Supply Chain Management in Hospital

Pantai Hospital Ipoh (PHI), registered under Paloh Medical Centre Sdn. Bhd, was established in year 1996 owned by Pantai Group, part of IHH Healthcare Berhad; one of the most significant healthcare operators in the world that provide premium healthcare services in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The hospital is strategically located in Ipoh and easily accessible within a 5 minutes drive from the North-South Highway Interchange and the Ipoh City Centre.Pantai Hospital Ipoh was started to serve the local communities of Ipoh, and has since grown to become one of the private premier healthcare providers in Perak, and the northern region of Malaysia. Pantai Hospital Ipoh started with just only 76 beds, and now has 180 beds and 82 consultant specialists, providing quality care and treatment aided by qualified nurses and other allied healthcare professionals.In partnership with various health insurers and corporate organizations, PHI has established itsel f as a preferred provider, allowing greater and easier access to its healthcare services, which extends beyond just a single hospital through the extensive network of more than 10 Pantai and Gleneagles Hospitals, all part of IHH Healthcare Berhad. Through the use of appropriate technology and skills, Pantai Hospital Ipoh is firm in its vision to be the trusted professionals of healthcare delivery, from prevention, detection to treatment and care, when it matters most.Apart from providing a wide range of modern facilities and the expertise of many consultant specialists, the hospital is staffed with warm and friendly personnel who are dedicated to give our customers the personalized attention and quality care they deserve. Central to its commitment towards quality healthcare, PHI strives to provide excellence in service and its future will be built on welcoming change innovation, today and tomorrow. In year 2005, Pantai Hospital Ipoh has successfully obtained ISO 9001:2008.The Hospit al continuously seeks to improve the organization’s performance and the outcome of cares. With this, PHI has started the adoption the best and safe practices for all the clinical and non-clinical areas which guided by Malaysia Society in Healthcare Quality. Since the inception of Pantai Hospital Ipoh in 1996, the hospital has increased tremendously the disciplinary medical and surgical specialties. Listings below are the specialties provided by Pantai Hospital currently: †¢ Anaesthesiology †¢ Cardiology †¢ Colorectal Surgery †¢ Cardiothoracic Anaethesiology Cardiothoracic Surgery †¢ Dental / Oral Surgery †¢ Dermatology †¢ Ear, Nose & Throat Surgery (ENT) †¢ Gastroenterology †¢ General Surgery †¢ Haematology †¢ Immunology †¢ Infertility †¢ Internal Medicine †¢ Nephrology †¢ Neurology †¢ Neurosurgery †¢ Orthopaedic Surgery †¢ Obstetrics and Gynaecology †¢ Ophthalmology †¢ Paediat rics †¢ Pain Management †¢ Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery †¢ Psychiatry †¢ Urology †¢ Rheumatology †¢ Respiratory †¢ Radiology To facilitate the services mentioned above, Pantai Hospital Ipoh has established the following facilities and services: a. 24hrs Accident & EmergencyTo provide 24-hour services for emergency as well as less urgent cases that uses a triage system to determine the severity of each case, to ensure that priority is given to patients with the most urgent medical need. b. Ambulance Services Our ambulance service provides transportation of patients throughout Malaysia with includes: †¢ 24-hour Prompt Emergency Response-Time †¢ Specialized transport services †¢ Inter-hospital / inter-clinic transfers †¢ Doctor / nurse escort to provide immediate in-ambulance care †¢ Ambulance pick-up for calls within Ipoh City c. Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation CentreThe centre offers a wide range of rehabilitation progr ammes to help patients to achieve functionality and mobility. Amongst the broad spectrum of services include preventive care, and the treatment as well as management of movement disorders arising form medical conditions and lifelong disabilities. d. Imaging Service Pantai Hospital Ipoh has a complete range of imaging services including Multi-slice CT Scanner, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), X-rays, ultrasound & doppler scans and mammography. The department operates 24 hours, serving in-patients, outpatients as well as patients referred from external healthcare providers. e.Dietetic Counselling PHI’s dietitian provide individualized programs and counseling for patients, based on the doctor’s recommendations and patient’s condition. The dietitian also ensure that all food served to patients are low in fat, salt and sugar and ultimately meet the specific nutritional requirement of individual patient’s medical conditions and the doctor’s diagnosis. f . Pharmacy Service The hospital’s pharmacy is open 24 hours, dispensing medications for both inpatients and outpatients. Pharmacy staff also offer Patient Counselling Service; to advice patients on the correct way of taking as well as storing their medications.This service also extended to bed-side counseling for inpatients. g. Pathology and Laboratory Services PHI’s pathology services are managed and provided by Pantai Premier Pathology Sdn Bhd, The lab offers a full range of laboratory services and tests that are performed by skilled and experience personnel with sophisticated equipments. Pathologists are available for clinical consultation on concerns related to appropriate test utilization, assistance in test result interpretation or any other concerns which may occur in the course of patient management. h. Diagnostic and Endoscopic CentreThe centre provides treadmill to perform Stress Test to facilitate cardiac assessment; nad machines for ECG and Echo Cardiograms as well as Carotid Duplex to assess arterial blockages. The centre also carries out Dobutamine Stress Echo as an alternative method for those patients whose condition makes them unsuitable to undergo a Stress Test but urgently need cardiac assessment and 24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring as well as Holter Monitoring which provides round-the-clock ECG monitoring especially for patients who complain of palpitations and/or sudden blackouts.The Endoscopic Centre facilitates varies type of scopes including gastroscopy, colonoscopy bronchoscopy, cystoscopy and ERCP. i. Brain and Nerve Centre The centre is equipped with machines which carry out the following procedures: †¢ Electroencephalogram (EEG) †¢ Nerve Conduction Study (NCS) †¢ Electromyogram (EMG) †¢ Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) Study †¢ Brain Auditory Evoked Potential (BAEP) Study j. Sleep Study Sleep Studies are conducted is a sleep laboratory; help doctor confirm certain sleep disorders. k. H aemodialysis CentreThe Putri Dialysis Centre is a well equipped centre that is designed to provide patients with a comfortable environment including waiting areas for accompanying family members, light refreshments and audio-video entertainment. l. Dental Services PHI has a well equipped dental clinic with a resident dentist and aided by visiting dental surgeons, who can undertake and perform complex dental procedures. m. Health and Wellness Centre It provides a wide range of premium screening programmes that will equip the customer with the knowledge and awareness to help to maintain optimum health. . Parking & Valet Service Pantai Hospital Ipoh offers complimentary parking services, further enhanced by a free Valet Service, which operates during the following hours: Monday to Friday- 7. 00am – 7. 00pm Saturday- 7. 00am – 5. 00pm Sunday- 9. 00am – 5. 00pm o. Concierge Service Complimentary concierge services are provided for patients who discharged from the hos pital, to help to transport their bags and belongings from their respective ward to the lobby, where Customer Care Assistant are at hand further assist the patient to alight their mode of transportation. . Financial Counselling Financial Counselling service was initiated to assist patients and their family members in managing the medical cost incurred from seeking treatment at Pantai Hospital Ipoh by offering cost estimation prior to procedure and assistance in getting financial aid from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and relevant financial institution, should be arise. q. Other ServicesOther services that provide by Pantai Hospital Ipoh include; †¢ Hospital Cafetaria – certified halal providing a variety of local and international cuisine †¢ Bread Legend – offering wide choice of breads and buns †¢ Convimart – a mini convenience store selling magazines, snacks, drinks, gifts and fruit baskets. †¢ Natural Health Farm – Offering various health products that promote better health and longevity of human body, skin and hair. †¢ Ipoh Medical Supplies – offering a range of common medical supplies and equipment. †¢ Banking facilities – An ATM machine is strategically located at the hospital lobby. Internet Access – provides free WIFI access through-out the hospital for everyone Patient that require for inpatient treatment could be admitted through the Emergency Department or through Specialist Consultant or General Practitioner Clinic. Pantai Hospital Ipoh offers a range of room types, to cater individual needs and demands; however theses are subject to availability and if a particular room type is not available, option will be provided and efforts will be made to have the requested room type provided as soon as it is available. Below are the room rates which are subject to 6% Government Tax.Meals are complimentary to all patients. Room TypesRates Per Day (RM) †¢ Executive Del uxe Room330. 00 †¢ Deluxe Room250. 00 †¢ Single Room160. 00 †¢ Double-Bedded Room110. 00 †¢ Four-Bedded Room60. 00 †¢ ICU / CCU150. 00 †¢ Isolation Room 150. 00 †¢ Nursery25. 00 †¢ Day Case35. 00 †¢ Incubator 105. 00 Supply chain is the lifeblood of a healthcare organization. The supply chain process is the essential link for all programs and services offered by a hospital, and hence any improvement in managing the supply chain can positively impact bottom line profitability of any hospital’s operations.As most departments in Pantai Hospital Ipoh depend heavily on supplies, materials management can ease or cramp a hospital’s operations. From a low cost needle to a high-end orthopaedic implant, special instruments or pieces of linen, supplies are indispensable during a patient’s stay at the hospital. Quality care cannot be provided on time unless required material is available in adequate quantity. As such Pantai Hospi tal Ipoh, has established a purchasing department to centralize the purchasing all medical supplies, medical equipment and instrument, consumables, stationeries and toiletry within the hospital.The department not only to purchase but to perform price negotiation to ensure every item that purchased is the lowest price but of course without comprising the quality. Together with Store Department, Purchasing Department determines the minimum and maximum level for every single item for re-ordering purposes. To determine the minimum and maximum level, a few factors will be observed; the usage of them item / product, location of the supplier, the availability of the item / product in the market and delivery schedule.Thus, the purchasing needs to communicate with all the relevant departments and the supplier to ensure that is no shortage of all supplies and at the same time to ensure our store department is not holding too much stock. At our Pharmacy Department, the department also performe d the similar task as purchasing department but limited to pharmaceutical products. This is because pharmaceutical products need specialized person who is the pharmacist with the consultation of specialist consultants to understand the drugs usage and its complication.Pantai Hospital Ipoh not only subscribes to patented / original drugs but also generic drugs that provide the same effectiveness comparing to the original drugs but much lower in price. As generic drugs are less expensive, it could help to lower down the overall treatment cost that could enjoyed by the patient. The supply chain does not stop at the purchasing and pharmacy department. It is important that the purchased medical supplies and drugs are delivered to all the respective wards, clinics, operation theatre and other relevant departments to ensure no interruption of patient care.Hence, a supply chain system has been developed from early stage of sourcing and ordering to the patient consumption. As mentioned earli er, sourcing and ordering is done by purchasing and pharmacy department. Once the goods arrived to hospital, the respective store; general store and pharmacy store, will received their goods. The respective store will entered the stock into our Hospital Information System, and from there the stock will be arranged in the store systematically. The wards, departments and operation theatre will requisite their items based on their pre-set minimum and maximum level.For those high activities department for example operation theatre, they are allowed for three time requisition a week and as for less or average activities, will allowed to requisite their stock two times a week. As if any urgent requisition, store will allowed with valid reason. The receiving wards or departments will then store their stock in their respective store and label all stocks. The ward or department will consume the item(s) based on ‘first in first out (FIFO)’ method to ensure no there is no expiry p roducts. Ward and departmental clerk will ensure all the availability of the stocks is at a path level.At Pantai Hospital Ipoh, we also understand that supply chains may be more efficient and inexpensive by outsourcing of certain services. The main services that outsources are housekeeping. UMC Service Master, a well-known company in healthcare providing housekeeping services, has been appointed to manage housekeeping in the hospital. The programs offered by UMC Service Master has successfully provided measurable results by improving quality, containing costs, training and motivating employees and minimize risks. The company also takes over some of the nurses’ daily routine jobs for example bed making for inpatient and discharge patient.This enables the nurses to concentrate on the more critical matter which is patient care. Beside the purchasing, stock management and outsourcing, Pantai Hospital Ipoh also involved in a supply chain with international and local insurance comp anies and managed care organization or third party administrator. The insurance companies, managed care organization and third party administrator will signed a partnership agreement with the hospital to become panel hospital and to provide cashless healthcare facilities for their policyholders that are covered under their purchased policy.The treatment requested could be outpatient, daycase and/or inpatient depending on their policy terms and conditions. The process started when a patient requested for treatment; front office staff will request a guarantee letter (GL) from the respective insurance company, managed care organization or third party administrator by providing an initial medical report to them. The company will process the claim based on the initial report and if the case is covered, the company will issue the hospital a guarantee letter for payment.If the patient was admitted, hospital would to provide discharge summary and the total bill to the respective company for payment guarantee. Some companies do cover for the post-hospitalization up to 60 days of discharge. Our Marketing department also practices supply chain in their marketing activities. They has established a programme known as ‘Pantai Putri Member of Affiliation Program (PPMAP)’ to recruit general practitioner (GP) in Perak region to become part of PPMAP member.The objective is to obtain referral of patients to the hospital from the GPs, as Pantai Hospital Ipoh understands that GPs could be a good source of generating business. In return of the referral, Pantai Hospital will support their clinic by providing them on-going education and promoting their clinic by recommending to the local public and during any road show organized by Hospital Pantai Ipoh. This will generates a strong back to back support and mutually benefited.For the past few years, there was a lot of development and improvement taken place in Pantai Hospital in related with supply chain management but th e hospital is still facing challenges in managing the effectiveness of supply chain system. The challenges can be classified at below: a. Lack of Product Management b. Limited Sourcing and Services c. Outdated IT systems d. Lack of Inventory and Distribution Management Lack of Product Management First, the hospital could categorize the products in terms of cost, criticality and other criteria.For instance, bed linen may be less critical and represent a low cost to the hospital; paracetamol may be urgently required but inexpensive; while specialist cancer drugs may be both urgent and costly. This product categorization will dictate supply chain design. For example, drugs and medical equipment might be ordered directly from the manufacturers’ own stock, often at short notice and in unpredictable quantities, requiring storage relatively nearby. Medical supplies, on the other hand, will be subject to a more regular supply chain, providing greater flexibility in responding to emer gencies.Secondly, hospital and specialist doctor should work under one vision and direction in providing the best service at a reasonable cost. In heealthcare industry, we understand specialist consultants are independent contractors with considerable clout and specific preferences for supplies and some variations in supplies and processes are accommodated to ensure patient safety. These Preference Items accountable for more than 50% of total medical supply spending in PHI. This provide an opportunity for supply chain savings in the area of physician buy-in especially with respect to changes in purchase and use of high-cost clinical items.It is commonly perceived that physicians are resistant to change. He points to the fact that data which supports the decision to use a particular supply can go a long way in convincing a physician to use a particular supply. PHI could establish a product evaluation and review committees which consist of clinical experts, purchasing and finance pers onnel to overcome the problem. The purpose of the committee is to decide to purchase and universally adopt cost-effective items for use within all hospitals and the decision making is by team consensus.The finance and purchasing personnel could educate the clinical experts on the financial impact of various supplier options. Therefore, the use of consensus, instead of majority rule, in the decision making process minimizes any postsourcing disagreement and results in the high compliance rate and buy-ins from all physicians. This will helps purchasing to further negotiate and obtain lower price from the supplier as the hospital is now buying exclusively from the supplier only with bigger quantity.Thirdly, in PHI product cost assessment, hospital must evaluate the ‘total cost’ rather than just ‘unit product cost’ in determining the types of products to purchase. The cost of a product is evaluated from the types of raw materials used for the product and how th is will impact the disposal cost associated with the product. For example, the use of analog X-Ray equipment may have a lower unit cost initially, but the tool utilizes X-ray film that contained mercury, may result in a significant disposal fee which needs to be calculated in the total cost.Hence, hospital should to considering total cost has resulted in significant cost savings. Sourcing and Services Effective management of the external supply chain typically covers every facet of procurement activity – such as supplier selection, contract negotiation, planning and implementation, distribution and delivery – while taking factors such as risk, reward into account. There are 9 Pantai Hospital and 2 Gleneagles Hospital in whole Malaysia, as such Centralize Group Purchasing is possible.Centralize Group Purchasing have provided significant cost saving opportunities for hospitals by taking advantage of economies of scale in purchasing from select vendors for many hospitals at once. Cost saving includes better contract terms, price reduction, rebates and overhead costs. Purchasing Systems and Technology Pantai Hospital Ipoh has an outdated Hospital Information System (HIS) to manage their supply chains, known as Procare. These outdated data management systems do not have the capacity to meet the changes and needs today.The challenge faced by PHI is how to seamlessly transition the wealth of data without disrupting the existing purchasing system and inter-departmental integration. One identified area in supply chain structure that PHI could further improve on is in the area of purchasing systems and technology. PHI can explore new technologies and leverage on what has been successfully done in other Pantai hospitals to enable staffs to access faster, more valuable and easier access to necessary supply information when ordering.At time hospital spend significant resources to reconcile purchase orders and invoices due to mismatched item numbers and units of measure. Another challenge that PHI faces is in identifying personnel capable of understanding the old technology used by the existing IT systems to effectively move it to a newer platform. Although this is not a unique problem faced by PHI, there is no industry standard that can easily help provide a cost- and time-effective solution.Hence, the technology upgrade for PHI’s purchasing system remains an area to be addressed and recognized by the management. Once improved, the flexibility of the system will allow KP a more detailed view of its purchasing process and use of products, which will in turn provide better insight into creating a more effective cost structure. Inventory and Distribution Management It is critical for PHI to maintain a sufficient level of inventory at all times to ensure the needs of patients are always met. Failure to do so could result in the loss of life.In a hospital, managing its inventory is not easy as there are thousands of inventories, both medical and non-medical products. The distribution mechanism is also very important to ensure the product(s) is delivered to the end user in the hospital. PHI’s general store often mismanaged of the inventories, the current inventory system is ineffective and inefficient. The challenge that PHI is facing is that the management is unable to provide a sufficient storage and no proper and experience staff to head and managed the store.To overcome the issue, first PHI need to engage an experience staff who has know about inventory management and to review and examine the overall existing available storage space to maximize the current storage with the assistance of shelf, cabinet or compactor. Secondary storage could be developed to separate the medical and non-medical items. PHI could incorporate radio frequency identification technology (RFID) into its inventory management system. RFID systems have a broad range of potential benefits for the health care industry.These include m edical device and asset tracking, improved visibility of inventory and supply chain management, and improved patient safety by preventing drug counterfeiting. In our current distribution, the store depend on the departmental clerk to requisite their stock. As mentioned early, some departments / patient care units replenish their stock 3-times a week but some are only 2-times a week. Especially, the patient care unit, inventory management for them is a hassle as they are focusing on patient care. At time, the unit forgot to replenish their stock; patient care was affected due to unavailability of the product.This challenge often faced by the medical staff. The distribution system should be improved to be more effective to prevent and to solve the issue. The general store could establish a system whereby there will be person in the store to monitor the availability of the stock via our Hospital Information System – Procare and since minimum and maximum ordering has already been fixed, the general store staff could deliver the stock(s) which is under path level to the respective patient care unit. The store would have better control of overall inventory and distribution and improvement activities could be carried out more efficient and effective.A good inventory management programme is always patient-centred. While inventory is concerned with financial issues, hospitals are in the business of serving patients. Although technology has an important role to play, the emphasis should be on using it in a way that makes a difference to the quality of patient care. Automating inefficient processes may not yield any productive result. Processes should be reengineered to make them more patient-friendly. Cost-effectiveness, time consciousness and safety are key drivers of a patient-centered approach.Once this goal is clear, technology can support and drive the efforts towards realizing efficiencies and improving the quality of health care services. Reference: 1. Pan tai Hospital Ipoh’s company profile (K. K. L. I. U. No. (0320/2012/C) 2. Asian Hospital & Healthcare Management – article on Materials Management in Healthcare ‘A patient-centred approach’ 3. Supply Chain Management in Hospital: A Case Study by Samuel Toba, Mary Tomasini, Y. Helio Yang, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA – published in California Journal of Operations Management, Volume 6, Number 1, February 2008

What’s Happening To Our Girls

Written my Maggie Hamilton presents the Issue that girls all over the world feel pressures at some stage of their lives. Hamilton presents this idea to the reader in a negative way in comparison to how popular culture and wider society encourages it. As girls are growing up, they feel pressures regarding their desires to be a woman, body Image and pressures from parents and teachers. Hamilton expresses these Ideas through the use of expository conventions such as interviews, facts and expert opinion.Young girls ranging from the ages of 3-12 are becoming more and more like managers. Their clothes are getting skimpier and their desires are constantly growing. The expository text What's happening to our girls? Presents this issue through the use of interviews expert opinion. Hamilton conveys the idea of young girls losing their childhood in a negative way to the reader through the use of her expert opinion. An example of this from the text Is â€Å"Teenage life can't come quickly enoug h for most teens.By now they're more than ready to leave their little-girl self behind. † (Peg. 31 ) This is explaining how girls are losing their valuable and replaceable childhood experiences that they are now missing out on due to the strong Influences that popular culture has on them. Hamilton is encouraging the parents of these young girls to not spoil their children by giving them everything they desire but to engage them within their community and to mix with a variety of people from different generations. Another convention used to convey the message is facts.An example of this In the text is â€Å"In one study of girls aged 5-8, over a quarter of the 5-year-old-galls wished they were These facts support the idea that arils are growing up too fast and that these are the issues that adults should be worrying about, not young girls. In popular culture, these ideas are also presented, but in a deferent way. Girls are being encouraged to have the latest technology, clothe s and makeup through the use of Images In magazines. Magazine companies use specific images to encourage girls to step into the world of woman hood.An example of this is in one Bliss magazine, they published the A-Z of sex. This is handing out unnecessary information to young readers that they would never need to know at their age. Girls feel that they have to live up to these expectations that boys and their peers have of them and they will do anything to be accepted. While the majority of parents would be horrified by the way these Ideas are presented to their young girls, many parents support the idea of their little girls wearing bras, makeup and obsessing about their clothes.In my personal opinion I believe that young girls should embrace and enjoy their worries and carefree days Like I did when I was a child. Hamilton suggests that this Is a growing concern in our society today as it encourages girls to become over sexualities. Popular culture is encouraging the over exultatio n's of girls and wider society Is trying their best to stop It. 1 OFF expresses this idea through the use of conventions such as facts and interviews in a negative way to the reader. Majority of girls in modern society are very self- conscious.Afraid of being constantly Judged, girls are relentlessly striving to keep up with the latest fashions and their desires to be thin Just so they can fit in. Many girls go to the extremes of starving themselves and purging Just to feel accepted by others. Hamilton is presenting this issue in a negative way to the reader through the SE of interviews. An example of this is in the text is â€Å"Eating disorders are really quite a common thing, but you kind of get used to it-like that's the way it is. † Peg. 07). This is explaining to the reader how common eating disorders are becoming and how girls don't think much of it anymore. In popular culture the idea of beauty is extremely distorted. With the use of Photos, companies believe that the y can make more money by making girls look thinner and more attractive. When girls view these warped images, they believe that these are the features they need to have to be dutiful. Examples of these features include the thigh gap, a flat stomach and collar bones.Hamilton used the convention of facts to present this idea to the reader. An example of this in the text is â€Å"Links have now been made between the representation of thin models in magazines and eating disorders. In one study, the teenage girls who watched TV ads with skinny models were less confident and happy with their bodies than girls not exposed to these ads. † (Peg. 103) These fact positions the reader to have a negative point of view towards magazine companies who are sending these storied messages to young girls.In wider society, parents want to protect their young girls from bad influences that can be put on them. Majority of parents don't know what their girls are reading in their magazines and would b e horrified to know what information these girls are absorbing. In my opinion, I believe that girls need to be themselves and understand their individuality and to not constantly worry about their appearance. Hamilton suggests that poor body image is taking over our girls' mindsets and their values they have of themselves are plummeting.Popular culture s influencing girls to believe that they are not up to the standards of being beautiful and wider society is trying to prevent them from thinking down on themselves. Girls all over the world are feeling pressures from their parents, friends and teachers. Hamilton conveys this message to the reader in a negative way through the use of expository conventions such as interviews and expert opinion. As young girls are growing up in a modern world, their parents have high expectations of them to succeed in school and to secure a financially rewarding Job.Along with the pressures f grades, friends and boys this leads to a lot of stress in gi rls lives. Hamilton expresses this idea to the reader through the use of her expert opinion. An example of this in the text is â€Å"It's a big ask for any teenager to be perfect and popular, wear the right clothes, look cool and achieve excellent grades. There's little opportunity here to build solid self-esteem. Is it any wonder so many are feeling depressed? â€Å"(Peg. 80). This opinion describes to the viewer the many pressures girls face in their daily lives and how it is affecting their physiological state.Another convention used is interviews. An example of this in the text is â€Å"l don't go out very much during the amount of pressure put on you at school to do well- and you Just get stressed out. † (Peg. 75) This conveys the message to the reader as it explains Just how stressed out girls can be even over the little things. Popular culture also doesn't help girls either. Maggie Hamilton explains â€Å"The pressure on girls is also apparent in teen magazines, whe re there's endless editorial on what it means to be a successful woman-how to have a better body, better skin, better grades. â€Å"(Peg. ) When girls are reading these articles they are comparing themselves to the text and their self- esteem goes down as they know that they do not live up to the standards. Wider society is also a contributing factor towards girls feeling pressured. Parents who are expecting well-behaved children with good grades and teachers loading them up with homework don't help downsize girls' stress levels, it Just rapidly increases them. In my opinion, I believe that girls do face a lot of pressures throughout their teen years and that they need to find ways to cope and work around them.Hamilton presents the issue of pressures in a negative way to the reader whilst popular culture and wider society are finding ways to increase the stress levels girls have today. Hamilton presents the idea of pressures widely throughout the expository text What's hipping to o ur girls?. The ideas of girls growing up too fast, body image and expectations and presented within the text through the use of conventions. These conventions include the use of expert opinion, facts, statistics and interviews. Hamilton presents these ideas in a negative way to the reader and explains ways that arenas and friends can help their girls move past them.Popular culture is a major contributor to the way girls think they should be living and also has huge influenced on their attitudes, values and behavior. A large majority of wider society wants their girls to grow up in a carefree environment where they can learn to be creative and enjoy their individuality. I believe that girls should be able to live their lives to the fullest and not worry about what others think of them. If every girl in the world accepted each other for who they were, imagine the freedom and enjoyment everyone would have.

Strengths and Weaknesses as a Writer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Strengths and Weaknesses as a Writer - Essay Example I learned how to revise my work thoroughly before submission and can meet deadlines since I submitted all my papers on the specified time. Another thing that shows my responsibility is my ability to write without plagiarizing by accrediting all the sources of my writing and summarizing all the sources in my words. I also observe all the MLA style of formatting when presenting my work. I also welcome any critics from my peers and readers of my essays to enable me work on my weaknesses and enhance my strengths. Another strength I have noticed since I enrolled for the course is strong communication skills in my arguments especially in persuasive writing. I have the ability to bring up an argument and support it with convincing evidence by use of examples and demonstration. I can arrange my work with goo paragraphs and well-connected ideas to provide the transition from one issue to the next. My grammar has improved as I can use perfect American English and observe all its rules to build strong sentences free of grammatical errors. By looking at the reviews from my peers and my tutor, there is a lot of improvement in the usage of grammar in my essays as the semester progressed. My choice of words during writing is great as demonstrated in the essay Facebook Making us Lonely. I also have the ability to use the appropriate styles such as the tone of the writing depending on the mood of the essay. I have improved my skills in forming goo sentences using the formal language while avoiding colloquialism.

Embarrassment and impression management Research Paper

Embarrassment and impression management - Research Paper Example His view underlined the importance of communication and suggested that identity of a person is no more than a reflection of the image of the self that is communicated to a person through his/her interactions with others. According to Cooley, people see themselves reflected in each others’ eyes and through their communications and interactions with others, gain messages about habits, physical attributes and personal tastes which influences their own judgments and perceptions about self. The control and modulation of the way in which a person chooses to present himself or herself to others is referred to as impression management. Self presentation in the context of impression management has been defined by Jones and Pittman as â€Å"the shaping of† a person’s â€Å"responses to create in specific others an impression that is for one reason or another desired by the actor.† (Jones and Pittman, 1982: 233). Every person therefore controls the kind of impression s/he wants others to gain by controlling what is revealed to others, i.e, the extent of self disclosure. Goffman(1959) supplemented Cooley’s theory about impression management by offering the view that individuals present themselves as a performance, choosing which role to play at any given time. Mets and Grohskopf (2003) have summarized the management of the presentation of the self as â€Å"the process by which individuals, more or less intentionally, construct a public self that is likely to elicit certain types of attributions from others, attributions that would facilitate the achievement of some goal, usually to acquire social rewards or advantages, or to prevent loss of self esteem when future failure seems probable (p 360). As may be noted from the above views, social integration implies a high degree of attunement to others’ perceptions about oneself, when this yields a positive perception there is pride and integration of the individual is promoted, but when the individual seeks a negative reflection/perception of the self as gained from the impressions of others, there is shame and a feeling of alienation, which produced embarrassment. One notable example of embarrassment is politician Sarah Palin, who was the Vice Presidential candidate in the American Pr esidential elections of 2008. During the course of the political canvassing, Palin in a radio interview with Glenn Beck, was asked about how she would handle North Korea and responded that we would have to stand by our North Korean allies. This was yet another in a long history of gaffes, such as for example, unable to demonstrate any understanding of the separation of church and state or name a single Supreme Court case, and her claim that she was qualified to handle foreign policy because she was from Alaska which is close to Russia. In responding to the realization that she had made a serious gaffe, Palin defended herself by going on to Facebook and attacking Obama’s gaffes instead.(Stickings, 2010). It may be noted here that a considerable amount of publicity was devoted

Mangin Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mangin Ethics - Essay Example This new incentive plan also put pressure on the service advisors, the front-desk counter people who meet the customers and advised them on the repairs to be done, based on recommendations of mechanics. Its good intentions were soon engulfed in the unethical behaviors by both the service advisors and the mechanics because they tend to mislead customers by recommending the repairs that were really unnecessary, just to meet their sales quotas of certain product item-specific parts and thereby earn commissions as well. The factors contributing to this unethical situation was its incentive plan which stokes the greed of employees to earn commissions and also the pressure of meeting the sales quotas imposed by the management of Sears to increase its profits. The ethical approach taken by Sears, Roebuck & Co. was the consequentialist approach because they did not mind how the sales quotas are met or attained by its employees as long as its objective of raising its profits is attained in a highly-competitive environment of auto repairs. Management was desperate to reverse its sales decline and therefore did not mind how to attain a better profit picture as long as it is achieved. In this regard, it is like the saying â€Å"the end justifies the means† which is actually quite Machiavellian in its nature already (Falco, 2004, p. 384). Sears response to the allegations was inadequate because it did not even issue apologies to its customers. Instead, what it did was justify its actions by claiming the repairs were done for purposes of preventive maintenance, especially on older cars. Further, it claimed some errors had been committed but only in rare instances, that the allegations of fraud was not widespread in its store chain. More damaging perhaps was it retained and merely re-designed its incentive plan by excluding the service advisors from commissions but the mechanics are still on

Cell Biology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cell Biology - Essay Example Average-sized molecules travel through the gel with different degrees of facility. Electrophoresis is done in a thin vertical slab of polyacrylamide. The course of protein movement is from top to bottom. Protein molecules can be isolated on the basis of their individual mass through use of electrophoresis in a polyacrylamide gel under protein denaturing process. The mixture of protein macromolecules is initially denatured in a homogeneous mixture of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), which is an anionic emulsifier with the ability of disrupting almost all noncovalent interactions in native proteins macromolecules. SDS forms complexes with the denatured proteins which are then subjected to electrophoresis. After the process of electrophoresis, the proteins in the gel are imaged after silver or dye stains are applied. The product is visualized as series of bands. Tiny proteins molecules travel faster through the gel, while bigger molecules of proteins remain at the top where the samples are applied or put. Mobility of most polypeptide chains under these settings is linearly proportional to the logarithm of their mass. SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) is very fast, sensitive, and has capacity of a high degree of resolution. As tiny as 0.1 Â µg which is equivalent to 2 pmol of a protein produces a discrete band when it is stained with Coomasie blue or less (~0.02 Â µg) can be determined with the use of a silver stain. Protein molecules which vary in mass by about 2% are commonly detected (Berg, et al., 2002). It is essential to detect minute quantities of a specific protein molecule in the presence of several other protein molecules, like for instance the presence of viral proteins in blood circulation. Very minute quantities of a protein molecule of interest concern in a cell or in the human blood can be determined by an immunoassay procedure which is called Western blotting. A sample is subjected to electrophoresis on an SDS-polyacrylamide gel. Blot ting or more commonly called electroblotting moves the resolved protein molecules on the SDS-polyacrylamide gel to the surface of a polymer sheet in order to have the proteins more obtainable during the reaction. A specific antibody for the protein of concern is incorporated to the polymer sheet containing the resolved protein which then forms complexes with the specific antibody. The antibody-antigen complex on the polymer sheet can be determined via rinsing the sheet with the use of a second specific antibody for the first antibody. A radioactive label that is located on the second antibody causes an illumination of dark band on an x-ray film. An alternative procedure using the ELISA method is through the use of an enzyme that is also located on the second antibody which produces a colored product. The use of Western blotting has been a breakthrough in finding a specific protein molecule in a complex mixture of different proteins. Currently, it is not only used as the basis for te sting infection of hepatitis C, wherein it is utilized to determine a core protein of the virus but the technique is also now very purposeful in genetic cloning (Berg, et al., 2002). The objective of this activity is to demonstrate stimulation of the epidermal growth factor receptor-signaling pathway by virtue of SDS-PAGE and Western blotting

Review theory, current trends and development of the Nhs in light of Literature

Theory, current trends and development of the Nhs in light of sustainable business. Ie stakeholder engagement waiting th - Literature review Example Gleeds (2010) reported that as first phase of developing sustainable business models, NHS identified potential source of carbon emission. NHS in UK found 40% raise in carbon emission its different operational activities ranging from travel, building operations and procurement in healthcare network. In such context, UK government had taken stringent measures to control activities of healthcare organizations to reduce carbon emission in operation. The UK government also wanted the emergence of an organization or association which can set examples for other players in terms of reduction of carbon footprint in the value chain. NHS found it the ideal situation to lead the sustainable business model movement and during 2008, National Health Service launched Improving Health campaign and Saving Carbon campaign. As part of the program, NHS staff, NHS itself and partners got the opportunity to consult other healthcare organizations when it comes to reducing carbon footprint in operation (Glee ds, 2010). ... In the workplace, NHS staff is being encouraged to decrease use of fuel fed vehicles and use of papers and perform other green habits. Procurement - more than 50% of annual NHS carbon footprints (more than 10 million tonnes) are being produced through logistics and transports of goods. In such context, NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) established partnership with Department of Health (DH) and Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) in order implement low carbon solutions in the procurement process. NHS directed monthly transportation limit for fuel fed vehicles. As result of such strategic initiatives, NHS has been able to save ?40 million/year by reducing carbon emission throughout the supply chain by 10%. Waste Reduction- NHS incurred additional cost of ?71.2 million in 2007-2008 due to waste generated from its operation. In such context, NHS SDU and DH practices are being moderated simultaneously to reduce the amount of waste generated from operation by 40% (Gleeds, 2010). Significant amount of carbon based pollution (by CO2 and CO) caused from untreated waste (Begg, Van der Woerd and Levy, 2005; Boiral, 2006). Therefore, NHS took step for reducing waste in operation that can alternatively reduce overall carbon emission. Smith and Ward (2007), Sterling (2001) and Stern (2007) supported the fact that organizations can deploy sustainable business models based on carbon reduction formulae by integrating all the above mentioned activities such as Energy & Carbon Management, Procurement of sources, reducing waste and ensuring minimal carbon emission at transport. In the next section, the study will discuss two case studies regarding sustainable

Community Health Needs and Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Community Health Needs and Services - Essay Example Many health practitioners hold the assumption that health is a universal value where one single framework can uniformly apply to all populations. Most of these approaches have failed to apply and take root in the American Indian community due to the failure on the part of the healthcare providers to articulate their unique culture. Many American Indians hold dearly to it as they continue to pass it down from one generation to another. The American Indians, therefore, looks towards their culture when looking for beliefs, values, and perspectives on illness and subsequent measures of managing it (Garcia). The government has over the years subjected the indigenous people to very many inhuman acts that have rendered them homeless and without land. Their culture is the only item that they still have that truly belongs to them. The American Indian culture holds extended relationships in high regard where they tackle many problems whether spiritual, mental and physical in a communal manner. Their notions differ considerably with the one-on-one consultations with the contemporary medical practitioners. They also hold their traditional healing methods in high regard, and it is always the first resort before even contemplating going to a conventional hospital. The shamans are all-knowing, and they know one’s problem before they even say it and they also have a cure for everything. The Indians expect the same from a hospital where the doctor is supposed to cure them without asking them to undertake other procedure such as lifestyle change.

Poland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Poland - Essay Example The national language of Poland is Polish and its total covered area is around 312,685 sq Km. (Poland Introduction, 2001) Poland is known as the most religious country of Europe. About 90% of the total population is the Roman Catholic, while Protestants, Jehovah's witnesses, Polish Orthodox, Polish Catholics, Muslims and Jews are in minorities. The Eastern Orthodox are 1% of the total population while Protestants are 0.3% and others are 0.8%; according to an estimation made in 2002. The last pope of the Roman Catholic church Pope John Paul II also belongs from Poland - before the Pope Benedict. The Roman Catholic religion is dominated in the country and it is also a part of the curriculum - in the education sector. (Religion in Poland, 2008) Economically, Poland is a sound country and growing day by day. The Poland's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased 6.1% in 2006. After the rejection of communism, Poland adopted the policy of liberalism which successfully worked and supported the economy to rise. The liberal laws helped in the development of the private sector and many medium and small industries were privatized. Several important sectors were also privatized including; steel, coal, railway and power generation. In the year 2000, the national telecom was also privatized and sold to France which is considered as the biggest privatization ever made, by the year 2007. Main Industries include; mining, textile, shipbuilding, glass and beverages. With the growing GDP rate since 1993, Poland has potential to become largest food producer among the European Union countries in agriculture sector. Various private farms are producing fruits, vegetables and specially potatoes. Poultry, eggs, and pork are also monitored by the s ame farms. The currency of Poland is called Zloty. Poland is continuously bringing reforms in its economic policies to fulfill the criteria of adopting euro (European single currency). It is said that by 2012, Poland will be able to adopt euro. In Poland, salaries are low and the ratio of unemployment is high, one of the reason is; the economic crises in the Soviet Union and Germany (the biggest trade partners of Poland). People have started to move to other European Union countries mostly to UK and Ireland. With the continuous reforms it is expected that soon this problem will also be overcome. (Diziadosiz and Stasiak, 2004) Role of Women During the era of 1970, the work force of Poland basically comprises of women. Poland government gave more opportunities to female in education and employment. In many major professions, the rate of women was higher than men. During 1980, most of the medical practitioners were women. On the other hand, women were kept completely at bay from the posts of power and authority. However, Poland elected its first Prime Minister, Hanna Suchocka in 1992, but the interesting fact is that there was not a single woman in her government. During the same year another woman, Eva lelowska became the head of the National Bank of Poland. Though, women played remarkable role on all the labor positions but male dominance always remain hurdle for them to reach and gain higher positions. State institutions helped many women to do two full time jobs due to the lack of their

Ipremier Case Essay Example for Free

Ipremier Case Essay When an event like this occurs in an organization, the first question asked post mortum is how can we prevent his from happening again. From iPremier’s perspective there are a few steps that can be taken. First, an overall evaluation of their security infrastructure and the individuals that support the structure. iPremier used a third party vendor to handle IT systems and support. This may be an area of weakness and the service that is provided by Qdata should be looked at closely. Although it may be cost effective to use a thirdy party vendor for this service, it is important to constantly evaluate their service and infrastructure compliance. Second, although Qdata manages iPremier’s IT systems it is important for iPremiere to have standard operating procudures and compliance standards. Preparing such documentation after an outage is the perfect time because a lot of what went wrong is still in their head and helps provide some ground level requirements. Once iPremier establishes their processes and procedures they should periodically â€Å"test† the process in a live drill. At my company we run several maintenance processes every month as well as disaster recovery testing once a year with some in between quarterly testing. It’s important to put the process, procedure and plan together, but equally important to test it in order to identify gaps. This process also needs to be written and locatable in the event it is needed for reference. Establishing a location for the process both in paper form an electronically is key. Lastly, communication from leadership to staff and to the clients that iPremier supports must be immediate. It is extremely important that staff be communicated to in a timely matter when information may have been compromised. There is also legal obligation on iPremiers part to notify clients that there information may have been compromised. iPremier maybe on some level required to compensate or identify ways for clients to mitigate the risk of their information being compromised. Overall, at the time of a service interruption post mortum evaluation will always find ways in which the interruption could have been prevented. Unfortunatley, organizations learn from disaster and it is the primary way in which we learn our weaknesses. Going forward if iPremier establishes the needed processes and procedures and takes the time to test their plan, they will prevent this specific issue from happening again, but are always other issues that will come up. Then it is time to re-evaluate your plan, processes, and procedures.

Advertising Clutter Is Ubiquitous In Our Lives Media Essay

Advertising Clutter Is Ubiquitous In Our Lives Media Essay Today, how do one measure the effectiveness of advertising when there is an overloading presence of product choices, features, media channels and messages? Advertising clutter is ubiquitous in our lives, where we are exposed to more than five thousand commercial message daily ranging from commercial to logos on retail chains, yet, only less than one-tenth of one percent are able to recall a particular brand or product when being asked (Vitberg, 1996). It has always been knotty to get the message through the clutter and consumer has deemed them to be annoying and poses a threat in the effectiveness of advertising communication. Even with the most outrageous advertising tactics, consumers have become desensitised to it (Kimmel, 2010). Hence, the design issue for this study was: On the average, everyone is exposed to 3000 advertisements in a day (Twitchell, 1996). As such, ad clutter has resulted in advertising designers attempting to create rather complex visual metaphorical expression in advertisements in their bid to be more creative to stand out from the clutter. However, the fact is that the increased use of such approach has hindered the consumers interpretation of the advertisement and the intended advertising meaning. Since there still remains an uncertainty in the effectiveness of complex visual metaphors which may have the tendency of consumers not being able to interpret the intended meaning of the advertising message. Thus, this has led to the research design hypothesis which was: In the quest to tackle the rising issue of ad clutter, the use of appropriate visual metaphors in advertisements is pertinent to enable consumers to interpret and comprehend the intended advertising meaning in the advertisement effectively, whilst not diminishing the level of creativity. So, in order to support the research, the three top key research questions are as followed: what impact does advertising clutter has on advertising culture today; what is the effect of complex visual metaphors in global advertising; and what are the factors that influence consumer behaviour patterns. They would be answered through the study of the three key issues, covering the area of The Rise of Advertising Clutter In Todays Advertising Context, An Analysis Of Indirect Advertising Claims As An Effective Communication and Understanding The New Connected Generation Today. The chosen primary research methods will consist of questionnaires and focus groups with the consumer age twenty-one and above. They would be used to gain valuable insight of how well they understand on the indirect claims approach of an advertisement and the consumers behaviour respectively. The overall intention of this research is to examine how the rise of advertising clutter has led to the questioning of the credibility of advertising. Hence, in order to rectify the existing issue, the use of appropriate metaphorical expression can be adopted. The findings from this research would benefit the advertising and student designers of the present advertisement clutter issue, giving them a better understanding on what is the denotation of appropriate visual metaphor, which can be a solution to break through from the clutter line. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Research Problem The evolution of advertising has changed over time. Advertising has become such a vital role in our lives that in fact, we probably do not realise how much it influences our lives and behaviour. Compared to the past decades, it is not surprising to see a signifciant jump of how much one can get exposed to advertisment today, with the presence of global access to internet, high-speed conncections, text messaging which contributed much to the advertising clutter. (Weyland, 2008). Advertisers are constantly trying to reach out to the consumer while they race to cover every available space that has the potential to launch a successful campagin, be it if it is an illegal placement of advertisement. Hence, such harsh reality causes a strong presense of intense competion among one another in the industry which resulted in advertising clutter, and lost of credibility of advertising. With the rise of advertising clutter, consumers are engulfed by such a large exposure of advertising available that give them ample reasons to be skeptical or distrustful of advertising. This will undeniably produced a negative impact on the advertising industry. Since the presence of advertising clutter has questioned on the credibility of todays advertising. The identified Design Issue for this research was: On the average, everyone is exposed to 3000 advertisements in a day (Twitchell, 1996). As such, ad clutter has resulted in advertising designers attempting to create rather complex visual metaphorical expression in advertisements in their bid to be more creative to stand out from the clutter. However, the fact is that the increased use of such approach has hindered the consumers interpretation of the advertisement and the intended advertising meaning. Design Hypothesis In order to address the identified Design issue, the Design Hypothesis of this research is: In the quest to tackle the rising issue of ad clutter, the use of appropriate visual metaphors in advertisements is pertinent to enable consumers to interpret and comprehend the intended advertising meaning in the advertisement effectively, whilst not diminishing the level of creativity. Toncar and Munch (2001) have proposed that, if consumers are able to process and digest the metaphorical expression of an advertisement, the chances of persuading and impressing the consumer is undeniably higher. However, McQuarrie and Mick (1996) have deduced that such intricate advertisement expression could pose a restrain for the consumer to get the intended meaning of the advertisement. Hence, this could deduce that Visual Metaphor is a visionary strategy for consumers to apprehend advertisement and further proceed into engaging their thought process within, to envisage it. In fact, many advertisers are still adopting such approach due to its effectiveness, a divergent interpretation from the straight forward literal ad we normally pick out. However, with this unique approach in advertising, there are times where consumers could not perceive in the understanding and interpretation of an advertisement through visual metaphor, thus the whole objective has come to naught. With appropriate use of metaphorical expression, the approach could lead to effective communication in advertising. Aims Of The Research The consumers rate of exposure to advertisement has been incredibly overwhelming which led to the questioning of effective communication in advertising. Hence, the main aim of this research was to address the rise of advertising clutter and the consequences of it. A more specific aim of the research was to investigate the denotation of appropriate visual metaphor and how it can be adopted to break through from the clutter line without hindered the consumers interpretation of the advertisement and the intended meaning. Research Questions The following three top key research questions, forming the pillars of the research paper have been identified in order to meet the aims of this research. The three research questions were: 1. What impact does advertising clutter has on advertising culture today? The objective of the first research questions was to obtain a valuable understanding of what causes the rise of advertising clutter and how it led to the decreases of advertising effectiveness, which could further address and substantiate the design issue with supported analysis. 2. What is the effect of complex visual metaphors in global advertising? The objective of the second research question was to gain insights into how complex metaphorical expression has hindered the intended advertising meaning. Valuable knowledge will be gain from the research on the appropriate solution to it. 3. What are the factors that influence consumer behaviour patterns? The objective of the third research question was to find out the various factors influencing the behaviour of a consumer when making a purchase. To have a better understanding on why consumers make the purchases that they make. Significance of the Study (Need to introduce the target audience here state also why have they been chosen and provide the relevance to the research topic. Also, elaborate on the impact this research paper would create on who and what. Is it the advertising industry and/or the society at large? Give an overview of the kind of insights this research paper would be able to offer to who would the insights benefit. Is it advertising designer, both students and professionals. Remember to show the link between the research topic and the your specialism) For this research, the primary and secondary target audience groups identified for this research were advertising professionals and student designers respectively. These two groups were chosen, as they will be the one who will direct the next advertising revolution and produce potential advertisement that are able to communicate effectively with the consumer. Furthermore, the overall research topic would be relevant to the advertising specialism where there is an in-depth study of decoding visual metaphors in advertising. This research would impact and create awareness to the advertising industry where it is very important that designers need to know the usage of complex metaphorical expression could possibly hindered the consumers interpretation of the intended advertising meaning. Hence, this would further outline to the advertising industry of the denotation of appropriate visual metaphor in advertisements for effective communication, where such use would communicate and convey the appropriate message to the consumer receiving it. The findings gathered from this research would offer an insight of the present advertisement clutter issue, who will then benefit both the advertising professionals and student designers of having the need to exercise caution on the usage of metaphorical expression that will lead to effective advertising communication. Research Methods (Follow the structure as shown in the example given) The following research methods will give an overview of what each method plans to do and find out. Primary research Focus group would be conducted, to gain insight of how consumers interpret an advertisement through having a dialogue that relates to advertising and visual metaphorical expression. This would give a specific direction on what type of visual metaphor is appropriate for their understanding. Questionnaires would also be conducted, to collect information and analyse how advertising today could influence the consumers buying behaviour. This would have a better insight of how to more effectively reach out to the consumer. Secondary research It involves an in-depth understanding of the issues surrounding my topic through literature review. The key areas will be focusing on consumer behaviour, visual metaphor in advertising and the rise of advertisement clutter. The research will be looking into successful case studies to support my hypothesis statement as well. Structure of the essay Chapter 1, Introduction, would give a very clear outline of the identified Design Issue with supported background, followed by the introduction of the Design Hypothesis with a very clear proposed solution on how the identified problem would be addressed. The Aims of the essay, Research Questions, Significance of the study, Research Methods would also be elaborated in this chapter to provide the reader with a clear understanding and the intention of this research paper. Chapter 2, Literature review, would investigate three identified key issues through readings gathered from credible resources. They were: The Rise of Advertising Clutter In Todays Advertising Context, An Analysis Of Indirect Advertising Claims As An Effective Communication and Understanding The New Connected Generation Today. These three key issues would provide a better understanding of the Design Issue, whilst supporting the Design Hypothesis statement through answering to the three overarching key issues and research questions. Chapter 3, Research process, would outline an in-depth of the research process, with a detailed analysis of the results that has been gathered from the focus group interview and questionnaires. This would aid in getting valuable information that would not have been able to done in literature review. Chapter 4, Research findings, would gathered all the findings analysis from Literature Review, Focus Group Interview and Questionnaires to substantiate the answers to the top key research questions, which would bring this research closer to its upcoming conclusion. Chapter 5, Conclusion, would state the challenges and difficulties encountered during the process of this research in an equitable way. Furthermore, it would provide a conclusion statement for this research topic and suggest with recommendations for possible future research. Chapter 6 and 7, References and Appendices, would give credit to what research sources were used to ensure credibility of the research essay. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Outline The literature review would be structured into three sections, consist of three main topics for the research. The three key issues were namely, The Rise of Advertising Clutter In Todays Advertising Context, An Analysis Of Indirect Advertising Claims As An Effective Communication and Understanding The New Connected Generation Today. There will be findings entailing on the rise of advertising clutter that has led to a decrease in effectiveness of advertising, and how metaphorical expression can be an approach to break through the clutter. The first section, The Rise of Advertising Clutter In Todays Advertising Context would address the increase of advertisement clutter and how the presence of it would decrease the effectiveness of advertising. It would cover with findings of how to break through the clutter line. The second section, An Analysis of Indirect Advertising Claims As An Effective Communication would discuss about how complex visual metaphorical could hindered the consumers interpretation of the advertisement but with the use of metaphorical expression that is deemed appropriate with supported theories, it could lead to an effective communication in advertising. The third section, Understanding The New Connected Generation Today would be to understand the new consumer generation today where there is always a change in the consumption pattern and behaviour. The last section would be the Gaps In Literature, it would identified the gaps that is unobtainable in the literature review. Hence, the gaps would need to be identified where the findings could then be obtained using primary research methods, namely Focus Groups and Questionnaires. The Rise of Advertising Clutter In Todays Advertising Context Todays advertising is truly surrounded with high level of advertisement clutter. Batra, Muers Aaker (2009) explain by taking the high profile magazines for example, they have almost one-half of their section contained with advertisements while the other half was then carried with genuine editorial contents. Hence, this could lead to the effectiveness of advertisement being greatly reduced. Competition between advertisers as a factor resulting in the advertising noise In the advertising industry, with competition among different brands of the same product, where one company offering quality products at reasonable price, other advertisers will follow suit coming out with better advertising schemes which leads to competition among one another (Mukesh Ranju, 2009). Hence, due to the proximity of competing brands from the same product. It has come to a certainty that advertisers have themselves to blame for the current presence of advertising noise. With regards to this, it firmly substantiate and justify the fact that advertisers are responsible of contributing to advertising noise due to the intense competition between one another and to offer better deals with the usage of advertisement exposure to grab the consumers attention. Take the newspapers for example; advertiser paying for advertisement space because they believe it is an effective way to reach out to the consumer without considering the possibility of other advertisers having the same thought as well (OReilly Tennant, 2009). This has been further magnified by competitive brands making very similar performance claims. As a result, it turns out to be rivalry, competing for the consumers attention. Such manifestation of advertisement competition between advertisers has contributed to the rise in advertising noise. Thus, the above mentioned is absolutely critical for designers to be aware of such emerging issue of advertisement clutter. Increasing ad clutter has led to a decrease in effectiveness of advertising. Thomas OGuinn, Chris Allen Richard J. Semenik (2008) mention that everyone abhors ad clutter and the rate it is generating, is getting out of hand. Its been a deep concern on how the rise of ad clutter actually diminishes the credibility of advertising where consumer is exposed to over thousands of advertisement exposure. Therefore, this could actually agitate the consumer where they can be expected to shut off totally from the advertisement they are exposed to, decreasing the effectiveness of advertising. The producing of more advertisement is similar to the logic of printing money. The more money you produced out there, the lesser value you are able to benefit (OReilly Tennant, 2009). This could deduce that consumers perceived clutter as one that would deteriorate the advertising effectiveness and has become an annoyance due to the widespread of large media explosion. Today, the advertisers faced tough struggle of reaching out to their intended consumers. For consumer to simply do away with advertisement clutter, many people seemed to fail to observe an unnoticed feature that has been with us for a long time, the mute button (OReilly Tennant, 2009). This added on to the alarming issue where consumer can now simply do away with clutter and escaping from infuriating commercials through the mute button, which indirectly led to advertisement avoidance and causing the effectiveness of advertising. Eventually, this resulted to a catastrophe for the advertising industry, where such advertisement avoiding technology feature would most likely decrease the effectiveness of advertisement as they get to tune out any advertisement. As such rate, television commercials may not be an ideal way to reach out to consumer in the future. Breaking through the competitive ad clutter. Its a battle royal to break through and find a place that is free from competitive noise and clutter. It has been asserted that alternative ways have been adopted to break through from such clutter and one of the alternatives is the usage of a good metaphor (Mc Quarries Barbara, 2008). The study of breaking through the clutter could be applied on the use of metaphorical expression but with supported marketing technique. The strategy is clearly outlined in (Mark Hughes, 2005). There is a need to look into the positioning and repositioning in order to break through from such competitive ad clutter. Clutter-Free is a media that dont compete with any other advertising. It is all about looking for opportunity to create a new platform for itself just like how billboards used to be a clutter-free medium and that it did not exists until Burma Shave make a break through to it (Mark Hughes, 2005). Hence, this could deduce that the means of exploring new revenue could result in taking total ad vantage of reaching to the consumer. Here is another example to further explain with, where familiar product such as Kleenex, Xerox Copiers and Campbell Soup didnt have to think of alternative to break through clutter because initially, there was none (Larson, 2010). This could substantiate the fact that being the first and exclusive among the alternatives in the similar product stands a higher chance to be recalled by the consumers. For advertising to be effective, it must break through clutter through the use of creative advertisement that could motivate the audience to pay attention and engage them in processing the advertisement (Terence A. Shimp, 2010). Therefore, with the intense advertising clutter, the usage of clutter free media strategy can be a media to explore into, in a bid to capture attention and break though the clutter line. An analysis of indirect advertising claims as an effective communication To have an advertisement that works, one good approach is through the use of a strong metaphor (Hewett, 2009). From the previous section above, which mentioned about clutter free as an effective media technique. Having said, it is insufficient to achieve effective advertising with just the media itself. The choice of media used and the advertisement approach is crucial. Thus, this can be supported with the indirect advertising claims approach, playing side by side for effective communication to the consumer. A visual metaphor uses an image of one thing to compare to something that belongs to another category, but hold the similar characteristics. Advertisers have begun to realise that through the use of visual metaphor, it could give consumer a fresh insight on the interpretation of an advertisement. Understanding the identification of target and source in visual metaphors. Metaphor involves no more than two domains namely target and source, where the requirement should be distinctive as in two phenomena in given context belong to different categories but are presented in a way that belongs to one thing (McQuarries Barbara, 2008). Deploying metaphor is an effective way to make positive claim communication to the consumer provided with an understanding on the essence of metaphor, through the identification of target and source. Smith, et al (2005) explain with an example of an for Canadian Furs that had superimposed the intended meaning of get wild over an image, which the metaphor target term will be the female model and the source will be her wearing a fur coat to portray the get wild over her image perception. Metaphors as a persuasive device should allows consumer to draw a conclusion that is well comprehended (Gozzi, 1999). Thus, the identification of target and source should be comprehensible when it comes to visual metaphors advertising. The understanding of the correct indication on the target and source in visual metaphor could be further elaborated through some of the findings (refer to Appendix). Therefore, with a better knowledge of the identification, advertising professional and student designers are able to produced advertisements that enable consumers to interpret the intended advertising meaning. The usage of indirect claims increases the persuasiveness of the message. Metaphorical expression has been an effective approach to make positive claims in the advertising sector. (McQuarries Barbara, 2008). The characteristic of visual metaphor-based advertisement is to enable consumer to think and imagine further which could simply influence consumer in the comprehending of things, which they have no knowledge of (Malamed, 2009), (Smith, 2005). Hence, visual metaphor could be used on situations that are difficult to convey for example emotions, which would help to make them explicit and tangible. One of those brands that have achieved iconic status is the Coca-Cola with the good use of visual metaphor where they look into emotional connections to work effectively with the consumer (Morgan Pritchard, 2003). Such approach can be enriching where it provide a positive connection between the advertisement images with the user, more on the emotional rather than the functional returns of it. Another brilliant example to support is the Volvo 850 commercial that was launched in the UK. It shows on how such approach can be a device to convey complicated characteristics. The car in the commercial is relate into a galloping horse that best represent the speed and handling, as though it is a living car with the relation of both the horse and rider representing the driving experience. (John Philip, 1999). The studies show that an idea where meanings are embedded could effectively persuade and remain in the consumers mind for a very long time. This is because it employed a rich mix of experience by relating the car to a horse that communicate the ideal driving experience. Complexity of indirect claims can be obstructive and misleading to the consumer. Indirect claims can be an advantage over direct claims. However, there is a downside of it as well. Tanaka (1994), Philip (1999) state that weak implicatures might resulted consumer jumping into a conclusion based on their individual personal knowledge and unable to interpret the intended meaning of a metaphor. If the metaphorical expression in advertisement cannot convey a strong implicature, then the overall persuasiveness may compromise due to its complexity. (P. M. Burns and L.Bibbings, 2010) says that if the visual account is not informative, metaphors might not necessary be always successful as consumer can get misinterpreted and misunderstood due to the difficulty of visualising the outcomes. Hence, this could imply the fact that metaphors can only be interpreted successfully with caution use on the choice of visuals that do not require complex processing effort from the consumer reading it. The above mentioned downside of visual metaphor advertisement could be further supported by one of the advertising flops in the recent years. The Intel Company found itself over a controversy on a print advertisement, showing a white man surrounded by six black sprinters. The intention of the advertising message is to place emphasis on the performance of Intels Cor 2 Duo Processors to boost productivity and efficiency by running multiple computing-intensive applications at once through the visual metaphor of sprinters down in set positions ready to take off. However, many viewers got misinterpreted and saw it as a group of dark-skinned men bowing down in subservience to a smug, light-skinned overseer. It created such a controversy that Intel had to pulled this controversial ad and make an apology with Unfortunately, our execution did not deliver our intended message and in fact proved to be insensitive and insulting This could show the risk of consumers not interpreting a metaphor in the manner that was intended. The processing may be too demanding that it gets misinterpreted and may result in an undesirable message like what has shown above. Understanding the new connected generation today How are consumers changing today? The diversity of todays technology had given consumers an exceptional capability to decide what they want to view and not to view (Jaffe, 2005). This could substantiate how much consumer has been changing for the better and unquestionably a change in the consumer demand due to the technology given today. Thus, with the ever-growing change, there is a need to understand the mind of the consumer today as it is no longer an advertiser telling consumers what brand they should purchase but more to consumer deciding which brand to choose. Advancement in digital technology that results in the change in consumption patterns in consumer today Jones, Higgs, J.Ekerdt (2009) state that the manifestation of new technologies had opened up new windows for the consumption and leisure where it created sweeping changes to the way we communicate, work, travel and our living conditions. It has been evident that our society is undergoing a digital revolution where consumption practices have been continually changing in the consumer markets. The forms of consumption had changed the focus from purchasing product to buying experiences (Danziger, ). This could alludes to the buying experiences has became important markers in the consumption today. It is no longer a focus on how to get consumer to purchase the product but a shift to the consumer behavior on how to engage them with the overall buying experiences. The above mentioned could be further supported by the case study of Viking Range Corporation where it offers commercial ranges in residential home. Due to the rapid change in consumption patterns, it now offers more than the purchasing of product where Viking launched its cooking school and tackle on the direction of consumers passion for cooking and their experience with the Viking product. (refer to Appendix ). The marketers must think beyond the point of selling a product, to how the product could provide and lift up the consumers experience through other alternatives. (Danziger, ) This is a good study of how advertisers could adapt to the change in consumption patterns. Hence, Advertising Professionals and Designer should think beyond the quality and advantage of the product they are featuring, looking into the aspects of how experience can be integrated into part of the advertisement. Addressing consumers short attention for effective advertising communication The consumers short attention span was something, which the advertising industry has been looking into. The conversation with an advertising executive claimed that in advertising today, it needs to take less than a second to grab the attention of the consumer with an image, compared to the eight seconds they used to have two decades ago (Peterson, 2003). This could indicate getting an image to the consumers attention had become shorter than before due to the immense exposure of all the media that had been available in the present day. Hence, it is very important to choose the one thing to be conveyed due to the time limitation. In particular of the television commercial field, there is no doubt that there was a shift in the commercial trend in order to address the short attention span issue as well. In the early days, all the commercials were 60 seconds long before the 30-second spots were introduced which then brought about the availability of 15-second and 10-second spots as well (White, 2003). Hence, the shrinking attention span of the consumers introduces the shortening of commercial length. Commercials that are shorter than 30-seconds are embedded with surprise value way before commercial-haters can do something about it, while those that last longer than 30 seconds are more towards story-telling in a bid to appeal to the consumer (Elliott, 2005). For other media, it includes the introducing of sensory advertising such as scent strips, 3-D glasses and fancy pop-up advertisement in magazine which have a higher possibility to get the consumers attention with the vary visual aspects (Laplace, 2002). Thus, this could show how the industry tried their means and ways to get the message across to the consumer in order to address short attention span for an effective advertising communication. Consumers response to advertising appeal and tone What type of advertising appeal work best in getting the attention of the consumer? Engaged in consumers emotions is a powerful tool in advertising where it allows no cogent reason for them to purchase product that they do not need. (Danziger ). This could substantiate that emotions play an important role in getting the consumers response from buying more things thro

Mandatory Public School Uniforms are a Good Thing Essay -- dress code,

Nowadays, we see many teenagers dress in spaghetti-strap tank tops, low-cut shirts, drop pants, pajamas, and even spandex shorts in school even though there have been policies about dress codes. Teachers, parents, and other adults feel disgruntled about the way they dress. Many students also complain about difficulties in concentrating on schoolwork because of the same reason. Obviously, what students wear to school has become a very distracting issue in the school environment. Therefore, school uniforms should be required in public schools due to many reasons. There have been many forums and discussions about mandatory school uniforms in public schools. They assume that wearing uniforms is a kind of Nazi education tactic; however, school uniforms reduce fashion-envy among students. For example, it is extremely easy to tell who is rich and popular at a public high school. Only popular girls wear Buckle Jeans that cost approximately one hundred dollars per pair. Only popular boys wore Ralph Lauren T-shirts to school. High school students are teenagers who are developing their self-esteem; therefore, it is important to guide students to lead a confident life without caring too much about appearance and materialistic things. In every public school, lots of students try to follow the newest trends and brands by begging their parents to buy them expensive clothes. They also work too hard to earn money for buying clothes, rather than focus on schoolwork. Moreover, the cases in which students steal and commit crimes are increasing like a strong wave. Many students think nowadays that it is more important to put appearance first, not intellect. Students who do well in school are often called nerds and geeks. They are also known ... ...a story about some boys she observed watching a fellow student make a presentation in the school's media center. She noticed the boys were making fun of the other boy's sneakers, which were plain white, in contrast to their more fashionable two-tone shoes. It was the only clothing item that differentiated the student from his classmates, because there is some leeway in the type of shoes students can wear. According to Kathleen C. and Carl A. Cohn’s â€Å"School Improvement Initiatives in Long Beach, California: The Quest for Higher Student Achievement, Behavior, and Dress Standards† in Education magazine, which was published on December 22, 1998, Long Beach Unified School District initiated mandatory uniforms for all K-8 students in the fall of 1994. Within the first year, all incidents of school crime, including assaults and weapons violations, declined by 76 percent.

The Buddhas Four Noble Truths: A Logical Basis For Philosophy Essay

The Buddha's Four Noble Truths: A Logical Basis for Philosophy The Buddha Shakyamuni was born in the 6th century BCE in the area presently known as Nepal. During his 80 year lifetime, he systematically developed a pragmatic, empirically based philosophy which he claimed would lead its followers towards an enlightened existence. Buddhism is commonly called a religion; however, it differs from the usual definition of a religion in that it has no deities, does not promote worship of demigods, and is based on logical reasoning and observation rather than spiritual faith. At the heart of Buddhist philosophy is the Buddha's enumeration of Four Noble Truths: Dukkha (suffering), Samudaya (origin of suffering), Nirodha (cessation of suffering), and Magga (path to cessation of suffering). The Buddha's Four Noble Truths are based on archetypal traits that were elucidated through careful empirical observance and intensive introspection. These Four Noble Truths form a logically coherent set of axioms upon which the whole of Buddhism is based, and provide a solid foundation for a philosophy which is applicable several millennia after its formulation.{1} "What we call a 'being,' or an 'individual,' or 'I,' according to Buddhist philosophy, is only a combination of ever-changing physical and mental forces or energies...." - Walpola Rahula{2} In order to fully understand the Four Noble Truths, it is necessary to investigate the Buddhist view of the individual and its makeup. In some respects, the manner in which Buddhism deals with the mind/body problem is much more advanced than most religious views, and closer to science's understanding of the mind and body. Rather than postulating the existence of an eternal soul with no physical manifestation, the Buddha taught that the person is really a collection of five skandhas or aggregates. These include rupa (matter), vedana (sensations), sanna (perceptions), samkhara (mental formations), and vijnana (consciousness). The aggregate of matter encompasses all tangible aspects of the world. The aggregate of sensations is akin to the process of sensory input; e.g., the activation of retinal cells in the eye. Vedana does not include the process of perception, however; the act of perceiving the senses, i.e., recognition of external sensations, is within the realm... ...nbsp; The idea of the cycle of death and rebirth, a central tenet to both Buddhist philosophy and the Hindu religion, will not be brought into this discussion of the Four Noble Truths. While reincarnation was very important to Buddha's formulation of his beliefs, it is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for the Four Noble Truths to hold true. When examined from a purely logical and empirical basis, the Four Noble Truths are still valid without the introduction of reincarnation. {2} Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught. Page 25. {3} Sherab Chà ¶dzin Kohn. The Life of the Buddha. Page 19. {4} Sherab Chà ¶dzin Kohn. The Life of the Buddha. Page 19. {5} Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught. Page 29. {6} Sherab Chà ¶dzin Kohn. The Life of the Buddha. Page 19. {7} B. Alan Wallace. Tibetan Buddhism From the Ground Up. Pages 40-41. {8} Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught. Page 36. {9} Sherab Chà ¶dzin Kohn. The Life of the Buddha. Page 19.

Greek And Inuit Mythology :: essays research papers fc

Parallelism in Greek and Inuit Mythology The very early creation legends are difficult to trace to their original sources, since they were passed along by word of mouth from one generation to the next. There are many different legends about the origin of the earth, some similar to those told in other cultures. It is interesting that most of these legends can be tied together in one or more ways. The Greek and Inuit tribe versions of early existence are related in many ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In both interpretations there is one creator. The Greek version explains that Eurynome, the goddess of all things, rises naked from chaos and finds nothing for her feet to stand on. She then separates the sea from the sky and dances upon the waves to the south, where later her hands would turn into a serpent (Switzer 10). Similarly, in the Inuit interpretation, a raven is born out of darkness and chaos. He searches around the dark trying to find his position; he finds water, grass and trees. After contemplating about who he is and what makes the grass grow, he eventually realizes that he is the Raven Father, the creator of all life (Ingpen 67).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, both interpretations use the bird as the principal creator of all things. It is thought that Eurynome is the author of the universe. She becomes pregnant when her serpent hands coil around her. Next, she assumes the form of a dove and lays a huge egg which the serpent keeps warm until it hatches. The egg brings forth all the things that now exist: the sun, moon, planets, stars, and the earth with its mountains, valleys, stream, lakes, all living creatures, including the first humans (Switzer 11). In like manner, Raven flies through the darkness and finds a new land, for which he calls Earth. One day, he notices a giant pea pod and watches it as it splits open and produces a man. He creates the ox and caribou for the man to eat but tells him not to harm them (Ingpen 68). He continues to create animals, but then creates a woman to be the man’s companion. Soon the man and woman reproduce and there are many children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although similar in some ways, the two creation myths also contrast in several ways. The Greek version illustrates that Eurynome asexually becomes pregnant and lays an egg. This giant egg holds all things that now exist.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Forty-seven

Eddard He was walking through the crypts beneath Winterfell, as he he had walked a thousand times before. The Kings of Winter watched him pass with eyes of ice, and the direwolves at their feet turned their great stone heads and snarled. Last of all, he came to the tomb where his father slept, with Brandon and Lyanna beside him. â€Å"Promise me, Ned,† Lyanna's statue whispered. She wore a garland of pale blue roses, and her eyes wept blood. Eddard Stark jerked upright, his heart racing, the blankets tangled around him. The room was black as pitch, and someone was hammering on the door. â€Å"Lord Eddard,† a voice called loudly. â€Å"A moment.† Groggy and naked, he stumbled his way across the darkened chamber. When he opened the door, he found Tomard with an upraised fist, and Cayn with a taper in hand. Between them stood the king's own steward. The man's face might have been carved of stone, so little did it show. â€Å"My lord Hand,† he intoned. â€Å"His Grace the King commands your presence. At once.† So Robert had returned from his hunt. It was long past time. â€Å"I shall need a few moments to dress.† Ned left the man waiting without. Cayn helped him with his clothes; white linen tunic and grey cloak, trousers cut open down his plaster-sheathed leg, his badge of office, and last of all a belt of heavy silver links. He sheathed the Valyrian dagger at his waist. The Red Keep was dark and still as Cayn and Tomard escorted him across the inner bailey. The moon hung low over the walls, ripening toward full. On the ramparts, a guardsman in a gold cloak walked his rounds. The royal apartments were in Maegor's Holdfast, a massive square fortress that nestled in the heart of the Red Keep behind walls twelve feet thick and a dry moat lined with iron spikes, a castle-within-a-castle. Ser Boros Blount guarded the far end of the bridge, white steel armor ghostly in the moonlight. Within, Ned passed two other knights of the Kingsguard; Ser Preston Greenfield stood at the bottom of the steps, and Ser Barristan Selmy waited at the door of the king's bedchamber. Three men in white cloaks, he thought, remembering, and a strange chill went through him. Ser Barristan's face was as pale as his armor. Ned had only to look at him to know that something was dreadfully wrong. The royal steward opened the door. â€Å"Lord Eddard Stark, the Hand of the King,† he announced. â€Å"Bring him here,† Robert's voice called, strangely thick. Fires blazed in the twin hearths at either end of the bedchamber, filling the room with a sullen red glare. The heat within was suffocating. Robert lay across the canopied bed. At the bedside hovered Grand Maester Pycelle, while Lord Renly paced restlessly before the shuttered windows. Servants moved back and forth, feeding logs to the fire and boiling wine. Cersei Lannister sat on the edge of the bed beside her husband. Her hair was tousled, as if from sleep, but there was nothing sleepy in her eyes. They followed Ned as Tomard and Cayn helped him cross the room. He seemed to move very slowly, as if he were still dreaming. The king still wore his boots. Ned could see dried mud and blades of grass clinging to the leather where Robert's feet stuck out beneath the blanket that covered him, A green doublet lay on the floor, slashed open and discarded, the cloth crusted with red-brown stains. The room smelled of smoke and blood and death. â€Å"Ned,† the king whispered when he saw him. His face was pale as milk. â€Å"Come . . . closer.† His men brought him close. Ned steadied himself with a hand on the bedpost. He had only to look down at Robert to know how bad it was. â€Å"What . . . ?† he began, his throat clenched. â€Å"A boar.† Lord Renly was still in his hunting greens, his cloak spattered with blood. â€Å"A devil,† the king husked. â€Å"My own fault. Too much wine, damn me to hell. Missed my thrust.† â€Å"And where were the rest of you?† Ned demanded of Lord Renly. â€Å"Where was Ser Barristan and the Kingsguard?† Renly's mouth twitched. â€Å"My brother commanded us to stand aside and let him take the boar alone.† Eddard Stark lifted the blanket. They had done what they could to close him up, but it was nowhere near enough. The boar must have been a fearsome thing. It had ripped the king from groin to nipple with its tusks. The wine-soaked bandages that Grand Maester Pycelle had applied were already black with blood, and the smell off the wound was hideous. Ned's stomach turned. He let the blanket fall. â€Å"Stinks,† Robert said. â€Å"The stink of death, don't think I can't smell it. Bastard did me good, eh? But I . . . I paid him back in kind, Ned.† The king's smile was as terrible as his wound, his teeth red. â€Å"Drove a knife right through his eye. Ask them if I didn't. Ask them.† â€Å"Truly,† Lord Renly murmured. â€Å"We brought the carcass back with us, at my brother's command.† â€Å"For the feast,† Robert whispered. â€Å"Now leave us. The lot of you. I need to speak with Ned.† â€Å"Robert, my sweet lord . . . † Cersei began. â€Å"I said leave,† Robert insisted with a hint of his old fierceness. â€Å"What part of that don't you understand, woman?† Cersei gathered up her skirts and her dignity and led the way to the door. Lord Renly and the others followed. Grand Maester Pycelle lingered, his hands shaking as he offered the king a cup of thick white liquid. â€Å"The milk of the poppy, Your Grace,† he said. â€Å"Drink. For your pain.† Robert knocked the cup away with the back of his hand. â€Å"Away with you. I'll sleep soon enough, old fool. Get out.† Grand Maester Pycelle gave Ned a stricken look as he shuffled from the room. â€Å"Damn you, Robert,† Ned said when they were alone. His leg was throbbing so badly he was almost blind with pain. Or perhaps it was grief that fogged his eyes. He lowered himself to the bed, beside his friend. â€Å"Why do you always have to be so headstrong?† â€Å"Ah, fuck you, Ned,† the king said hoarsely. â€Å"I killed the bastard, didn't I?† A lock of matted black hair fell across his eyes as he glared up at Ned. â€Å"Ought to do the same for you. Can't leave a man to hunt in peace. Ser Robar found me. Gregor's head. Ugly thought. Never told the Hound. Let Cersei surprise him.† His laugh turned into a grunt as a spasm of pain hit him. â€Å"Gods have mercy,† he muttered, swallowing his agony. â€Å"The girl. Daenerys. Only a child, you were right . . . that's why, the girl . . . the gods sent the boar . . . sent to punish me . . .† The king coughed, bringing up blood. â€Å"Wrong, it was wrong, I . . . only a girl . . . Varys, Littlefinger, even my brother . . . worthless . . . no one to tell me no but you, Ned . . . only you . . . † He lifted his hand, the gesture pained and feeble. â€Å"Paper and ink. There, on the table. Write what I tell you.† Ned smoothed the paper out across his knee and took up the quill. â€Å"At your command, Your Grace.† â€Å"This is the will and word of Robert of House Baratheon, the First of his Name, King of the Andals and all the rest—put in the damn titles, you know how it goes. I do hereby command Eddard of House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Hand of the King, to serve as Lord Regent and Protector of the Realm upon my . . . upon my death . . . to rule in my . . . in my stead, until my son Joffrey does come of age . . . â€Å" â€Å"Robert . . . † Joffrey is not your son, he wanted to say, but the words would not come. The agony was written too plainly across Robert's face; he could not hurt him more. So Ned bent his head and wrote, but where the king had said â€Å"my son Joffrey,† he scrawled â€Å"my heir† instead. The deceit made him feel soiled. The lies we tell for love, he thought. May the gods forgive me. â€Å"What else would you have me say?† â€Å"Say . . . whatever you need to. Protect and defend, gods old and new, you have the words. Write. I'll sign it. You give it to the council when I'm dead.† â€Å"Robert,† Ned said in a voice thick with grief, â€Å"you must not do this. Don't die on me. The realm needs you.† Robert took his hand, fingers squeezing hard. â€Å"You are . . . such a bad liar, Ned Stark,† he said through his pain. â€Å"The realm . . . the realm knows . . . what a wretched king I've been. Bad as Aerys, the gods spare me.† â€Å"No,† Ned told his dying friend, â€Å"not so bad as Aerys, Your Grace. Not near so bad as Aerys.† Robert managed a weak red smile. â€Å"At the least, they will say . . . this last thing . . . this I did right. You won't fail me. You'll rule now. You'll hate it, worse than I did . . . but you'll do well. Are you done with the scribbling?† â€Å"Yes, Your Grace.† Ned offered Robert the paper. The king scrawled his signature blindly, leaving a smear of blood across the letter. â€Å"The seal should be witnessed.† â€Å"Serve the boar at my funeral feast,† Robert rasped. â€Å"Apple in its mouth, skin seared crisp. Eat the bastard. Don't care if you choke on him. Promise me, Ned.† â€Å"I promise.† Promise me, Ned, Lyanna's voice echoed. â€Å"The girl,† the king said. â€Å"Daenerys. Let her live. If you can, if it . . . not too late . . . talk to them . . . Varys, Littlefinger . . . don't let them kill her. And help my son, Ned. Make him be . . . better than me.† He winced. â€Å"Gods have mercy.† â€Å"They will, my friend,† Ned said. â€Å"They will.† The king closed his eyes and seemed to relax. â€Å"Killed by a pig,† he muttered. â€Å"Ought to laugh, but it hurts too much.† Ned was not laughing. â€Å"Shall I call them back?† Robert gave a weak nod. â€Å"As you will. Gods, why is it so cold in here?† The servants rushed back in and hurried to feed the fires. The queen had gone; that was some small relief, at least. If she had any sense, Cersei would take her children and fly before the break of day, Ned thought. She had lingered too long already. King Robert did not seem to miss her. He bid his brother Renly and Grand Maester Pycelle to stand in witness as he pressed his seal into the hot yellow wax that Ned had dripped upon his letter. â€Å"Now give me something for the pain and let me die.† Hurriedly Grand Maester Pycelle mixed him another draught of the milk of the poppy. This time the king drank deeply. His black beard was beaded with thick white droplets when he threw the empty cup aside. â€Å"Will I dream?† Ned gave him his answer. â€Å"You will, my lord.† â€Å"Good,† he said, smiling. â€Å"I will give Lyanna your love, Ned. Take care of my children for me.† The words twisted in Ned's belly like a knife. For a moment he was at a loss. He could not bring himself to lie. Then he remembered the bastards: little Barra at her mother's breast, Mya in the Vale, Gendry at his forge, and all the others. â€Å"I shall . . . guard your children as if they were my own,† he said slowly. Robert nodded and closed his eyes. Ned watched his old friend sag softly into the pillows as the milk of the poppy washed the pain from his face. Sleep took him. Heavy chains jangled softly as Grand Maester Pycelle came up to Ned. â€Å"I will do all in my power, my lord, but the wound has mortified. It took them two days to get him back. By the time I saw him, it was too late. I can lessen His Grace's suffering, but only the gods can heal him now.† â€Å"How long?† Ned asked. â€Å"By rights, he should be dead already. I have never seen a man cling to life so fiercely.† â€Å"My brother was always strong,† Lord Renly said. â€Å"Not wise, perhaps, but strong.† In the sweltering heat of the bedchamber, his brow was slick with sweat. He might have been Robert's ghost as he stood there, young and dark and handsome. â€Å"He slew the boar. His entrails were sliding from his belly, yet somehow he slew the boar.† His voice was full of wonder. â€Å"Robert was never a man to leave the battleground so long as a foe remained standing,† Ned told him. Outside the door, Ser Barristan Selmy still guarded the tower stairs. â€Å"Maester Pycelle has given Robert the milk of the poppy,† Ned told him. â€Å"See that no one disturbs his rest without leave from me.† â€Å"It shall be as you command, my lord.† Ser Barristan seemed old beyond his years. â€Å"I have failed my sacred trust.† â€Å"Even the truest knight cannot protect a king against himself,† Ned said. â€Å"Robert loved to hunt boar. I have seen him take a thousand of them.† He would stand his ground without flinching, his legs braced, the great spear in his hands, and as often as not he would curse the boar as it charged, and wait until the last possible second, until it was almost on him, before he killed it with a single sure and savage thrust. â€Å"No one could know this one would be his death.† â€Å"You are kind to say so, Lord Eddard.† â€Å"The king himself said as much. He blamed the wine.† The white-haired knight gave a weary nod. â€Å"His Grace was reeling in his saddle by the time we flushed the boar from his lair, yet he commanded us all to stand aside.† â€Å"I wonder, Ser Barristan,† asked Varys, so quietly, â€Å"who gave the king this wine?† Ned had not heard the eunuch approach, but when he looked around, there he stood. He wore a black velvet robe that brushed the floor, and his face was freshly powdered. â€Å"The wine was from the king's own skin,† Ser Barristan said. â€Å"Only one skin? Hunting is such thirsty work.† â€Å"I did not keep count. More than one, for a certainty. His squire would fetch him a fresh skin whenever he required it.† â€Å"Such a dutiful boy,† said Varys, â€Å"to make certain His Grace did not lack for refreshment.† Ned had a bitter taste in his mouth. He recalled the two fair-haired boys Robert had sent chasing after a breastplate stretcher. The king had told everyone the tale that night at the feast, laughing until he shook. â€Å"Which squire?† â€Å"The elder,† said Ser Barristan. â€Å"Lancel.† â€Å"I know the lad well,† said Varys. â€Å"A stalwart boy, Ser Kevan Lannister's son, nephew to Lord Tywin and cousin to the queen. I hope the dear sweet lad does not blame himself. Children are so vulnerable in the innocence of their youth, how well do I remember.† Certainly Varys had once been young. Ned doubted that he had ever been innocent. â€Å"You mention children. Robert had a change of heart concerning Daenerys Targaryen. Whatever arrangements you made, I want unmade. At once.† â€Å"Alas,† said Varys. â€Å"At once may be too late. I fear those birds have flown. But I shall do what I can, my lord. With your leave.† He bowed and vanished down the steps, his soft-soled slippers whispering against the stone as he made his descent. Cayn and Tomard were helping Ned across the bridge when Lord Renly emerged from Maegor's Holdfast. â€Å"Lord Eddard,† he called after Ned, â€Å"a moment, if you would be so kind.† Ned stopped. â€Å"As you wish.† Renly walked to his side. â€Å"Send your men away.† They met in the center of the bridge, the dry moat beneath them. Moonlight silvered the cruel edges of the spikes that lined its bed. Ned gestured. Tomard and Cayn bowed their heads and backed away respectfully. Lord Renly glanced warily at Ser Boros on the far end of the span, at Ser Preston in the doorway behind them. â€Å"That letter.† He leaned close. â€Å"Was it the regency? Has my brother named you Protector?† He did not wait for a reply. â€Å"My lord, I have thirty men in my personal guard, and other friends beside, knights and lords. Give me an hour, and I can put a hundred swords in your hand.† â€Å"And what should I do with a hundred swords, my lord?† â€Å"Strike! Now, while the castle sleeps.† Renly looked back at Ser Boros again and dropped his voice to an urgent whisper. â€Å"We must get Joffrey away from his mother and take him in hand. Protector or no, the man who holds the king holds the kingdom. We should seize Myrcella and Tommen as well. Once we have her children, Cersei will not dare oppose us. The council will confirm you as Lord Protector and make Joffrey your ward.† Ned regarded him coldly. â€Å"Robert is not dead yet. The gods may spare him. If not, I shall convene the council to hear his final words and consider the matter of the succession, but I will not dishonor his last hours on earth by shedding blood in his halls and dragging frightened children from their beds.† Lord Renly took a step back, taut as a bowstring. â€Å"Every moment you delay gives Cersei another moment to prepare. By the time Robert dies, it may be too late . . . for both of us.† â€Å"Then we should pray that Robert does not die.† â€Å"Small chance of that,† said Renly. â€Å"Sometimes the gods are merciful.† â€Å"The Lannisters are not.† Lord Renly turned away and went back across the moat, to the tower where his brother lay dying. By the time Ned returned to his chambers, he felt weary and heartsick, yet there was no question of his going back to sleep, not now. When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die, Cersei Lannister had told him in the godswood. He found himself wondering if he had done the right thing by refusing Lord Renly's offer. He had no taste for these intrigues, and there was no honor in threatening children, and yet . . . if Cersei elected to fight rather than flee, he might well have need of Renly's hundred swords, and more besides. â€Å"I want Littlefinger,† he told Cayn. â€Å"If he's not in his chambers, take as many men as you need and search every winesink and whorehouse in King's Landing until you find him. Bring him to me before break of day.† Cayn bowed and took his leave, and Ned turned to Tomard. â€Å"The Wind Witch sails on the evening tide. Have you chosen the escort?† â€Å"Ten men, with Porther in command.† â€Å"Twenty, and you will command,† Ned said. Porther was a brave man, but headstrong. He wanted someone more solid and sensible to keep watch over his daughters. â€Å"As you wish, m'lord,† Tom said. â€Å"Can't say I'll be sad to see the back of this place. I miss the wife.† â€Å"You will pass near Dragonstone when you turn north. I need you to deliver a letter for me.† Tom looked apprehensive. â€Å"To Dragonstone, m'lord?† The island fortress of House Targaryen had a sinister repute. â€Å"Tell Captain Qos to hoist my banner as soon as he comes in sight of the island. They may be wary of unexpected visitors. If he is reluctant, offer him whatever it takes. I will give you a letter to place into the hand of Lord Stannis Baratheon. No one else. Not his steward, nor the captain of his guard, nor his lady wife, but only Lord Stannis himself.† â€Å"As you command, m'lord.† When Tomard had left him, Lord Eddard Stark sat staring at the flame of the candle that burned beside him on the table. For a moment his grief overwhelmed him. He wanted nothing so much as to seek out the godswood, to kneel before the heart tree and pray for the life of Robert Baratheon, who had been more than a brother to him. Men would whisper afterward that Eddard Stark had betrayed his king's friendship and disinherited his sons; he could only hope that the gods would know better, and that Robert would learn the truth of it in the land beyond the grave. Ned took out the king's last letter. A roll of crisp white parchment sealed with golden wax, a few short words and a smear of blood. How small the difference between victory and defeat, between life and death. He drew out a fresh sheet of paper and dipped his quill in the inkpot. To His Grace, Stannis of the House Baratheon, he wrote. By the time you receive this letter, your brother Robert, our King these past fifteen years, will be dead. He was savaged by a boar whilst hunting in the kingswood . . . The letters seemed to writhe and twist on the paper as his hand trailed to a stop. Lord Tywin and Ser Jaime were not men to suffer disgrace meekly; they would fight rather than flee. No doubt Lord Stannis was wary, after the murder of Jon Arryn, but it was imperative that he sail for King's Landing at once with all his power, before the Lannisters could march. Ned chose each word with care. When he was done, he signed the letter Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, Hand of the King, and Protector of the Realm, blotted the paper, folded it twice, and melted the sealing wax over the candle flame. His regency would be a short one, he reflected as the wax softened. The new king would choose his own Hand. Ned would be free to go home. The thought of Winterfell brought a wan smile to his face. He wanted to hear Bran's laughter once more, to go hawking with Robb, to watch Rickon at play. He wanted to drift off to a dreamless sleep in his own bed with his arms wrapped tight around his lady, Catelyn. Cayn returned as he was pressing the direwolf seal down into the soft white wax. Desmond was with him, and between them Littlefinger. Ned thanked his guards and sent them away. Lord Petyr was clad in a blue velvet tunic with puffed sleeves, his silvery cape patterned with mockingbirds. â€Å"I suppose congratulations are in order,† he said as he seated himself. Ned scowled. â€Å"The king lies wounded and near to death.† â€Å"I know,† Littlefinger said. â€Å"I also know that Robert has named you Protector of the Realm.† Ned's eyes flicked to the king's letter on the table beside him, its seal unbroken. â€Å"And how is it you know that, my lord?† â€Å"Varys hinted as much,† Littlefinger said, â€Å"and you have just confirmed it.† Ned's mouth twisted in anger. â€Å"Damn Varys and his little birds. Catelyn spoke truly, the man has some black art. I do not trust him.† â€Å"Excellent. You're learning.† Littlefinger leaned forward. â€Å"Yet I'll wager you did not drag me here in the black of night to discuss the eunuch.† â€Å"No,† Ned admitted. â€Å"I know the secret Jon Arryn was murdered to protect. Robert will leave no trueborn son behind him. Joffrey and Tommen are Jaime Lannister's bastards, born of his incestuous union with the queen.† Littlefinger lifted an eyebrow. â€Å"Shocking,† he said in a tone that suggested he was not shocked at all. â€Å"The girl as well? No doubt. So when the king dies . . . â€Å" â€Å"The throne by rights passes to Lord Stannis, the elder of Robert's two brothers.† Lord Petyr stroked his pointed beard as he considered the matter. â€Å"So it would seem. Unless . . . â€Å" â€Å"Unless, my lord? There is no seeming to this. Stannis is the heir. Nothing can change that.† â€Å"Stannis cannot take the throne without your help. If you're wise, you'll make certain Joffrey succeeds.† Ned gave him a stony stare. â€Å"Have you no shred of honor?† â€Å"Oh, a shred, surely,† Littlefinger replied negligently. â€Å"Hear me out. Stannis is no friend of yours, nor of mine. Even his brothers can scarcely stomach him. The man is iron, hard and unyielding. He'll give us a new Hand and a new council, for a certainty. No doubt he'll thank you for handing him the crown, but he won't love you for it. And his ascent will mean war. Stannis cannot rest easy on the throne until Cersei and her bastards are dead. Do you think Lord Tywin will sit idly while his daughter's head is measured for a spike? Casterly Rock will rise, and not alone. Robert found it in him to pardon men who served King Aerys, so long as they did him fealty. Stannis is less forgiving. He will not have forgotten the siege of Storm's End, and the Lords Tyrell and Redwyne dare not. Every man who fought beneath the dragon banner or rose with Balon Greyjoy will have good cause to fear. Seat Stannis on the Iron Throne and I promise you, the realm will bleed. â€Å"Now look at the other side of the coin. Joffrey is but twelve, and Robert gave you the regency, my lord. You are the Hand of the King and Protector of the Realm. The power is yours, Lord Stark. All you need do is reach out and take it. Make your peace with the Lannisters. Release the Imp. Wed Joffrey to your Sansa. Wed your younger girl to Prince Tommen, and your heir to Myrcella. It will be four years before Joffrey comes of age. By then he will look to you as a second father, and if not, well . . . four years is a good long while, my lord. Long enough to dispose of Lord Stannis. Then, should Joffrey prove troublesome, we can reveal his little secret and put Lord Renly on the throne.† â€Å"We?† Ned repeated. Littlefinger gave a shrug. â€Å"You'll need someone to share your burdens. I assure you, my price would be modest.† â€Å"Your price.† Ned's voice was ice. â€Å"Lord Baelish, what you suggest is treason.† â€Å"Only if we lose.† â€Å"You forget,† Ned told him. â€Å"You forget Jon Arryn. You forget Jory Cassel. And you forget this.† He drew the dagger and laid it on the table between them; a length of dragonbone and Valyrian steel, as sharp as the difference between right and wrong, between true and false, between life and death. â€Å"They sent a man to cut my son's throat, Lord Baelish.† Littlefinger sighed. â€Å"I fear I did forget, my lord. Pray forgive me. For a moment I did not remember that I was talking to a Stark.† His mouth quirked. â€Å"So it will be Stannis, and war?† â€Å"It is not a choice. Stannis is the heir.† â€Å"Far be it from me to dispute the Lord Protector. What would you have of me, then? Not my wisdom, for a certainty.† â€Å"I shall do my best to forget your . . . wisdom,† Ned said with distaste. â€Å"I called you here to ask for the help you promised Catelyn. This is a perilous hour for all of us. Robert has named me Protector, true enough, but in the eyes of the world, Joffrey is still his son and heir. The queen has a dozen knights and a hundred men-at-arms who will do whatever she commands . . . enough to overwhelm what remains of my own household guard. And for all I know, her brother Jaime may be riding for King's Landing even as we speak, with a Lannister host at his back.† â€Å"And you without an army.† Littlefinger toyed with the dagger on the table, turning it slowly with a finger. â€Å"There is small love lost between Lord Renly and the Lannisters. Bronze Yohn Royce, Ser Balon Swann, Ser Loras, Lady Tanda, the Redwyne twins . . . each of them has a retinue of knights and sworn swords here at court.† â€Å"Renly has thirty men in his personal guard, the rest even fewer. It is not enough, even if I could be certain that all of them will choose to give me their allegiance. I must have the gold cloaks. The City Watch is two thousand strong, sworn to defend the castle, the city, and the king's peace.† â€Å"Ah, but when the queen proclaims one king and the Hand another, whose peace do they protect?† Lord Petyr flicked at the dagger with his finger, setting it spinning in place. Round and round it went, wobbling as it turned. When at last it slowed to a stop, the blade pointed at Littlefinger. â€Å"Why, there's your answer,† he said, smiling. â€Å"They follow the man who pays them.† He leaned back and looked Ned full in the face, his grey-green eyes bright with mockery. â€Å"You wear your honor like a suit of armor, Stark. You think it keeps you safe, but all it does is weigh you down and make it hard for you to move. Look at you now. You know why you summoned me here. You know what you want to ask me to do. You know it has to be done . . . but it's not honorable, so the words stick in your throat.† Ned's neck was rigid with tension. For a moment he was so angry that he did not trust himself to speak. Littlefinger laughed. â€Å"I ought to make you say it, but that would be cruel . . . so have no fear, my good lord. For the sake of the love I bear for Catelyn, I will go to Janos Slynt this very hour and make certain that the City Watch is yours. Six thousand gold pieces should do it. A third for the Commander, a third for the officers, a third for the men. We might be able to buy them for half that much, but I prefer not to take chances.† Smiling, he plucked up the dagger and offered it to Ned, hilt first.