Pro and Anti Social Behaviour Essay

a) Outline two psychological theories of aggression (12 marks) b) Evaluate two theories of aggression that you outlined in part a) in terms of relevant research studies (12 marks) a) Outline and evaluate two psychological theories of aggression (24 marks) Aggression is an example of anti-social behaviour. It has been defined as ‘any form of behaviour directed towards the goal of harming or injuring another living being who is motivated to avoid such harm’. Social Psychological theories of aggression These explain aggression as a result of social interactions Social Learning Theory (SLT) One of the most influential theories of aggression is the Social Learning theory put forward by Bandura (1973). The nature of the theory suggests human aggression is learned either through direct experience or by observing aggressive behaviour in other people i. e. indirect experience. Bandura produced two assumptions in relation to the social learning theory. He stated that if a child acts aggressively against another child and as a result gets what they want, their aggressive behaviour has been reinforced. This is an example of learning by direct experience, derived from the principles of the traditional learning theory; operant and classical conditioning. Secondly, he stated that if a child observes another person behaving in an aggressive manner, they may imitate that behaviour them selves, particularly if they see the model reinforced for behaving in that way. This is an example of vicarious experience. Results from Bandura’s studies have shown that children are more likely to imitate models if they are similar to themselves, have some kind of status or who are seen to be rewarded for their actions. He also applied these factors to his Social Learning theory. Bobo Doll study Bandura (1961) Support for the Social Learning theory comes from studies using Bobo dolls (an inflatable toy). This was conducted by Bandura et al (1961). He carried out a study where Nursery school children watched a film where an adult model behaved aggressively or non-aggressively towards a Bobo doll. The adult model displayed some distinctive physical acts of aggression, for example kicking it and using verbal aggression such as Pow! Following this, the children were taken to a room and shown attractive toys that they were forbidden to play with. This created a sense of frustration within the children. They were then taken to a room containing a Bobo doll and other toys and were then rated for the amount of aggression they showed. Bandura found that children in the aggressive condition reproduced the physical and verbal behaviours modelled by the adult. In contrast children in the non-aggressive condition showed very little aggression towards the doll. This shows that children can acquire aggressive behaviours from watching the actions of others. Evidence that supports the Social Learning Theory Further research evidence has been carried out in relation to aggression which supports Bandura’s theory. Silvern and Williamson (1987) investigated the effect video games have on aggression. They found that aggression levels in children increased after playing violent games. This suggests that this was due to imitation or modelling. However, the study lacks validity because it only identifies short term aggression, not long term aggression therefore, it does not prove any permanent effects. Furthermore, Margeret and Mead (1935) studied aggression in relation to cross cultural differences. She studied three New Gunea tribes and found that each tribe behaved different in terms of aggressive tendencies. This suggests that the fact that some societies were more aggressive than others supports the role of social learning in aggression. However, the fact that the men were relatively more aggressive in each society suggests that some aspects of aggression are biologically determined. Evidence that challenges the Social Learning Theory However, this theory has been challenged by a number of psychologists. Johnston et al (1977) carried out another study in which he found that children who behaved most aggressively towards the doll were the ones rated by the teachers as most violent generally. Also, Durkin (1995) suggested that Bandura made no distinguish between aggressive behaviour and play fighting. These studies therefore suggest that the findings from the Bobo Doll study lack reliability. In addition, the study has ethical issues as it encourages aggression in children. Furthermore, the situation is unlike a lot of ‘real-life’ modeling as hitting a doll is no the same as hitting a person. This leads to the assumption that Bandura over exaggerated the extent to which children imitate the behaviour of models. This also leads to the criticism that the study lacks ecological validity due to its artificial setting; therefore the results may not apply to real life. Also, some critics argue that the children were manipulated into responding to the aggressive movie. This was because the children were teased and became aggressive because they could not touch the toys. Finally, there is a problem that the study suffers from high demand characteristics due to the children being given cues how to behave, resulting in the participants to behave in certain predictable ways. Alternative theories Alternative social psychological theories of aggression have also been produced, challenging the idea that aggression is solely based upon imitation, modelling and reinforcement. Deindividuation theory One of these is the Deindividuation theory proposed by Zimbardo (1969). Deindividuation refers to the loss of a sense of personality identity that can occur when we are for example, in a large crowd or wearing a mask. We then become more likely to engage in anti-social, un-socialised behaviour. Zimbardo (1969) distinguished between individual behaviour, which conforms to acceptable social standards, and deindividuated behaviour, which does not conform to society’s social norms. He claimed that people don’t normally act aggressively because they are easily identifiable in societies that have strong norms against aggressive behaviour. Being anonymous (and therefore effectively unaccountable) in a crowd has the consequence of reducing inner restraints and increasing behaviours that are usually inhibited. According to Zimbardo, being in part of a crowd can reduce awareness of our own individuality. In a large crowd, each person is faceless and anonymous (so the larger the group, the greater the anonymity), reducing the fear of negative evaluation of our actions and a diminishing the sense of guilt. Therefore, individuals feel less constrained by the norms of social behaviour and as a result, they may be more inclined to act in an anti-social way. This is supported by Mann (1981) who found evidence of Deindividuation in the ‘baiting crowd’ (crowds who frequently baited a potential suicide victim to jump). Mann found that baiting increased under conditions which increased the anonymity of the crowd (e. g. numbers, darkness and distance from the victim). This therefore supports the claim that deindividuation increases aggressive behaviour. The deindividuation theory is also supported by Zimbardo (1969) who left ‘abandoned’ cars in New York and a small town in California. He found the ‘abandoned’ car in the big city was stripped and vandalised very quickly whereas the one in the small town was left alone. This suggests that the larger the group, the more anonymous the individual is and, consequently, the more extreme the antisocial behaviour becomes. Futhermore, Zimbardo (1963) conducted a study specifically to demonstrate the effects of deindividuation on aggression. Participants were asked to shock a confederate. Some were deindividuated (wore a hood, no names were used and they sat in a dimly lit room) and others were easily identifiable (they wore name tags and sat in a bright room). The findings showed that the deindividuated students administered the most shocks, i. e. were most aggressive, suggesting that deindividuation plays a role in producing anti-social behaviour. However, the major difficulty with using Deindividuation as an explanation for aggression is the fact that it does not always lead to aggression. In some circumstances it can lead to high levels of pro-social behaviour, for example wearing a nurse’s uniform. Overall Evaluation Overall, the Social learning theory can account for the fact that a person’s aggressive behaviour may not be consistent across different situations. It may be reinforced in some situations, but punished in others (context-dependant learning). Furthermore, studies carried out into video games and aggressions are consistent with the Social Learning theory. However, alternative explanations such as the biological explanation (e. g. levels of testosterone are linked to aggressive behaviour) challenge the view that social learning is the primary causal factor in aggression. In addition, the social learning theory is limited in scope because aggression doesn’t just depend on observational learning. This is supported by cross cultural evidence which demonstrates that some aspects of aggression are innate. Effects of environmental stressors on aggressive behaviour Use for: Describe and evaluate research (theories or studies) into the effects of two or more environmental stressors on aggressive behaviour (24 marks) A number of environmental factors have been identified as triggers for aggression. Some of these possible environmental features are temperature, overcrowding and noise.

Netw310 Lab Report Week 3

NETW310 Week 3 Lab Report To complete your Week 3 lab report, discuss the questions below concerning the installation of structured cabling. Create your report using the template starting on page 2 and submit it to the Week 3 Dropbox by the due date. Your Name NETW310, Professor’s Name Current Date Lab #3, Installation of Structured Cabling Lab Report Each answer is worth 2. 8 points. Use a red colored font for you answers. Place the answers below the questions 1. How often are network standards reviewed? . What category of UTP cabling is the minimum for a telephone cable? 3. What category of cabling should be installed as a best practice for a telephone cable? 4. What is the problem with leaving abandoned cable in place in a building? 5. Why must the twisting in the individual wires be maintained in a UTP cable? 6. How many wires does a gigabit cable use? 7. Is the labeling standard commonly used or not used? 8. Grounding should be attached to what in the building? 9.Horizont al cabling connects what areas to each other? 10. What is a plenum rated cable? 11. What is a riser tube used for? 12. What is the code for plenum rated horizontal cable? 13. How many wires in a UTP cable does Fast Ethernet use? 14. How many inches should separate UTP cable from 120 volt electrical cable? 15. What is the reason for grounding jumpers on each connection in ladder rack? 16. Why should overfilling of a riser tube be avoided? 17. Is the grounding of equipment a safety or a performance concern? 8. What are the current recognized horizontal cabling categories? 19. May an existing Category 5 cable be used to make network connections? 20. In the example used here what does the firestop material consist of? 21. In what circumstances will poorly installed cabling still function? 22. Why should the outer cover on a UTP cable be maintained in place? 23. Does cable labeling impact network performance? 24. May CM cable be used in the plenum space? 25. Why should a plastic riser tu be not be used?

A Detailed Review Of Pink Floyds Album The Dark Side Of The Moon

A Detailed Review Of Pink Floyd's Album The Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd The classic album that I chose is Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. Pink Floyd is a progressive rock band that was formed in 1965. This classic album was released on March 1, 1973. The album contains ten tracks such as: â€Å"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,† â€Å"Echoes,† â€Å"Breathe,† â€Å"On the Run,† â€Å"Time,† â€Å"The Great Gig in the Sky,† â€Å"Money,† â€Å"Us and Them,† â€Å"Brain Damage,† and lastly, â€Å"Eclipse.† The band consists of four members. These members are: David Gilmour (vocals and guitar), Nick Mason (percussion and drums), Richard Write (keyboards and organ), and Roger Waters (bass guitar). What I will discuss in this paper is about the many unique aspects it had that made it become such a highly recognized classic album to this day. To give some small background info, originally, Syd Barrett was the native singer before Gilmour. What happened was Barrett became deranged in 1968. After this tragic event occurred. The former members were puzzled on what their next move was going to be. The band then decided to continue their music making, replacing Barrett with Gilmour. Then, The Dark Side of the Moon soon came about. Pink Floyd’s â€Å"groove† was then described as â€Å"glacial† and â€Å"space-rock† by David Fricke, a senior editor for the Rolling Stones Magazine (Degrunwald, Smith, Longfellow, 2003). According to The Rolling Stone’s website, at the beginning of Pink Floyds career, they refined a â€Å"psychedelic sound, performing long, loud suite like compositions that touched on hard rock†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Rollingstone.com, â€Å"Pink Floyd Biography†). they then began to progress to using a â€Å"azimuth coordinated sound system†¦themes were unremittingly bleaka lienation, paranoia†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Rolling stone.com, â€Å"Pink Floyd Biography†). After more albums were released, tension between Wright and Waters increased, therefore, Wright left the band. Soon after, Waters too, left leaving Gilmour and Mason. The members then started releasing solo albums. Years after, Pink Floyd was then again reunited (excluding Waters) on July 2, 2005 for a global Live 8 performance (Rollingstone.com, â€Å"Pink Floyd Biography†). As The Dark Side of the Moon is a highly successful album, it is not their first album. Rather, this album appears on Pink Floyd’s discography as the 9th album. The previous albums recorded are: 1. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), 2. A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), 3. More (1969), 4. Ummagumma (1969), 5. Atom Heart Mother (1970), 6. Relics (1971), 7. Meddle (1971), 8. Obscured by Clouds (1972), 9. The Dark side of the Moon and then the album preceding DSOTM would be 10. Wish You Were Here (1975). To make such an incredible album, Pink Floyd’s members experimented with many auditory techniques. Two techniques that were constantly used were echoes and double tracking vocals. This was to give off a psychedelic vibe towards the listener. They also used several sound effects such as futuristic vehicle noises, footsteps, and heartbeats. Pink Floyds exploration of sounds made the albums songs’ have various tricks within each song, giving them all distinctive traits. Another interesting thing about this album is the background about it itself. According to Roger Waters in the documentary, â€Å"The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon†, â€Å"The Dark Side of the Moon was an expression of political, philosophical, humanitarian empathy that was desperate to get out† (Degrunwald, Smith, Longfellow, 2003). Waters also expressed how the themes that can be applied to the album are â€Å"insanity, death, empathy, and greed†. This shows how it also gave off a message. The sleeve album sleeve designer, Storm Thorgerson, described his inspiration for the design was based off on three assets. First, the lightshow the band created during their concerts. Second, the themes of the lyrics, which he perceived as greed and ambition. And, third, it was an answer to Richard Wright’s request of wanting a â€Å"simple, bold and dramatic† design. When the design was shown to the members, they all immediately chose the one they used for the album. This record had such an enormous influence on both the band and the people around the world.

Forum 6 - Chapters 11, 12 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Forum 6 - Chapters 11, 12 - Assignment Example It is the effort within agencies and individual executive departments that ensure the Primary Mission Essential Functions (PMEFs) are carried out even during emergencies. The PMEFs should also be executed during accidents, localized acts of nature, as well as, technologically attack-related occurrences. The government has partnerships with players in the private sectors and non-federal government bodies that play crucial roles in maintaining homeland security. COOP also aims at protecting essential records, equipment, and facilities. The planning gives the opportunity to transfer statutory responsibilities and authority from the primary staff to employees in other agencies. Situational awareness is an important skill when it comes to port safety. Deploying competitive units at the ports ensures that the security forces and the nation at large stay aware of the surroundings. It ensures that the security environment at seaports is certain by undertaking comprehensive assessments of vulnerabilities and threats. Situational readiness establishes strategies to minimize and avert adverse impacts that are associated with emergencies. It facilitates port safety by means of immediate and active responses (GOA 2002). Technology in port facility plays a crucial role in securing critical infrastructure that is vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Lack of the technological systems would have debilitating impacts on all forms all national security. The technology also aids in scanning of shipping containers and cargo for drugs and nuclear threats (GOA 2012). GAO. (2012) Maritime Security: Progress and Challenges 10 Years after the Maritime Transportation Security Act. General Accounting Office. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/assets/650/647999.pdf on June 10, 2015 GAO (2002) Combating Terrorism: Actions Needed to Improve Force Protection for DOD Deployments through Domestic Seaports. General

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Marketing Communication Mix for Fiat Essay

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Marketing Communication Mix for Fiat 500 - Essay Example Maintaining consistency in marketing messages in an era of information democracy with a judicious mix of old and new media to presents more visibility cheaply while pointing to an interactive website that helps consumers make their mind is the way to go for the Fiat 500. An advertising message that highlights the unique capability of the Fiat 500 to upgrade to an electric car delivered on billboards outside of retail stores, on buses and outside of underground stations will present heightened consumer interest cheaply to enhance the effectiveness of the marketing communications mix. Consumers can interact with a website mentioned on the advertisement to seek further information on the Fiat 500 electric car, with social media, print, email, etc. adding support as necessary. Contents Introduction 1 The Role of Communications in the Marketing of the Fiat 500 3 An Advertisement for the Fiat 500 7 Conclusion 8 Appendix A – An Advertisement for Fiat 500 10 Bibliography / References 12 (This page intentionally left blank) Introduction It is important that the planning and execution of all types of advertising-like and promotion-like messages selected for a brand, product, service or company satisfy a common set of communication objectives to support a ‘positioning’ cost effectively (Percy, 2008, Pp. 5 – 10). ... ? 10) goes further to suggest that it makes sense to present a certain consistency in marketing messages in an era of information democracy because it is impossible to create brands in five minutes and marketing messages must position, integrate marketing channels and communications, protect a brand and add value to it. In addition, it makes sense for messages to focus on enhancing relationships with communities while remaining aware of consumer generated content models and evolution of technology. Thus, according to Pattuglia (2011, Pp. 7 – 10), a judicious mix of media, both old and new, that responds to the consumption habits of the traditional consumer, and the new consumer is essential for an effective marketing communication mix. However, while it is likely that products will become multi-platform with consumption and communication encompassing different marketing channels, the outstanding design attributes and prospects of a product must merit an emphasis in the communi cation mix to seek the attention of consumers to emphasise a satisfaction of their needs, aspirations and dreams (Posavac, 2012, Pp. 22 – 30). Fiat, which built its first car in 1899, is one of the pioneers in the automobile industry (Cammarata, 2006, Pp. 5 – 10). However, after the success of Fiat’s Grande Punto, which helped reduce the debt of Fiat from Euro 10 billion to just over Euro 1 billion, Fiat is now counting on the success of the new Fiat 500 on the global markets (Griffiths, 2007, Pp. 14 – 15) and (Automotive Engineer, 2010, Pp. 5). The design of the Fiat 500 aims to acknowledge the past without remaining captive to it and to cater to the needs of the future. Fiat 500’s fully integrated robotised engine, the 1.4 MultiAir, presents revolutionary valve management but Fiat

Corporate risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Corporate risk management - Essay Example If the quantum of investment is significant and depending on the size of the firm, sizeable enough to affect future earnings in a way that negatively affects the firm, then it is more preferable to go for risk transfer. Conversely, if the investment is not of a quantum that can affect the firm negatively it is better to go for risk retention. 2) Risk Transfer: Risk transfer, also known as Risk sharing is in many ways the complete opposite strategy of Risk retention. The principle of Risk transfer is the underlying tenet behind most insurance transactions. Risk transfer generally involves the shifting of risk to another party, most usually by means of insurance or through warranty. This method assumes the longevity of the third party and the ability of the insurer to maintain business continuity. Cash Flow Regularity: One of the biggest risks associated with investment decisions, particularly in light of whether or not to transfer risk or not, or to whether just bear with the uncertainty is how regular or irregular the earnings of that particular investment decision are. It follows then that the more irregular or uncertain the earnings of a particular investment decision are, the more likely a firm is to increase its security or safety in regards to that investment or that line of cash flows. Hence, the greater irregularity is seen in cash flows, or the higher risk factor involved, the more likely a firm is to transfer risk either via Insurance or Warranty. 3) Risk Avoidance: Risk avoidance, on the spectrum of Risk management activities is on one end of the spectrum, wherein the company decides to altogether excuse itself from all possibility of risk. Although this strategy is often considered the safest form of risk management it also entails the loss of any potential revenue that could have been gained from the investment, therefore while it is the safest strategy it

Gentlemen prefer blondes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Gentlemen prefer blondes - Essay Example The novel takes a narrative of Lorelei’s personal account as she wanders, shops in fancy stores, and dines with men of recognizable popularity and fat pockets. Featuring a satirical approach in presenting a popular culture’s stereotypes towards blonde women during the 1920s, Blondes is said to be amusing, mirthful, and gay, but â€Å"full of shrewd observation and devastating irony† (Frost 292). Anita Loos: Experience and Life in Understanding the Novel Anita Loos was early exposed in the world of theater when his father worked as a theater manager after becoming unemployed as a newspaper publisher. Also, she earns knowledge about acting when she starts the craft from her early childhood up until her teens (Szpytko 1). Most of the time, she happens to be the center of attention every time she joins a particular play, and her father is extremely proud of her (Loos and Beauchamp 9). Aside from acting once in a while, Anita is also considered as a â€Å"child prodi gy† as she started writing scripts when she was 12 although reports told that she was already 24 years old when she sold her first book (Loos and Beauchamp 11). Also, when she reached 20 years old, she is already considered as a â€Å"professional screenwriter,† who prolifically worked in over 60 silent films and talkies (Szpytko 1). Moreover, her influences are invariably philosophy readings and the society pages of the New York newspapers (Loos and Beauchamp 11). The early 1900s is characterized as the age of Jazz and the â€Å"Roaring Age of Twenties,† the phenomenal â€Å"flamboyant flapper,† and the age where baring skin becomes a trend (Szpytko 1). During that period also, Anita Loos wrote scripts and stories, which she submitted to various film companies including Biograph production, Mutual production, and D. W. Griffith’s affiliated film outfit (Loos and Beauchamp 13). As a curious child, teen, and young adult, Anita has a penchant for exam ining the lives of the upper class Americans (13). She also has a series of rich boyfriends, which she admittedly dumped and sent to tears when she got bored of the relationship (14). Hence, Anita considers herself â€Å"a failure as a gold digger† (14). However, the significant experience she had when she was young was when H.L. Mencken, a formidable journalist of the early 1990s, to whom she devoted admiration was in fact had a penchant for blonde women. She characterizes one particular blonde woman as empty-headed, leaving her puzzled as to why men compete over a blonde’s attention. As a result, Loos makes careful conversations with herself regarding the status of blonde women in the society. Right then, Loos thinks that blonde women must belong to a certain kind of class that can be considered a privilege. Her novel speaks of this contention. Some aspects of Loos’s story reflect in her masterpiece as the theme of the book reveals women’s fascination o ver a diamond â€Å"that lives forever,† which is both an analogy of women’s inclination towards beauty and material possessions, and a satirical approach in stereotyping women particularly those who are blonde (Snodgrass 335). Anita’s encounters with rich men and the timing of the Great Depression all contribute to her amusing yet meaningful depiction of women in her age. Knowing the author’s background somehow gives readers a deeper understanding of the issues that surround the plot of the novel. It gives readers an added perspective in digesting the

Health Inequalities in the United Kingdom Essay

Health Inequalities in the United Kingdom - Essay Example Today, there is little doubt that health has become an important determinant of the social well being of the people and therefore also of the nation. In simple words, one can define health inequality as the absence of equal health facilities. But the definition of the term ‘health inequality’ is much broad and complex. The theorists link the definition of health inequalities with the social class and social strata. Whitehead, on his celebrated paper â€Å"The Concepts and Principles of Equity in Health†, defined the concept as the differences in health that are avoidable, unfair and unnecessary. Also, he maintained that the concept of health inequality has been a topic of constant debate in Europe (Whitehead, 1992). According to few of the other experts of the field, the equality essentially involve absence of systematic disparities in health among the various social groups that have different social merits or demerits as health inequalities generally affect those who are already in the disadvantageous position in the society (Braveman & Gruskin, 2007). The modern research has proved it time and again that the health inequalities largely depend upon the social classes and social inequalities. It has been observed that more deprived the class, more prevalent is the inequalities in health. Karl Marx, the celebrated Communist theorist had two specific factors in his definition of class. The first is that of objective factors (this defines the relationship of one with the means of production) and the second involves subjective factors (it is the common interest among the members of the society). Max Weber, on the other hand, developed three component theory of stratification with extreme emphasis upon class, status and politics. He thought the relationship between the three factors varies from society to society. Social class and health are closely related. As social class is often associated with one’s economic and

Team Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Team Communication - Essay Example Team development can be achieved by effective communication which increased cohesiveness of the team. These types of work structures require a whole new notion of collaboration-collaboration with external constituencies. A potential impediment to the success of work teams comes from differences in employee preferences and values. Just as some cultures are more individualistic or more collectivistic than others, individuals within cultures also vary on this dimension-even though there is, on average, more variation across cultures than within cultures. For example, when faced with the prospect of moving to a team-based work environment, some employees in a study conducted in the United States expressed concerns that reflected their individualistic values. "The communication gauge is read by individually asking team members about the purpose of what they do, why this project exists, and what success looks like for the purpose of team understanding" (Thompson and Border 2008, p. 10). Nu merous impediments will challenge the effective implementation of teams across national contexts, including the inherent time lag between implementation and results, the often tenuous relationships between teams, cultural differences that require adaptations in practices to fit the context, and increasing domestic demographic diversity within nations. As temporary team structures, multicultural teams, and virtual teams proliferate, these team-savvy practitioners will be able to lead their organizations through successful implementation and use of teams in multinational contexts (Hermelis et al 2008). In addition to increasing the likelihood of informal communication through increased contact, proximity increases the quality of communication. By high-quality communication, we mean two-way interactions involving more than one sensory channel. The opportunity for interactions of this type is especially important during the initiation and planning stages of a project, when the need for a rich communication modality is strongest. In addition to increasing the likelihood of informal communication through increased contact, proximity increases the quality of communication. By high-quality communication, we mean two-way interactions involving more than one sensory channel. t (Thompson and Border 2008). The main challenges of team communication are diversity (cultural, age and gender and different perspectives on the research projects. Having multiple opportunities for high-quality, low-cost interactions makes it possible for potential collaborators to find each other and to manage their work efficiently. Without these opportunities for informal communication, collaborations don't get started, and if the opportunity for informal communication declines, collaborative work typically slows down, becomes more burdensome and, sometimes, comes to an end. Teams in individualistic cultures appear to be particularly susceptible to overconfidence. "That the biases inherent in self-selection could skew the exit questionnaires and thus our research findings." (Hermelis et al 2008, p. 342). Individualists view their team as an entity in and of itself rather than one that is connected to the external context and are therefore even less apt to use external sources of information to make correction s in their behavior and improve their performance. Particularly in

Soft Drink Industry Essay Example for Free

Soft Drink Industry Essay The global soft drink industry is currently expanding quite rapidly. This is due to two major factors. First, markets are expanding rapidly in developing countries and second people are turning toward natural, healthy, and low-calorie drinks. This so called â€Å"new-age† beverages, such as tea-based beverages, is considerably stimulating the development of the soft drink industry and also creating a major challenge to the carbonated beverage market. In part to address this trend, big soft drink companies, like Pepsi and Coke, are striving to become a â€Å"total beverage company† (Seet and Yoffie 95), in which they will serve the comprehensive soft drink market. Generally speaking, the soft drink off-trade value worldwide is gradually rising ever year, from $231,401 in 2001 to $323,031 in 2006 (Global Market Information Database 2007). The biggest market for soft drinks is still North America and Western Europe, which together consumed 43% of gross soft drink volume worldwide in 2006 (Global Market Information Database ‘07). However, the general developing trend for the North America and Western European market is now shrinking in terms of the global market while the Asian market is expanding very rapidly in recent years to now account for 22% of the global market (Global Market Information Database ‘07). The market volumes of Africa, the Middle East, and Australia are comparatively smaller. However, the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia-pacific markets are â€Å"emerging markets† and attract many companies, ranging from multinationals to niche specialists, who continue to see volume growth well in excess of the market average (Robinson ‘04). With the growth in volume, the average level of profitability of the soft drink industry remains quite high. First, the concentrate producers (CP’s) have become integrated with bottling companies, thereby reducing production costs. The CP’s and bottlers remain profitable through interdependence, sharing promotional and advertising and marketing costs (Seet and Yoffie 95). For example, Coca-Cola has many bottlers in different regions; therefore, their distribution cost is not as high. Furthermore, the CP’s directly negotiate with the suppliers to efficiently manage qualities for their products. In addition, their product line and distribution chain is now more systemic and integrated. Big soft drink producers increasingly franchise bottlers or buy a share from them rather than controlling bottling totally by themselves. This has activated and developed the capital-intensive bottling business. In spite of these trends competition remains intense, such as between distributors and also between new local labels and international drink corporations. Thirdly, the soft drink industry has several channels to sell to consumers such as vending machines, convenience stores, food stores (supermarkets), and national warehouses. For example after a long work-out, one quenches one’s thirst by going to a soft drink vending machine for a Cola. With this distribution channel, soft drinks are sold directly to consumers without bargaining. In 1993, Coca-Cola sold approximately 45% of their soft drinks through vending machine in the Japanese market (Seet and Yoffie 95). Another reason for the level of profitability of the soft drink industry remaining quite high is because this industry has a nearly 47% market share of the non-alcoholic beverages industry (Deichert ‘06). It is also to be noted that some of the soft drink vendors like Coca-Cola and Pepsi have gotten their logos printed on cups at fast food restaurants so that customers are readily reminded of their brands. Big name soft drinks also promote their brands by getting them placed in the middle shelves of stores to attract customers. With the constant expansion of Pepsi products into foreign countries, it may seem challenging for Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) to sustain their status in the soft drink industry. The soft drink industry is one of the industries that we consider mild on the degree spectrum of Michael Porter’s five competitive forces. As we look at the first competitive force, the threats of new entrants, we cannot help but consider the high capital investment in building simply a minimum bottling plant – a good amount of $20 million to $30 million is needed (Seet and Yoffie 95). This means that in the category of the threats of new entrants, bottling plant yields a low to medium degree of intensiveness. Also, a Seet and Yoffie states that in 1980, government policy intervened and established the Soft Drink Inter-brand Competition Act to help preserve the right of CP’s to include certain geographical territories (95). Meanwhile, concentrate businesses, a medium to high intensive business, involve very little capital of machinery, overhead and labor (Seet and Yoffie 95). However, it does required some advertising, promotion, market research and advertising (Seet and Yoffie 95) Another factor is that the bargaining power of suppliers of concentrate business is low. When asked, â€Å"Are they easy to be replaced? † The answer is, â€Å"Yes. † The bottling business, on the other hand, has a high bargaining power of suppliers because it is difficult to replace these businesses since they are one of a kind. There is only one Coca-Cola brand, or one Pepsi or one Seven-Up in this world. It would take years to replace these well known and well established products. On the contrary, the bargaining power of buyers of concentrate business is high while for bottling business is medium. For instance, when a concentrate company bargains with a Seven-Up company regarding their supply of recipe, Seven-Up can decide who they choose to supply their recipe to since currently there is only one Seven-Up recipe in the soft drink market. Therefore, the concentrate business has a low bargaining power of buyers. In terms of fear of threat of substitute products, the bottling business is medium. Coke and Pepsi’s franchise agreement â€Å"allowed bottlers to handle the non-cola brands of other concentrate producers (CP’s)† (Seet and Yoffie 95). The bottling companies seem to be submissive to Coke and Pepsi. Lastly, rivalry among competing firms for concentrate business seems to be quite high. There seems to exist quite a few international brands such as RC Cola, Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up, and Cadburry Schweppes, who produce only concentrate. As for the bottling business, the rivalry among competing firms is low because of certain franchise agreement such as one Coca-Cola and Pepsi presented. Seet and Yoffie reports that with the agreement a coke bottler cannot sell RC Cola, but they can distribute Seven-Up as long as they do not carry Sprite (95) Nevertheless the concentrate producers (CP’s) want to vertically integrate into bottling for two main reasons: to make their operation system more efficiency and to cut costs. These factors are interrelated. First, CP’s can make their operating system more efficient through vertical integration. For instance, if two different sectors, such as bottling business or concentration business, are following the same rules, having the same operating system then it is easier for them to work together. Second, CP’s can reduce some costs by vertically integrating. One example is transaction costs. According to Seet and Yoffie, concentrate producers’ most significant costs include advertising, promotion, market research, and bottler relations (95). For example, if CP’s were to cut down their costs from one of these significant costs, they would earn more profits. Moreover, CP’s are usually in charge of market research, product planning and advertising while bottlers play an important role in developing trade and consumer promotions. In order to have a reliable supply, CP’s have to be in direct contact with the bottlers and monitor them, therefore, CP’s need to employ more staff to work on this part. If CP’s can vertically integrate into bottling, they could save more money and in the same time provide quality with quantity. In recent years, the CCE’s sales volume in China has been growing with rates of averaging at 16 to 17 percent annually. At the same time, China’s retail environment has been changing rapidly. According to president of CCE China division, Paul Etchells, although small retail outlets are still prevalent in China, the number of hyper-marts (larger retail outlets) and supermarkets is rocketing. In China, CCE has to keep up with the rising demand for their brands. They have to continuously increase their production plants, employees, and distribution channels. CCE’s market in the US, however, has been slowing down because US consumers are becoming more health-conscious (Stanford ‘07). They are now consuming less carbonated beverages preferring diet sodas (but these are carbonated), coffee, teas, bottled water, and energy drinks. This is a problem for CCE because the majority of CCE’s products are carbonated drinks (Stanford ‘07). Another factor that slows CCE is the rising commodity cost in the US. This cost then will be passed to US consumers. Historically, the Chinese government wanted to protect the domestic soft drink industry by setting up strict regulations on foreign soft drinks companies (Seet and Yoffie 95). Today, the government is more lenient to foreign businesses (Stanford ‘07). Building new manufacturing plants and selling CCE’s products to Chinese consumers is not as hard as it was in the past. However, doing business in China requires CCE to build a relationship with the government. The concept of Guanxi is an important factor that determines the success of a company (Seet and Yoffie 95). CCE’s managers in China spent a lot of time building relationships with the Chinese officials. Since corruption is common in China and CCE is a US based company, the CCE has a disadvantage doing business in China. In the US, on the other hand, business is done more formally. There is not an urgent need to build a relationship with the government. However, an increasing number of consumers in US is concerned with issues relating to sustainability. Therefore, CCE needs to address issues such as water scarcity and pollution. In other words, China’s growing demand and US’ decreasing demand for Coca-Cola products accounted for CCE’s heavy investment in the Chinese market. Coca-cola was introduced to China in the early 1920s and came back after the declaration of the People Republic of China in 1949 through stiff negotiation with the Chinese officials (Seet and Yoffie 95). Since the 1940s, Coca-Cola dominated the U. S. market, which provided the company with financial leverage to expand into internationally and set the tone and the pricing strategy for Pepsi. At that time Pepsi did not have the matching financial power and resources to face any challenges Coca-Cola could introduce in the beverage market (Seet and Yoffie 95). Therefore, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been fierce rivals in both domestic and international markets. Each company is using a different strategy to remain in control while increasing their net revenue. Coca-Cola entered China before Pepsi did. However, the soft drink market in China can absorb both products due to the fact that China has one fourth of the world’s population, which provides a great deal of demand for both companies to generate profit. Looking at both company’s strategies, one can see that both companies are aiming to become established in the beverage market in China. Moreover, Pepsi seems to be making better acquisition decisions than Coca-Cola; however, the financial figures reveal the victor. The purchases that Pepsi has recently made will take their toll in the form of long term debt, while Coke can concentrate more on increasing market share, as they are much less leveraged than their largest competitor. Coca-cola and Pepsi control 19% and 9% of the Chinese soft-drink market respectively. Coca-Cola operates in 23 bottling plants with total investment of $500 million, while Pepsi operates on 18 plants with total investment of $ 600 million (Seet and Yoffie 95). Coca-Cola is buying their own assets or entering in a joint venture with the Chinese government. For example in China the government owns plants and distribution centers, while Pepsi is pursuing joint ventures and mergers with local companies. The battle for the soft drink industry in China will require a great deal of financial and marketing resources to cover all aspects of competition in local industry. For example, Coca-cola officials are heavily involved with the government, where they spend almost 50% of their time catering and entertaining the government officials to gain more influence in their operation (since the corruption rate in China is high) (Seet and Yoffie 95). Doing so will provide an advantage over Pepsi because the distribution plants need to be close to the local market to be able to provide the market with competitive products that are cheap and of high quality. In comparison with Coke, Pepsi’s strategy of joint ventures with local industry helps them cut costs and pass the savings to the Chinese consumers (Seet and Yoffie 95). Finally, both companies are investing heavily and using their equity to expand and generate revenue in China, which financial figures show that they will not have any financial liquidity in the near future if they continue at the same rate of investment.

Globalization in the Gulf Cooperation Council

Globalization in the Gulf Cooperation Council Chapter 3 Globalization in the GCC: a political and economic analysis Political Aspect The creation of the GCC was a direct result of regional political events of that time. The idea of the need for the union of the major independent states of the gulf had been floating around since the early 1970s. Three main reasons leading to the formation of the gulf cooperation council included: Border disputes between Arab states and the royal families. The Iranian revolution The invasion of Iran by the Soviet Union. The Gulf States apart from Saudi Arabia are small population states. First we look into border disputes. The creation of Bahrain and Kuwait was lead to the demarcation of boundaries which the families Arab ruling families did not like. The strained relations were held together only by their common links religion and language. The ruling families had close bonds with families of other states and therefore they did not like the idea of having to confine their selves to a border (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). Secondly, the Arab peninsula felt safe from Iran as long as the Shah of Iran was in control. This was because America (an Arab friend) was dictating the policies of Iran during the shah’s rule. After the Iranian revolution, came the religious leaders. They had a different set of ideology and religious beliefs than the Arab states. Since Iran was a regional military strength, this further made the Gulf States insecure and further highlighted the need for a united front by the Arab peninsula (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). Lastly, the invasion of a Muslim Afghanistan by the atheist Soviet Union was viewed as a threat as Yemen was also a socialist country and capture of Afghanistan meant that the communists were gaining strength and this was another form of insecurity for the region as the Arab states had supported the USA in the cold war which made them rivals of the Soviet empire. The Soviet threat had to be faced collectively and therefore it was imperative that a union of the Arab states be created. The last straw was the Iran- Iraq war which started in 1980. It affected trade routes of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Also Iraq, which was a friendly Arab country, was being affected. And this threat needed to be faced collectively, therefore in 1981, the Gulf States, united themselves in the form of GCC (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). The charter known as the cooperation council charter was signed by all the member states, including Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman. The charter listed cultural, social and political and economic reasons along with commonality of religion, language and customs for this union. The articles in the charter defined the need to develop independence and self sustainability in political, economic and financial affairs (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). Since the creation of the council, the GCC has gradually tried to instill its authority in the region and work for change for the betterment of the states. The council states have developed at remarkable pace in the fields of media technology, developmental projects, financial institutions and security of the region (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). The first visible of the impact of the unified common GCC policy was visible globally during the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The council made possible it’s liberation, through the help of the world’s help, The council called for a meeting of the organization of the Islamic conference (OIC) and this lead to GCC requesting for and then passing resolution in the united nation’s security council, UNSCR 660 (1990). The council since the 1990 has tried to help in conflicts resolution in many countries, including Somalia, Palestine Israel, Lebanon Israel etc. the GCC is also in the forefront in helping the countries in need of economic aid for rebuilding. The countries insisted on the rebuilding of Iraq through donations, On the country basis, the GCC have planned free trade agreements with China, Pakistan and India. They already have FTAs with Lebanon, Turkey and Syria in the region and Japan in the East Asian region. The GCC also has signed pacts and agreements with regional organizations like the European Union (EU). The EU and the GCC have signed declarations of cooperation with each other and are working toward a FTA (Bà ©atrice Maalouf, 2006). Non-governmental, international and regional organizations The economic and developmental transformation of the GCC countries along with other Arab countries of the region has been due to assistance from international institutions and donor agencies of the region. These agencies have been providing, financial, technical and organizational help to the states for formulating better strategies for stable development of the Arab states specifically and the gulf region in general. The United Arab Emirates has enough financial capital for funding the preparation of NES and NEAP. Even so, the gulf state has been seeking and receiving technical help from international and regional organizations in order to ensure that their developmental programs are stable and sustainable. To ensure stable growth and development in the gulf and Arab countries, availability of financial assistance is important, especially for countries not exporting oil (Khordagui H, 2004). â€Å"International donor organizations working in the region include: Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Arab Fund for Economic and social Development (AFESD) Kuwaiti Fund for Development (KFD). † (Khordagui H, (2004). Apart from development on the infrastructure level, certain organizations have been providing the gulf countries with help in a wide range of activities including capacity building, legislative drafting, policy analysis etc. Usually the assistance concerning the capacity building assistance measures is being undertaken by the regional organizations in order for there to be regional benefits of these national initiatives (Khordagui H, 2004). â€Å"These institutions include: â€Å"METAP: a cooperative initiative between the Commission, the European Investment Bank, UNDP (the Arab Bureau the Capacity 21 Unit), the WB – has provided capacity building assistance to the Mediterranean region for nearly the past decade† (Khordagui H, 2004). â€Å"Med-Policies Initiative – part of the METAP program, but funded by the WB in coordination with ESCWA – is building national capacity regional awareness on economic environmental policy-making† (Khordagui H, 2004). â€Å"The Center for Environment and Development in the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE) is an independent, nonprofit regional institution is working to increase the capacity of national institution to enhance environmental management and SD† (Khordagui H, 2004). Social Development and Civic Society Saudi Arabia is the biggest member of the GCC. It has the largest population and the biggest oil reserves. Therefore one would expect that with all in the capital inflow, political reforms would follow and that would lead to maturation of the state toward a free society. In Saudi Arabia, monarchy rules the state. There is no parliamentary system and there were not political parties, trade unions or voluntary associations before 2003. There is a counsel of chambers of commerce and it acts as an umbrella between the government and the society as a whole (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). â€Å"The UAE is fast becoming the economic hub of the GCC. Therefore there needs to be civic reform and State’s institutional development needs to be the foremost priority of the state. There can be no assembly of public nature without prior government’s approval. The first human rights organization was first formed in the country in 2006. Its founding members include people of diverse professions from far corners of the society.† (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008) Political parties are still illegal in the kingdom. Any person or organization which tries of voice an opinion against which is against or different from that of the monarchy is quickly shut down. There are two opposition movements working from outside Saudi Arabia. These include the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR) and the Movement for Islamic Reform (MIRA), in Saudi Arabia. Activists who attempted to demonstrate in a peaceful manner against the monarchy were arrested and their activities deemed unislamic (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). In order to conform to the rest of the world and also due to the internal needs and external pressures led the Saudi government to initiate the civil society creations in the kingdom in 2003. Unlike Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates are governed by both a traditional as well as a modern form of a government. The UAE is at an advanced level of institutionalizing their government departments. The political system of UAE can be thought of a flexible system conforming and adaptive to the democratic ways of governance. The UAE does not allow the existence of political parties per say, but the ruling elite and their positions in the government are determined even today by their positions in their respective tribes and dynasties. In order to keep their authority and position the rulers are required to ensure that they retain the people’s loyalty which has to be ensured by keeping with the principle that the people should have easy access to the rulers and they could voice their opinion or grievances in meetings. This tradition of holding assembly of citizen’s frequently is still active today and ensures that people are not neglected. Decisions made in these meetings sometimes even determine policy changes at the highest levels. On the other side, the modern institutions are capable of dealing with more complex and large scale problems and concerning the state. Therefore the dual mode of governance in the UAE has molded itself in the past decades to optimally suite the citizens of the state as well as the state itself (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). The Saudi Journalist’s association was founded to look after the interests of the journalists of the country, it is mostly an independent organization and works without any governmental interference. A media regulatory authority has been in place since 1982 in Saudi Arabia. Even though the print and the television media is well developed and well circulated in the kingdom, it is mostly government regulated. The ministry of information has the authority to appoint the editor in chief of all the circulating newspapers and can remove anyone they feel does not conform to their standards. Moreover, the government owned Saudi Press Agency and the ministry of information control the print and the Broadcast media. An independent organization to look after the human rights abuses paved its way into formation in 2004 in the kingdom. It is called The National society for Human rights and it has the job of keeping track of abuses related to employment, judiciary, domestic violence, prisons etc. There has been a history of complaints in the gulf about the human rights abuses related to non payment of wages to the workers and maid, mal treatment sexual harassment. Since 2005, the ministry of labor of Saudi Arabia announced that it was ready to receive complaints of the above mentioned nature from anyone and would be ready to prosecute anyone found guilty of the offense (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). Unlike Saudi Arabia, UAE does not posses any human rights groups and independent trade unions are still banned in the state, its chamber of commerce and UAE Women’s Federation are umbrella organizations with the responsibility to keep checks and balances of all sorts. The latter is assigned to prepare the women population, which makes constitutes a larger chuck of the population, to face the challenges of the 21st century and to train them to become active participants in the society (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). The gulf countries are enjoying economic boom from the high oil prices and they are taking advantage of this by using this capital for development of their respective states and region in general. Local and international corporate businesses have established themselves well into the societies. With this comes corporate social responsibility. This means that businesses have the responsibility to encourage and participate in any way they can, in the social development of the region. The term corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be explained as the commitment by the corporate sector to behave in an ethical manner and participate in the economic development along with providing a better quality of life for the workforce, their families and the society at large (Democratic governance Arabia, 2008). â€Å"In the GCC, although there are initiatives of corporate contribution to the society as a whole, there is still a greater need of formalizing it to ensure that the pace of development in the education, health, and housing and environment sectors is improved on sustainable grounds. A major factor in CSR activities is the governments strategy. There are governments within the GCC region that feel that social sectors such as education, health, housing and environment are the sole responsibility of the governments or rulers, resulting in little effort by the corporate sector in these areas. A very relevant example of this is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the largest country within the GCC, where there are hardly any well-managed CSR initiatives† (Giving Back: Corporate Social Responsibility in the GCC, 2007). Political Reforms The political systems of the gulf countries are in their infancies. Neil Patrick a senior analyst noted in a seminar about political reform in 2006, that there was a need to identity and treat all the GCC countries individually and recognize that the political structures and in different stages of maturation in each of these countries. For example, political reforms were first initiated by Kuwait, and currently, the have a well established working parliament. In contrast, the UAE has only recently started raising the idea of electoral participation. Other countries including Oman, Qatar and Bahrain etc all have political councils, whose members are usually sheikhs or members of the royal families. These councils are mostly advisory councils with limited mandates (Political Reform in GCC countries, 2006). Historically the infrastructure and organization required for the development and reform have been absent from the GCC states and royal families have been the only rulers in most of these states. According to Neil Patrick, the monarchies and the â€Å"Sheikdoms† operate in away in which taxing the citizens have become very difficult. They continue to use the earnings from the oil profits to satisfy the civilian population and run the state and this ensures at least in the short term that their rule will not be challenged. As the society within these countries has become more and more educated, and as the states have gradually opened up to the democratic world, the world, the need for change or reform has been seriously felt. Over the past couple of decades, the younger generations, unlike those of the past have become more educated, more aware of their rights as members of the society. This passive but steady demand for reform and more freedom has applying internal pressure on the ruling elite for change. On the other hand, opening up of the country for investment and development has lead to the democratic forces in the form of USA and the EU to exert multifaceted pressure on the Gulf States for democratization and liberalization. â€Å"Moreover, globalization, and particularly economic globalization, intensifies pressures on rulers to be more transparent and accountable in the administration of state resources† (Political Reform in GCC countries, 2006). It has been noted that over the past two decades, continued economic growth, wealth distribution and emergence of a middle classes with a strong voice has been the cause for gradual change towards liberalization and reform. â€Å"Economic change effectively creates alternative bases of power and constituencies that will contest the political status quo and claim a voice in the decision making process. It is therefore important to assess whether the distribution of rent in the Gulf States has led to an accumulation of wealth in a middle class with an interest in reform and enough power to begin making political demands† (Political Reform in GCC countries, 2006). Access to information International community has promoted information and communication technologies in the recent past as a means of providing a source of liberalization in the gulf countries. It has been thought that by integrating ICT in their developmental projects for these countries, the monopoly of the state on media and information control. The results although have been a success to some extent, but have failed to influence the society as the west once hoped. Case in point the spread of news channels like Al jazeera from Qatar. The coming on air of this and other channels has had an impact of providing the society with free uncensored and uninhibited view of the Arab views and feelings. The aim of the west was to ensure that the liberalization and opening up of the gulf would lead to the Gulf States, conforming to their west’s likings. This opening of the media has lead to voice to the civic society but their views of the west have not softened as the west had hoped. The governments still have control over other aspects of the information. This is clearly seen in the case of provision of the internet. Even though the states provide internet access, this is limited and poorly distributed. On the pretext of conserving cultural and religious values, the states like the Saudi Arabia have been exerting media filtration and censorship by using filtering software and denying access of any information which might influence their society’s view of them. The economic aspect Trade and investment liberalization Human development It has been long claimed that the gulf country rely heavily on their revenues from oil production to support them. Globalization is fast becoming the new reality in the GCC countries. This is has led to the gulf countries to tread on uncharted territory. The trend towards globalization and the threads attached to it can have an effect on the very lives of the citizens these countries cater for. Globalization can bring the promise of open markets and opportunities to have access to all the tools a country needs for development. On the other hand, globalization can also lead a country towards marginalization. â€Å"The relation between human development and globalization can be visualized in the following manner: the effects of globalization on a developing economy, such as the Arab Gulf countries, could be backwash effects or spread effects. The backwash effects means that globalization could contribute to and the source of human deprivation through processes of marginalization (of the country) and social exclusion (of individuals and groups based on social, ethnic, occupation/ skill, age or gender grounds)† (Jiyad, A. M, 1998). On the flip side, globalization can also lead to multitude of benefits. Globalization, through investment and production, can lead to jobs creation and greater choices for the public in terms of consumption and all of this can further enhance the human development. Globalization leads to foreign direct investment FDI, which in turn leads to capital inflow in the country and this can be used for developmental projects in a developing country. The steps towards globalization include: Liberalization of the local economy. Liberalization of state property ownership (privatization). Regionalization and multilateralism. Step 2 or privatization in the Arab countries has been a result of old as well as new policies. The privatization policy became a national policy in Oman in 1996. Information and communication revolution â€Å"The policies include provision related to what to privatize first (productive service sector), partial privatizations, transparency, competition, FDI, protection of the environment, public relation, and privatization proceeds. The guidelines include provisions related to bids selection, public offering, taxes, loans, employees and management†(Zineldin, M, 1998). The Saudi Arabia had been considering privatization and policy since early 90s. The 1990-1995 development plan envisioned a privatization process, a stock exchange for trading, privately owned construction and development companies, privatization some banks etc. In 1997 the ministry of commerce decided to expand the role played by the private industry in the kingdom’s economy by privatizing and selling government held assets worth more than $7 billion. The main aim for privatization and liberalization was to encourage private investment in the country’s economy, to provide lucrative opportunities for local as well as foreign companies to invest in domestic ventures. They also aimed to provide jobs to the ever increasing number youths in the country and to bring the unemployment rates down. They wanted to broaden and diversify the economic base and increase its markets competitiveness level to meet the standards set by the WTO for its membership (Jiyad, A. M, 1998). Abu Dhabi and the UAE have highlighted the need to privatize approximately 40 or so industries. After a study conducted by the World Bank, it recommended that Kuwait privatize at least 7 small enterprises, whose total vale was more than $3.6 billion. By 1995, Bahrain had also privatized at least partially, its, aluminum industry, small enterprises from the food manufacturing industry. Industrial investment by the private sector in this small state was more than $4.4 Billion by the end of 1996. (Jiyad, A. M, 1998). The campaign to private in order to make the institutions more efficient and productive has led to inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in these countries. Oman, Dubai (UAE) and Bahrain etc have allowed their private investors to gain complete ownership of their investment and industry. (Jiyad, A. M, 1998). The past 3 decades have led to an unprecedented growth in the GCC countries. The cost oil per barrel has risen from $12 to $100 and beyond. The financial profits that have been gained from this boom as been used to modernize infrastructure, improve social indicators, develop infrastructures as well as maintain foreign currency reserves while keeping external debt at a low level. â€Å"Life expectancy in the GCC area increased by almost 10 years to 74 years during 1980–2000, and literacy rates increased by 20 percentage points to about 80 percent over the same period. Average per capita income in the GCC countries was estimated at about $12,000 in 2002, with their combined nominal GDP reaching close to $340 billion (more than half the GDP of all Middle Eastern countries†. (Fasano U and Iqbal Z, 2003). Globalization and Human development Globalization, through the process of privatization leading to increase in resource allotment and can lead to increased focus towards human development. Improvement and competition leads to increase in the standards in the health and education sector. Privatization in the education sector can lead to improvement it its standards and it can structurally transform itself to cater to the needs of the market. â€Å"In other words private involvement in education and health sectors could bring with it more investment, more competition, better service, and wider choices. Successful liberalization and privatization programs could also accelerate growth, boost domestic investment and attract foreign capital generate employment and increase (per capita) income† (Jiyad, A. M 1998). The performances of the GCC countries towards human development have been weak in the past few decades. Great progression was seen in the early 70s and 80s but investment towards human development seems to have become stagnant in the 90s. Case in point is Saudi Arabia which compared to the public spending of $81.4 billion in 1985, only spent $82.7 billion in 1995. This and other indicators like these demonstrate that investment in the future development of the people had been ignored in the decade of the 90s. † (Jiyad, A. M 1998). Another problem which still needs tending to is the increase in the population in most of the GC countries. The high growth rate along with increase of women in the work force due to opening up of the society in the GCC countries has produced another problem of unemployment. The GCC wok force is growing at a rate of 4% per year and if this keeps up, the unemployment rates will soon follow suite and create another burden on the society. The GCC countries have been trying to initiate and grow in the non oil industry sector to create jobs for its people and to be able to sustain their growth rates. †Government services in many GCC countries are provided free or at highly subsidized prices, particularly water and electricity, while non-oil taxation is low, consisting mainly of income tax on foreign corporations except in Oman, where local corporations are also taxed. Some of these countries have recorded overall fiscal deficits over the years, reflecting volatile global oil prices and relatively high levels of current expenditure† (Fasano U and Iqbal Z, 2003). This can be seen by the indicators in the following charts below. â€Å"All GCC countries share sound and well-supervised banking systems. Banks are well-capitalized and profitable. Their supervisory framework has been strengthened and is largely compliant with international standards and codes. Moreover, GCC countries have gradually taken a number of steps toward implementing a market-based monetary policy, though direct instruments (such as interest rate and credit ceilings) continue to play a role in a few of these countries.† (Fasano U and Iqbal Z, 2003). Deepening of the regional economic integration Even with their high visions and plans of development to create sustainable non oil based economic power houses, the GCC countries have fell short of their aims for the past decades. These goals can still be achieved. The key for realizing such gains is in the collective integration and regional advancement. These collaborations have to be inline with the WTO policies and regulations. Since the GCC countries already enjoy free trade agreements with each other, the next step would be in the form of creating custom union. This can be beneficial for the GCC countries involved in the union as well as during multilateral trade deals. Giving the world a single regional front can only be beneficial as this means that there will be unified tariffs across the countries. The negotiations with the WTO any aspects would be held through a collective front rather than of the members negotiating individually. (Yousif Khalifa Al-Yousif ) Other benefits that can be achieved by the GCC countries integrating themselves further include providing a unified local market to the world to deal with. This means that the smaller countries like Bahrain can gain access the behalf of large ones like Saudi Arabia into the western markets. Deepening ties will further lead to reduction in internal conflicts and maters of miniscule value. Since integration into a regional bloc like the GCC has already led to and will further lead to open access to each others markets therefore inter GCC trade will only allow the local industries to grow further and provide employment to local work force along with allow growth in the human development sector. Millennium goals indirectly leading to economic and developmental Stability The GCC countries are a bloc of wealthy countries on their way to regional integration and providing a unified and developed front to the goal. Therefore it is suitable for them to cater to and provide assistance to the less developed Arab countries in the region. The countries have set out goals for the future and are working towards them at a steady pace. Eradication of poverty: the spread of wealth even with the population of the GCC is unevenly distributed. The gulf countries are working hard to implement policies which would lead to ensuring that all the people are provided with food and shelter. This can be done by providing jobs. Broadening the industrial base is the priority. This will lead to creation of jobs for the people. In this way wealth can be spread and distributed evenly. Energy Accessibility and Efficiency â€Å"Despite the vast energy resources of the region, in 2003 only 78.6% of the Arab population had access to electricity, ranging from almost 100% in the GCC countries to under 8% in Low Developed Countries (LDC). The region’s overall energy efficiency (kilogram (kg) oil equivalent per $1,000 GDP (PPP)) has improved unevenly in the past decade. In 2002, the GCC countries reported the highest energy use (504 kg oil equivalent per $1,000 PPP), followed by those of the eastern (262 kg oil equivalent per $1,000 PPP) and the western (some 137 kg oil equivalent per $1,000 PPP). Data available data on energy use in the Arab LDCs are inadequate.† Regional Progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in the Arab Region (2006). Education: the literacy rate of the local population in some of the major GCC countries is quite low. Steps are being taken to ensure to ensure that that the new generation is provided with education to be able to work as a contributor for the development of the society and the country as a whole. Gender equality: it has been long an issue, that the Arab countries in general have a poor record for gender equality and women empowerment. The GCC countries have moved leaps and bounds from where they were a couple decades ago. Currently female integration is in every corner of the work place. Few of the major multinational companies are owned and run by business women in the gulf. Still female literacy rates are low and the gulf government’s aims for the near future are ensure that they become equal participants in the work force as they comprise around 50% of the total population. References and Bibliography Bà ©atrice Maalouf, (2006). The GCC: A Union to Be Reckoned With. Congress of the Czech Political Science Society in Olomouc [internet], Available from: [Accessed 4 April 2008]. Democratic governance Arabia (2008), United Nations Development Program. [Internet], Available from: [Accessed 4 April 2008]. Fasano U and Iqbal Z, (2003).GCC Countries: From Oil Dependence to Diversification. International Monetary Fund. [Internet], Available from: [Accessed 4 April 2008]. Figure 1, Fasano U and Iqbal Z, (2003).GCC Countries: From Oil Dependence to Diversification. International Monetary Fund. [Internet], Available from: [Accessed 4 April 2008]. Figure 2 Fasano U and Iqbal Z, (2003).GCC Countries: From Oil Dependence to Diversification. International Monetary Fund. [Internet], Available from: [Accessed 4 April 2008]. GIC Produces Comparative Data on GCC Economies Showing Solid Upturn in 1999 GDP. (2001),

Music Origin :: Art

Music Origin Introduction: For centuries people had dreamed of capturing the sounds and music from the environment. Many had attempted it but no one had succeeded until Thomas Alva Edison discovered a method of recording and playing back sound. What had started out as an apparatus intended as part of an improved telephone led to the development of an instrument which would change the world, making it a happier, even a better, place to live. Revolutions: (Case of Mp3 sharing software development) A revolution in the music industry has surfaced In 1999, Shawn Fanning, a Northeastern University undergraduate, wrote a small MP3-sharing software application known as Napster. Originally designed for the exchange of Fanning and friends' own recordings, Napster quickly became a conduit for mainstream MP3s, and an MP3-sharing community was built overnight as the beta version of the shareware program quickly caught on. New songs could be found and downloaded at the touch of a button. Entire albums could be exchanged in minutes for free. In addition, the natal Sagittarian Sun (self) in the company’s chart sextiles Mars (action) conjunct Neptune (illusion, lack of boundaries), producing the ability to do it all anywhere with complete anonymity. The Recording Industry Association of America contends that the service Napster provides is just a high-tech shortcut to music piracy. But in recent â€Å"friends of the court† briefs, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which represents tech giants like AT&T, Yahoo and Oracle, said the courts need to reinterpret and revise some of the â€Å"overprotective† models for guarding intellectual property. Online business contributed much to the music industry as similar to the other traditional companies. It helped the business to grow globally and to reach out the customers all over the world. Easy access, news details, shipping to home, attractive prices, lots of choices made the music industry to boom in the early 1990’s. Music Vs Internet: The recorded music industry has capitulated. After years of effort and millions of dollars spent on lawyers in prosecuting music pirates, the big four record companies have joined the internet age. Legal, pay-per-track music sites are about to proliferate. Australia should have its first by Christmas. It is likely it will be a local version of the successful Apple iMusic Store, which operates only in North America. Locally, Telstra is working on a licensing deal with at least one record company. The future of music sites depends on forging complex regional licensing deals between the record companies, musicians and online vendors such as Apple, Real Networks' Rhapsody, Roxio (owners of Press Play and about-to-be legal Napster) and Microsoft's MSN.

Economic Condition :: Economics

Economic Condition Economy from anywhere it could be from the United States or even from the UK it self. Can have a huge impact on the firm. The main economical influences on a firm are:- 1) Inflation 2) Exchange rates 3) Unemployment 4) Interest rates 1) inflation In some things the price of them could go up. It's because prices in things when time past generally goes up. For example a time piece costing  £1000 today mite go up to  £1050 in about a years time, But that is if they area no scratches and it's in a perfect condition. 2)Exchange Rates Exchange Rates is the rate of exchange between currencies in different countries for example.  £1 is worth about $10 in Hong Kong. 3)Unemployment Unemployment is a amount of people who are unemployed but are willing to work and that are actually looking for work or that they can work but they can't find any. But it could be lots more reasons too. 4)Interest rate Interest rate is the way that bank makes money. What they do is when people needs money to buy a house or a car they will need money so they get loan from a bank. The bank will lend them money but they want a repayment in a certain amount of time and they also want another amount of money which is called interest. So for example if a person borrows  £1000 to buy a car they mite have to pay back  £1100 back to the bank. So that is 10% on the interest rate. But people can also befit from interest rates too. Because if some one or company puts their saving in a bank they will get interest from it. If they keep the money in a certain amount of time. Could be something like half a year to a year. And the more you pay in the more you will get back from the bank. Inflation Inflation can have affects on businesses too and below I have listed some of the different types of inflation. 1) Cost of raw material 2) Sales will go down 3) Further consequences:- * Reduce costs, * Lower wages, * Dismiss some staff, * Eventually bankrupt Interest rates (increase) Interest rates can have a affect on a company too. That shows anything can small can have a big effect on a business. That why it is hard to have your own business. Below I have listed different types of interest rates:- * Firms cost of borrowing will increase also that means less likely to invest in new equipment. * Consumers will spend less. A) because they are encouraged to save more so you get better interest rate.

Objectification Theory Essay example -- Psychology, Body Shame

Women are bombarded by images of a thin-ideal body form that is extremely hard, if not impossible, to emulate. Comparing themselves to these women can lead to feelings of inadequacy, depression, and an overall low self-esteem. (Expand on, need a good opening paragraph to grab the reader’s attention) Objectification Theory Objectification theory has been proposed as a standard for understanding the effects of living in a culture that sexually objectifies women (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Objectification occurs when a person’s body is treated like a separate entity and is evaluated on its own merit, without consideration for the rest of the person. When an individual is sexually objectified, they are treated like an object that exists only for the pleasure of others and objectification theory asserts that women are uniquely subject to these types of experiences, especially in Western culture. Self-objectification (SO) leads the individual to create a third person perspective in their minds that they use to compare their physical selves to and in turn causes them to see themselves as an object instead of a whole person. SO also creates a form of self-consciousness, causing a habitual and vigilant self-monitoring of outward appearance. There are many cognitive and emotional consequences of SO. Among these consequences are increased body shame, increased appearance anxiety, and a decreased ability to reach high states of motivation. Many studies have shown that there is a positive relation between SO, body shame, and eating disorders (Mercurio & Landry, 2008). It can also be argued that depression, sexual dysfunction, and eating disorders are additional consequences. Depression is most often caused due to body shame an... ...ly asked them to name the color of the ink in which the words appeared; and the rate of their responses were recorded. The experiment completed by Quinn et al. reported that the women who wore the swimsuits rather than the v-neck sweater experienced feeling more defined by their bodies and increased feelings of body shame. It also took the women in the objectification condition longer to respond to the Stroop task, thus showing a decrease in performance. This split in attention could happen throughout the day with women in â€Å"real world† situations, thus hindering every day performance and possibly removing joy from their tasks due to a lack of complete immersion. It is also important to note that this experiment focused on a task that is in no way related to any gender stereotype, helping to rule out stereotype threat as an explanation for the results obtained.

The Vampire Diaries: The Fury Chapter Thirteen

â€Å"You think we're supposed to-look inside?† Matt said. â€Å"I don't know,† Elena said miserably. She didn't want to see what was inside that tomb now any more than she had when Tyler had suggested opening it to vandalize it. â€Å"Maybe we won't be able to get it open,† she added. â€Å"Tyler and Dick couldn't. It started to slide only when I leaned on it.† â€Å"Lean on it now; maybe there's some sort of hidden spring mechanism,† Alaric suggested, and when Elena did, with no results, he said, â€Å"All right, let's all get a grip, and brace ourselves-like this. Come on, now-â€Å" From his crouch, he looked up at Damon, who was standing motionless next to the tomb, looking faintly amused. â€Å"Excuse me,† Damon said, and Alaric stepped back, frowning. Damon and Stefan each gripped an end of the stone lid and lifted. The lid came away, making a grinding sound as Damon and Stefan slid it to the ground on one side of the tomb. Elena couldn't bring herself to move closer. Instead, fighting nausea, she concentrated on Stefan's expression. It would tell her what was to be found in there. Pictures crashed through her mind, of parchment-colored mummified bodies, of rotting corpses, of grinning skulls. If Stefan looked horrified or sickened, disgusted†¦ But as Stefan looked into the open tomb, his face registered only disconcerted surprise. Elena couldn't stand it any longer. â€Å"What is it?† He gave her a crooked smile and said with a glance at Bonnie, â€Å"Come and see.† Elena inched up to the tomb and looked down. Then her head flew up, and she regarded Stefan in astonishment. â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"I don't know,† he replied. He turned to Meredith and Alaric. â€Å"Does either of you have a flashlight? Or some rope?† After a look inside the stone box, they both headed for their cars. Elena remained where she was, staring down, straining her night vision. She still couldn't believe it. The tomb was not a tomb, but a doorway. Now she understood why she had felt a cold wind blow from it when it had shifted beneath her hand that night. She was looking down into a kind of vault or cellar in the ground. She could see only one wall, the one that dropped straight down below her, and that one had iron rungs driven into the stone, like a ladder. â€Å"Here you go,† Meredith said to Stefan, returning. â€Å"Alaric's got a flashlight, and here's mine. And here's the rope Elena put in my car when we went looking for you.† The narrow beam of Meredith's flashlight swept the dark room below. â€Å"I can't see very far inside, but it looks empty,† Stefan said. â€Å"I'll go down first.† Bonnie hadn't moved. She was still standing there with that utterly abstracted expression on her face, as if she saw nothing around her. Without a word, she swung a leg over the edge of the tomb, twisted, and began to descend. â€Å"Whoa,† said Stefan. He tucked the flashlight in his jacket pocket, put a hand on the tomb's foot, and jumped. Elena had no time to enjoy Alaric's expression; she leaned down and shouted, â€Å"Are you okay?† â€Å"Fine.† The flashlight winked at her from below. â€Å"Bonnie will be all right, too. The rungs go all the way down. Better bring the rope anyway.† Elena looked at Matt, who was closest. His blue eyes met hers with helplessness and a certain resignation, and he nodded. She took a deep breath and put a hand on the foot of the tomb as Stefan had. Another hand suddenly clamped on her wrist. â€Å"I've just thought of something,† Meredith said grimly. â€Å"What if Bonnie's entity is the Other Power?† â€Å"I thought of that a long time ago,† Elena said. She patted Meredith's hand, pried it off, and jumped. She stood up into Stefan's supporting arm and looked around. â€Å"My God†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It was a strange place. The walls were faced with stone. They were smooth and almost polished-looking. Driven into them at intervals were iron candelabra, some of which had the remains of wax candles in them. Elena could not see the other end of the room, but the flashlight showed a wrought-iron gate quite close, like the gate in some churches used to screen off an altar. Bonnie was just reaching the bottom of the rung ladder. She waited silently while the others descended, first Matt, then Meredith, then Alaric with the other flashlight. Elena looked up. â€Å"Damon?† She could see his silhouette against the lighter black rectangle that was the tomb's opening to the sky. â€Å"Well?† â€Å"Are you with us?† she asked. Not â€Å"Are you coming with us?† She knew he would understand the difference. She waited five heartbeats in the silence that followed. Six, seven, eight†¦ There was a rush of air, and Damon landed neatly. But he didn't look at Elena. His eyes were oddly distant, and she could read nothing in his face. â€Å"It's a crypt,† Alaric was saying in wonder, as his flashlight scythed through the darkness. â€Å"An underground chamber beneath a church, used as a burial place. They're usually built under larger churches.† Bonnie walked straight up to the scrolled gate and placed one small white hand on it, opening it. It swung away from her. Bonnie walked straight up to the scrolled gate and placed one small white hand on it, opening it. It swung away from her. Bonnie stopped. This is it, thought Elena, her breath catching in her throat. Oh, my God, this is it; this is really it. She had the sudden intense sensation of being in the middle of a lucid dream, one where she knew she was dreaming but couldn't change anything or wake up. Her muscles deadlocked. She could smell fear from the others, and she could feel the sharp edge of it from Stefan beside her. His flashlight skimmed over objects beyond Bonnie, but at first Elena's eyes could make no sense of them. She saw angles, planes, contours, and then something leaped into focus. A dead-white face, hanging grotesquely sideways †¦ The scream never got out of her throat. It was only a statue, and the features were familiar. They were the same as on the lid of the tomb above. This tomb was the twin of the one they had come through. Except that this one had been ravaged, the stone lid broken in two and flung against the wall of the crypt. Something was scattered about the floor like fragile ivory sticks. Bits of marble, Elena told her brain desperately; it's only marble, bits of marble. They were human bones, splintered and crushed. Bonnie turned around. Her heart-shaped face swung as if those fixed blank eyes were surveying the group. She ended directly facing Elena. Then, with a shudder, she stumbled and pitched violently forward like a marionette whose strings have been cut. Elena barely caught her, half falling herself. â€Å"Bonnie? Bonnie?† The brown eyes that looked up at her, dilated and disoriented, were Bonnie's own frightened eyes. â€Å"But what happened?† Elena demanded. â€Å"Where did it go?† â€Å"I am here.† Above the plundered tomb, a hazy light was showing. No, not a light, Elena thought. She was sensing it with her eyes, but it was not light in the normal spectrum. This was something stranger than infrared or ultraviolet, something human senses had not been built to see. It was being revealed to her, forced on her brain, by some outside Power. â€Å"The Other Power,† she whispered, her blood freezing. â€Å"No, Elena.† The voice was not sound, in the same way that the vision was not light. It was quiet as star shine, and sad. It reminded her of something. â€Å"I've been waiting for you,† Honoria Fell's voice said softly. â€Å"Here I can speak to you at last in my own form, and not through Bonnie's lips. Listen to me. Your time is short, and the danger is very great.† Elena found her tongue. â€Å"But what is this room? Why did you bring us here?† â€Å"You asked me to. I couldn't show you until you asked. This is your battleground.† â€Å"I don't understand.† â€Å"This crypt was built for me by the people of Fell's Church. A resting place for my body. A secret place for one who had secret powers in life. Like Bonnie, I knew things no one else could know. I saw things no one else could see.† â€Å"You were psychic,† Bonnie whispered huskily. â€Å"In those days, they called it witchery. But I never used my powers for harm, and when I died they built me this monument so that my husband and I could lie in peace. But then, after many years, our peace was disturbed.† The eldritch light ebbed and flowed, Honoria's form wavering. â€Å"Another Power came to Fell's Church, full of hatred and destruction. It defiled my resting place and scattered my bones. It made its home here. It went out to work evil against my town. I woke. â€Å"I have tried to warn you against it from the beginning, Elena. It lives here below the graveyard. It has been waiting for you, watching you. Sometimes in the form of an owl-â€Å" An owl. Elena's mind raced ahead. An owl, like the owl she had seen nesting in the belfry of the church. Like the owl that had been in the barn, like the owl in the black locust tree by her house. White owl†¦ hunting bird†¦ flesh eater†¦ she thought. And then she remembered great white wings that seemed to stretch to the horizon on either side. A great bird made of mist or snow, coming after her, focused on her, full of bloodlust and animal hate†¦ â€Å"No!† she cried, memory engulfing her. She felt Stefan's hands on her shoulders, his fingers digging in almost painfully. It brought her back to reality. Honoria Fell was still speaking. â€Å"And you, Stefan, it has been watching you. It hated you before it hated Elena. It has been tormenting you and playing with you like a cat with a mouse. It hates those you love. It is full of poisoned love itself.† Elena looked involuntarily behind her. She saw Meredith, Alaric, and Matt standing frozen. Bonnie and Stefan were next to her. But Damon†¦ where was Damon? â€Å"The Snow Dance!† Meredith said sharply. â€Å"Yes. And this time they will kill until the last of them is killed.† â€Å"We have to warn those people,† Matt said. â€Å"Everyone at that dance-â€Å" â€Å"You will never be safe until the mind that controls them is destroyed. The killing will go on. You must destroy the Power that hates; that is why I have brought you here.† There was another flux in the light; it seemed to be receding. â€Å"You have the courage, if you can find it. Be strong. This is the only help I can give you.† â€Å"Wait-please-† Elena began. The voice continued relentlessly, taking no heed of her. â€Å"Bonnie, you have a choice. Your secret powers are a responsibility. They are also a gift, and one that can be taken away. Do you choose to relinquish them?† â€Å"I-† Bonnie shook her head, frightened. â€Å"I don't know. I need time†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"There is no time. Choose.† The light was dwindling, caving in on itself. Bonnie's eyes were bewildered and uncertain as she searched Elena's face for help. â€Å"It's your choice,† Elena whispered. â€Å"You have to decide for yourself.† Slowly, the uncertainty left Bonnie's face, and she nodded. She stood away from Elena, without support, turning back to the light. â€Å"I'll keep them,† she said huskily. â€Å"I'll deal with them somehow. My grandmother did.† There was a flicker of something like amusement from the light. â€Å"You've chosen wisely. May you use them as well. This is the last time I will speak to you.† â€Å"But-â€Å" â€Å"I have earned my rest. The fight is yours.† And the glow faded, like the last embers of a dying fire. With it gone, Elena could feel the pressure all around her. Something was going to happen. Some crushing force was coming toward them, or hanging over them. â€Å"Stefan-â€Å" Stefan felt it too; she could tell. â€Å"Come on,† Bonnie said, her voice panicked. â€Å"We have to get out of here.† â€Å"We have to get to the dance,† Matt gasped. His face was white. â€Å"We have to help them-â€Å" â€Å"Fire,† cried Bonnie, looking startled, as if the thought had just come to her. â€Å"Fire won't kill them, but it will hold them off-â€Å" â€Å"Alaric.† Stefan spoke with the ring of command. â€Å"You go back. Take the others; do what you can. I'll stay-â€Å" â€Å"I think we all should leave!† Alaric shouted. He had to shout to be heard over the deafening noise surrounding them. His weaving flashlight showed Elena something she hadn't noticed before. In the wall next to her was a gaping hole, as if the stone facing had been ripped away. And beyond was a tunnel into the raw earth, black and endless. Where does it go? Elena wondered, but the thought was lost among the tumult of her fear. White owl†¦ hunting bird†¦ flesh eater†¦ crow, she thought, and suddenly she knew with blinding clarity what she was afraid of. â€Å"Where's Damon?† she screamed, dragging Stefan around as she turned, looking. â€Å"Where's Damon?† â€Å"Get out!† cried Bonnie, her voice shrill with terror. She threw herself toward the gate just as the sound split the darkness. It was a snarl, but not a dog's snarl. It could never be mistaken for that. It was so much deeper, heavier, more resonant. It was a huge sound, and it reeked of the jungle, of the hunting bloodlust. It reverberated in Elena's chest, jarred her bones. It paralyzed her. The sound came again, hungry and savage, but somehow almost lazy. That confident. And with it came heavy footfalls from the tunnel. Bonnie was trying to scream, making only a thin whistling sound. In the blackness of the tunnel, something was coming. A shape that moved with a rangy feline swing. Elena recognized the snarl now. It was the sound of the largest of the hunting cats, larger than a lion. The tiger's eyes showed yellow as it reached the end of the tunnel. And then everything happened at once. Elena felt Stefan try to pull her backward to get her out of the way. But her own petrified muscles were a hindrance to him, and she knew that it was too late. The tiger's leap was grace itself, powerful muscles launching it into the air. In that instant, she saw it as if caught in the light of a flashbulb, and her mind noted the lean shining flanks and the supple backbone. But her voice screamed out on its own. â€Å"Damon, no!† It was only as the black wolf sprang out of the darkness to meet it that she realized the tiger was white. The great cat's rush was thrown off by the wolf, and Elena felt Stefan wrench her out of the way, pulling her sideways to safety. Her muscles had melted like snowflakes, and she yielded numbly as he put her against the wall. The lid of the tomb was between her and the snarling white shape now, but the gate was on the other side of the fight. It was an impossible match. The black wolf, vicious and aggressive though it might be, didn't stand a chance. One swipe of the tiger's huge claws laid the wolf's shoulder open to the bone. Its jaws snarled open as it tried to get a bone-cracking grip on the wolf's neck. But then Stefan was there, training the blaze of the flashlight into the cat's eyes, thrusting the wounded wolf out of the way. Elena wished she could scream, wished she could do something to release this rushing ache inside her. She didn't understand; she didn't understand anything. Stefan was in danger. But she couldn't move. â€Å"Get out!† Stefan was shouting to the others. â€Å"Do it now; get out!† Faster than any human, he darted out of the way of a white paw, keeping the light in the tiger's eyes. Meredith was on the other side of the gate now. Matt was half carrying and half dragging Bonnie. Alaric was through. The tiger lunged and the gate crashed shut. Stefan fell to the side, slipping as he tried to scramble up again. â€Å"We won't leave you-† Alaric cried. â€Å"Go!† shouted Stefan. â€Å"Get to the dance; do what you can! Go!† The wolf was attacking again, despite the bleeding wounds in its head, and its shoulder where muscle and tendon lay exposed and shining. The tiger fought back. The animal sounds rose to a volume that Elena couldn't stand. Meredith and the others were gone; Alaric's flashlight had disappeared. â€Å"Stefan!† she screamed, seeing him poised to jump into the fight again. If he died, she would die, too. And if she had to die, she wanted it to be with him. The paralysis left her, and she stumbled toward him, sobbing, reaching out to clutch him tightly. She felt his arm around her as he held her with his body between her and the noise and violence. But she was stubborn, as stubborn as he was. She twisted, and then they faced it together. The wolf was down. It was lying on its back, and although its fur was too dark to show the blood, a red pool gathered beneath it. The white cat stood above it, jaws gaping inches from the vulnerable black throat. But the death-dealing bite to the neck didn't come. Instead the tiger raised its head to look at Stefan and Elena. But the death-dealing bite to the neck didn't come. Instead the tiger raised its head to look at Stefan and Elena. The whiskers were straight and slender, like silver wires. Its fur was pure white, striped with faint marks like unburnished gold. White and gold, she thought, remembering the owl in the barn. And that stirred another memory†¦ of something she'd seen†¦ or something she'd heard about†¦ With a heavy swipe, the cat sent the flashlight flying out of Stefan's hand. Elena heard him hiss in pain, but she could no longer see anything in the blackness. Where there was no light at all, even a hunter was blind. Clinging to him, she waited for the pain of the killing blow. But suddenly her head was reeling; it was full of gray and spinning fog and she couldn't hold on to Stefan. She couldn't think; she couldn't speak. The floor seemed to be dropping away from her. Dimly, she realized that Power was being used against her, that it was overwhelming her mind. She felt Stefan's body giving, slumping, falling away from her, and she could no longer resist the fog. She fell forever and never knew when she hit the ground.