Å"You may instruct a footman to procure it for you in the morning,† Thomas said, sounding slightly less imperious than before, â€Å"but I will not have Miss Eversleigh undertaking such manual labor, and certainly not in the middle of the night.† â€Å"I need the painting, Thomas,† the dowager said, and Grace almost reached out to take her hand. She sounded pained. She sounded old. And she certainly did not sound like herself when she said, â€Å"Please.† Grace glanced at Thomas. He looked uneasy. â€Å"Tomorrow,† he said. â€Å"First thing, if you wish it.† â€Å"But – â€Å" â€Å"No,† he interrupted. â€Å"I am sorry you were accosted this evening, and I shall certainly do whatever is necessary – within reason – to facilitate your comfort and health, but this does not include whimsical and ill-timed demands. Do you understand me?† They stared at each other for so long that Grace wanted to flinch. Then Thomas said sharply, â€Å"Grace, go to bed.† He didn't turn around. Grace held still for a moment, waiting for what, she didn't know – disagreement from the dowager? A thunderbolt outside the window? When neither was forthcoming, she decided she could do nothing more that evening and left the room. As she walked slowly down the hall, she could hear them arguing – nothing violent, nothing impassioned. But then, she'd not have expected that. Cavendish tempers ran cold, and they were far more likely to attack with a frozen barb than a heated cry. Grace let out a long, uneven breath. She would never get used to this. Five years she had been at Belgrave, and still the resentment that ran back and forth between Thomas and his grandmother shocked her. And the worst part was – there wasn't even a reason! Once, she had dared to ask Thomas why they held each other in such contempt. He just shrugged, saying that it had always been that way. She'd disliked his father, Thomas said, his father had hated him, and he himself could have done quite well without either of them. Grace had been stunned. She'd thought families were meant to love each other. Hers had. Her mother, her father†¦She closed her eyes, fighting back tears. She was being maudlin. Or maybe it was because she was tired. She didn't cry about them any longer. She missed them – she would always miss them. But the great big gaping hole their deaths had rent in her had healed. And now†¦well, she'd found a new place in this world. It wasn't the one she'd anticipated, and it wasn't the one her parents had planned for her, but it came with food and clothing, and the opportunity to see her friends from time to time. But sometimes, late at night as she lay in her bed, it was just so hard. She knew she should not be ungrateful – she was living in a castle, for heaven's sake. But she had not been brought up for this. Not the servitude, and not the sour dispositions. Her father had been a country gentleman, her mother a well-liked member of the local community. They had raised her with love and laughter, and sometimes, as they sat before the fire in the evening, her father would sigh and say that she was going to have to remain a spinster, because surely there was no man in the county good enough for his daughter. And Grace would laugh and say, â€Å"What about the rest of England?† â€Å"Not there, either!† â€Å"France?† â€Å"Good heavens, not.† â€Å"The Americas?† â€Å"Are you trying to kill your mother, gel? You know she gets seasick if she so much as sees the beach.† And they all somehow knew that Grace would marry someone right there in Lincolnshire, and she'd live down the road, or at least just a short ride away, and she would be happy. She would find what her parents had found, because no one expected her to marry for any reason other than love. She'd have babies, and her house would be full of laughter, and she would be happy. She'd thought herself the luckiest girl in the world. But the fever that had struck the Eversleigh house was cruel, and when it broke, Grace was an orphan. At seventeen, she could hardly remain on her own, and indeed, no one had been sure what to do with her until her father's affairs were settled and the will was read. Grace let out a bitter laugh as she pulled off her wrinkled clothing and readied herself for bed. Her father's directives had only made matters worse. They were in debt; not deeply so, but enough to render her a burden. Her parents, it seemed, had always lived slightly above their means, presumably hoping that love and happiness would carry them through. And indeed they had. Love and happiness had stood up nicely to every obstacle the Eversleighs had faced. Except death. Sillsby – the only home Grace had ever known – was entailed. She'd known that, but not how eager her cousin Miles would be to assume residence. Or that he was still unmarried. Or that when he pushed her against a wall and jammed his lips against hers, she was supposed to let him, indeed thank the toad for his gracious and benevolent interest in her. Instead she had shoved her elbow into his ribs and her knee up against his – Well, he hadn't been too fond of her after that. It was the only part of the whole debacle that still made her smile. Furious at the rebuff, Miles had tossed her out on her ear. Grace had been left with nothing. No home, no money, and no relations (she refused to count him among the last). Enter the dowager. News of Grace's predicament must have traveled fast through the district. The dowager had swooped in like an icy goddess and whisked her away. Not that there had been any illusion that she was to be a pampered guest. The dowager had arrived with full retinue, stared down Miles until he squirmed (literally; it had been a most enjoyable moment for Grace), and then declared to her, â€Å"You shall be my companion.† Before Grace had a chance to accept or decline, the dowager had turned and left the room. Which just confirmed what they all knew – that Grace had never had a choice in the matter to begin with. That had been five years ago. Grace now lived in a castle, ate fine food, and her clothing was, if not the latest stare of fashion, well-made and really quite pretty. (The dowager was, if nothing else, at least not cheap.) She lived mere miles from where she had grown up, and as most of her friends still resided in the district, she saw them with some regularity – in the village, at church, on afternoon calls. And if she didn't have a family of her own, at least she had not been forced to have one with Miles. But much as she appreciated all the dowager had done for her, she wanted something more. Or maybe not even more. Maybe just something else. Unlikely, she thought, falling into bed. The only options for a woman of her birth were employment and marriage. Which, for her, meant employment. The men of Lincolnshire were far too cowed by the dowager to ever make an overture in Grace's direction. It was well-known that Augusta Cavendish had no desire to train a new companion. It was even more well-known that Grace hadn't a farthing. She closed her eyes, trying to remind herself that the sheets she'd slid between were of the highest quality, and the candle she'd just snuffed was pure beeswax. She had every physical comfort, truly. But what she wanted was†¦ It didn't really matter what she wanted. That was her last thought before she finally fell asleep. And dreamed of a highwayman.