CVS Structure Essay

Module 6: Question 1: Draw a chart of your organizations domain. List the organization’s products and customers and the forces in the specific and general environments that have an effect on it. Which are the most important forces that the organization has to deal with? Part A: Draw a chart of your organizations domain. CVS Pharmacy Specific Environment General Environment An organizations domain is the goods and services, and customers of the organization. Every organizational domain consists of a specific and general environment. In CVS Pharmacy’s specific environment are its suppliers and customers. In CVS Pharmacy’s general environment are governmental regulations, advancements in technology, and economic forces. Part B: List the organizations products and customers and the forces in the specific and general environments that have an effect on it. What are the most important forces that the organization has to deal with? CVS Pharmacy offers products in the front store and the pharmacy. Products in the front store range from health and beauty products, over the counter medications, cleaning supplies, school supplies, seasonal items such as Halloween or Christmas decorations, and food and beverages. Some services offered in the front store is the photo station where customers can print photos and make albums for themselves or loved ones. Great customer service is to be given to all customers from the time they enter the store until the time they leave the store. Products offered in the pharmacy are prescription only medications and ordering medications online that cannot be found in the  front store. Some services offered in the pharmacy are immunizations such as flu shots, pneumonia, and shingles shot, MinuteClinics, patient consultations, and directing customers into a good Medicare Part D plan. CVS Pharmacy is directed towards many different customer bases. Some customers come into CVS to keep up their good health by getting their medications and becoming informed on what they are used for and how to take them. Other customers just come into CVS to do a little bit of general needs shopping. In CVS Pharmacy’s specific environment falls its customer and suppliers. These forces have a huge effect on how successful the company is or becomes. Customers play a huge role in keeping CVS alive. In 2012, CVS Pharmacy’s net revenues increased by 15 percent to a record $123.1 billion and its operating profit increased by 14.2 percent to a record $7.2 billion. Without our customers, CVS would not be able to operate. Suppliers are another huge part of CVS’s specific env ironment. In the pharmacy, our main supplier is McKesson. If we are not able get the products that we need for our customers, we will end up losing these customers to different pharmacies. Every day we place an order with McKesson to get in the medications need to fill customer’s prescriptions. Without our suppliers, we would not have any products to offer our customers. In CVS Pharmacy’s general environment are technological advancements which play a big role in keeping CVS alive. Technology is always changing and in order to keep up with the fast-paced environment, CVS needs to keep implementing the best technologies they can to keep customers interested. One huge technological advancement is ordering and managing your medications online. This lets customer easily order their medications from home and be alerted when their prescriptions are ready for pickup. Governmental regulations also play a role in CVS’s general environment. There are many rules and regulations that need to be followed in the pharmacy. One specific regulation that we must follow are HIPAA laws. This helps protect the customer from outsiders viewing any of their personal information. I think the most important forces that CVS has to deal with are keeping customers happy and getting the supplies they need from their suppliers. Question 2: Analyze the effect of the forces on the complexity, dynamism, and richness of the environment. From this analysis, how would you characterize  the level of uncertainty in your organizations environment? Part A: Analyze the effect of the forces on the complexity, dynamism, and richness of the environment. Environmental complexity is a function of strength, number, and interconnectedness of specific and general forces. CVS has many stakeholders including employees, non-governmental organizations, suppliers, clients, investors, shareholders, analysts, consumers, local communities, civic organizations, trade organizations, government and regulatory authorities, and the media. With all these stakeholders within the organizations specific and general environment makes communication and collaboration very difficult. There are a lot of voices to be heard and getting everyone interconnected and on the same page is not an easy task. CVS would fall under a complex environment. Environmental dynamism is a function of speed of change and how much change is occurring between specific and general forces. CVS is constantly changing and growing in today’s world. CVS knows they need to stay innovative and keep up with new technologies in order to stay the nation’s premier integrated pharmacy services provider. One example of CSV growing and changing is adding a new feature to their mobile app. CVS adder a new drug interaction checker as part of its top-rated CVS Mobile app. This is an industry first. This feature allows customers to quickly and easily check for potential drug interactions by comparing over-the-counter (OTC) products with their prescriptions and other OTCs on their smartphones. CVS would fall under a dynamic environment. Environmental richness is a function of quantity of resources in the organizations domain. Richness refers to the quantity of resources readily available in the organizations domain. CVS has readily available resources at all times. We are able to order from our outside vendor, McKesson, Sunday through Thursday to receive the medications we need Monday through Friday. We have a contract with them and they supply all our medications on a daily basis. CVS would fall under a rich environment. Part B: From this analysis, how would you characterize the level of uncertainty in your organizations environment? As stated above, CVS has a complex, dynamic, rich environment. While having a rich environment would lead you to believe that there was little uncertainty within the organization, having a complex and dynamic environment leads you to believe that there was much uncertainty within the organization. Overall, from my analysis above, I believe that CVS Pharmacy operated with an uncertain environment. Question 3: Review your analysis of organizational structure. How has your organization designed its structure to match the environment in which it operates? For example, how do its degree of differentiation and its use of integrating mechanisms reflect the uncertainty of its environment? I defined CVS Pharmacy’s organizational structure to be organic. CVS has decentralization within the organization. Decentralization happens when top management’s decision making has been delegated to lower managers. The pharmacist has the discretion to offer gift cards to unhappy customers. This in turn makes the customer happy and hopefully they will return to CVS in the future. The pharmacist also has the discretion to price match with other pharmacies. If Walgreens has a lower cash price for a certain medication then we can offer that price to the customer if they ask for that to be done. CVS, for the most part, is highly formalized. This is an attribute of the mechanistic model of organizational structure but as I said earlier, we are predominately organic. The technicians and employees do not have a lot of discretion to deviate from their job duties. There are rules and regulations that they need to follow otherwise they could be terminated. CVS has a very complex structure. There is great special dispersion; it has high vertical differentiation, and high horizontal differentiation. CVS has designed its structure to match its environment. I said earlier that CVS operates under a dynamic environment and in turn has designed its structure to be organic. CVS’s use of integrating mechanisms reflects the uncertainty of the environment. CVS Pharmacy is highly differentiated. CVS has various levels of management that the operative core need look up to. CVS also has over 7000 stores nation-wide creating great spatial dispersion. Some integrating mechanisms used by CVS Pharmacy are specific jobs, policies, and  standards that employees must follow. Employees at CVS are not allowed to make their own rules/tasks. Employees are given specific jobs that they are to get done and if they are not completed, there are consequences. As the lead pharmacy technician, I am in charge of inventory. Our warehouse order needs to be completed on Wednesday by 3pm. I need to use my time wisely to make sure that this gets completed otherwise there will be a lot of supplies and medications that we do not receive. This is not good for the customer or the organization. Employees also have certain policies and standards that they must adhere to otherwise they will most likely be terminated. Employees need to act with honor and integrity and they need this to follow through to the customer even if they customer seems to be out of line. CVS is differentiated and in turn, they follow an organic structure. Question 4: Draw a chart of the main inter-organizational linkage mechanisms (for example, long-term contracts, strategic alliances, mergers) that your organization uses to manage its symbolic resource interdependencies. Using resource dependence theory and transaction cost theory, discuss why the organization chose to manage its interdependencies in this way. Do you think the organization selected the most appropriate linkage mechanisms? Why or why not? Part A: Draw a chart of the main inter-organizational organizational linkage mechanisms (for example, long-term contracts, strategic alliances, mergers) that your organization uses to manage its symbolic resource interdependencies. Symbiotic resource interdependencies include reputation, cooptation, strategic alliances (long-term contracts, networks, minority ownership, and joint ventures) and mergers and acquisitions. CVS has taken the strategic alliance, long-term contract interdependency. CVS has been in a long-term contract with McKesson for a long time. CVS is McKesson’s single biggest customer. In 2012, CVS accounted for an estimated 18.5% of the company’s U.S. core drug distribution revenues. Part B: Using resource dependence theory and transaction cost theory, discuss  why the organization chose to manage its interdependencies in this way. Do you think the organization selected the most appropriate linkage mechanisms? Why or why not? Resource dependency theory is the ability to exercise more control over resources and distribution channels which means establishing interdependencies with other organizations. Transaction cost theory helps you choose which interdependency to choose when your bureaucratic costs equal your transaction costs. Both of these theories help organizations choose which interdependency is right for them. CVS chose to hold a long-term contract with McKesson. I think this was an appropriate and beneficial way to manage their interdependency. These long-term contracts help build relationships between the parent company and the supplier. When announced that CVS was going to renew its contract with McKesson, McKesson’s statement said that it was â€Å"extremely pleased to continue the relationship†. Question 5: Draw a chart of the main inter-organizational linkage mechanisms (for example, collusion, third-party linkages mechanisms, strategic alliances) that your organization uses to manage is competitive resource interdependencies. Using resource dependence theory or transaction cost theory, discuss why the organization chose to manage its interdependencies in this way. Do you think the organization has selected the most appropriate linage mechanisms? Why or why not? Part A: Draw a chart of the main inter-organizational linkage mechanisms (for example, collusion, third-party linkages mechanisms, strategic alliances) that your organization uses to manage is competitive resource interdependencies. Competitive resource interdependencies include collusion and cartels, third party linkages, strategic alliances (long-term contracts, networks, minority ownership, and joint ventures) and mergers and acquisitions. CVS has followed the mergers and acquisitions interdependency. In March of 2007, CVS Corporation and Caremark Rx, Inc. merged together creating the nation’s premier integrated pharmacy services provider. The combined company, renamed  CVS/Caremark Corporation, unifies the nation’s largest pharmacy chain with a leading pharmaceutical services company, creating the opportunity to deliver unique products and services that will help manage costs for employers and improve access and choice for consumers. Part B: Using resource dependence theory or transaction cost theory, discuss why the organization chose to manage its interdependencies in this way. Do you think the organization has selected the most appropriate linage mechanisms? Why or why not? Resource dependency theory is the ability to exercise more control over resources and distribution channels which means establishing interdependencies with other organizations. Transaction cost theory helps you choose which interdependency to choose when your bureaucratic costs equal your transaction costs. Both of these theories help organizations choose which interdependency is right for them. CVS chose to go with the merger interdependency. I think this was an appropriate and beneficial way to manage its interdependency. This merger allowed CVS to begin delivering substantial benefits to shareholders, customers and employees. CVS was able to offer end-to-end services, from plan design to prescription fulfillment, as well as the opportunity to improve clinical outcomes, which results in better control over healthcare costs for employers and plan providers. The merge improved the delivery of pharmacy services and healthcare decision making, enabling consumers to benefit from unparalleled access, greater convenience and more choice.

How do people feel about the changes that have taken place on Portobello road over the last few years?

The changes that have affected Portobello road in the last decade have a had a great impact on the local community along with the future proposals which have been outlined for the area by the council in order to improve the area. For the purpose of the investigation it is useful to understand how the local community view these changes and proposals, and to gain an insight into the conflict that is arousing from the proposed changes and developments. A secondary source presented as an article from the Notting Hill Action Group, which is an organisation campaign involved in fighting local issues. In this article local residents are protesting against the eviction orders that have been served on Elgin books, a bookstore which has been on the road for more than 20 years, one of the reasons for this protest is that the rent has increased so much the bookstore can no longer afford to pay substantial amounts of money on rent. The local residents are also furious about the fact that breaches against planning consent rules i. e. ‘the Fluid juice bar shop front being put up without planning', are allowed to go unchecked by the council, even though actions like these are ‘considered an offence to the streets character'. Although these protests are creating an unhappy atmosphere in and around Portobello road, it is useful to understand why the residents feel what they do, one of the reasons may be down to the fact that residents don't want to ruin Portobello's individual character. However this is very difficult to overcome the conflict between residents and planners because many ‘greedy people in the area are using Notting hill's celebrity as a way of forcing up rents and forcing out businesses, which have been in the area for more than 30 years. An article labelled ‘Planning rage' which is slightly different to the 1st 1 although still sharing the same subject matter of ‘planning orders'. In this article (which is written by NAG) the Unitary development Plan is being criticized by many residents along with the Notting Hill Action Group itself! This is extremely relevant to the investigation because the future proposals stated in question 4 are based on the Unitary Development Plan, therefore it is useful to understand how the residents view these changes. The article starts off with the fact that ‘ owners of small family-run businesses say that they will be squeezed out by the unitary development Plan which is proposing to open the floodgates to huge chain stores. ‘ And it also states that ‘the recent arrival of chain stores such as GAP and Starbucks has fuelled their fears. ‘ It is evident from these 2 lines, that the people of Portobello road ‘don't want the small businesses (which make the area so unique) be swallowed up by chain stores that will make the area look like any where else. Especially a resident in particular called Mr Walton who lives in Arundel Gdns, who says: â€Å"we are concerned that developments should not harm the character of the area. † The council have responded to this argument by saying: â€Å"we're trying to react to what people want, and to do it within the powers we are granted. † It obvious that this is a complicated issue, because there is a balanced argument between both the councillors and the residents, therefore it is difficult to determine who is right in what is being said. Another article displays a variety of articles, one of which is to do with the division between the rich and the poor on Portobello road. This article is stating that there is a ‘widening gap between the rich and the poor in the UK and this is marked in the Notting hill area, which has multi million pound house prices while Goldbourne ward (northern section) is in the fifth poorest ward in inner London. ‘ Therefore many of the residents of the Goldbourne ward have organised a pilgrimage, which is a powerful reminder to everyone to challenge the status quo, and to work energetically for a fairer, more balanced society. Many of the people who are involved in this protest are trying to convince the council to give in to their requirements by organising these sorts of campaigns. However it is not easy for the council to equalise the 2 parts of the road because the census data on page shows that there is a high unemployment and low home ownership rate which means that most of the population live in rented houses, therefore it would take the council a long time to match up to the employment and home ownership rates which are 3 times higher in the Pembridge ward. Although the newspaper article is outlining resident views, it is still a secondary resource and so its reliability could be questioned, we cannot be sure that there is a division between the rich and the poor in the 2 wards, as the article is written by a person who may well be biased. However the primary data in the form of a shopping, environmental and residential house surveys show that the Pembridge ward is far better off than the Goldbourne ward in terms of house prices and quality. Even though most people situated in Portobello road such as the residents in the 1st NAG article are criticising the future proposals that have been made by the council (stated in question 4) there are also others who are in favour of these improvements i. e traders. In the article named ‘Portobello 2000' Anne swift is an antiques dealer who talks about the future of Portobello road, and also mentions the importance of ‘Portobello having the opportunity to establish itself as the worlds leading centre for antiques and a leading market for general commodities. Anne sees the ‘over commercialisation' of Portobello road as a good thing as this would encourage trade from tourism, however the people in the ‘planning rage' article see this as gentrification steam roller, and as a threat to small businesses. Therefore this is causing a growing conflict between traders and residents. Anne swift suggest some of her own proposals which are in line with those stated in question 4, she believes that all traders have to offer high quality goods, by displaying better merchandise. She also states that improving the environment will create a more clean and spacious environment for everyone, especially tourists. Lastly she suggests the need for friendly and efficient service in order to satisfy customers. A questionnaire which was conducted on all parts of Portobello road in order to find out information about the residents and tourists who shop there. The results of the questionnaire were then converted in to a graph, which helped to analyse the relationships between the figures. From question 1 on the graph its evident that the majority of people questioned were residents (58%) and the remaining were either tourists or workers (42%). This proves that Portobello road attracts quite a lot of tourists and therefore has a large sphere of influence, as the figures are nearly similar to that of the residents. Out of the 58% of the residents questioned, 33% of them have lived in the area between 11-20 years, which showed that they knew the area well and were aware of the changes that have taken place over the last decade. Many of the residents questioned felt that the area had changed in terms of housing which is now of a better quality and residents, as new people are being attracted to the area everyday. 2% of the residents felt that the changes had made the area better, while 29% of the people felt that the changes were quite good for the area, however there were only 7% of residents who felt that the area had declined. This shows that Portobello road has made a great improvement since the last decade. The remaining results showed that 40%of the people questioned have visited Portobello road more than 10 times mostly for Antiques and general food shopping. Again, this shows that tourism is an important factor, which affects Portobello road everyday and has maximised its function.

Carboxylic Acid and Derivatives

Chinese General Hospital Colleges First semester, AY 2013 2014 Organic Chemistry (Laboratory) Experiment no. 10 Date performed: September 5, 2013 Group 3 Names: Date submitted: September 19, 2013 De Gunman, Joanna Claries Del Mound, Marilyn Dells Rexes, Pamela L. Deal Cruz, Married Cyril M. Duran, Zenith Anne P l. Theoretical background Carboxylic acid derivatives are organic compounds containing the call group core structure attached to a Y group, which may be an electronegative atom or substitutes. The Y group acts as a leaving group in necrophilia call substitution. This mechanism is involved in hydrolysis, alcoholisms, and analysis reactions. As strong organic acids, carboxylic acids react with silver nitrate and sodium bicarbonate to form the corresponding carboxylic salts. Among the carboxylic acid derivatives, call halides are the most reactive and amides the least. Thus, the reactions of these compounds with a given reagent vary with regard to the rate, thermometric, and even the completion of the reaction. Call chlorides, due to their reactivity, are good starting materials for synthesis. Esters and amides are important functional groups in bimolecular like fats and proteins. All carboxylic acid derivatives yield the parent carboxylic acid upon reaction with water. Moreover, one derivative can be converted into another, provided the former is more reactive than the latter. II. Objectives To differentiate the reactivates of carboxylic acid derivatives. To distinguished carboxylic acid derivatives using classification tests To explain through chemical equations and mechanisms the reactions involved in each test. Ill. Materials/ Reagents needed % Ethanol Again con.

Potential and Issues in Implementation of CRM Systems in Fast Moving Dissertation

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Arguing for Offenders being Supported towards Higher Education - Literature review Example Quite apart from the life enhancing benefits to prisoners themselves, who were able to gain insight into their own situation and formulate new and positive strategies for their future lives, there are obvious and positive impacts for society at large in opening up access to Higher Educations to prisoners. In general it is clear that the benefits of providing such access far outweighed the financial costs. What is less clear, is how best to deliver more access to higher education for the most excluded portion of citizens, namely those who are in the care of prisons and probation officers. Major shifts in criminal justice policies and in UK Higher Education. In the UK in recent years there have been some big ideological debates surrounding prisons, sentencing and the punishment and rehabilitation of offenders. At the same time there have been major changes in the UK Higher Education sector, with increasing privatisation of delivery and substantial fee increases. Vignoles and Crawford ( 2009, p. 49) point out that it has been difficult in the UK, even in the general population outside prisons, to widen access to access to Higher Education. Despite well-publicised efforts in the mid to late 1990s, to introduce policies to widen access, the gap in HE participation rates between higher and lower social classes actually widened. Adult learners, who are just one of several target groups in the widening access agenda, experience significant barriers to Higher Education entry which are only partially addressed by access courses and other outreach measures initiated by further and higher education institutions. The extent of the difference caused by socio- economic factors is still very large, and apparently growing: â€Å"Recent evidence from HEFCE (2005) indicates that the 20 per cent most disadvantaged students are around six times less likely to participate in higher education compared to the 20 per cent most advantaged pupils† (Vignoles and Crawford, 2009, p. 4 9). The introduction of very high fees in the mainstream higher education sector in the UK has caused a marked commercialisation of the whole student experience. There is a system in place which requires universities to make â€Å"Access Agreements† which in theory guarantee that special provision is made for students who have difficulty in meeting the high cost of fees. It has been noted already that the democratisation of higher education through these new measures has been only a partial success, with new universities in particular exceeding their targets in widening participation, while at the same time there appears to be a worrying entrenchment of top fifth, redbrick and elite institutions which perform below their expected benchmark (David, 2009, p. 46). There is a danger that these measures will increase access to the lower portion of Higher Education, such as foundation degrees and some BA and BSc programmes in some institutions, while actually increasing the exclusi vity of popular courses in well-regarded universities. There is, of course, a tension between these financially driven reforms, and the objective of widening participation. Hartley sums up the main direction of the reforms of the early 1990s in Ritzer’s (1993) somewhat provocative term â€Å"McDonaldization† which postulates four key dimensions â€Å"efficiency, calculability, predictability and control† in post-modern organisations (Hartley, 1995, p. 409). This

Doctorate of business administration in international business (DBA) Personal Statement

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Eucation and Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eucation and Identity - Essay Example He lacked the many facilities we have, and yet he managed to develop his writing skills by relying on the little help he could access. All through, he struggle with identity crisis though he later manages to establish his identity. The critical role that education plays in defining Douglas identity cannot be ignored. Douglass's urge and determination to learn is captivating. This essay discusses how Douglas narrative on learning to write influences my thinking about education as well as identity and how his ideas relate to my own ideas regarding education, literacy, and identity. As I read his narrative, it triggered me to think of my own views regarding education. Although I have always considered education important in achieving my goals, never had I viewed education with as much regard as Douglass did. This is irrespective of having teachers and all learning resources at my disposal. However, Douglass ideas about education are somehow related to my own views about education. Just like Douglas believed, learning to read and write sets us free not just from stupidity but it also enables us discover ourselves. Lack of education makes us ignorant and we end up being slaves of ourselves. It is only by expressing ourselves through activities such as writing that we can be able to really feel sufficient and convince others of our capability. Thinking of people who are deprived of education by one reason or another makes me consider that the worst form of slavery. However, this kind of slavery is better since one can make a choice to liberate him or herself from it like Douglass did. As I read Douglass narrative, I thought of the many times I felt like giving up because I could not understand a concept in class. Those are the time I felt like I did not really understand who I was. However, I have always considered education to be one of the fundamental aspects that will enable me achieve my goals and that is what keeps me going. When I imagined of Douglass roaming i n the streets seeking for assistant from kids in the streets, I acknowledged the many education resources we have at our disposal and how little we make use of them. This made me feel like I was a slave of myself since I have no good reason to fail to achieve my academic goals yet I find myself failing at times. Reading Douglass experience and comparing it with my own encouraged me that no matter the adversities it is possible to achieve our goals. Education and literacy plays a great role in enabling us to realize our own identity. Educational attainments assist us in integrating with others in addition to being able to understand and appreciate those who may different from us. Just as the slaves suffered with their real identity as humans, such is the case when one is not conversant with a concept. Education defines us in some ways. People will identify with you depending on how well you can express yourself. If you are uneducated, people will brand you as illiterate. This has mad e me conclude that education can form one’s identity since it determines a person’s interest in life. In the contemporary society, social stratification is a common phenomenon and education is used as one of the criteria of defining the class one belongs to. However, not all people are able to access equal education opportunities. Being unable to access quality education does not automatically mean you cannot set high

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Opinion Blog on Domestic Violence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Opinion Blog on Domestic Violence - Assignment Example The issue of domestic violence especially against women is not new and infact the domestic violence movement is atleast 3 decades old. The movement has caught a lot of public awareness and has got many protective laws enacted. Many extensive network of services have been started to help the victims of domestic violence. Any incident of threatening behavior, violence or abuse, of any form, between individuals who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members, or share a relationship, is known as domestic violence. The victims are usually women, children, elderly people, physically or mentally challenged persons and partners in gay or lesbian relationship. According to the 1998 Commonwealth fund survey, nearly 31% of American women report being abused by their partners at some point in their lives (Common wealth fund, 1999). According to the ‘National Violence Against Women’ survey (1995-96), about 25% of women reported sexual domestic violence at some time in their lives. In the year 2001, 85% of the victims of intimate partner violence were women (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003). There was no difference in rates as far as social, racial, geographical or ethnic differences are concerned. Also, 50% of men who assaulted their wives also assaulted their children. Domestic violence is a much sought after problem for over decades. Though many researchers argue that there are as many men who are battered as are women, there is enough evidence to prove that women are the main targets of domestic violence. Hence women must be given help to fight domestic violence and must be advised not to accept it a part of family system. Commonwealth Fund. (1999). Health Concerns across a Woman’s Lifespan: 1998 Survey of Women’s Health. May 1999. Retrieved on 25th November, 2010 from

Using Technology to Create Strategic Options Essay

Using Technology to Create Strategic Options - Essay Example e human resource of the company, the company survives the competition it is presented with because it gets people who can rightly produce or create computer hardware and software that matches the experiences of users, connect users to the company, and trade out products to consumers. It is important to mention that assessing a company’s competitiveness on the technology market from a demand side should give much attention to user specification. It is for this reason that in the selection of its human resource base, Apple Inc. ensures that it is only the best employees who can predict and forecast the market from a user-based perspective and create technology based hardware and software that meet the demands of users. Another important resource that Apple Inc. has for years used in gaining competitiveness and remains important in competing is financial resources. The computer hardware and software industry has been described as one of the most capital intensive industries in th e world. This is because of the fast changing nature of the industry, where on a rapid basis, the trend of user demands change. As these demand changes happen, companies in the industry have been obliged to also change their marketing mix and manufacturing strategies to ensuring that they become the preferred destination for consumers seeking change (Hannah and Peter, 2013). In such a situation, competition becomes almost impossible in the absence of sufficient funds to compete. For Apple Inc. there remains the need for rapid capital injection so as to compete because most of its competitors continue to become financially viable and strong on the competitive market. In the creation of strategic options for its financial needs, it is strongly recommended that the company undertakes key financial...This is because out of the numerous strategic options, the companies become equipped with the selection of the most preferred and suitable choices that best respond to the dictates of the m arket in which they find themselves. In today’s competitive market, specifically for the computer hardware industry, the need and use of technology in the creation of strategic options has become necessary and relevant than ever before. This is because the computer hardware industry is by nature a technology based industry that has so much responsiveness in the demand side of the technology market. This paper shall therefore explore how Apple Inc. as a player in the computer hardware and software industry has used technology to alter the competitive dynamics of its market space. Resources needed to compete Sampler (2013) identifies three major dimensions of IT progress, out of which is the reach dimension. As far as reach is concerned, three other dimensions can be found, which are user experience, connectivity and commerce. The selection of various options has however been done with particular focus and attention to what prevails with competitors. This is because consumers of products and services offered by the company keep becoming inclined with the choices of products and services they want.

The Analysis of Sex in Advertisment Essay Example for Free

The Analysis of Sex in Advertisment Essay â€Å"The Power of Cool†: An Analysis of Sex in Advertisement Nowadays the use of sexuality is a very popular way to advertise a product. The concept of using attractive people to sell any type of merchandise is everywhere, and this is effective because when you look at an ad of this kind you don’t focus on the product; you focus on the sex symbol. I chose an ad from Davidoff’s Cool Water campaign that appeared in Men’s Health magazine on September 2008. â€Å"Flesh sells. People dont want to see pictures of churches. They want to see naked bodies,† said Helen Mirren. If we consider Mirren’s quotation within the context of Men’s Health, we can assume that regardless the reader, they both want to become that model to attract a lover. This ad is appealing to the public because of the guy next to the perfume; not because of the perfume itself. These kinds of ads play a very important role in American culture because they are everywhere and people learn about society through advertisement. Sexual advertisements started in the 1920’ with the pin up girl who was the evolved, more sexual burlesque girl. The pin up girl advertised all kinds of products because they became self-aware of their attributes and sexuality. (Dita Von Teese) Nowadays sex advertisements are not only for women; they use men as well, like in this case. Men’s Health is an American magazine launched in 1987. This magazine focuses in health, but it also talks about fashion, lifestyle, sex, technology, nutrition, travel, and finance. Over the years it has become more popular, and it’s known as the largest and best selling magazine for men in the U.  S. (Go Articles) it is my assumption that the primary target of this magazine is twenty to forty year old men who want to get the best out of life. In this magazine we can see allot of ads and one of the most famous ones is Cold Water. Cold Water is a perfume created by a Swedish tobacco brand called Davidoff, which in 1990 was bought by Coty, one of the world’s biggest fragrance companies. (WWD) This perfume has been around since 2002, but every year Davidoff has realised different editions of it. Famous actor Paul Walker was the face of the perfume in 2011 and Josh Holloway, the famous actor from the 2004 TV drama Lost, (IMBD) was the face from 2007 to 2010. One of the trademarks of the Davidoff perfume ads is that there is always a shirtless male model with a perfect body (marked abs and toned muscles) diving into the ocean, taking a swim, and then coming back to the beach completely wet but â€Å"cool†. This became a trademark because people who buy this perfume think that they will ome out of the worst situation completely â€Å"cool†, like the ad shows. What does a guy’s six-pack have to do with a perfume? The ad’s background is a very calm, light blue ocean on a very hot day. The center of attention is the face of a very attractive Josh Holloway. When we look at his face we see confidence, power, and masculinity. If we take a second look into Holloway’s face we see it’s completely wet; every inch of his face has perfectly formed water drops for the exception of his mouth. We can also assume that the water we see dripping of his face is not only salt water, it is also sweat. This tells us that he has been swimming for a while, and in spite of this he still looks fresh; he looks calm like he just got out of the shower completely relaxed and really attractive because he has â€Å"The power of cool†. At the right bottom of the ad we see the top of the perfume bottle it is blue, reflecting the ocean’s color and Holloway’s eyes, with a black cap. The shape of the bottle is very classy and simple but modern. If we compare the perfume bottle to the ad itself, we can see they are both inspired by the deep blue ocean with refreshing cold water in a very hot day. What makes this a very attractive ad is the fact that Davidoff is comparing the ocean that is strong, deep, and mysterious with the perfume. It also shows that, Holloway represents mystery because if we see his face and the whole setting we see somebody sexy and confident, but if we look into his eyes we see somebody else completely sweet and shy. What I mean with this is that Holloway shows us almost two different people in the same picture, he shows the hot confident guy at the bar and the sweet boyfriend every girl wants. Davidoff’s target audience is supposed to be very masculine, sophisticated, and confident man from twenty to forty years old (Holloway). If we consider the price and were it sells we could say that the target audience is cheaper pretending to be sophisticated. Cool Water is one of the most popular perfumes because it has an affordable price the 1. 5 ounce bottle is $19. 62 at Target and the 4. 2 ounce bottle is $67. 50 at Macy’s. This ad gives you confidence because you see that a movie star uses it, and that implies that if you use it you would be as successful as the person in the picture. Because their target audience is so big this perfume is very neutral and could be used in several occasions for example work or party. This perfume doesn’t represent pretending being cool, it represents being confident about yourself; that’s what makes you cool. The written text and the picture have very close relationship in the Cool Water ad because they have one, very clear message: â€Å"Use this perfume and you will possess masculinity and confidence. † What I like about this ad is that is very simple but attractive at the same time. It doesn’t have too much going on, which makes it easy to analyze and relate with. The phrase â€Å"The power of cool† gives this ad allot of conviction because it fits perfectly with the image they are presenting: an attractive male model covered in water/sweat who looks like he always has everything under control. Although we might think there is some type of advancement in the fact of using people as sexual object, there isn’t. The truth is that sex advertisements are so popular because we make them popular consciously or not we pay more attention to them than to non-sexual advertisements. Some people thik it’s funny or sexy, but what happens when they are tasteless or too explicit? This type of ads captures everyone’s attention including children who aren’t ready for this kind of content, that’s another problem.

Laryngeal Mask Airway Placement Methods in Pediatric Care

Laryngeal Mask Airway Placement Methods in Pediatric Care Laryngeal Mask Airway Placement: Comparison Between a Traditional and Alternative Methods in Pediatric Practice ============================================================ Emil Batarseh , MD , JBA* Zahi Majali , MD , JBA Basel D.Makhamreh , MD , JBA Abstract Objective To compare the quality of laryngeal mask airway placement between an alternative and a traditional methods in children. Methods Our prospective ,double-blind investigation enrolled 105 children subjects , aged 3months-15 years,of both genders,ASA I(American society of anesthesiologists), and assigned for different elective minor superficial operations under general halothane inhalational spontaneous laryngeal mask airway anesthesia at Princess Haya hospital-Aqaba-Jordan,during the period July 2007-July 2008. Subjects were randomized into two groups.Group I subjects (n=50) received laryngeal mask airway (LMA) through an alternative method,and group II subjects (n=55) received laryngeal mask airway via the traditional method. The number of placement attempts and duration required for success to attain a patent airway in both groups were recorded. Results Placement method made no difference in terems of first trial success (P>0.05).First trial successful placement was 85.5% and 90% in groups II and I respectively. Conclusion The alternative placement method is an acceptable solution to the traditional method. Key words:Anesthesia:general,spontaneous;LMA:traditional,alternative;children. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *Corresponding author: Department of anesthesia , intensive care and pain management , KHMC , AMMAN , JORDAN. E-mail: [emailprotected]yahoo.com 1 Introduction Use of laryngeasl mask airway permits the maintenance of a patent airway with successful insertion rates of the LMA on the first attempt , varying between 67-92% in pediatric practice (1).Since its introduction in 1983 by Brain,the LMA has achieved increasing popularity (2). The laryngeal mask airway has achieved a great popularity also in pediatric anesthesia practice.The laryngeal mask airway is a novel device that fills the gap in airway management between endotracheal intubatio and the use of face mask.The laryngeal mask airway is inserted blindly into the pharynx,forming a low pressure seal aroud the laryngeal inlet. Because the insertion of the laryngeal mask airway by the standard technique is not always easy in children due to the posterior pharyngeal curvature,some different maneuvers have been described to minimize this problem(3):Innserting the LMA laterally,applying the mask firmly against the hard palate,pulling the tongue forward,repositioning the head,adding or removing air to the cuff,applying continuous positive airway pressure,usig a laryngoscope and inserting the LMA like a Guedel oropharyngeal airway. The ability to maintain a patent airway and provide effective ventilation is the main objective of pediatric anesthesiological procedures.This is achieved mainly with the use of a face mask or an endotracheal tube.Both of these devices have major limitations from a strictly anatomical point of view and require adequate operator skills.The aim of LMA was of producing an airway device that would be more practical than the face mask and less invasive than the tracheal tubes.The functional ehegance of the LMA is that it forms a low pressure airtight seal against the glottis rather than plugging the pharynx,thus combining ease of insertion and adequaqte airway patency (4). Airway management is more successful with LMA technique.This is because transoral passage of instrumentation into the hypopharynx is easier than into the glottic inlet.There are four reasons:Firstly,the hypopharynx is a posterior structure and is easier to locate.Secondly,it is wider providing a bigger target.Thirdly,it is funnel-rather than tubular –shaped ,so that imprecisely positioned instrumentation will be redirected to the target and fourthly,it is better aligned with the oropharyngeal axis,making instrumentation less likely to get snagged (3). The objective of our invewstigation was to asses the effectiveness of the modified procedure in comparison to the standard procedure regarding LMA insertion. 2 Methods Our prospective,double blind investigation included 105 children patients,aged 3months-15 years,ASA I,of both sexes and scheduled for various elective minor superficial surgical procedures under general halothane inhalational spontaneous laryngeal mask airway anesthesia at Princess Haya hospital-Aqaba-Jordan,during the period July 2007-July2008,after obtaining approval from the local ethics committee of the Jordanian royal medical service directorate and written informed consent from the parents..Subjects were randomly divided into two groups using sealed envelopes.Group I children (n=50) received LMA using the modified method and group II children (n=55) received LMA via the standard method.The size of the LMA used was indicated using the patients body weight;size 1,1.5,2,2.5 ad 3 masks for 30 kgof body w2eight ,respectively. The LMA was lubricated with saline before insertion.Induction of inhalational anesthesia was performed with 3-5%halothane mixed with70% nitrous oxidein 30%oxygen.Before insertion of the LMA ,anesthesia was maintained using 2-3%halothanne in oxygen.No muscle relaxants were used.An anesthesia technician opened the patients mouth by pulling down the jaw.Intravenous cannulation was done after child is anesthetized,if The standard insertion procedure was illustrated by Brain(5).The LMA was inserted with the cuff fully deflated and against the palate,then the cuff was inflated after insertion.In the modified insertion procedure,a two-thirds moderately inflated LMA (using 2,4,6,8 and 12 ml air for size 1,1.5,2,2.5 and 3 masks respectively) was inserted with its lumen facing laterally left.While rotated clockwise 90 D,it was passed downward into position behind the larynx.Then the cuff was fully inflated.Successful insertion was clinically called for if manual ventilation with the reservoir bag was easy and the chest wall movement was smooth. The number of trials on LMA onnsertion and the duration to achieve good airway were recorded.Vital signs including heart rate and pulse oximeter readings were recorded.In case of failed LMA insertion,endotracheal intubation was achieved.An observer blinded to the insertion procedure evaluated the two procedures. Statistics Parametric data were analyzed using Students t test.P-value 3 Results There were no significant differences in terms of gender,age,weight,duration of anesthesia and size of the LMA.Table 1.Overall study group was 110 children patients,but 5 were excluded from the investigation ,who were ASA II and III physical status classified. Successful insertion was attained in 85.5% of subjects in group II and in 90% of patients in group I,at first trial.The two groups were comparable regarding the successful insertion rate,the number of trials at insertion(Second trial;GII,4 and GI,3.P>0.05.Third trial;GII,3 and GI,2,P>0.05) and the duration required for insertion (GII,0.4 minutes and GI,0.37 minutes,P>0.05). Endotracheal intubation was achieved in 1 case in GII and in no case in GI,P>0.05.In the present study,the LMA standard approach success rate was 85.5% at first trial ,increasing to 92.7% at second trial and 98.2% at third trial.In the modified approach,the success rate was 90% at first trial but was 96% at second trial and 100% at third trial. 4 Table 1. Patients characteristics. 5 Table 2. LMA insertion comparison. 6 Discussion The LMA has become popular in pediatric aesthesia practice.Nagai S,et al showed the potency of the modifiedmethod of LMA insertion (6).LMA advantages over conventional laryngoscope guided tracheal intubation are more rapid insertion and increased success rate.The modified method can be used in this investigation as an alternative procedure to the standard method of insertion.Brimacombe and Berry (7) stated that if the standard approach is used correctly,the first time success rate should be >98% in less than 20 seconds. Wakeling et al(8) demonstrated that deflating the cuff first would allow more difficult insertion due to the presentation of a softer edge to the posterior pharyngeal wall.Lopez-Gil,et al(9) used a lubricant ,whereas we moistened the LMA with saline only.He demonstrated that there was a rapid improvement in LMA skills in pediatric anesthesia practice when the standard technique was used.Gaining more experience may decrease the rate of unsuccessful insertion.Airway trauma was less frequent with the LMA than with ETI.This is not surprising as more force is required to see the glottic inlet than the hypopharynx.Perhaps the pharyngeal/esophageal mucosa is stronger than the laryngeal/tracheal mucosa as it has evolved to accommodate solid bodies and not just passaqge of gas. This modified technique I which a two –thirds inflated LMA is inserted with its lumen facing laterally forces the patients mouth to open wider and keeps the tongue from being pushed back into the air passage.These technical features result in easy insertion through the pharynx for inexperienced anesthesiologists.In addition,the softer edge of the partially inflated LMA protects the pharyngeal mucosae from trauma during insertion.Causes of difficulty with LMA onsertion include choice of wrong LMA size and difficulty in maneuvering through the posterior curvature of the pharynx (10).Differences in the airway anatomy and the frequent presence of tonsillar hypertrophy can complicate LMA insertion in children.Maneuvers to overcome this difficulty include increased head extension,jaw thrust maneuvers puuling the tongue forward,firm pressure on the LMA and using the index finger to guide the mask(10). Oneil et al (11) have reported an alternative method of insertion with the LMA partially inflated in children.They described improved ease of insertion and explained that the softness of the inflated cuff allows for easier adaptation to the differing pharyngeal characteristics of the pediatric airway. Nevertheless,Braincompared insertion techniques concerning the mechanisms of deglutition and recommended the standard technique. Although both methods of insertion were satisfactory,partial inflation of the LMA improved the ease of insertion in children as assessed by time to insertion and success rate on the first attempt.Inflation of the cuff at the smaller sized LMA after insertion often displaces the LMA and alters its position while the inflated LMA tends to insert to the proper depth and requires no further adjustment.In the standard technique,however,insertion of the LMA is not always easy.Therefore,it is reasonable that anesthesiologists devise other insertion techniques.We believe that this technique is to be recommended in certain situations. 7 Trevisanuto et al (12) found that the occurrence of first time failure decreased overtime in their study and they thought that the change represented an element of familiarization with the LMA insertion technique.The relatively small but statistically significant difference is meaningful,sice problems associated with insertion can be attributed to inadequate depth of anesthesia which may occur with prolonged placement.Our 1.8% incidence of problems that resulted in abandonment of the LMA is comparable to that reported in similar study evaluating uses of the LMA in pediatric practice(1). In Conclusion This modified techniqueia an acceptable alternativeto the standard technique I children.Thie techniqueis likelyto allow easy insertion of the LMA for unskilled anesthesiologists.Insertion of the LMA with the cuff inflated is equallysuccessfulto the standard uninflated techiquein experienced anesthesiologists.This implies that the modified inflated approach would be accepted to the general population of LMA users. 8 References 1.Shahin NJ , Mehtab A , Hammad U , et al. A study of the use of laryngeal mask airway (LMA) in children and its comparison with endotracheal intubation.Indian journal of anaesthesia 2009;53(2):174-8. 2.Pennant JH , White PF. The laryngeal mask airway.Its uses in anesthesiology. Anesthesiology 1993;79:144-63. 3.Benumof JL. Laryngeal mask airway.Indications and contraindications.Anesthesiology 1992;77(5):843-6. 4.Ghai B , Wig J . Comparison of different techniques oh laryngeal mask placement in children. Curr opin Anesthesiol 2009;22(3):400-4 5.Patel B, Bingham R.Laryngeal mask airway and other supraglottic airway devices in pediatric practice.BJA 2009;9(1):6-9 6.Nagai S , Inagaki Y , Hirosawa J , et al. Modified insertion technique of the laryngeal mask airway in children:a comparison with standard technique. Anaesthesia 2003:59-61. 7.Brimacombe J , Berry A. The laryngeal mask airway :anatomical and physiological implications. Acta Anesthesiol scand 1996;40(2):201-9. 8.Wakeling HG , Butler PJ , Baxter PJC.The laryngeal mask airway:a comparison between two insertion techniques.Anesth Analg 1997;85:687-90. 9.Lopez GM , Brimacombe J , Cebrian J , et al.Larygeal mask airway in pediatric practice. Anesthesiology 1996;84(4):807-11. 10.Ghai B , Makkar JK , Bhardwai N, et al.Larygeal mask airway insertion in children:comparison between rotational,lateral and standard techniques. Pediatric anesthesia 2008;18(4):308-12 11.Oneill B , Templeton JJ , Caramico L, et al.The laryngeal mask airway in pediatric patients:factors affecting ease of use during insertion and emergence. Anesth Analg 1994;78:659-62. 12.Trevisanuto D , Micaglio M , Ferrarese P , et al.The laryngeal mask airway:potential applications in neonates. Fn.bmj.com 2008.www.archdischild.com. 9

IPhone 6 Marketing Plan

IPhone 6 Marketing Plan I am going to launch I phone 6. Its a mobile phone without keypad. Its a touch screen phone. You can also use it as a mini computer. It has Microsoft windows 9 with latest software. It has all the latest technology from apple. I am going to explain how I will do the marketing of this product. Marketing planning process for iphone 6: 1) Mission statement: Give something new to the new generation. Its bring the world in the hand of the customer its make life essyer. Its bring new technology to the customer. We are offing the best product in the market. We 1.1) Cooperative objective: We want to see that more customers are willing to buy this product by end of this year. We want to attract more and more consumer. We want to create more jobs in the market in next few years and will make a place of our own in the market. promise the product will be latest technology and affordable for the consumers. 2) Marketing audit: 2.1) Who are the competitor: My products main competitors are Blackberry Storm, Palm Pre, Motorola Droid , HTC Droid Eris, Samsung etc. 2.2) Swot Analysis: SWOT analysis is a very important analysis for lunching a new product. Strengths and weaknesses are the internal and opportunity and threat are the external analysis. Strengths: Strong brand image. Advanced smart phone technology. Application/update availability. Selective providers. Weaknesses: Limited product selection. New entrant stage. International markets. Insufficient network/system Opportunities: Protocol-based network. Nice market. Online capability/options App store Overall pricing control Threats: Product diversification Immense competitors Superior technology Dependence on their third party supplier 2.3) Pest analysing: Its a very important analysis for lunch a new product. It is a external analysis. Political: For lunch any new product like I phone 6 must operate under Political factors include government regulations and legal issues and define both formal and informal rules. Like Tax policy, Employment laws, Environmental regulations, Trade restrictions, Political stability etc. Economic: Economic factors will affect the purchasing power of potential customers and the products cost of capital. Some examples of the economy: economic growth, exchange rates, Inflation rate etc. Social: Social factors include the demographic and cultural aspects of the external macro  environment. Its involved customer needs and the size of possible markets. Some example: Population growth rate Age distribution, Career attitudes, Stress on safety What is the popular religion etc. Technology: Some technological factors you must analysis for lunch a new product : RD activity, computerization, technology motivations, Rate of technological change etc. 2.4) The compatiteve advantage : Apple has two types of advantages: Internal advantage: The main internal advantage is Appel that it has focused on in its design for the I phone 6. External advantage: the main external advantage are, a) the apple brand name b) The simplicity of it user interface c) The advanced technology incorporated in to its design. 3) Marketing strategy 3.1) Who are the target market: Apple target alll kind of people who wants new tecnology. They resarch about peoples needs and wants. The iPhone targets consumers who need to store information and communicate or people who want entertainment on the go. Apples target segments consist of professionals, students, corporate users, entrepreneurs, and health care workers. 3.2) Positioning: Large company with various products Apple has too many consumers, rather targeting a particular segment. But because of buyer both users and network operator crave a latest frills the iphone will be a high demand until a better and more advance product is introduced. Position Consumer price Expensive Iphone 6 Technical Product and Designing / Basic Cheap 3.3) The marketing mix: The marketing mix is often referred to as the Four Ps since the most important elements of marketing are concerned with: Product the product that the customer obtains. Price how much the customer pays for the product. Place- how the product is distributed to the customer. Promotion how the customer is found and persuaded to buy the product. 4) Implement : Iphone assess the product climate in which it will implement the marketing strategy. Iphone will Study the competition and develop a plan for differentiating the product from others. Developing communication strategies for letting customers know how the product is different, by mentioning the curbside service in ads. Iphone will survey the customers in order to learn who they are and what they want from the products. It will use informal surveying techniques such as speaking to the clientele directly and asking how it can better meet their needs. Also perform formal marketing research by asking customers to fill out questionnaires in person or online. Will Offer free products in exchange for their time and feedback. WordsI(791) Question 2 :Discuss market segmentation and customer segmentation process 1) Market segmentation: Market segmentation is the process to identify customers is they worldwide group or individual customers. Are they all the same the same quality who is likely to exhibit similar responses to a marketing mix? The purpose for segmenting a market is to allow your marketing/sales program to focus on the subset of prospects that are most likely to purchase youre offering. It have to be done properly this will help to insure the highest return for your marketing/sales expenditures. Depending on whether you are selling your offering to individual consumers or a business, there are definite differences in what you will consider when defining market segments. 2) Customer segmentation: Customer segmentation is the practice of dividing a customer base into groups of individuals that are similar in specific ways relevant to marketing, such as age, gender, interests, spending habits, and so on. Customer segmentation procedures include: deciding what data will be collected and how it will be gathered; collecting data and integrating data from various sources; developing methods of data analysis for segmentation; establishing effective communication among relevant business units about the segmentation; and implementing applications to effectively deal with the data and respond to the information it provides.   For understanding the customer segmentation you have to discuses about, 2.1) Customer needs and wants: What kind of product customer wants and needs you must be understood after lunching any new product. For example when weather going to be could at this time people needs warm cloth at this time if you produced warm cloth people state way go for it . 2.2) Identify most attractive segments for coustumer  : Coustomers are attracted by the looks of an product and where there wants needs are taken to count. Also coustomers are atracted by the latest technpology. Words  :292 . Question no 3: Analyse the factor behind choosing one or more segments with regards to targeting: For discussing the factor behind choosing one or more segments with regards to targeting I choosing Apple I phone. How well are existing segments? Apple has really done well for itself with the iphone. The fastest-growing segment in the mobile phone industry is the smart phone segment, and its been growing every year growing 72% over 2006. How large is the segment, and how can we expect it to grow: Do we have strengths as A company that will help us appeal particularly to one group of consumers: Apple has lot of strengths which can help you to appeal to one group of consumer. Some of strengths are, Apple is one of the most established and healthy IT brands in the World, Product development. Doesnt invent the market, but its products set high standards for the market. Design and utility. Sleek, not clunky. For instance, the desktop computer is part of the screen, not a separate box with wires; the iPhone has very few buttons and feels nice in the hand. Products are easy to use, almost intuitive Apple understands is consumer base maintains a semblance of brand loyalty and also beasts a unique Mac operating system. Question no 4: choose a product or service that has changed the mind of consumers and identify the factors behind which contributed to its growth in the market place: I choose the iphone 4 which change the mind of consumer. How iphone 4 change the consumers mind and why people choose it its given below: What kind of benefit has as a product: The iPhone has an innovative touch screen that is patented and unmatched by any other mobile product today. It also has many functions of other mobile products all in one device. The phone will work with itunes and with other Mac/Apple products like the new Apple TV, allowing for wireless connectivity to the big screen. The iPhone is also compatible with many Mac OS software tools. Mac OS compatibility means that the iPhone has limitless potential for upgradeability. The all-new touch screen interface making operations extremely intuitive, it is radically different from those of other phones or PDAs that recognizes multi finger gestures, just as the human hand normally behaves. The Mac OS X application imbedded into the iPhone assures users will easily recognize what they can do. The iphone 4 had great technological innovations like the original Macintosh. Why it is unique: it has latest technology, up store for a Mac book, high class touch screen, easy internet accesses thats why its different than other phones and customer choose this phone. Price: $350, the iPhone would be sold at a reasonable price for its value. It outperforms any other PDA or smart phone on the market and the convenience of having multiple features combined into one-device increases its overall value. Quality The iPhone has one of the brightest and most scratch resistant screens in the market. It also has a fine metallic finish that is durable and light. The software suite included is also unsurpassed with their ease of use and resistance to computer viruses. Mobile Culture: Mobile Culture is the technical division of Label Networks that specializes on designing and developing applications for the mobile generation. Having developed wireless applications in various youth markets, Iphone has a deep understanding of the mobile lifestyle, and the potential and future growth of this market. Iphone are now offering this mobile experience to brand and organizations via Iphone new division dubbed the Mobile Culture Lab. Iphone group is versed in solving complex technical applications for both the iPhone and Android mobile devices, yet also an eye for design aesthetic and user experience. Customer feedback:  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   From iphons reviwes we can see that some coustomers are very satisfy with the available wifi. Some said they had no connections. Some customers apparantly the signal was just too weak. The content is great and they are very happy with the application itself. Some said this is pretty sweet! they can access hundreds of free audio and video files that will let them keep learning on the move. Coustomer service: The customer service executives of the phone operators are not allowed to reveal the private and confidential data of one client to a person. Iphone has very good coustomer service they are customer service line open from 9am-5pm monday-Friday and saterdy 10am-4pm. They want to provide good customer service for that they have skilled employes. They have a online contact from for customer. Who are the targets? Apple Doesnt Target Markets. It targets  People. Apple target alll people who wants to fullfil their needs and wants. The IPhone targets consumers who need to store information and communicate or people who want entertainment on the go. Apples target segments consist of professionals, students, corporate users, entrepreneurs, and health care workers. How are they targeted? Apple has never marketed Macs to enterprise customers, and only hired a skeleton sales crew to sell to such customers, but it has been advertising the iPhone and its business-related applications in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and other business-friendly publications. Its also added Microsoft Exchange compatibility to the iPhone, as well as advanced, CIO-pleasing security. Apple lets the people decide how and where theyll use its products. Who are the apple iphone 4 competitor: the main competitor of iphone4 is Black Barry , which bring lots of technological product ,and also apple I phone has other competitors like HTC ,Nokia, Samsung etc. They are trying to bring new phone for caught the I phone market. For example Nokia bring Nokia N8 which is being new technology for customer. Are they joined with other company: Apple is an individual company; it is not owned buy any umbrella company. Apple sale their shares in the stock market.

Local Involvement :: Development, Farmers

One main issue about local involvement is how to integrate participatory principles in the present dominant top-down hierarchical extension system in developing countries. In the study about participatory extension approach in Vietnam, Minh et al. (2000) examine the potential and challenges to scale up several new participatory principles (participatory-based training methods, interactive training sessions, group-based sharing experience, practical learning, and learning-by-doing process) in the existing supply-driven extension system. They found that by the help of external support, the approach has been proved to be successful to be applied in farmer level. In order to institutionalize this approach, they recommend using a stepwise procedure, in which it must be initiated by identifying the core problems of the existing extension system and the capacities and then gradually introducing the innovations rather than giving them on the whole. Other issue about local involvement is how to integrate farmers’ innovation into wider existing formal institutional system. Tchawa et al. (2002) assess the Participatory Technology Development in Cameroon, in which they institute that such an innovation may be effectively adopted by the various social actors involved in it, even though it requires difficult learning process difficult at the beginning of the implementation. Taking the case of soil and water conservation, this participatory approach integrating indigenous practices and modern agricultural innovations using the techniques of informal and formal learning (pp. 206-211) However, one study showed that collaboration that involving farmers must be accomplished carefully because of the possibility of social bias. The study of collaborative research-extension plans conducted in Iran indicate that the joint plans, although able to promote collaboration between extension workers and researchers, and extension workers and farmers, the results of this study indicate that such a cooperation plan may be more adaptive to larger-scale farmer segments than the smaller ones. (Movahedi et al., 2007). (pp.304-309Â ¬) Other social segment that should be considered is the young farmers. Auta et al. (2010), in the study of Nigerian youth farmers, argue that the youth needs agricultural trainings as well as more access to agricultural inputs and services to enable them participate in agricultural activities continuously, particularly under scarcity of food availability. Other focal extension issue in developing countries is about partnership among agricultural actors. In the study of cost-sharing scheme, as part of relationship reform between government and farmers extension service, Ozor et al., 2007) found that both farmers and extension workers hold positive perceptions regarding this new partnership scheme; 80.

The Female Martyr of Nineteenth Century Literature :: Literature Literary

The Female Martyr of Nineteenth Century Literature The literature of the nineteenth century is abundant with stories about children dying, partially because it was common for people to die young. One of the most popular forms of the dying child in literature is the martyr, who is almost always female. During the nineteenth century, white men held virtually all of the power in American society. The only way female characters could obtain power was through transcendence in death, but white males already had power and thus had nothing to gain by dying. The image of the pure girl who sacrifices herself for the sake of another seems very positive at first glance. However, this figure perpetuates the notion that girls should be selfless; rather than portray selflessness as a desirable characteristic for any morally upright human being, it is portrayed as a suitable characteristic for women. The female is supposedly the moral center of society, so she is the character who sacrifices herself for others. The martyr figure is a role model for all good girls to follow, while boys have brave heroes to look up to. Barbara Welter notes â€Å"the death of a young girl was so celebrated as a triumph of beauty and innocence that a whole ritual grew up around it† (11), but she doesn’t fully explain why the death of a young girl was so captivating to Americans of the time. The martyr is the ideal woman who will sacrifice herself for others, and in death she attains more importance than she ever could in life. The only way a woman could obtain any substantial degree of power in nineteenth century America was if she was dead. Because a martyr’s worth is only proven in death, this figure is the perfect role model to promote the sexist ideologies of that society because it encourages women to be good but denies them tangible power. â€Å"My Heroine†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"My Heroine†is a poem about a seven year-old girl who dies while protecting a baby. The author praises the child for her constancy at school, and reports that she is â€Å"never careless, never dull.† Of course, the child wouldn’t be a proper martyr if she wasn’t also â€Å"as sweet as any seven years’ child you’ll meet.

On Women Turning 70: Honoring the Voices of Wisdom Essay -- Essays Pa

On Women Turning 70: Honoring the Voices of Wisdom On Women Turning 70 is a book that is made up of interviews with several older women who took their biggest steps toward success when they were in their senior years. Rountree spoke with women like author Madeline L’Engle, and acclaimed newspaper columnist Liz Smith, who became successful just as she was about to retire. Rountree learned about the women’s lives and got their take on feminism and aging to include in the book. The women that Rountree chose to interview seem to be women who either began living life to the fullest in their older years, or who achieved greatness young, and have held onto to that throughout their entire lives. On Women Turning 70 includes profiles of sixteen women, with information about their past, and important moments in their lives. It also includes what each woman said in her interview about themselves, and their vitality. Some sections had quotes from the women about aging and why they are different than most women. For example, sociologist Lee Robins said of her new-found love at age 75, â€Å"How different is love in my seventies from when I was in love as a young woman? It’s not terribly different......there are no unknowns anymore...† Robins goes on to tell more advantages to being her age and in love. She also tells her feelings about all of the positive things about being older, in general. Author Doris Lessing had a similar take on life, having...

Last Sacrifice Chapter Eight

IT TURNED OUT I WAS wrong about the local police department comprising of one guy and a dog. When Dimitri and I walked back to the motel, we saw flashing red and blue lights in the parking lot and a few bystanders trying to see what was happening. â€Å"The whole town turned out,' I said. Dimitri sighed. â€Å"You just had to say something to the desk clerk, didn't you?' We'd stopped some distance away, hidden in the shadow of a run-down building. â€Å"I thought it would slow you down.' â€Å"It's going to slow us down now.' His eyes did a sweep of the scene, taking in all the details in the flickering light. â€Å"Sydney's car is gone. That's something, at least.' My earlier cockiness faded. â€Å"Is it? We just lost our ride!' â€Å"She wouldn't leave us, but she was smart enough to get out before the police came knocking on her door.' He turned and surveyed the town's one main road. â€Å"Come on. She has to be close, and there's a good chance the police might actually start searching around if they thought some defenseless girl was being chased down.' The tone he used for â€Å"defenseless' spoke legions. Dimitri made an executive decision to walk back toward the road that had led us into town, assuming Sydney would want to get out of there now that I'd blown our cover. Getting the police involved had created complications, but I felt little regret over what I'd done. I was excited about the plan that had occurred to me in the woods and wanted, as usual, to get moving on it right away. If I'd helped get us out of this hole of a town, so much the better. Dimitri's instincts about Sydney were right. About a half-mile outside of town, we spotted a CR-V pulled off on the road's shoulder. The engine was off, the lights dark, but I could see well enough to identify the Louisiana plates. I walked over to the driver side window and knocked on the glass. Inside, Sydney flinched. She rolled down the window, face incredulous. â€Å"What did you do? Never mind. Don't bother. Just get in.' Dimitri and I complied. I felt like a naughty child under her disapproving glare. She started the car without a word and began driving in the direction we'd originally come from, eventually merging with the small state highway that led back to the interstate. That was promising. Only, once we'd driven a few miles, she pulled off again, this time at a dark exit that didn't seem to have anything at it. She turned off the car and turned to peer at me in the backseat. â€Å"You ran, didn't you?' â€Å"Yeah, but I got this–‘ Sydney held up a hand to silence me. â€Å"No, don't. Not yet. I wish you could have pulled off your daring escape without attracting the authorities.' â€Å"Me too,' said Dimitri. I scowled at them both. â€Å"Hey, I came back, didn't I?' Dimitri arched an eyebrow at that, apparently questioning just how voluntary that had been. â€Å"And now I know what we have to do to help Lissa.' â€Å"What we have to do,' said Sydney, â€Å"is find a safe place to stay.' â€Å"Just go back to civilization and pick a hotel. One with room service. We can make that our base of operation while we work on the next plan.' â€Å"We researched that town specifically!' she said. â€Å"We can't go to some random place–at least not nearby. I doubt they took down my plates, but they could put out a call to look for this kind of car. If they've got that and our descriptions, and it gets to the state police, it'll get to the Alchemists and then it'll–‘ â€Å"Calm down,' said Dimitri, touching her arm. There was nothing intimate about that, but I still felt a spark of envy, particularly after the tough love I'd just had being nearly dragged through the woods. â€Å"We don't know that any of that's going to happen. Why don't you just call Abe?' â€Å"Yeah,' she said glumly. â€Å"That's exactly what I want. To tell him I messed up the plan in less than twenty-four hours.' â€Å"Well,' I said, â€Å"if it makes you feel better, the plan's about to change anyway–‘ â€Å"Be quiet,' she snapped. â€Å"Both of you. I need to think.' Dimitri and I exchanged glances, but stayed silent. When I'd told him I knew a way to seriously help Lissa, he'd been intrigued. I knew he wanted details now, but we both had to wait for Sydney. She flipped on the dome light and produced a paper map of the state. After studying it for a minute, she folded it back up and simply stared ahead. I couldn't see her face but suspected she was frowning. Finally, she sighed in that woeful way of hers, turned off the light, and started the car. I watched as she punched in Altswood, West Virginia into her GPS. â€Å"What's in Altswood?' I asked, disappointed she hadn't entered something like Atlantic City. â€Å"Nothing,' she said, pulling back onto the road. â€Å"But it's the closest place to where we're going that the GPS can find.' A passing car's headlights briefly illuminated Dimitri's profile, and I saw curiosity on his face too. So. I wasn't the only one out of the loop anymore. The GPS read almost an hour and a half to our destination. He didn't question her choice, though, and turned back to me. â€Å"So what's going on with Lissa? What's this great plan of yours?' He glanced at Sydney. â€Å"Rose says there's something important we have to do.' â€Å"So I gathered,' said Sydney dryly. Dimitri looked back at me expectantly. I took a deep breath. It was time to reveal the secret I'd been holding since my hearing. â€Å"So, it, um, turns out Lissa has a brother or sister. And I think we should find them.' I managed to sound cool and casual as I spoke. Inside me, my heart lurched. Even though I'd had plenty of time to process Tatiana's note, saying the words out loud made them real in a way they hadn't been before. It shocked me, hitting me with the full impact of what this information truly meant and how it changed everything we'd all come to believe. Of course, my shock was nothing compared to the others'. Score one for Rose and the element of surprise. Sydney made no attempt to hide her astonishment and gasped. Even Dimitri seemed a little taken aback. Once they recovered, I could see them preparing their protests. They would either demand evidence or simply dismiss the idea as ridiculous. I immediately jumped into action before the arguments could start. I produced Tatiana's note, reading it aloud and then letting Dimitri look at it. I told them about my ghostly encounter, where the queen's troubled spirit made me believe there was truth to this. Nonetheless, my companions were skeptical. â€Å"You have no proof Tatiana wrote the note,' said Dimitri. â€Å"The Alchemists have no records of another Dragomir,' said Sydney. They each said exactly what I thought they would. Dimitri was the kind of guy always ready for a trick or trap. He suspected anything without hard proof. Sydney lived in a world of facts and data and had total faith in the Alchemists and their information. If the Alchemists didn't believe it, neither did she. Ghostly evidence didn't convince either of them. â€Å"I don't really see why Tatiana's spirit would want to deceive me,' I argued. â€Å"And the Alchemists aren't all-knowing. The note says this is a pretty heavily guarded secret from Moroi–it makes sense it would be secret from the Alchemists too.' Sydney scoffed, not liking my â€Å"all-knowing' comment, but otherwise remained silent. It was Dimitri who pushed forward, refusing to take anything on faith without more evidence. â€Å"You've said before that it's not always clear what the ghosts are trying to say,' he pointed out. â€Å"Maybe you misread her.' â€Å"I don't know †¦' I thought again about her solemn, translucent face. â€Å"I think she did write this note. My gut says she did.' I narrowed my eyes. â€Å"You know it's been right before. Can you trust me on this?' He stared at me for several moments, and I held that gaze steadily. In that uncanny way of ours, I could guess what was going on. The whole situation was far-fetched, but he knew I was right about my instincts. They'd proven true in the past. No matter what he'd been through, no matter the current antagonism between us, he still knew me enough to trust in this. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he nodded. â€Å"But if we decided to search for this alleged sibling, we'd be going against Lissa's instructions to stay put.' â€Å"You believe that note?' exclaimed Sydney. â€Å"You're considering listening to it?' A flash of anger lit up within me, one I worked to hide. Of course. Of course this would be the next obstacle: Dimitri's inability to disobey Lissa. Sydney feared Abe, which I could kind of understand, but Dimitri's concern was still the lofty vow of chivalry he'd made to Lissa. I took a deep breath. Telling him how ridiculous I thought he was behaving wouldn't accomplish what I needed. â€Å"Technically, yes. But if we could actually prove she wasn't the last in her family, it would help her a lot. We can't ignore the chance, and if you manage to keep me out of trouble while we do it'–I tried not to grimace at that–‘then there shouldn't be a problem.' Dimitri considered this. He knew me. He also knew I would use roundabout logic if need be to get my way. â€Å"Okay,' he said at last. I saw the shift in his features. The decision was made, and he'd stick to it now. â€Å"But where do we start? You have no other clues, aside from a mysterious note.' It was deja vu and reminded me of Lissa and Christian's earlier conversation with Abe when they were figuring out where to start their investigation. She and I lived parallel lives, it seemed, both pursuing an impossible puzzle with a sketchy trail. As I replayed their discussion, I attempted the same reasoning Abe had used: without clues, start working through obvious conclusions. â€Å"Obviously, this is a secret,' I said. â€Å"A big one. One people have apparently wanted to cover up–enough that they'd try to steal records about it and keep the Dragomirs out of power.' Someone had broken into an Alchemist building and taken papers indicating Eric Dragomir had indeed been funding a mystery woman. I pointed out to my companions that it seemed very likely to me this woman was the mother of his love child. â€Å"You could look into that case some more.' Those last words were spoken toward Sydney. Maybe she didn't care about another Dragomir, but the Alchemists still wanted to know who had stolen from them. â€Å"Whoa, hey. How was I not even part of this decision process? † She still hadn't recovered from our conversation suddenly running away without her. After the way our night had gone so far, she didn't look too pleased about being sucked into another of my rogue schemes. â€Å"Maybe breaking Lissa's orders is no big deal for you two, but I'd be going against Abe. He might not be so lenient.' It was a fair point. â€Å"I'll pull in a daughterly favor,' I assured her. â€Å"Besides, the old man loves secrets. He'd be into this, believe me. And you've already found the biggest clue of all. I mean, if Eric was giving money to some anonymous woman, then why wouldn't it be for his secret mistress and child?' â€Å"Anonymous is the key word,' Sydney said, still clearly skeptical of Zmey's â€Å"leniency.' â€Å"If your theory's right–and it's kind of a leap–we still have no idea who this mistress is. The stolen documents didn't say.' â€Å"Are there other records that tie into the stolen ones? Or could you investigate the bank he was sending money to?' The Alchemists' initial concern had simply been that someone had stolen hard copies of their records. Her colleagues had discovered which items were taken but hadn't given much thought to the content. I was willing to bet they hadn't searched for any other documents related to the same topic. She affirmed as much. â€Å"You really have no idea how â€Å"researching records' works, do you? It's not that easy,' she said. â€Å"It could take a while.' â€Å"Well †¦ I guess that's why it's good we're going somewhere, um, secure, right?' I asked. Struck with the realization that we might need time to put our next step together, I could kind of see the disadvantage of having lost our out-of-the-way hideout. â€Å"Secure †¦' She shook her head. â€Å"Well, we'll see. I hope I'm not doing something stupid.' With those ominous words, silence fell. I wanted to know more about where we were going but felt I shouldn't push the small victory I'd made. The victory I thought I'd made, at least. I wasn't entirely sure Sydney was 100 percent on board but felt certain Dimitri had been convinced. Best not to agitate her right now. I looked at the GPS. Almost an hour. Enough time to check back on Lissa. It took me a minute to recognize where Lissa was, probably because I'd been expecting her to return to her room. But no, she was in a location I'd only been once: Adrian's parents' home. Surprising. In a few moments, though, I read the reasoning from her mind. Her current suite was in guest housing, and in the ensuing panic over my escape, her building was swarming with visitors now trying to leave. The Ivashkov townhouse, situated in a permanent residential area, was a bit quieter–not that there weren't a few fleeing neighbors there too. Adrian sat back in an armchair, feet carelessly resting on an expensive coffee table that some interior designer had probably helped his mother choose. Lissa and Christian had just arrived, and she caught a whiff of smoke in the air that made her think Adrian had been sneaking in some bad behavior beforehand. â€Å"If we're lucky,' he was telling Lissa and Christian, â€Å"the parental units will be tied up for a while and give us some peace and quiet. How rough was your questioning?' Lissa and Christian sat on a couch that was prettier than it was comfortable. She leaned into him and sighed. â€Å"Not so bad. I don't know if they're fully convinced we had nothing to do with Rose's escape †¦ but they definitely don't have any proof.' â€Å"I think we got in more trouble with Aunt Tasha,' said Christian. â€Å"She was kind of pissed off that we didn't tell her what was going on. I think she probably wanted to blow up the statues herself.'IT â€Å"I think she's more upset that we got Dimitri involved' pointed out Lissa. â€Å"She thinks we screwed up his chances of ever being accepted again.' â€Å"Shes right,' said Adrian. He picked up a remote control and turned on a large, plasma screen TV. He muted the sound and flipped randomly through channels. â€Å"But no one forced him.' Lissa nodded but secretly wondered if she had forced Dimitri inadvertently. His dedicated vow to protect her was no secret. Christian seemed to pick up on her worry. â€Å"Hey, for all we know, he never would have–‘ A knock interrupted him. â€Å"Damn,' said Adrian, standing up. â€Å"So much for peace and quiet.' â€Å"Your parents wouldn't knock,' said Christian. â€Å"True, but it's probably one of their friends wanting to sip port and gossip about the terrible state of today's murderous youth,' Adrian called back. Lissa heard the door open and a muffled conversation. A few moments later, Adrian returned with a young Moroi guy that Lissa didn't recognize. â€Å"Look,' the guy was saying, glancing around uneasily, â€Å"I can come back.' He caught sight of Lissa and Christian and froze. â€Å"No, no,' said Adrian. His transformation from grumpy to cordial had happened as quickly as a light switch being flipped. â€Å"I'm sure she'll be back any minute. Do you guys all know each other?' The guy nodded, eyes darting from face to face. â€Å"Of course.' Lissa frowned. â€Å"I don't know you.' The smile never left Adrian's face, but Lissa picked up quickly that something important was going on. â€Å"This is Joe. Joe's the janitor who helped me out by testifying that I wasn't with Rose when Aunt Tatiana was murdered. The one who was working in Rose's building.' Both Lissa and Christian straightened up. â€Å"It was a lucky thing you turned up before the hearing,' said Christian carefully. For a while, there'd been panic that Adrian might be implicated with me, but Joe had come forward just in time to testify about when he'd seen both me and Adrian in my building. Joe took a few steps back toward the foyer. â€Å"I really should go. Just tell Lady Ivashkov that I came by–and that I'm leaving Court. But that everything's set.' â€Å"What's set?' asked Lissa, slowly standing up. â€Å"She–she'll know.' Lissa, I knew, didn't look intimidating. She was cute and slim and pretty, but from the fear on Joe's face–well. She must have been giving him a scary look. It reminded me of the earlier encounter with Abe. â€Å"Really,' he added. â€Å"I need to go.' He started to move again, but suddenly, I felt a surge of spirit burn through Lissa. Joe came to a halt, and she strode toward him. â€Å"What did you need to talk to Lady Ivashkov about?' demanded Lissa. â€Å"Easy, cousin,' murmured Adrian. â€Å"You don't need that much spirit to get answers.' Lissa was using compulsion on Joe, so much that he might as well have been a puppet on strings. â€Å"The money,' Joe gasped, eyes wide. â€Å"The money's set.' â€Å"What money?' she asked. Joe hesitated, as though he might resist, but soon gave in. He couldn't fight that much compulsion, not from a spirit user. â€Å"The money †¦ the money to testify †¦ about where he was.' Joe jerked his head toward Adrian. Adrian's cool expression faltered a little. â€Å"What do you mean where I was? The night my aunt died? Are you saying †¦' Christian picked up where Adrian couldn't. â€Å"Is Lady Ivashkov paying you off to say you saw Adrian?' â€Å"I did see him,' cried Joe. He was visibly sweating. Adrian had been right: Lissa was using too much spirit. It was physically hurting Joe. â€Å"I just †¦ I just †¦ I don't remember the time †¦ I don't remember any of the times. That's what I told the other guy, too. She paid me to put a time on when you were there.' Adrian didn't like that, not at all. To his credit, he remained calm. â€Å"What do you mean you told â€Å"the other guy'?' â€Å"Who else?' repeated Lissa. â€Å"Who else was with her?' â€Å"No one! Lady Ivashkov just wanted to make sure her son was clear. I fudged the details for her. It was the guy †¦ the other guy who came later †¦ who wanted to know when Hathaway was around.' There was a click from the foyer, the sound of the front door opening. Lissa leaned forward, cranking up the compulsion. â€Å"Who? Who was he? What did he want?' Joe looked like he was in serious pain now. He swallowed. â€Å"I don't know who he was! No one I'd seen. Some Moroi. Just wanted me to testify about when I'd seen Hathaway. Paid me more than Lady Ivashkov. No harm †¦' He looked at Lissa desperately. â€Å"No harm in helping them both †¦ especially since Hathaway did it †¦' â€Å"Adrian?' Daniella's voice rang down the hall. â€Å"Are you here?' â€Å"Back off,' Adrian warned Lissa in a low voice. There was no joking in it. Her voice was just as soft, her attention still on Joe. â€Å"What did he look like? The Moroi? Describe him.' The sound of high heels clicked on the hall's wooden floor. â€Å"Like no one!' said Joe. â€Å"I swear! Plain. Ordinary. Except the hand †¦ please let me go †¦' Adrian shoved Lissa aside, breaking the contact between her and Joe. Joe nearly sagged to the ground and then went rigid as he locked gazes with Adrian. More compulsion–but much less than Lissa had used. â€Å"Forget this,' hissed Adrian. â€Å"We never had this conversation.' â€Å"Adrian, what are you–‘ Daniella stopped in the living room's doorway, taking in the strange sights. Christian was still on the couch, but Adrian and Lissa were inches from Joe, whose shirt was soaked with sweat. â€Å"What's going on?' Daniella exclaimed. Adrian stepped back and gave his mother one of those charming smiles that captivated so many women. â€Å"This guy came by to see you, Mom. We told him we'd wait until you got back. We're going to head out now.' Daniella glanced between her son and Joe. She was clearly uneasy about the scenario and also confused. Lissa was surprised at the â€Å"heading out' comment but followed Adrian's lead. Christian did too. â€Å"It was nice seeing you,' said Lissa, attempting a smile to match Adrian's. Joe looked totally dazed. After Adrian's last command, the poor janitor had also probably forgotten how he'd ended up at the Ivashkov home. Lissa and Christian hastily followed Adrian out before Daniella could say much more. â€Å"What the hell was that?' asked Christian, once they were outside. I wasn't sure if he meant Lissa's scary compulsion or what Joe had revealed. â€Å"Not sure,' said Adrian, expression dark. No more cheery smile. â€Å"But we should talk to Mikhail.' â€Å"Rose.' Dimitri's voice was gentle, bringing me back to him, Sydney, and the car. He'd undoubtedly recognized the expression on my face and knew where I'd been. â€Å"Everything okay back there?' he asked. I knew â€Å"back there' meant Court and not the backseat. I nodded, though â€Å"okay' wasn't quite the right word for what I'd just witnessed. What had I just witnessed? An admission of false testimony. An admission that contradicted some of the evidence against me. I didn't care so much that Joe had lied to keep Adrian safe. Adrian hadn't been involved with Tatiana's murder. I wanted him free and clear. But what about the other part? Some â€Å"ordinary' Moroi who'd paid Joe to lie about when I'd been around, leaving me without an alibi during the murder window? Before I could fully process the implications, I noticed the car had stopped. Forcing the Joe-info to the back of my mind, I tried to take stock of our new situation. Sydney's laptop glowed in the front seat as she scrolled through something. â€Å"Where are we?' I peered out the window. In the headlights, I saw a sad, closed gas station. â€Å"Altswood,' said Dimitri. By my estimation, there was nothing else but the gas station. â€Å"Makes our last town look like New York.' Sydney shut her laptop. She handed it back, and I set it on the seat beside me, near the backpacks she'd miraculously grabbed when leaving the motel. She shifted the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. Not too far away, I could see the highway and expected her to turn toward it. Instead, she drove past the gas station, deeper into darkness. Like the last place, we were surrounded by mountains and forests. We crept along at a snail's pace until Sydney spotted a tiny gravel road disappearing into the woods. It was only big enough for one car to go down, but somehow, I didn't expect we'd run into much traffic out here. A similar road took us in deeper and deeper, and although I couldn't see her face, Sydney's anxiety was palpable in the car. Minutes felt like hours until our narrow path opened up into a large, dirt-packed clearing. Other vehicles–pretty oldlooking–were parked there. It was a strange place for a parking lot, considering all I could see around us was dark forest. Sydney shut off the car. â€Å"Are we at a campground?' I asked. She didn't answer. Instead, she looked at Dimitri. â€Å"Are you as good as they say you are?' â€Å"What?' he asked, startled. â€Å"Fighting. Everyone keeps talking about how dangerous you are. Is it true? Are you that good?' Dimitri considered. â€Å"Pretty good.' I scoffed. â€Å"Very good.' â€Å"I hope it's enough,' said Sydney, reaching for the door's handle. I opened my door as well. â€Å"Aren't you going to ask about me?' â€Å"I already know you're dangerous,' she said. â€Å"I've seen it.' Her compliment offered little comfort as we walked out across the rural parking lot. â€Å"Why'd we stop?' â€Å"Because we have to go on foot now.' She turned on a flashlight and shone it along the lot's perimeter. At last, it flickered across a footpath snaking through the trees. The path was small and easy to miss because weeds and other plants were encroaching on it. â€Å"There.' She began to move toward it. â€Å"Wait,' said Dimitri. He moved in front of her, leading the way, and I immediately took up the back position in our group. It was a standard guardian formation. We were flanking her the way we would a Moroi. All earlier thoughts of Lissa flitted from my mind. My attention was totally on the situation at hand, all my senses alert to the potential danger. I could see Dimitri was in the same mode, both of us holding our stakes. â€Å"Where are we going?' I asked as we carefully avoided roots and holes along the path. Branches scraped along my arms. â€Å"To people I guarantee won't turn you in,' she said, voice grim. More questions were on my lips when brilliant light suddenly blinded me. My eyes had grown attuned to the darkness, and the unexpected brightness was too abrupt a change. There was a rustling in the trees, a sense of many bodies around us, and as my vision returned, I saw vampire faces everywhere.