Describe How Two Businesses Are Organised

Describe how two businesses are organised (P3) I am going to talk about two organisations and how they operate. The organisations I am going to talk about are McDonalds and Chester Zoo. McDonalds is a fast food restaurant and its purpose is to provide the best and fastest customer service so in this way it will give the organisation a good reputation and help them to make more profit. [pic] This shows how stuff work in McDonalds.If there would be a problem with customers for example, then the assistant manager would take care of this but if there would be something more serious then the business manager will have to take care of it because he is the top head of managing. This also shows how the organisation is organized and how everyone is on the top of the chart and also at the bottom. Chester Zoo is a zoo organisation with loads of attractions for children. Its purpose is to keep their customers happy and also help others because Chester Zoo is also a charity and most of its profit goes to charity to help other people.This is one of the organisation charts for Chester Zoo. This organisation chart shows how the herpetology team work at Chester Zoo. For example the herpetology team manager is on top and  everyone below report to him. For example if there was a problem with something to do with the herpetology keepers then they would report it to the herpetology lead keeper who would then report it to the herpetology team manager. Types of organisational structures There are four types of organisational structures which are: †¢ Functional Geographic †¢ Product †¢ Type of customer Functional – Functional structures arrange departments according to what goes on within each department. An example of this structure would be Sandwell College where the lecturers are in their own departments, the receptionists and secretaries would be in the administration department or office and the library and IT staff would be in support services. Geographic – Geographic structures are mostly about the size of the organisation and where it operates.This could be where there are teams of people operating in different locations like in different towns, cities or countries, so it would be very difficult to organise the business simply by its functions. By product – By-product organisational structures offer a range of products or services and these can dictate its structure. For example a supermarket could be organised into the following functional areas: †¢ Fruit and veg †¢ Cooked  meats †¢ Tinned goods †¢ Clothing †¢ Frozen goods By type of customer – By type of customer organisational structures have both consumers as customers and also have other businesses as customers.This can be referred to as B2C (business to consumer) and B2B (business to business). Hierarchical structure – A hierarchical structure consists of multiple levels. This means that the chain of command would look l ike a pyramid with a large base of workers who are supervised by the level above them which continues to the top ranking officer such as the CEO or company president. Flat structure – A flat structure has few levels of management between the executive level and the front-line employees. The purpose of a flat structure is to empower employees by making them a larger part of the decision making process in a business.It is designed to make employees more productive. It also allows for more rapid change and problem resolution as the communication occurs more easily between the upper managers and baseline employees. Matrix structure – A matrix structure is a type of management system in which workers report to more than just one person, effectively having two or more supervisors at the same time. For example professionals with different types of expertise are brought together to work on a project. They report to a number of managers of different projects as well as to a fun ctional supervisor.McDonalds and Chester Zoo both have a hierarchical structure because they have multiple levels and they both have a CEO or company president that everyone reports to. Span of control – Span of control is the number of people that one individual is responsible for in an organisation. The wider the span of control is then the greater the number of whom the individual is responsible. A manager who is responsible for too many people may be so overworked that their staff in turn may not be able to perform their duties effectively.Functional Areas – The functional areas are the specialist areas of activity within an organisation. These include: †¢ Finance †¢ Marketing †¢ Production †¢ Customer service †¢ Sales †¢ Human resources Finance The finance department functions include keeping records of financial activity for example the sales made by the business and providing managers with information that they can use in decision m aking for example cost of making products. For McDonalds the finance department would have to keep track of how many sales they make per day and what kind of meal or burger makes the most money.For Chester Zoo the finance department would have to do the same which is keeping records of how many sales they make per day and how much profit they make. Marketing – The marketing function is responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements. The marketing function have to carry out market research to find out which types of customers make up a particular market for example what they want, where they want it, how they like it and at what price. The marketers will have an important say in deciding: †¢ The products the company produces The prices charged †¢ Promotions designed to encourage the customers †¢ Place where  goods are sold For example at McDonalds the marketers would decide on what type of Mcflurrys they would sell to customers and at Chester Zoo the marketers will decide on what price they will sell their tickets for people to come and visit Chester Zoo Production – The production function organises who makes the goods and how and when they are made. The production manager of a company is responsible for making sure raw materials are processed into finished goods.At McDonalds the production function will have to make sure that the burgers and chips are made in good quality and at Chester Zoo the production team have to make sure that the food they feed to the animals are just right for them to eat. Customer service – Customer service is concerned with looking after customers at all stages of their relationship with a company. They have to provide customers with details about offers, make sure the customers are listened to and valued and attending to customer complaints, providing after sales service such as servicing of goods, spare parts or information about new products.At Chester Zoo the customer service people will have to deal with complaints and will have to tell people who visit about offers they may not know about. Sales – The sales function is responsible for getting customers to buy what the company produces. The sales department works closely with the marketing department. The main responsibility of the sales department is to create orders for goods and services. For example at McDonalds the sales team will have to try and sell as much food as they can to the customers so they can make a profit. At Chester Zoo they will have to do the same thing by selling Chester Zoo merchandise.Human resources – Human resource managers are responsible for all aspects of people management in an organisation. The type of work covered in the human resource function might include a policy-making role, welfare role, supportive role, bargaining and negotiating role, administrative role and educational and development role. At Chester Zoo the human resources will ha ve to do an educational and development role because when they have new employees they will need to train them. This goes for the same at McDonalds, where they will have to train their employees.

A report on workforce education Essay

The purpose of this paper is to address ideas that I learned this semester relating to the topic of workforce education. Specifically, I will address the mission of workforce education, the role of work, foundational components of workforce development and some of the forces that affect the nature of work. The Mission of Workforce Education Workforce education is defined as a level of education provided by private business and industry, or government-sponsored, community-based organizations. It is used to increase opportunity in the labor market or solve human performance problems in the workplace. This definition suggests two missions of workforce education. One mission is to promote individual opportunity in the labor market, to teach individuals the required skills needed to reach career goals and to be competitive. The second mission is to solve workplace problems by improving the worker’s performance. This helps the economy by increasing productivity. Roles of Work One role of work is social identity. In the United States, a person is defined by â€Å"what they do,† their job, career, or occupation. In most instances, we Americans introduce ourselves by name and occupation. Another work role is that of class. Most Americans are in â€Å"middle-class. † The status of middle-class is defined by social, economic, and education status. These three characteristics all apply to different types of occupations: blue collar, laborer, white-collar, professional, scholar, doctor, lawyer, etc. These types of occupations correspond to different education levels and salary levels. Finally, the role of work gives an individual self-worth. Aside from economic reasons, many people who are beyond retirement age choose to continue to work. There are all types of reasons, from boredom to need of a routine, or to get out of the house; people continue to work, even if they don’t have the need to do so. Foundational Components of Workforce Development The are a number of foundational components of workforce development. They fall into political, socio-economic, or social categories. The following components are addressed below: 1) Supply and Demand; 2) Human Capital Investment; 3) Workforce Productivity; 4) Work Ethics; and 5) Family Influences. 1. Supply and Demand – When the demand for workers exceeds the supply, or if the supply of worker exceeds the demand, the labor pool is either reduced or increased. The ideal situation for the national economy and for individuals is when supply equals demand. In the technical fields, there is a demand that exceeds the supply of technicians. This has affected the development of the workforce. 2. Human Capital Investment – Labor is considered the most important component of national wealth. Therefore, the workforce must be of a high quality. To ensure a high quality workforce, it is vital that investments are towards the workforce. In theory, investment in human capital will lead to greater economic outputs. Individuals with advanced skills earn higher salaries. 3. Workforce Productivity – The output of goods and services that results from an hour of labor is workforce productivity. The skill-level of a worker correlates with the wage-level. An example would be that a high-skills worker would receive a high wage. Workforce education is a must to bring the workforce to the level of skill necessary to support high wages. 4. Work Ethics – An appropriate work ethic is a fundamental characteristic needed by employees. Many workforce educators overlook the Level I skills (on-time to work, basic courtesies to co-worker, etc. ) and do not address work ethic as a basic fundamental need. 5. Family Influences – the socioeconomic status of a family is related to the career development, socialization, and career choices of children. This is referred to as the status attainment model. The basic concept is that ones parent’s social status affects the level of schooling achieved which affects the occupational level achieved. Recently, the concepts of mental ability and socio/psychological processes have been added to this model. Forces Which Affect the Character of Work The are many forces that affect the character of work. The most constant attribute about these forces is that they are always a factor in affecting work. Five of them are described below: 1) Technology, Information, and Power; 2) Stress; 3) Free Trade; 4) The Global Economy; and 5) Downsizing and Reorganization. 1. Technology, Information, and Power – Advanced technology has changed the distribution of power and information in organizations.   

Rhetorical Analysis of the Declaration of Independence Essay

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States, explains to his readers why the colonies chose to abolish Great Britain’s government. His goal is to inform the readers that the government has certain responsibilities to the governed and that the British failed to adhere to its responsibilities to its colonists. His second goal is to justify their actions by explaining why it was not considered treason. By establishing his credibility and appealing to ethos, pathos and logos, Jefferson successfully wrote an informative, impactful, and inspirational document. In order for Jefferson to earn his readers’ support, he needs to establish his credibility. He does so by stating that â€Å"it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands† and â€Å"a decent respect to the opinions of mankind.† By acknowledging his needs of explaining to his educated readers the reasons for the coloniesâ€℠¢ actions, he shows them that he is an intelligent man of good character and good intentions. In the second paragraph, Jefferson stated â€Å"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments†¦Ã¢â‚¬  to emphasize that he is cautious and reasonable. Before listing the grievances, he stated â€Å"let Facts be submitted to a candid world.† He wishes to share them to an honest and sincere world to establish a common ground with the audience. After listing the grievances, he guaranteed the readers of the colonists’ honest efforts to fix the conflict without having to separate by asserting â€Å"We have petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only repeated injury.† He continues by affirming that the colonists have tried to appeal to the King and â€Å"our British brethren.† His usage of the word â€Å"brethren† shows that he is humble, respectful, and good willed. He concludes the declaration with an honorable avowal which states that the representatives of the United States of America are willing to pledge â€Å"our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor† for the principles spoken in the declaration. In Jefferson’s declaration, both the organization and the use of logic are effective and adequate. He begins with the colonistsâ €™Â  fundamental beliefs that â€Å"all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.† He addresses that the role of the government is to secure and protect the rights of the people. As he proceeds, he states that if the government fails to â€Å"secure these rights,† then â€Å"it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and institute new Government.† Jefferson then creates a list of ways in which the British government has violated and stripped the colonists of their rights. Through the inductive proof, he explains the reason in which the colonists must become independent from Britain to gain freedom and to be treated fairly. The list of grievances strongly appeals to his audience’s emotions. Jefferson utilizes a powerful, emotional diction to implement the colonists’ sentiments toward the King’s character into his writing. He uses certain words such as tyrants, invasions, murders, abdicated, death, desolation, cruelty, barbarous, and destruction. These words make the audience establish a sympathetic feeling towards the colonists and that the King is â€Å"totally unworthy [to be] the Head of a civilized nation† and â€Å"unfit to be the ruler of a free people.† Jefferson emphatically proves the injustice and brutality of the King and Parliament. Based on the Declaration of Independence, Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolution to express freedom to the American public for equality with men under the law, in education and employment. Stanton explains to her readers why depriving women from their rights is unconstitutional and unjust. Her first goal is to convince the men and women of the United States in the support of women’s rights movement. . Her second goal is to demand the rights of women as right-bearing individuals be recognized and respected by society. By utilizing logical argument, establishing her credibility and appealing to the audience’s emotions, Stanton is able to convey a sense of endorsement. Stanton modeled her declaration with the Declaration of Independence to illustrate that her list of logical arguments are simple and clear. She states that â€Å"we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal†¦Ã¢â‚¬  to address that every human being is created with the same qualities; thus, women should not be treated differently. She understands that her audience knows the â€Å"inalienable rights† that the  government must protect and secure. Believing in this belief, Stanton wants the audience to question why women are not awarded with rights when both sexes are claimed to have been given by the Creator. Her references to religion effectively force the audience to believe that the laws created by the government displease God and his law of equality. Stanton proceeds to list the grievances that women experienced in the United States. Her use of diction and syntax evoke certain emotions out of the audience. Similar to the Declarati on of Independence, Stanton uses repetition in her list to emphasize and impact the audience emotionally. In the list, Stanton states that â€Å"he has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments†¦she receives but a scanty remuneration.† This is one of the oppression that effectively appeals to the audience’s emotion. She wants her readers to feel sympathy over what it is like to work tirelessly for long hours to not being able to keep the money. Stanton uses powerful languages such as â€Å"civilly dead† and â€Å"long train of abuses and usurpations† to persuade the audience to see her point and join the movement. For Stanton’s argument to work, she has to earn her readers’ trust. She knows that most of the women will support her demands; however, she especially needs to gain the support from men for the argument to be more effective. She establishes credibility by utilizing similar words from the Declaration of Independence to demonstrate that she is intelligent. In the last paragraph, she states â€Å"we insist that they have imme diate admission to all the rights and privileges†¦Ã¢â‚¬  to show that she is humble and courteous. She is not asking to take anything from men, but rather she is simply insisting that women get the same rights as men. Both drafts consist of definite logical arguments, well-organized ethical and powerful emotional appeals. Thomas Jefferson and Elizabeth Cady Stanton successfully utilize a wide range of elements to draw the audience and convince them to support their cause. Their passion and determination to gain freedom while experiencing the obstacle of unequal rights were strongly expressed in their writings. Although rhetoric is used by many to create a negative connotation, authors utilize rhetorical strategies to achieve their purpose of persuading or informing an argument. Thomas Jefferson was able to eloquently draft an inspirational and resounding declaration formed the basis for the American Revolution. His declaration became a significant role model for other countries and people who were experiencing similar conflicts  such as France and women. By implementing rhetorical devices, he was able to convince many Americans that independence, which they first apprehended as evil, was in truth a benediction.

Visual Arts - Cultural Artifact Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Visual Arts - Cultural Artifact - Assignment Example This paper reviews one of the most famous speeches in history by Abraham Lincoln – the ‘Gettysburg Address’ which can definitely be considered to be a cultural artifact. It indicates the past history and the trying times which the United States was going through at that time. It also set a historical precedence be the abolition of slavery and its ultimate success of having a colored person as its president, Barack Obama. In the process, the speech will also be analyzed using the parameters set forth in Geert Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy. The Gettysburg Address as a cultural artifact: It could be said that each and every American has read or at least heard about this famous speech. It provides the reader a succinct picture about one of the most important periods in American history. This is because of two reasons. One is that it brought about total abolition of slavery. The second was that it had been achieved at great cost namely the Civil War. Historically , this period and the artifact that reflects it are extremely significant. The following excerpt from the speech has been immortalized and will be loved by every freedom loving person on this planet. â€Å"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth† (Lincoln). There are several factors that the reader gets to know from the speech as well as the above line which is in fact the last sentence. The first is the feeling of pride that it communicates. It gives the reader the confidence that America will remain united and that it will continue to be a great nation in the future also. I n other words, the speech has the power to unite all Americans even today. The third is the language and the marvel in the sense that such a short speech can be so powerful. The one factor (to a person uninitiated with US history) is that there is no direct reference to slavery and its abolition. What it does indicate to such a person is that a civil war is going on and that people who believe in freedom should continue what has been started. A lot of people have given up their lives for this cause. It talks about freedom in general and also that the United States is a democratic country run by its people. The historical origin of this artifact is well-known and is a result of the South opposition abolition. Specifically, the speech was delivered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the 19th of November 1863 after one of the bloodiest battles of the War. Lincoln prepared the speech only the previous which was to commemorate the soldiers of both sides who had lost their lives in this part icular battle. It was held in the newly constructed cemetery that was to become the final resting place of Union soldiers (Beardsley). As mentioned earlier this literary artifact was created by Abraham Lincoln. It could be said that it was prepared and read by the President himself. It has not been and will never be modified or changed as it is a historical document of a real life event. The

The Student Conduct Code Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Student Conduct Code - Essay Example However, my paper is completely original and does not contain clauses incorporated into the previous essay, but a replica of initial ideas well presented, in a logical manner. Following my elaboration of previous written thoughts, I ended up not being included in the class’ grading system. In my opinion, I did not commit academic cheating, as my essay was not even submitted in the competition. My reason for editing and strengthening a previously completed essay was that I needed to use in the essay in my current class for its relevance to my course. The previous essay was relevant, therefore; I edited all the words and expounded on the major ideas of the essay. As a result, of the misunderstanding, it almost cost me my chance to complete my education in the institution. After the administration, checked my essay, they realized that I had submitted the essay before. I was accused of not adhering to the policies of academic dishonesty in the course of my studies. I was also accu sed of not being keen on presenting original papers. If I had been more ardent, I would not have been edited my previous essay. This form of negligence also cost me a chance to emerge the winner in the competition. In the future, I will be more conscious of creating original ideas from my previous works as well as, always taking the initiative to come up with novel ideas in all my papers. In my case, I would have recognized the need to conduct my research afresh, instead of comparing with previous works.

Shakespeare in love Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Shakespeare in love - Movie Review Example The film revolves around the basic fact that how love changed the life of Shakespeare; once when he was betrayed by his lover and the time, when he was unable to complete his comedy play as the tragedy of Romeo Juliet and at the other time, when Viola de Lesseps brought happiness and inspiration in his life and he completed his project under the influence of love. Love can leave a huge impact on the life of a person; either negatively or positively. After watching this movie, I felt that William Shakespeare, the greatest writer as known to the entire world, had same emotional feelings like any of us. He was no different from a common man. Love was the greatest inspiration in his life which made him a successful man and an emotional playwright. During the Elizabethan age, theater and literature rose to a great height. Queen Elizabeth was very much fond of Shakespeare’ plays and supported the theaters. However, during this period women were not allowed to participate in plays and theaters due to societal norms and restrictions. In this movie, Viola de Lesseps went against the rules of society and disguised herself as a man to participate in Shakespeare’s play but the theater had to pay the heavy price for her involvement in the play as soon as the officials came to know about the truth. The movie highlights the era when women were deprived of their rights and involvement in arts and literature much broadly. After watching the movie, I realized that William Shakespeare had the same feelings like an ordinary man who derived his inspirations from living examples, more particularly, his own ones. Love has played a key role in giving a romantic and emotional touch to his work. In the movie, he has appeared as a sensitive man to whom love meant everything and a divine inspiration which helped him to achieve new heights in the world

Assessment of myself Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Assessment of myself - Essay Example One has been exposed to leadership roles in group projects and in other academic endeavors that necessitate assessing the talents of other people and harnessing their potentials. As such, one could deduce that one’s leadership strengths include the skill of introspection and the ability to discern the style of leadership that should be applied depending on the personalities of the followers and of the situation. For instance, some group members need to be told only once of their tasks and are immediately complied, as expected. However, there are others who need to be monitored as to their work progress, need to be guided, or even coerced to follow a defined strategy prior to ensuring that the task assigned is fulfilled according to specification. Still, one acknowledges that leadership is a continuing evolving process that could further be developed through training and actual experience. One looks forward to improving conflict negotiation skills, problem-solving and decision-making skills, as immersion to

Which aspects of Communism posed a challenge to liberal capitalism in Essay

Which aspects of Communism posed a challenge to liberal capitalism in the first half of the Twentieth Century - Essay Example Furthermore, in the communist system of Government basic needs such as health care and education are provided by the state since wealth was also equally distributed. The press was also owned and controlled by the state. The central focus of the communist system was on communal progression. On the other hand, the capitalist system was driven by the democratic system of Government and allowed for private ownership of property as well as press freedom. Furthermore in the capitalist system wealth was not evenly distributed since free enterprise was allowed, and its central focus was on individual progression1. Since the shift from communism to capitalism system was preferred towards the first half of the twentieth century, several aspects of communism posed different challenges to liberal capitalism. This academic paper shall focus on the different aspects of communism that posed challenges to liberal capitalism in the first half of the twentieth Century. This paper shall also address other related features such as the relationship between communism and coercion as well as how communism was understood in different parts of Europe2. Before the shift from Socialism to Capitalism in parts of Europe such as Russia, empires were under monarchs. The Russian society was composed into four groups namely the noble who were the ruling class, the upper class who were the clergy, the middle class and the masses. By that period, the ruling emperor was known as Tsar Nicholas the second and had unlimited political power. The noble and upper class owned majority of the land while the majority of the population entailed peasants who were poverty stricken and powerless. When the Russian system shifted from Communism to Capitalism, serfs could not own property hence market forces were not driven by free enterprise. Furthermore, the serfs were not completely free hence the Government was not democratic in any way3. Since theculture in severalcountriesincluding Russia

How Life Would Change if We All Had a Better Memory Essay

How Life Would Change if We All Had a Better Memory - Essay Example Perhaps we have a tendency to forget things as a way of working with people around us without going totally postal on them. At the same time, we wouldn’t need to sit up all night cramming for tests since a simple read-through the notes would give us the information we need to pass the test. Of course, then tests might be restructured to test whether we can actually think or just regurgitate information we’ve been fed. But maybe that would be a good thing, too. Memory actually turns out to be a fascinating subject when one stops to consider the possibilities. If everyone had a better memory, the entire structure of school would need to be changed. We wouldn’t need to take US history in middle school, then high school and then college, we could spend that extra time working on other subjects or investigating different things to a greater degree. As I’ve mentioned, the structure of tests would necessarily be different, not focusing so much on whether we can remember the right dates for a particularly important battle, since that would be too easy, but instead testing whether or not we can analyze the significance of that battle, why it was decisive (not what we read about why it was important but actually coming up with our own ideas about it) and then relating the lessons learned through that battle to events occurring in the present. If Americans actually began thinking instead of just trying to repeat what they’ve heard, we might have an entirely better country.

Financial vs Managerial Accounting PART II Assignment

Financial vs Managerial Accounting PART II - Assignment Example tlook to carry out such things as acquisitions, which bring financial gains, they seem to focus more on financial accounting than managerial accounting. Most certainly, when such a situation continues, companies cannot make the most out of their accounting. This is because it is important to synchronize the internal principles with the external ones. Again, it is when there is effective internal usage of information that there can be adequate balance on external output in the form of financial accounting (Zimmerman, 2014). I find the idea that you differentiate financial accounting from managerial accounting very useful and insightful. This is because it is only under such situations that the companies can know how to appropriately apportion its resources to handle the internal and external usage of accounting information (Zimmerman, 2014). Again, it is when the company has a clear understanding of the difference between its financial and managerial accounting outcomes that the right strategies can be put in place to cater for each of these variables. However, I feel you underestimated the importance of managerial accounting when you stressed that inaccurate accounting is only disastrous with financial accounting. This is because where there is inaccurate managerial accounting companies are likely to make a lot of mistakes that could go a long way to affect financial accounting. An example of this situation can be given with my company when out of inaccurate managerial accounting, the company took a f inancial decision to go into a merger, only for the process to go through and land the company in huge financial

Program Planning, Research, and Evaluation Essay

Program Planning, Research, and Evaluation - Essay Example Since the children cannot access most of the health check-ups and treatments due to lack of resources. This health promotion program will be developed in conjunction with Everett Community Health Partnership (ECHP). The mission of ECHP is to enhance health and the standard of life of the community of Everett. This is done by generating chances for the organizations, individuals, and families to work together and strategically in solving essential difficulties in the community (Cambridge Health Alliance, 2014). 3 The basic community health care assessment provides an evaluation of the general health status by the community members. However, this assessment has been difficult to be determined in the Everett, MA Public School System due to community violence. This research is important in establishing the effect of the persistent community violence on their (community members, that is, children) academic ability, substance use, as well as behavioral and emotional factors. This is because the African American girls are from an ethnic minority group that is prone to persistent community violence (Cooley-Strickland et al., 2009). 3 The city of Everett is in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, close to Boston. At the time of the United States Census in 2011, the total population estimate of the city was 41,079. The Everett, MA Public School is located at 100 Elm St, Everett, MA 02149 (Everett Public Schools, 2014). 4 However, MA Everett public school has a drop-out rate of 3.3%, which exceeds the state’s rate of 2.2%, but performs better than the state in regard to in-school suspensions with 1.4% as compared to 2.2% (Cambridge Health Alliance, 2014). The Everett High School graduation rate is 86.5%, which is in accordance with 85% state graduation rate (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2014). Hospitalization as a result of mental disorder is high in Everett in all age groups (Cambridge Health Alliance, 2014). 5 The

American Housing and Global Financial Essay Example for Free

American Housing and Global Financial Essay To do this, lawmakers needed to understand what had happened, particularly because housing had until then seemed like such a bright spot in the US economy. The US housing â€Å"bubble† in the early 21st century In his 2001 letter to shareholders, Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines wrote, â€Å"Housing is a safe, leveraged investment – the only leveraged investment available to most families – and it is one of the best returning investment to make. Home will continue to appreciate in value. Home values are expected to rise even faster in this decade than in the 1990’s. His optimism was due in part to the importance Americans attributed to owning a home. The importance was reflected in Fannie Mae’s motto, which was â€Å"Our Business in the American Dream. † Raines was not alone in touting the advantages of housing as an investment. While house prices in particular region had suffered temporary declines at various points, average housing prices across the United States had risen fairly steadily since at least 1975 (see Exhibit 1). This trend accelerated in 1996, and reached about 12 percent per annum in late 2005 and early 2006. Many observers felt that this rise in prices was due in part to the Federal Reserve’s policy of maintaining low interest rates after the 2001 recession. In the period from 1980 to 2001, the Federal Funds rate (an overnight interest rate that bank charged each other and which the Federal Reserve targeted) had generally tracked economic conditions (see Exhibit 2). After 2001 and until July 2004, however, the Fed kept interest rates low in spite of signs of growth in output and prices. Perhaps fearing a recession that did not materialize, the Federal Funds rate was set to only 1 percent from July 2003 to July 2004. After this, anxiety about inflation seemed to gain the upper hand and interest rates were increased steadily, with the Federal Funds rate reaching 5. 25% in September 2006. A debate over house prices started around 2004. Some economists, such as Dean Baker, the co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research claimed at the time that house prices were like a bubble ready to burst, and that the economy needed to brace itself for a loss of $2 to $3 trillion in housing wealth. Others felt that, even though increases in housing prices had far outstripped increase in residential rents, this was reasonable in light of the low interest rates. Even in October 2005, when it was common to hear mentions of a housing bubble, developer Bob Toll disagreed and complained â€Å"Why can’t real estate just have a boom like every other industry? Why do we have to have a bubble and then a pop? † Meanwhile, several economists pointed out that house price increases were concentrated in particular areas such as San Francisco and New York, where zoning restriction made it difficult to expand the housing stock. Professor Chris Mayer of Columbia University saw the attraction of these areas coupled with the inability to increase supply as allowing house prices in these areas to remain high â€Å"basically forever†. Nothing that Tokyo real estate was still more expensive than real estate in Manhattan, he stated: â€Å"There’s no natural law that says US housing prices have to stop here. None. † While house prices reached eye-popping levels in what Chris Mayer called â€Å"superstar cities,† construction was booming elsewhere. Cities like Phoenix, as well as many communities in Florida and around Los Angeles, saw such a torrid pace of construction that builders had difficulty even procuring the cement they needed. New houses in these areas were often snapped up by eager investors and newspapers relished reporting on individuals who managed to resell houses at a gain even before they took possession of them. According to Loan Performance Inc, more than 12% of Phoenix-area mortgages were obtained by investors in 2004, as compared to just 5. 8% nationwide in 2000. Home finance before the 1990’s In the United States, it was common to talk about the â€Å"Traditional† fixed 30 year mortgage. This instrument required the borrower to make a constant stream of monthly payments during the 30 year term of the loan. These payments were specified in advance; so the interest rate on this loan was fixed. Many of these traditional loans allowed borrowers to ‘pre-pay† their mortgages without penalty. When interest rates declined, borrowers often took advantage of this feature and refinanced their homes at lower rates. Savings and Loan Associations (Samp;Ls) already offered mortgages with constant payments before the Great Depression, though they were typically less than 12 years long. At the time, other lenders mostly offered short-term mortgages that needed to be refinanced because they had â€Å"balloon† payments at the end. During the Great Depression, many households went into default in part because this refinancing became difficult. One government response was to create the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC), which made simultaneous offers to borrowers and lenders. If they both agreed, lenders received HOLC obligations in exchange for their claims against households, although this exchange required bank to recognize a loss on their assets. Households, meanwhile, freed themselves of their previous obligation by accepting new ‘self-amortizing’ mortgages with fixed payments whose terms were based on new assessments of their home’s worth. After WWII, banks and Samp;Ls originated many fixed 30 year mortgages and held them to maturity. The results were not always happy. When short-term interest rates rose in the early 1980’s, the yield on mortgage assets fell below the cost of paying depositors for their funds. This mismatch was one of the causes for the failure of about half of the 32,234 Samp;L’s that existed in 1986. Because the government insured the Samp;L’s depositors, it incurred considerable losses and had to set up a special institution to dispose of the failed Samp;L’s assets. The Samp;L crisis also boosted the securitization of mortgages by two governments sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae was originally created in 1938 as a government agency. Like Freddie Mac, a twin that Congress chartered in 1970, Fannie Mae eventually became a privately owned publicly traded company. Starting with bundles of mortgages purchased from mortgage originators, the GSEs created and sold mortgage-backed securities (MBSs), which delivered to holders the payments made on these mortgages. In exchange for a fee, the GSEs guaranteed the interest and principal on these loans. This meant that, assuming the GSEs remained solvent (or that the government came to their rescue if they found themselves in financial trouble), the only payment risk faced by the holders of these MBSs was the risk that the underlying mortgages would be repaid before they were due (Known as prepayment risk). Congress capped the size of the loans that GSEs could accept. In 2006, for example, the maximum loan for single-family homes was $417,000. To limit their credit risk, the GSEs used standards that were similar to those of traditional originators. To secure sufficient collateral, they took only senior mortgage and generally required the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) to be below 80 %. The LTV was computed as the ratio of the mortgage to the property’s market value at the time of origination. Before underwriting loans, the GSEs also looked at the borrower’s income and employment status, level of other assets, and history of foreclosures and bankruptcies. Consistent with the rules of GSEs, home lenders before the 1990s only lent to borrowers they deemed credit worthy, and generally required documentary evidence on these variables. Until the practice was penalized by a 1977 law, most lenders also denied mortgages to people living in certain â€Å"redlined† communities, where these were predominantly inner city neighborhoods with large black populations. An avenue that remained open to borrowers with problematic credit histories was to apply through conventional lenders for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The lenders then had to verify that the loan met FHA requirements and the process for doing so was somewhat more time-consuming than in the case non-FHA mortgages. In spite of these standards, about 8 % of FHA loans were past-due in 1993, while the delinquency rate on standard mortgages was only 3 %. FHA loans were packaged into mortgage-backed securities by Ginnie Mae, a government owned corporation that dealt exclusively with federally guaranteed mortgages. Innovation in the mortgage In the 1990s new firms started to lend money to borrowers that did not qualify for ‘prime’ mortgages. Rather than lending directly, many of these firms sought the help of mortgage brokers to whom they paid commissions. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s list of lenders who specialized in such ‘subprime’ loans increased from 63 lenders in 1993 to 209 in 2005. Wall Street firms Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley all acquired such lenders, though all but Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns did so only in 2006. One obvious difference between ‘subprime’ and ‘prime’ loans was that the former had higher interest rates and fees. There was, however, no precise dividing line between the two, so that there was no consensus on how to measure the fraction of subprime loans. According to one definition, the value of these loans grew from about 1% of new mortgages in 1993 to 20% in 2006. At the same time, the FHA share dropped from 11% to 1. 9%. An independent analysis by the Wall Street Journal concluded that 29% of the home loans made in 2006 had high interest rates. A large fraction of these loans refinanced existing loans. In many cases, these refinancing loans increased the borrowers’ mortgage debt and thereby made it possible for households to keep some cash for other purposes. From being virtually unknown in the 1980s, Countrywide Financial became the largest mortgage lender in 2005. A 2003 government report showed that it was also the leading mortgage lender to minority homeowners, as well as one of the largest providers of home loans in low-income communities. When this report was released, Countrywide’s CEO Angelo Mozilo said: ‘We’re extremely proud of our accomplishments, as they clearly demonstrate our long-standing commitment to provide all Americans with the opportunity to achieve the dream of homeownership. These results underscore our ongoing efforts to discover new approaches to turn individuals and families into homeowners, to develop new loan products that reduce or eliminate the obstacles to homeownership and to make it easier for families to qualify for loans. Contrary to what had been standard practice in the past, lenders such as Countrywide did not offer the same interest rate to all borrowers. This customization was facilitated by the use of automated statistical models that predicted the likelihood of default on the basis of borrower characteristics. Interestingly, the first statistical tools that came into wide use were those developed by Freddie Mac (called Loan Prospector) and Fannie Mae (called Desktop Underwriter). These were introduced to make it easy for mortgage originators to know whether their loans would be acceptable to the GSEs, though their use expanded well beyond this purpose. One variable that played a key role in these models, and which had apparently been absent from previous methods of qualifying borrowers for mortgage, was the borrower’s credit score. While there were several approved commercial credit score formulas (regulators did not allow scores to depend on race, gender, marital status or national origin), the most popular one was the FICO score invented by the Fair Isaac Corporation. This score, which ranged from about 300 for poor credit risks to about 850, appeared to give considerable weight to the punctuality with which borrowers had paid their previous obligations. One reason these scores became important in mortgage applications was that studies by Freddie Mac had shown a strong correlation between FICO scores and defaults on mortgages in the pre-1995 period. One type of mortgage that became popular among subprime lenders was known as 2/28 because its rate was fixed for 2 years and then became variable for the remaining 28 years. This mortgage was quite different from adjustable rate mortgage (ARMs) offered to prime borrowers. The introductory rate on 2/28 was above the typical rate offered on 30-year fixed mortgages, whereas ARMs for prime borrowers had initial rates below those on fixed mortgage. Also, rates on 2/28s rose considerably when they were ‘reset’ after 2 years. According to the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Eric Rosengren, the average initial rate for subprime mortgages issued in 2006 was 8. 5% (when the conventional 30-year mortgage rate was below 6. 4%) and reset to 610 basis points above the 6-month LIBOR rate (which averaged about 5% in 2006) after 2 years. In the case of reasonable 2/28 mortgages, there were pre-payment penalties if the mortgage was pre-paid in the first two years but there was no cost associated with pre-paying right before the interest rate was reset. From the point of view of mortgage brokers, this arrangement was attractive because it ensured that many borrowers would refinance after two years, allowing brokers to collect new origination fees. Borrowers were also told that this arrangement was good for them because, if they made timely payments, their FICO score would improve and they would be able to refinance at a lower rate. There were widespread allegations that some borrowers in this period received home loans on terms that were substantially less favorable than those of conventional or FHA loans for which these borrowers would have qualified. It was also claimed that unsophisticated borrowers had been duped into signing mortgage that continued to have severe pre-payment penalties even after interest rates had been reset to high levels. A lawsuit in Michigan claimed that a mortgage broker working for a unit of Lehman Brothers ‘confused and pressured’ an elderly couple so that they would sign a loan whose interest rate would reach 17. 5%. Several borrowers told Federal officials that they had simply been laid to regarding their future monthly payments. What is certain is that some borrowers agreed to make payments that were impossible for them to keep up with over time. A 79-year old retired engineer named Robert Pyle, for example, moved from a $265,000 to a $352,000 mortgage in 2005 and cleared his credit card debts in the process. Almost immediately after signing the mortgage, which involved over $33,000 in fees, he found himself unable to cover the $2200 monthly payment. Terry Dyer, the broker who issued Robert Pyle’s mortgage said, â€Å"It’s clear he was living beyond his means, and he might not be able to afford this loan. But legally, we don’t have a responsibility to tell him this probably isn’t going to work out. It’s not our obligation to tell them how they should live their lives. † Some subprime loans required less documentation than was traditionally demanded. Instead of requiring proof of income of independent appraisals of the value of the home, some subprime mortgages were based only on â€Å"stated income† or â€Å"stated value†. Stated income loans were very convenient for borrowers who had casual jobs that were difficult to document, though they opened the door to fraud by both borrowers and brokers. Another dimension in which some subprime loans departed from traditional ones was in their down-payments requirements.

Power of suppliers analysis

Power of suppliers analysis Analysis Each of the five forces will now be evaluated individually in terms of the UK supermarket industry to see how attractive the industry is. Background information on the UK supermarket industry The industry consists of the following UK supermarkets: Aldi, Asda, The co-coperative, Iceland, Lidl, Marks and Spencers, Morrisons, Netto, Sainsburys, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose (Supermarket, 2009). Researching into these supermarkets show that they were all established in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This shows how established they are within the industry and how they have continued there success. The UK food retailing industry is dominated by four major supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Simsburys, Morrisons), who together account for over two-thirds of UK retail food sales (Fearne et al, 2005, p570). The UK grocery market is worth  £146.3bn for the calendar year 2008 (IDG, 2009) and has been steadily rising each calendar year: The bargaining power of suppliers Analysis The UK supermarket industry would not be capable of running without suppliers to stock their shelves. This means that the bargaining power of suppliers is an extremely important force to look at in depth, as, if the bargaining power of suppliers is high it makes the industry less attractive as the suppliers will be able to push prices up and take control of the supermarkets power. There are many different elements that are looked into to analyse to the full extent of the bargaining power of the suppliers which are looked at below: Porter states that suppliers are more powerful if there are only a few suppliers (Lynch, 2009: 97). With the supermarket industry they have to deal with a large number of suppliers of goods and products that they will stock in their shops. This means they are in constant communications with different suppliers. This means that the UK supermarket industry are in a very strong position, as there are thousands of different products and ranges this means the supermarkets can pick and choose their suppliers depending on price, quality and service, meaning the bargaining power of suppliers in this sense is not high as they need to get there products into the supermarkets and therefore need to have contracts with huge Supermarkets like Tesco and Asda. However, Tescos and many other supermarkets have started to create relationships and good working ethics between themselves and suppliers. For example Tesco have created a supplier partnering approach which is by forging long-term partnerships with our suppliers and identifying new innovative suppliers (Tesco, 2009) which as a result, our supply base is distinguished by its long-term constructive relationships (Tesco, 2009. Tescos has over 1,5000 suppliers who have been working with them for over five years, this shows that Tescos has learnt that working in co-operation with the suppliers causes better relationships as has Simsburys who have recently launched there supporting fairtrade campaign. If there are no substitutes for the suppliers they offer (Lynch, 2009: 97) it is said that the suppliers are more powerful as they will exert there power if they know they do not have anyone to compete with, therefore setting higher prices and in the case of supermarkets holding power over them. In the supermarket industry this can be looked at from two different views as most Supermarkets offer a range of different brands to substitute each other along the same line, for example Supermarkets stock both Nestle and Kelloggs cereal, so in that respect they do have different substitutes within product lines but in this case the supermarkets and branded products both need each other. The brands need to get shelf space to gain market share and the supermarkets need to offer the products being marketed to the consumer to attract customers into the shops. Due to the huge market shares of the main supermarkets the suppliers have little bargaining power at all. Porter also believes that if suppliers prices form a large part of the total costs of the organisation (Lynch, 2009: 98) then the bargaining power of the supplier is high. This means that if suppliers prices were to be raised then the supermarkets in this case would also have to raise their prices and they would be adversely affected. In the case of the UK supermarket industry, the top supermarkets are not affected by the suppliers prices changing as the suppliers have such large dependency on the supermarkets for contracts and repeat business meaning they are in some ways controlled by the prices the supermarkets are willing to pay as the power they have means they can just find another cheaper supplier. However, with the smaller supermarkets they do not have as much control as the suppliers price will affect them and they may not have the higher market share meaning they cannot exert any power over the suppliers as they can choose to supply the bigger supermarkets instead. Overall, it would not benefit the supplier to change to higher prices as supermarkets buy in such high volume and their relationship is crucial therefore the bargaining power is low. Overall, taking into account all aspects of Porters theories on bargaining power of suppliers is low as, the fact that a handful of supermarkets control access to consumers means that they are increasingly in a position to exercise buyer power. This is because distribution through these outlets is critical to manufacturers and suppliers as these suppliers have no other viable means of setting up distribution that offers the same scale and economic benefits (Dobson et al, 1998 as cited in Fearne et al, 2005, p571) and the key players in the UK food industry are dominated, led and controlled by retailers to a large extent (Howe, 2008 as cited in Robson et al, 2001, p 39). However it can be seen that the supermarkets in the UK are working towards forging strong relationships with suppliers. The bargaining power of buyers Analysis Within the analysis of the UK Supermarket Industry the buyers in Porters five forces are the customers. There are four main ways in which the bargaining power of buyers is high and they are under the following conditions: If the buyers are concentrated and there are few of them (Lynch, 2009: 98). The UK Supermarket Industry has thousands of customers all around the UK, this meaning that the power of the customers is not high in this sense as their target market is phenomenally large with 6,410 supermarkets covering most of the UK meaning they are easily accessible for a huge range of customers. Another condition which means the bargaining power of buyers is high is when the product from the organisation is undifferentiated (Lynch, 2009: 98). This means that the customers can switch from one supermarket to another as they all basically offer the same products, this is an issue in the supermarket industry as most customers are not loyal to just one supermarket, but the volume of customers is so high this does not really have a negative impact on the supermarkets this meaning the buyer power is not strong enough to create a problem for the industry unless a high percentage of loyal customers decided not to use the supermarket again, however the supermarkets are continuously running advertising campaigns to attract new customers and to retain there original loyal customers. If backward integration is possible (Lynch, 2009: 98) then the bargaining power of the customers is high. In the UK Supermarket Industry it is impossible for the customers to integrate backwards and take over the supermarkets role, so the bargaining power of buyers is non-existent. This shows that the bargaining power of buyers/suppliers is extremely low in the UK supermarket industry as there are so many customers that the supermarkets will always be in demand but because of the nature of the industry and UK customers always needing them to supply them with their weekly shopping etc so they do not have any bargaining power. The threat of potential new entrants Analysis Whenever new firms can easily enter a particular industry, the intensity of competitiveness among firms increases (David, 1997: 128). Porter states there are seven major sources of barriers to entry, as UK supermarkets are highly profitable the industry looks attractive in that sense, but the real issue is whether or not the industry can be entered easily. If the UK supermarket industry has low barriers of entry this means that the industry becomes more competitive and if you are already established this is not good news as the competition becomes fierce as David (1997) suggests; however if the barriers of entry are high and you are already established this is very comforting news as it means there will not be many competitors and new competitors very unlikely. The economies of scale in the industry need to be looked at closely, especially as it has a huge effect. This is because in terms of stock, supermarkets can purchase products from suppliers on a huge scale, meaning they get better deals and reduced costs, a new entrant to the supermarket industry would find this hard to do as the capital needed would be extremely large and not achievable straight away. The second source of barriers to entry is the branding, customer knowledge, special levels of service and many other aspects (Lynch, 2009: 99), which can create high barriers. This is very true in the UK supermarket Industry as the supermarkets are established and have already created different strengths within the market; most of them from the late 1800s. The extent to which the supermarkets already established are recognised is an enormous advantage, this meaning the barriers of entry are very high as lots of money would have to be spent marketing, setting up and creating a successful supermarket idea that would be sustainable amongst the long established competitors. The capital requirements to enter the UK Supermarket Industry are financially challenging to compete with the established supermarkets; raising such funds and taking such a high financial risk, makes the barriers to entry extremely high. Switching costs deal with the motion that if customers are happy with the supermarkets already within the industry then the cost to a new entrant would be very high to persuade the customers any different; therefore making the industry unattractive, as there is already lots of choice within the supermarket industry I feel it would be very hard to make customers switch therefore the costs would be very high. Porter argues that the access to distribution channels is a threat to new entrants. Within the supermarket industry however this links in with could a new entrant find suitable locations to distribute its products that would be easily accessible and would these kinds of sites be too costly to fund from the beginning; also with high competition levels around each town or city. The cost disadvantages independent of scale (Lynch, 2009: 99) also need to be looked at as possible new entrants need to assess how easily they will be able to gain stability and a foothold in the market, they will do this by seeing how well the other supermarkets in the industry are established, have constant customers that are loyal and trusting and the supermarkets knowledge of the marketplace. As many of the supermarkets in the industry are extremely well established and recognisable for their different traits this makes an extremely high barrier of entry for new entrants, as they do not have this bank of knowledge and experience. Government policy has a big effect on new entrants, as within the supermarket industry there are many different laws. Legislations and regulations that have to be abided by especially as food products are being sold. This means that a new entrant within the supermarket would find this process very costly and timely, therefore raising the barrier to entry. Overall, the threat of new entrants within the UK supermarket industry is very low as the costs to enter the market will be extremely high and the competition against the established supermarkets would be high due to their knowledge, experience and networks with suppliers and distribution channels. The threat of substitutes Analysis Substitution reduces demand for a particular class of products as customers switch to alternatives (Johnson et al, 2005: 82); it can be argued that there is no substitute to food but whilst looking at the UK supermarket industry each supermarket is each others substitute, hence the competition being fierce and constant as each food product they offer the competitor will also offer. The way in which supermarkets have overcome this however, is that they each have there own different strategies and strengths for example Asda offers a huge range of low cost products where as Waitrose focuses on having high quality products at a higher price. There are also other substitutes outside of the supermarket industry which really need to be analysed like local corner shops, newsagents, farm shops, markets and budget shops. The threat of substitutes has taken on a different meaning during the recession as UK supermarket giant Tesco has lost market share to discounters Aldi and Lidl as consumers cut back on spending (BBC News, 28.04.09), where there has been a shift by shoppers from high-end to low-end stores (BBC News, 27.06.08). This means that the threat of substitutes have become an issue within the UK supermarket industry as other retail shops like Poundland and Wilkinsons offer discounted products which have become more attractive to the UK customers due to the recession. This means that the threat of substitutes has risen over the past years making the industry become less attractive. The extent of competitor rivalry Analysis Rivalry among competing firms is usually the most powerful of the five competitive forces (David, 1997: 127). Competitor rivalry plays a huge role in the UK supermarket industry, Competition may take the form of price competition, advertising and promotion, innovation, or service during and after sales (Thompson, 2003: 296) The reason why competitive rivalry is high in the UK supermarket industry is because most of the competitors are of equal size, therefore meaning that if one competitor decides to try and gain more market share then the rivalry considerably increases. This has happened recently with Asda as they are constantly running advertising campaigns showing how much cheaper they are than all the other supermarkets. Since this has happened the other supermarkets have fought back and have shown they are also just as cheap therefore raising the competition barriers and therefore rivalry. Here are some adverts below to show how they are naming their competitors and their prices: There is also a high level of competition within the UK supermarket industry as it is difficult to differentiate products and services (Lynch, 2009: 100) so therefore competition becomes based upon costing and offering the better deal to the customer to attract them to keep as many loyal customers as possible. There are extremely high levels of competition within the UK supermarket industry making it an unattractive industry. Conclusion of the UK Supermarket Industry according to Porters five forces Analysing the above information the UK supermarket industry is attractive in three of Porters five forces The bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers and the threat of new entrants. In the remaining two forces however, the industry is extremely unattractive the threat of substitutes and the extent of competitor rivalry. Critique of Porters five forces Porters five forces gives a basis of analysing the environment within an industry, but there have been many criticisms, which will be explored further. The dynamic nature of industry structure (Hax et al, 1991: 50) is something that needs to be analysed in terms of reliability with Porters five forces. As with most models and frameworks Porters model is static and is only a snapshot in time, where as in reality the nature of industries is that they are constantly changing, evolving and competing. The model may not be able to keep up with these constant changes and therefore not give a clear and accurate picture of the industry. For example the computing industry is constantly changing with new software available, new technologies therefore the level of competition constantly changing. The model also does not take into account how to define an industry and this causes a lot of implications as looking at the UK supermarket industry it is hard to define the difference between that of a supermarket industry to that of a grocery industry and where one stops and the other starts. Porter assumes that the industry is easily definable, but in reality this is near impossible as most industries overlap and/or people have different views or perceptions of a make up of an industry. This was found whilst looking at the UK supermarket industry as it was very hard to define which shops were deemed as supermarkets or other retail outlets. Another aspect that was hard to define was the fact that the supermarket industry seemed to overlap the grocery industry making the information very hard to extract. Another critique of the model is that it does not deem buyers, or in the supermarket industry case customers, as any more important than the other aspects within the micro-environment, where in fact in reality the customers are one of the most important aspects of being successful within an industry. This in turn means that within strategy development customers should be treated differently within the analysis. Porters model also suggests that the main intention of the organisation is to address its own interests before others, where in reality charitable and governmental organisations have different intentions therefore making this function of the model incorrect in some cases and industries. It can also be seen that just to survive is a main concern of most businesses rather than just focusing on profits. The model is also based on the idea of competition and that competitive advantage is essential both over other market competitors, customers and their suppliers. As Porter focuses on this he does not take into account strategies like strategic alliances, electronic linking of information systems of all companies along a value chain, virtual enterprise networks or others (The Manager, 2001) It can also be seen that Porter ignores the Human Resource aspect of strategy which includes management skills and cultures which form some industries beliefs and how they carry out their work therefore affecting the industries attractiveness. One of the five forces within the model is bargaining power of suppliers. Porter looks at suppliers as a threat to the industry where in fact in some organisations and industries have found it very useful to engage in closer co-operation with suppliers (Lynch, 2009: 101). Robson et al (2002) suggest that Supermarkets are leading the way in developing vertical relations in the food industry. It can be seen that some supermarkets have created a relationship and partnership between themselves and their suppliers as they are both as dependent on each other. Hence why working in harmony is a more ideal situation than Porters suggested aggressive approach to suppliers. This therefore means they are no longer a threat leading to the force not needed in some cases. In different industries not all forces are equally important (Hax et al, 1991: 50) therefore the simplicity of the model gains only limited information and to make a complex evaluation thorough research into the different forces and how much weight they carry in comparison to others needs to be established before a conclusion can be made about how attractive the industry is. For example, It could be very well be that many factors add to an unattractive position, and yet, when judged from its entirety, the industry still presents an overall attractive picture (Hax et al, 1991: 50). The government is a huge force that influences industry attractiveness or not. Porter does not suggest this within his chosen five forces but instead as a factor within the force of threat of new entrants. In recent economic times the government has been truly shown how it has in the final say of organisations. The recession and the recent break down within the banking sector showed the governments true role as it helped as it In total, the Government has put  £74 billion of taxpayers money into the banks, including RBS, Lloyds and HBOS, since the start of the financial crisis last year(Winnett et al, Telegraph, 2009) . Thus showing that if the government was not involved then the banking sector would have completely collapsed hence the government playing a huge role in supporting industries, for example the banking industry. Grant (2002) believes that there is a missing dimension in the five forces model. As the five forces model addresses the suppliers of substitute goods as threats, Porter does not explore that as well as substitutes for products there are also complements. Substitutes within the framework are shown as reducing the profit available in the industry where as complements have a positive impact on value (Grant, 2002: 90) and can help to exercise bargaining power (Grant, 2002: 91). This is because the more complements there are and the closer their relationship to the products supplied by the industry, the greater the potential profit within the industry (Grant, 2002: 90). In conclusion complementary businesses have to be taken into account as well as substitutes as dynamics within these organisations will affect the industry attractiveness; for example new technologies. Overall there has been many different critiques about Porters five forces, the main theme seems to be that the model is useful to get a general idea of how attractive an industry is, but to make sure you get a fully comprehensive analysis you need to look much more in depth at the industries elements that are not necessarily mentioned within Porters model and realise that this is only a snapshot in time and will change considerably over times and different economic events that occur. Reference List Books Grant, Robert M (2002). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Fourth Edition, Page 90, Blackwell Publishers Ltd Grant, Robert M (2002). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Fourth Edition, Page 91, Blackwell Publishers Ltd Thompson, John L (2003). Strategic Management, Page 296, Thompson David, Fred R (1997). Strategic Management. Sixth Edition, Page 127, Prentice-Hall Inc David, Fred R (1997). Strategic Management. Sixth Edition, Page 128, Prentice-Hall Inc Johnson, G et al. (2005). Exploring Corporate Strategy. Seventh Edition, Page 82, Prentice Hall Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 97, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 98, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 99, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 100, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 101, Pearson Education Hax, Arnaldo C et al (1991). The strategy concept and progress. A pragmatic approach. Page 50, Prentice Hall Bibliography Books Grant, Robert M (2002). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Fourth Edition, Blackwell Publishers Ltd Thompson, John L (2003). Strategic Management, Thompson David, Fred R (1997). Strategic Management. Sixth Edition, Prentice-Hall Inc Johnson, G et al. (2005). Exploring Corporate Strategy. Seventh Edition, Prentice Hall Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Pearson Education Hax, Arnaldo C et al (1991). The strategy concept and progress. A pragmatic approach, Prentice Hall Hill, C et al (1995). Strategic Management, an integrated approach. Third Edition Houghton Mifflin Company De Wit, B et al (1998). Strategy process content context. Second edition, International Thomson business press Hitt, M et al (1995). Strategic Management, Competitiveness and Globalization, West Publishing Miller, A (1998). Strategic Management. Third Edition. McGraw-Hill Websites Winnett et al, 2009,  £4,350 per family to bail out banks. Telegraph [Online] Available from www.telegraph.co.uk [accessed on 20.11.09] Recklies, D, 2009, Beyond Porter A Critique of the Critique of Porter, The manager [online] Available from www.themanager.org [accessed 11.11.09] BBC News (2008) Supermarkets to Battle on prices, BBC News Business [online] Available from www.bbc.co.uk BBC News (2009) Tesco is losing UK market share, BBC News Business [online] Available from www.bbc.co.uk Visit4info (2009), visit4info, [online] Available from www.visit4info.com [accessed 1.11.09] Supermarket (2009) Supermarket, [online] Available from www.supermarket.co.uk [accessed 319.10.09]

Slowing Down the Speed of Light

Slowing Down the Speed of Light STOPPING LIGHT IN  ITS TRACKS Noorul Husna Binti Safian Sauri Abstract Introduction The fact that speed of light which is very fast can be slowed down and stopped when there is change in refractive index. Stopped light achieved when the optical pulses are trapped in some material such as in the experiment which have been done by G. Heinze et al.[1]. In that experiment, the optical pulses was stopped in cooled Pr3+:Y2SiO5 crystal up to 20 µs. Then slow light can be obtained by measured the decrease in group velocity. A.V Turukhin et al.[2] done the experiment to observed the ultraslow light. As a result from their experiment, a 45ms-1 speed of light were observed. The group velocity, is defined as vg(w) = c / n(w) and from the equation ng(w) = n(w) + w dn (w)/dw , it showed the slow light can be obtained from the variation of refractive index and the dispersion of the material. Furthermore, when , the group velocity can be highly reduced in material. So in order to achieve the slow light, material with higher dispersion is needed. However, in this situation a strong absorptions have become a big obstacle. It is because of the fact that higher dispersion gives a higher absorption and lead to a bad data transmission. Technique of Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) introduced by researchers give the best solution for the strong absorptions although the EIT does not give 100% transmission. At the same time, EIT give additional advantages in order to slowed down and stopped the fast speed optical pulses. A solid-state medium is more preferred in many applications of slow light because it has special properties. In solid- state medium, atomic diffusion is not being present, so it allow longer times for optical pulses storage. The slow light techniques play important role in numerous applications for example in optical- communication system. Theoretical background The condition of vg Where E is electric field and ω is angular frequency propagating through a medium. Then the phase of this wave is given by : The points of constant phase will move in a velocity of where k is a wavenumber. Then used the relation of the phase velocity become . n from the equation is refer to a refrective index and c is the velocity of light in a vacuum. When the field is not considered as monochromatic, that velocity is defined as a group velocity and this velocity shows the propagation rate of changes in amplitude. Mathematically, group velocity is given by : Group velocity also can be defined as velocity at which energy or information is transmitted along a wave. Noticed that group index is then From equation (6), the group index depends on dispersion and slow light can be obtained by making the large. Professor Jakob Khanin and Olga Kocharovskaya were the first physicists that introduced the theory of EIT. EIT is a phenomenon of quantum optics which permits an opaque medium to be transparent to the optical light wave while still keeping the strong dispersion needed to generate the slow light. Based on Figure 2, when a first light beam is applied to the opaque medium, the light beam is completely absorbed. Then, after a second light is applied to the opaque medium suddenly the medium become transparent. Figure 1: observation when the control beam is off and on The atoms experience a spontaneous process. When light beam comes in which it resonant with the frequency of the transitions, the atoms will excite to the higher energy level. This situation describes the normal absorption of light. Then, without any external radiation, the atom will decay spontaneously and end up in the lower state. These process depend on the number density of photon,. At first, I study the two level atomic system. From Einstein B coefficients, the transition probability up from ground state |1> to excited state |2> is B12 and from the Einstein A coefficient, the spontaneous transition down from excited state |2> to ground state of |1> is A21. When the light is shining in the system, the number N1 of atom at the state |1> must be equal with the population N2 of atoms in the state |2>. Then, the absorption in the system is said to be saturated which mean there is no absorption of light beam can be happen. This situation will not be able to make the phenomena of EIT from being happen. To make the two level system unbalance, another state is introduce by shining a second light. This is why three level atomic system is used in the EIT. Figure 2 : representation of absorption and spontaneous emission Figure 3 illustrates the three level atomic system interact by a control beam which is a strong optical field and a probe beam which is a weak optical field. The three level system is also called a à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã‚ §-system based on its shape. The atoms are consider to have a pair of lower energy states of |1> and |2>. The probe beam couples states |1> and |3> with frequency while the control beam couples states |2> and |3> with frequency . The two pathway interfere and cancel each other and then create a dark states polariton. Dark states means that there is no atoms will be promote to the excited state and then vanish the absorption of light. Figure 3 : representation of three level atomic system The expression of linear susceptibility spectrum explained the how the atomic ensemble respond to the strong resonant control beam and weak probe beam[4]. The expression is : Where be similar to the relaxation rate of the coherence, N is the total number of atoms in the sample, is the difference between the probe beam frequency and the frequency of the atomic transition (with = 0 show the frequency of the atom-field resonance), is the atom-field coupling constant, and lastly is the Rabi frequency of the control beam[]. Rabi frequency is defined as , where and E are correspond to the transition moment and electric field of the control beam[].From the susceptibility, the imaginary part, where is the transmission coefficient describes absorptive properties of the medium and L is the length of the medium. Then the real part of the susceptibility, showed the refractive index. Based on figure 4, the various ‘wiggles’ refractive index which is green line showed the behaviour of nonlinear when detuning the frequency. The strength of the dispersion which relate to the slow light is determined by the gradient of the refractive index and at the same time the sharp EIT exhibit the strong nonlinear dispersive behaviour. The sharp peak of the transmission line showed the ideal EIT take place at exact resonance ( ). ). The exact resonance condition achieved when the frequency difference between the two light beams accurately matches with the frequency separation between the two lower states of and .When the exact resonance condition is not achieved, the interference is not ideal the medium become absorbing[5]. Figure 5 represents the propagation of light in the EIT medium. At the beginning, the light pulse is outside the medium and all the atoms are in the ground states( |1>). The front edge of the light pulse then enters the medium and is quickly decelerated. The back edge of the light pulse propagates with vacuum speed c because it is still outside of the medium. Hence, upon entrance into the cell, the spatial extent of the light pulse is compressed by the ratio of , while its peak amplitude remains same. The energy of the light pulse is obviously much smaller when it is inside the medium. The photons are being expended to create the coherence between states of |1> and |2> , or in other words, to flip the atomic spins, with the excess energy carried away by the control field. Then, the wave of flipped spins now propagates together with the light pulse. The atoms are therefore strongly coupled to the photons which is in the light pulse, with an associated quasiparticle called a dark-state polarition[6]. The quasiparticle is a combination of photons and spins excitation. The spatial extent increases again when the light pulse exits the medium and then the atoms return back to their original ground state. However, a delayed of the whole light pulse occurred by where L is the length of the medium. In the dark-state polarition, when the control field is adiabatically switched off, the coupled excitation is converted into a pure atomic excitation, that is, the probe field is stopped[7]. Then, to retrieve the probe field, the control field is switched on. A storage time of more than a second were achieved in this way. Figure 4 : Spectrum of transmission and refractive index corresponding to EIT. This figure is taken from reference [4]. . Figure 4 : spatial compression occurred when the light beam enters the medium and at the same time the photons are changed into a atomic (spin excitation). This figure is taken from reference [5]. In the situation when the decay rate between state and is negligible, the propagation of probe field can be describe by the electric field operator, where the sum is over the free-space of photonic modes with wave vectors k and bosonic operator [8]. A collective atomic operators, averaged over small is used to describe the properties of the medium but at position z, macroscopic volumes containing particles [6]. Specifically, the operator is used to describes the polarization of atom oscillating at an optical frequency, whereas the operator decribes a low-frequency spin wave. Assumed that the control field is strong and it is treated classically. The atomic evolution is conducted by a set of Heisenberg equation which is , where is represent the atom-field interaction Hamiltonian and [8]. From these equations, the probe field is assuming to be weak and that and change in time slowly. To leading order in the probe field , find that The Heisenberg equation, described the evolution of the probe field. A new quantum field which is a superposition of photonics and spin-wave components is introduced in order to attained the solution for the equations (15),(16) and (17). Furthermore, the new quantum field, must obeys the equation of motion, The equation (21) describes a shape-preserving propagation with velocity which is proportional to the magnitude of its photonic component. Moreover, EIT is also related to the Stark effect and Zeeman effects[9]. Stark effects is the splitting of energy level due to the present of electric field while Zeeman effects is the splitting of energy level due to the present of magnetic field. If a volume is considered to be filled by a hydrogen atom and a DC field is applied to the volume, the state will splits into three states with specific energies. By follow the notation ,the states degenerates while the states is generates which the state mixes with the states. The states are : Disscussion In this section, I will disscuss about the implementation of EIT to observe the slow light and stopping.One of the technique used to induce transparency in opaque medium is â€Å"Coherent population trapping† or CPT. In CPT, the atoms are forced into a coherent superposition of Zeeman or hyperfine states that are strongly coupled to the light via Raman transition[10]. The definition of superposition state is the state which is stable against absorption from the radiation of electromagnetic field[]. Generally, CPT is more refer to the concept of two fields closely equal to the Rabi frequency. The experiment done by Alexander et al. [11] used the concept of CPT to observe the slow light in a hot rubidium atoms. The main idea in the experiment is to obtain the narrow EIT resonance. Currently, the quantum mechanics is used for a fundamental of communication and computation. To carry out these ideas, information should be encoded in delicate quantum states, like a single-photon states, and then manipulated without being destroyed. It is fact that photons are the fastest and be a simplest carriers of quantum information. However, they are not easy to localize and process. EIT has already had a large impact on the field of optical science. One of the potential application is used in optical buffering for the optical communication. From figure , there is an switch in optical router. The switch can only deal with one data packet at a time [10]. So if two data packet arrive at the same time, the collision of data packet will occur and the overall flow of the data packet will be slow down. Furthermore, the information carried by the two data packet will be loss. To avoid these problems, a slow light medium is activated in one of the branches in order to delay the velocity of data packet. As a result, the flow of information will be speed up because no collision between two data packet happened. References [1] G. Heinze, a. Rudolf, F. Beil, and T. Halfmann, â€Å"Storage of images in atomic coherences in a rare-earth-ion-doped solid,† Phys. Rev. A, vol. 81, no. 1, p. 011401, Jan. 2010. [2] a. Turukhin, V. Sudarshanam, M. Shahriar, J. Musser, B. Ham, and P. Hemmer, â€Å"Observation of Ultraslow and Stored Light Pulses in a Solid,† Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 88, no. 2, p. 023602, Dec. 2001. [3] L. Hau, S. Harris, Z. Dutton, and C. Behroozi, â€Å"Light speed reduction to 17 metres per second in an ultracold atomic gas,† Nature, vol. 397, no. February, pp. 594–598, 1999. [4] M. D. Lukin, â€Å"Colloquiumà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯: Trapping and manipulating photon states,† vol. 75, no. April, 2003. [5] M. Lukin and A. ImamoÄÅ ¸lu, â€Å"Controlling photons using electromagnetically induced transparency,† Nature, pp. 273–276, 2001. [6] M. Fleischhauer and M. Lukin, â€Å"Dark-State Polaritons in Electromagnetically Induced Transparency,† Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 84, no. 22, pp. 5094–5097, May 2000. [7] T. Chanelià ¨re, D. N. Matsukevich, S. D. Jenkins, S.-Y. Lan, T. a B. Kennedy, and a Kuzmich, â€Å"Storage and retrieval of single photons transmitted between remote quantum memories.,† Nature, vol. 438, no. 7069, pp. 833–6, Dec. 2005. [8] a Andrà ©, M. D. Eisaman, R. L. Walsworth, a S. Zibrov, and M. D. Lukin, â€Å"Quantum control of light using electromagnetically induced transparency,† J. Phys. B At. Mol. Opt. Phys., vol. 38, no. 9, pp. S589–S604, May 2005. [9] S. Virally, â€Å"A Review of Slow Light Physics and Its Applications,† Ec. Polytech. Montr eal, pp. 82–90, 2008. [10] D. Phillips, a. Fleischhauer, a. Mair, R. Walsworth, and M. Lukin, â€Å"Storage of Light in Atomic Vapor,† Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 86, no. 5, pp. 783–786, Jan. 2001. [11] M. Kash, V. Sautenkov, A. Zibrov, L. Hollberg, G. Welch, M. Lukin, Y. Rostovtsev, E. Fry, and M. Scully, â€Å"Ultraslow Group Velocity and Enhanced Nonlinear Optical Effects in a Coherently Driven Hot Atomic Gas,† Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 82, no. 26, pp. 5229–5232, Jun. 1999. [12] A. L. G. Robert W. Boyd, Daniel J. Gauthier, â€Å"Applications of Slow Light in Telecommunications,† Opt. Photonics News, vol. 17, no. April, p. 18, 2006.

Character Analysis of Fluer Pillager Essay -- essays research papers

Fleur Pillager 1 Character Analysis of Fleur Pillager Fleur Pillage is the most extraordinary character in this story. She is not only physically powerful, but also spiritually strong. She is strong willed and resolute to live her life as she wants to. She never listens to the town or tribal gossip about her and let it repress her. People pretty much stay out of her way because she is extremely diverse. They are too afraid to try to understand her or get to know her. Her life force is drawn from the milieu. Her spirit seems to be analogous with nature. The immense energy of nature is a mystery and Fleur seems to have some power to control it, this also make her an ambiguity. The two traits that I most admire about her are the fact that she is an enigma and that she has a supernatural am...

Essay --

Alyssa Rhine English 10 Honors Mrs. Hayes A Perspective on Psychology Psychology is an ever growing field in today’s job field. Psychology comes from the Greek words â€Å"psych† meaning soul and â€Å"ology† meaning logic, it translates to â€Å"the science of the soul† (Ferguson). It was founded by a man named Wilhelm Wundt, he founded experimental psychology which later led to others discovering more in psychology Psychology is both a science and a profession, it is counted as a science because it’s about understanding people's behavior (Ferguson). Psychology is a great and interesting career choice for many generations Fields of Psychology In psychology there are many different fields for people, if you’re not interesting in one thing there will most likely be another option for you. The most common types of work in psychology is a clinical psychologist, health psychologists, neuropsychologists, counseling psychologists, developmental psychologists, forensic psychologists, industrial-organizational psychologists, school psychologists and social psychologists. A clinical psychologist asses, diagnoses, and treats people with emotional and behavioral disorders. These type of psychologist can treat short term personal life issues, to long term chronic issues such as, depression, eating disorders, schizophrenia and others. Sadly, a in a world we live in today these are found most common to teenagers and young adults. Some psychologist focus only on certain ages, an example is some people work with children only, or the elderly. (bls.gov). Health Psychologists and Neuropsychologists go together in a way. A health psychologist study how health and illness affect a person’s life, they teach people and medical staff about on psychological is... ...ject. To be a psychologist you have to be a good listener and know how to relate to people’s problems as well as other things. Just like every job there are drawbacks, but don’t all jobs have some sort of drawbacks? Being a surgeon you make great money but there’s so much schooling involved and bad hours but in the end you do what you enjoy and all your hard work pays off. Work Cited Best Jobs for the 21st Century. Farr, Micheal and Shattkin, Laurence, PhD. Indianapolis; Just Works, 2009. Print. Ferguson. â€Å"Psychology.† Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocation Guidance. 2000 ed. Print. â€Å"Careers in Psychology.† APA.org. N.p 2014. Web. 12/9/2013 â€Å"Skills of a Psychology Major.† Wagner.edu. Hogrefe & Huber Publishers. n.d. Web. 12/9/2013 â€Å"Psychologists† bls.gov. N.p. 1/8/2014. Web. 1/14/14

Chapter 17 The Four Champions

Harry sat there, aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at him. He was stunned. He felt numb. He was surely dreaming. He had not heard correctly. There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Harry as he sat, frozen, in his seat. Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione; beyond them, he saw the long Gryffindor table all watching him, openmouthed. â€Å"I didn't put my name in,† Harry said blankly. â€Å"You know I didn't.† Both of them stared just as blankly back. At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall. â€Å"Harry Potter!† he called again. â€Å"Harry! Up here, if you please!† â€Å"Go on,† Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight push. Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly. He set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It felt like an immensely long walk; the top table didn't seem to be getting any nearer at all, and he could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon him, as though each were a searchlight. The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, he was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him. â€Å"Well†¦through the door, Harry,† said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling. Harry moved off along the teachers' table. Hagrid was seated right at the end. He did not wink at Harry, or wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He looked completely astonished and stared at Harry as he passed like everyone else. Harry went through the door out of the Great Hall and found himself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite him. The faces in the portraits turned to look at him as he entered. He saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus mustache. The wizened witch started whispering in his ear. Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched-up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Harry walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair. â€Å"What is it?† she said. â€Å"Do zey want us back in ze Hall?† She thought he had come to deliver a message. Harry didn't know how to explain what had just happened. He just stood there, looking at the three champions. It struck him how very tall all of them were. There was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Harry by the arm and led him forward. â€Å"Extraordinary!† he muttered, squeezing Harry's arm. â€Å"Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen†¦lady,† he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. â€Å"May I introduce – incredible though it may seem – the fourth Triwizard champion?† Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he surveyed Harry. Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Harry and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, smiling, and said, â€Å"Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman.† â€Å"Joke?† Bagman repeated, bewildered. â€Å"No, no, not at all! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!† Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Cedric was still looking politely bewildered. Fleur frowned. â€Å"But evidently zair ‘as been a mistake,† she said contemptuously to Bagman. â€Å"‘E cannot compete. ‘E is too young.† â€Å"Well†¦it is amazing,† said Bagman, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling down at Harry. â€Å"But, as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. And as his name's come out of the goblet†¦I mean, I don't think there can be any ducking out at this stage†¦.It's down in the rules, you're obliged†¦Harry will just have to do the best he -â€Å" The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape. Harry heard the buzzing of the hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, before Professor McGonagall closed the door. â€Å"Madame Maxime!† said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. â€Å"Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!† Somewhere under Harry's numb disbelief he felt a ripple of anger. Little boy? Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. The top of her handsome head brushed the candle-filled chandelier, and her gigantic black-satin bosom swelled. â€Å"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?† she said imperiously. â€Å"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore,† said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. â€Å"Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions – or have I not read the rules carefully enough?† He gave a short and nasty laugh. â€Å"C'est impossible,† said Madame Maxime, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. â€Å"‘Ogwarts cannot ‘ave two champions. It is most injust.† â€Å"We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore,† said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place, though his eyes were colder than ever. â€Å"Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools.† â€Å"It's no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff,† said Snape softly. His black eyes were alight with malice. â€Å"Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here -â€Å" â€Å"Thank you, Severus,† said Dumbledore firmly, and Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair. Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at Harry, who looked right back at him, trying to discern the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon spectacles. â€Å"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?† he asked calmly. â€Å"No,† said Harry. He was very aware of everybody watching him closely. Snape made a soft noise of impatient disbelief in the shadows. â€Å"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?† said Professor Dumbledore, ignoring Snape. â€Å"No,† said Harry vehemently. â€Å"Ah, but of course ‘e is lying!† cried Madame Maxime. Snape was now shaking his head, his lip curling. â€Å"He could not have crossed the Age Line,† said Professor McGonagall sharply. â€Å"I am sure we are all agreed on that -â€Å" â€Å"Dumbly-dorr must ‘ave made a mistake wiz ze line,† said Madame Maxime, shrugging. â€Å"It is possible, of course,† said Dumbledore politely. â€Å"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake!† said Professor McGonagall angrily. â€Å"Really, what nonsense! Harry could not have crossed the line himself, and as Professor Dumbledore believes that he did not persuade an older student to do it for him, I'm sure that should be good enough for everybody else!† She shot a very angry look at Professor Snape. â€Å"Mr. Crouch†¦Mr. Bagman,† said Karkaroff, his voice unctuous once more, â€Å"you are our – er – objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?† Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half darkness making him look much older, giving him an almost skull-like appearance. When he spoke, however, it was in his usual curt voice. â€Å"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament.† â€Å"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front,† said Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now closed. â€Å"I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students,† said Karkaroff. He had dropped his unctuous tone and his smile now. His face wore a very ugly look indeed. â€Å"You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has two champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore.† â€Å"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that,† said Bagman. â€Å"The Goblet of Fire's just gone out – it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament -â€Å" â€Å"- in which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!† exploded Karkaroff. â€Å"After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!† â€Å"Empty threat, Karkaroff,† growled a voice from near the door. â€Å"You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?† Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a loud clunk. â€Å"Convenient?† said Karkaroff. â€Å"I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody.† Harry could tell he was trying to sound disdainful, as though what Moody was saying was barely worth his notice, but his hands gave him away; they had balled themselves into fists. â€Å"Don't you?† said Moody quietly. â€Å"It's very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter's name in that goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it came out.† â€Å"Evidently, someone ‘oo wished to give ‘Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!† said Madame Maxime. â€Å"I quite agree, Madame Maxime,† said Karkaroff, bowing to her. â€Å"I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards -â€Å" â€Å"If anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter,† growled Moody, â€Å"but†¦funny thing†¦I don't hear him saying a word†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Why should ‘e complain?† burst out Fleur Delacour, stamping her foot. â€Å"‘E ‘as ze chance to compete, ‘asn't ‘e? We ‘ave all been ‘oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honor for our schools! A thousand Galleons in prize money – zis is a chance many would die for!† â€Å"Maybe someone's hoping Potter is going to die for it,† said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl. An extremely tense silence followed these words. Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, â€Å"Moody, old man†¦what a thing to say!† â€Å"We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn't discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime,† said Karkaroff loudly. â€Å"Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your reasons. â€Å"Imagining things, am I?† growled Moody. â€Å"Seeing things, eh? It was a skilled witch or wizard who put the boy's name in that goblet†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Ah, what evidence is zere of zat?† said Madame Maxime, throwing up her huge hands. â€Å"Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!† said Moody. â€Å"It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament†¦.I'm guessing they submitted Potter's name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category†¦.† â€Å"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody,† said Karkaroff coldly, â€Å"and a very ingenious theory it is – though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. So you'll understand if we don't take you entirely seriously†¦.† â€Å"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage,† Moody retorted in a menacing voice. â€Å"It's my job to think the way Dark wizards do, Karkaroff – as you ought to remember†¦ â€Å"Alastor!† said Dumbledore warningly. Harry wondered for a moment whom he was speaking to, but then realized â€Å"Mad-Eye† could hardly be Moody's real first name. Moody fell silent, though still surveying Karkaroff with satisfaction – Karkaroff's face was burning. â€Å"How this situation arose, we do not know,† said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room. â€Å"It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do†¦.† â€Å"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr -â€Å" â€Å"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it.† Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared. She wasn't the only one either. Snape looked furious; Karkaroff livid; Bagman, however, looked rather excited. â€Å"Well, shall we crack on, then?† he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. â€Å"Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honors?† Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie. â€Å"Yes,† he said, â€Å"instructions. Yes†¦the first task†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He moved forward into the firelight. Close up, Harry thought he looked ill. There were dark shadows beneath his eyes and a thin, papery look about his wrinkled skin that had not been there at the Quidditch World Cup. â€Å"The first task is designed to test your daring,† he told Harry, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, â€Å"so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard†¦very important†¦. â€Å"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges. â€Å"The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests.† Mr. Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore. â€Å"I think that's all, is it, Albus?† â€Å"I think so,† said Dumbledore, who was looking at Mr. Crouch with mild concern. â€Å"Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?† â€Å"No, Dumbledore, I must get back to the Ministry,† said Mr. Crouch. â€Å"It is a very busy, very difficult time at the moment†¦.I've left young Weatherby in charge†¦.Very enthusiastic†¦a little overenthusiastic, if truth be told†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You'll come and have a drink before you go, at least?† said Dumbledore. â€Å"Come on, Barry, I'm staying!† said Bagman brightly. â€Å"It's all happening at Hogwarts now, you know, much more exciting here than at the office!† â€Å"I think not, Ludo,† said Crouch with a touch of his old impatience. â€Å"Professor Karkaroff – Madame Maxime – a nightcap?† said Dumbledore. But Madame Maxime had already put her arm around Fleur's shoulders and was leading her swiftly out of the room. Harry could hear them both talking very fast in French as they went off into the Great Hall. Karkaroff beckoned to Krum, and they, too, exited, though in silence. â€Å"Harry, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed,† said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. â€Å"I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise.† Harry glanced at Cedric, who nodded, and they left together. The Great Hall was deserted now; the candles had burned low, giving the jagged smiles of the pumpkins an eerie, flickering quality. â€Å"So,† said Cedric, with a slight smile. â€Å"We're playing against each other again!† â€Å"I s'pose,† said Harry. He really couldn't think of anything to say. The inside of his head seemed to be in complete disarray, as though his brain had been ransacked. â€Å"So†¦tell me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Cedric as they reached the entrance hall, which was now lit only by torches in the absence of the Goblet of Fire. â€Å"How did you get your name in?† â€Å"I didn't,† said Harry, staring up at him. â€Å"I didn't put it in. I was telling the truth.† â€Å"Ah†¦okay,† said Cedric. Harry could tell Cedric didn't believe him. â€Å"Well†¦see you, then.† Instead of going up the marble staircase, Cedric headed for a door to its right. Harry stood listening to him going down the stone steps beyond it, then, slowly, he started to climb the marble ones. Was anyone except Ron and Hermione going to believe him, or would they all think he'd put himself in for the tournament? Yet how could anyone think that, when he was facing competitors who'd had three years' more magical education than he had – when he was now facing tasks that not only sounded very dangerous, but which were to be performed in front of hundreds of people? Yes, he'd thought about it†¦he'd fantasized about it†¦but it had been a joke, really, an idle sort of dream†¦he'd never really, seriously considered entering†¦. But someone else had considered it†¦someone else had wanted him in the tournament, and had made sure he was entered. Why? To give him a treat? He didn't think so, somehow†¦ To see him make a fool of himself? Well, they were likely to get their wish†¦. But to get him killed? Was Moody just being his usual paranoid self? Couldn't someone have put Harry's name in the goblet as a trick, a practical joke? Did anyone really want him dead? Harry was able to answer that at once. Yes, someone wanted him dead, someone had wanted him dead ever since he had been a year old†¦Lord Voldemort. But how could Voldemort have ensured that Harry's name got into the Goblet of Fire? Voldemort was supposed to be far away, in some distant country, in hiding, alone†¦feeble and powerless†¦. Yet in that dream he had had, just before he had awoken with his scar hurting, Voldemort had not been alone†¦he had been talking to Wormtail†¦plotting Harry's murder†¦. Harry got a shock to find himself facing the Fat Lady already. He had barely noticed where his feet were carrying him. It was also a surprise to see that she was not alone in her frame. The wizened witch who had flitted into her neighbor's painting when he had joined the champions downstairs was now sitting smugly beside the Fat Lady. She must have dashed through every picture lining seven staircases to reach here before him. Both she and the Fat Lady were looking down at him with the keenest interest. â€Å"Well, well, well,† said the Fat Lady, â€Å"Violet's just told me everything. Who's just been chosen as school champion, then?† â€Å"Balderdash,† said Harry dully. â€Å"It most certainly isn't!† said the pale witch indignantly. â€Å"No, no, Vi, it's the password,† said the Fat Lady soothingly, and she swung forward on her hinges to let Harry into the common room. The blast of noise that met Harry's ears when the portrait opened almost knocked him backward. Next thing he knew, he was being wrenched inside the common room by about a dozen pairs of hands, and was facing the whole of Gryffindor House, all of whom were screaming, applauding, and whistling. â€Å"You should've told us you'd entered!† bellowed Fred; he looked half annoyed, half deeply impressed. â€Å"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!† roared George. â€Å"I didn't,† Harry said. â€Å"I don't know how -â€Å" But Angelina had now swooped down upon him; â€Å"Oh if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor -â€Å" â€Å"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch match, Harry!† shrieked Katie Bell, another of the Gryffindor Chasers. â€Å"We've got food, Harry, come and have some -â€Å" â€Å"I'm not hungry, I had enough at the feast -â€Å" But nobody wanted to hear that he wasn't hungry; nobody wanted to hear that he hadn't put his name in the goblet; not one single person seemed to have noticed that he wasn't at all in the mood to celebrate†¦.Lee Jordan had unearthed a Gryffindor banner from somewhere, and he insisted on draping it around Harry like a cloak. Harry couldn't get away; whenever he tried to sidle over to the staircase up to the dormitories, the crowd around him closed ranks, forcing another butterbeer on him, stuffing crisps and peanuts into his hands†¦.Everyone wanted to know how he had done it, how he had tricked Dumbledore's Age Line and managed to get his name into the goblet†¦. â€Å"I didn't,† he said, over and over again, â€Å"I don't know how it happened.† But for all the notice anyone took, he might just as well not have answered at all. â€Å"I'm tired!† he bellowed finally, after nearly half an hour. â€Å"No, seriously, George – I'm going to bed -â€Å" He wanted more than anything to find Ron and Hermione, to find a bit of sanity, but neither of them seemed to be in the common room. Insisting that he needed to sleep, and almost flattening the little Creevey brothers as they attempted to waylay him at the foot of the stairs, Harry managed to shake everyone off and climb up to the dormitory as fast as he could. To his great relief, he found Ron was lying on his bed in the otherwise empty dormitory, still fully dressed. He looked up when Harry slammed the door behind him. â€Å"Where've you been?† Harry said. â€Å"Oh hello,† said Ron. He was grinning, but it was a very odd, strained sort of grin. Harry suddenly became aware that he was still wearing the scarlet Gryffindor banner that Lee had tied around him. He hastened to take it off, but it was knotted very tightly. Ron lay on the bed without moving, watching Harry struggle to remove it. â€Å"So,† he said, when Harry had finally removed the banner and thrown it into a corner. â€Å"Congratulations.† â€Å"What d'you mean, congratulations?† said Harry, staring at Ron. There was definitely something wrong with the way Ron was smiling: It was more like a grimace. â€Å"Well†¦no one else got across the Age Line,† said Ron. â€Å"Not even Fred and George. What did you use – the Invisibility Cloak?† â€Å"The Invisibility Cloak wouldn't have got me over that line,† said Harry slowly. â€Å"Oh right,† said Ron. â€Å"I thought you might've told me if it was the cloak†¦because it would've covered both of us, wouldn't it? But you found another way, did you?† â€Å"Listen,† said Harry, â€Å"I didn't put my name in that goblet. Someone else must've done it.† Ron raised his eyebrows. â€Å"What would they do that for?† â€Å"I dunno,† said Harry. He felt it would sound very melodramatic to say, â€Å"To kill me.† Ron's eyebrows rose so high that they were in danger of disappearing into his hair. â€Å"It's okay, you know, you can tell me the truth,† he said. â€Å"If you don't want everyone else to know, fine, but I don't know why you're bothering to lie, you didn't get into trouble for it, did you? That friend of the Fat Lady's, that Violet, she's already told us all Dumbledore's letting you enter. A thousand Galleons prize money, eh? And you don't have to do end-of-year tests either†¦.† â€Å"I didn't put my name in that goblet!† said Harry, starting to feel angry. â€Å"Yeah, okay,† said Ron, in exactly the same sceptical tone as Cedric. â€Å"Only you said this morning you'd have done it last night, and no one would've seen you†¦.I'm not stupid, you know.† â€Å"You're doing a really good impression of it,† Harry snapped. â€Å"Yeah?† said Ron, and there was no trace of a grin, forced or otherwise, on his face now. â€Å"You want to get to bed, Harry. I expect you'll need to be up early tomorrow for a photo-call or something.† He wrenched the hangings shut around his four-poster, leaving Harry standing there by the door, staring at the dark red velvet curtains, now hiding one of the few people he had been sure would believe him.