Thursday, January 31, 2019

Brand Name Versus Generics Essay -- Health, FDA

The Food and Drug Administrations approval process initiates with preclinical development that demonstrates that the product is reasonably safe for use in reality and that it shows pharmacological activity that warrants further clinical research. (FDA, 2010) Rodents, swine, and canines are commonly apply to validate safety and effectiveness in laboratory studies callable to their equal anatomy to that of humans. (Sivaramakrishan, 2010) The next step in the process is the submission of an Investigational raw Drug Application (IND) to the FDA for several reasons. (FDA, 2010) Present federal law mandates that a drug be part of an endorsed marketing application ahead of dit and distribution to clinical research sites across state lines. (FDA, 2010) Manufacturers are in like manner required to halt clinical studies for thirty consecutive days for the FDA to reexamination the application and make assurances that there are no unnecessary risks. (FDA, 2010) at that place are three unlike types of INDs which are investigator, emergency and word. (FDA, 2010) An investigator IND is frequently submitted by a clinician that both commences and performs clinical studies on an unendorsed drug or an approved drug for a new purpose or different circumstances. (FDA, 2010) An emergency investigational new drug application is for the purpose of clinical utilize an experimental drug in an urgent situation, such as cancer, that does non allow time for thorough FDA review. (FDA, 2010) The third type is a treatment investigational drug application its purpose is for the submission of experimental drugs that piss potential in previous clinical assessment for severe life weighty situations. (FDA, 2010) An investigational new drug application is required to con... ...DA, branded drugs and their pharmaceutical equivalents have met thorough criterion for identity, strength, quality, purity, and potency which includes commercial production. (FDA, nd) Current Good merchandi sing Practice (CGMP) regulations dictate minimal requirements for facility methods and controls used in the manufacture, processing, and promotion of the drug product. (FDA, 2011) The purpose of these regulations is to ensure safety, maintain the integrity of the ingredients at the claimed strength, and follow honesty with regards to labeling. (FDA, 2011 & Siedman, 2000) Regulations were initially ratified in 1963 continually revised due to accidents, injuries, fatalities, and technological advancements. (Siedman, 2000) Verification of compliance is down by unannounced inspections of facilities, audition analyses, and examination of preceding history. (FDA, 2011)

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism Essay

The Chinese argon the among the cultures to whose lives and philosophies be greatly influenced by their righteousness Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. These three teach of thoughts basically deal as to how the Chinese live in harmony, non only among themselves but with nature as well. Among the three schools of thought, Buddhism is the only wiz which did non originate in China. Hence, it differs with Confucianism and Taoism in as much as it deals with the human being al unity and his suffering.N unrivaledtheless(prenominal), although it is diverse from Confucianism and Taoism, it is admittedly not in conflict with these two but rather it reinforces the concepts and tenets of the two schools of thought. Buddhism primarily gestates in reincarnation (nirvana) and affirms the fact that life is suffering and that desire and craving be the causes of suffering. In order to attain happiness, one has to overcome his cravings and desires, hatred and complaints.Although Buddhism wa s not originally from China, it has nonetheless gained widespread popularity over the centuries. At the start, Buddhism and the Chinese indispensable religions vastly varied. Buddhism reinforced reincarnation time the endemic Chinese believed in single life only. Secondly, Buddhism insists that in order to achieve the state of Nirvana, one has to give up or leave society and enter the continent and homeless life of a monk or nun while the Chinese placed great emphasis on the family and its continuance of descendants.Furthermore, Buddhism does not believe in the existence of the soul compared to the native Chinese who believe in earthly and heavenly souls and lastly, while Buddhism reiterates the independence of the conventual community, native Chinese religions insist that all institutions whether religious or secular are under the government. Eventually though, Buddhism adjusted to Chinese society and vice versa. Hence, the Chinese came to believe in reincarnation and believed that their deceased relatives became ancestors.Because Buddhism propagated the belief of reincarnation and the Chinese came to believe in it, it was able to bring together the development of a series of ideas regarding heaven and eternal happiness and that they could be reborn into different levels. Hence, modern Chinese society used Buddhist temples as the centrepiece of worship and study. It also made Buddhists the key players in funerals by taking over the burial and remembrance of the deceased. Wealthy and affluent Chinese elucidate sure to have Buddhist monks during funerals because their presence more or less became an assurance of a good changeover.Moreover, a deceaseds list place in a spirit plaque inside the temple meant that he or she is part of the daily Buddhist prayer. Gleaning from the history of Buddhism, the religion took different paths. Originally, it was an individualistic religion wherein one is responsible for his own further in the path to nirvana. Thus, it entails that the believer has to enter the monastery and become a monk, with the rate of waiveing their desires. This is done by not doing any work and was only support through begging and donations from the community.But the Chinese found this path to be very difficult and soon easier paths took form. The Chinese are known for their smooth health and long life. This is also attributed to Buddhism. With the separation from the original form of Buddhism came the Tantrik form of Buddhism which stresses the total involvement of the body, mind and speech in the chase for enlightenment and nirvana. As the doctrine of the karma took hold and fabricated itself into Chinese society, start came new types of behaviour that can be attributed to the Buddhists.The Chinese began to answer position meditation and make offerings to images. They also capable the Buddhist rites of confession and consecration. term Buddhism mainly seeks to promote the belief of reincarnation and karma, i t was also able to convert the world of the Chinese in terms of materials by introducing new objects, symbols and rituals. The practice of making donations to the Buddhist monks in order to ensure their good rebirth also became adapted.Hence, inspite of its belief that in order to achieve Nirvana, one has to abandon all worldly and material things, Buddhism today especially in Chinese society encourages donations even at such(prenominal) huge amounts to the extent that the giver fails no reluctance for giving such to a supposedly celibate and austere community all for the sake of ensuring good karma and Nirvana. There is one basis for this practice the monks relied mainly on the donations of the community. Aside from donating for the monks clothing and food, donors are also encouraged to make material offerings to Buddha such as gold, topaz, silvery and crystal.Devotees are also encouraged to make images of the Buddha. While the Chinese are known for their frugality, they noneth eless place great importance in the magnificence of Buddhist practices and images or objects. As can be seen, the Chinese entertain images of the Buddha that are made of precious stones and metals. Unlike Christians who use wood or clays for their images and icons, Chinese Buddhists believe that Buddhist deities must be given such images as their expression of respect.In summary, although Buddhism maintained the belief and practice of austerity and celibacy in order to attain eternal happiness and enlightenment, Chinese society in practice contradicts the tenets of Buddhism. This may be attributed to the fact that Buddhism adapted the culture of the Chinese instead of the other way around. Therefore, even though monks promoted and practiced austerity, they nonetheless encouraged their believers to give material wealth to the monastic community as security for their rebirth.

Ray-Ban Promotion Strategies

dick-Ban in the 20th century has been able to strain its index to maintain parallelism between its discloseputs and the centurys style refractory by the American Culture. A decade breakdown will prove this parallelism roaring. In the 1930s to the 1940s the Aviator style was introduced, suddenly complementing the number of social phenomenon pertaining to this decade. There was a dramatic extend in interest for aviation and all the machines and proficient advances that came with it.One of the closely powerful human raceity acts the brand experienced for men, was when familiar Douglas McArthur1 landed his military cream off at the World War II base in the Philippines light a hotly leave officed pair of Aviator dark glasses. The famous picture of the General wearing his generals hat, smoking a tobacco sh turn up and the quill-Ban Aviator Sunglasses really pushed Aviators, as well as gibe-Ban, over the top. These shades became manufacturingal character of the se nior passing respected pilots equipment. The men confided in the Aviators fine quality and protection against visual harm.Women were in any case added into this look group when one of seasons most famous distaff aviator, Amelia Earhart, was similarly descry with a pair of Ray-Bans Aviators. During the next decades, the domain was bouncing back from the terrible times of war. The population had seen and experienced passable suffering allowing only growth and happiness to take place. The economy was progressing to a point where people were forgetting their sorrows and only concentrating on all the heroes which were coming home. Women were in any case gaining from this growth by change magnitude their rights. They could finally work.This time had become fill with enjoyment, glamour, color, and rocknroll2. With this change in era, Ray-Ban needed to keep on top of their game and follow the present trends. Ray-Ban began offering a extensive range of colorful frames to go along with the clothing style of the time. This ca utilise the sore dark lens dark glasses to become an iconic accessory sequence still having top of the line sun damage protection. This time and milieu was the perfect situation for Ray-Ban to release their radical line of sunglasses, the Wayfarer. They were the first sunglasses to have charge p later(a) frames yet considered to be of high quality.E actually tone close to these brisk sunglasses were attractive to the earth. The new endless term of the frame and fun denote strategies immediately transformed the Wayfarers into the times, and presently, most change model in history. In the 1960s the United States took a technological turn for the stovepipe of mankind. President John F. Kennedy raises Americas hopes and dreams by announcing the plan of a man making a trip to the moon. With much(prenominal) amazing and quick advances in technology, Ray-Ban learned to do the akin. Throughout this time Ray-Ban found they had the capacity to create sunglasses that were mounted in infrangible frames.They put on the commercialize these sunglasses never compensate dream of before and were able to spectacular(p)ly increase the price of their sunglasses by 70%. This price increase was done to prove the quality of much(prenominal) a product and maintain a popular prototype of class. With this increase in popularity even to a greater extent than artists, musicians, movie stars, and television stars were publicly spotted wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses. Ray-Ban even began to make appearances in Hollywood movies as part of the everyday out move of many characters3. The next decade brought on a whole immix of social compromises, as well as the longing to escape reality.This led to the beginning of an interest in science fiction and its role in television and music. Consequently, the changing societal trends influenced the connections new design and the use of more advanced technology. The new locomote and Spor ts Collection is introduced, with the two new styles called the Vagabond and the Stateside. At this point, Ray-Ban was making specialised sun glasses for mountain climbers with mirrored lenses, side protectors made out of leather, and nylon4 mountings which would cover the ears inhibiting these glasses from falling.This new line was creative still very limited in market segmentation. The segment was so small that ad had to be real specific to the interest of the intended market. This was done by publishing in certain ski, outside skills and sports magazines as well as selling the sunglasses in have not bad(predicate)s stores. Ray-Ban was also realizing its Naturals collection, created with the intention of creation a more casual line. This collection went travel by-in-hand with the new age of dance music and glamorous Rock.The sunglasses consisted of larger frames with a larger kind of softer more matte colors with outlines in metals such as liquid and gold. The lenses were degraded to a point where the sunglasses were perfect for day and darkness use. Due to the fact that this new line went hand in hand with the social trends of the moment, advertising was a breeze. Ray-Ban introduced advertisements which simply informed the population nigh their product. By unspoilt informing the population was interested in what they see and took a liking to the new style. During this time in that respect was also the release of the Ambermatice sunglasses.These consisted of ordinateable lenses meaning, they would change different colors in baseball club to adjust to the conditions of the sun and more efficiently protect the eyes from the rays. On jocund days the lenses would become darker allowing more protection, while on a unfixed day the lenses were lighter giving off an amber color. These sun glasses were intended for those athletes who were constantly exposed to the sunlight but the style took safety valve and became a quick trend. Big athletes such as David Beckham, were used as the advertising system for this new line.By showing different athletes clean-living this new athletic collection, Ray-Ban was luring in a whole different market segment. Ads were all about sports and valet de chambre manly which allowed men to feel sluttish buying themselves a pair of sunglasses. The world was then introduced to Wings by Ray-Ban. A unisex style of sunglasses defined as being aerodynamic and revolutionary, and were thought to be the predecessors to the sunglasses with the opened up lenses (these were the lenses which were held in place only by half of the mounting, generally in their upper area), which appeared solely 20 geezerhood after the entre of the Wayfarers.These appealed to the publics new interest of gender equality. Ray-Ban advertised this as the head behind the look creating a who new meaning for these sunglasses. This reached out to the public greatly making Wings a very successfully marketed collection. Ray-Bans pop ularity kept expanding not only due to the great success in publicity and their relationship with mood, but because of their constant appearances in Hollywood. The Blues Br new(prenominal)s, tempestuous Business and Miami Vice are all deterrent examples of popular movies which increased Ray-Bans popularity.But, it was definitely Tom Cruise and Kelly McGills award winning film Top-Gun that pushed Ray-Bans gross gross revenue through the ruff. It was during this increase in success that Ray-Ban was awarded two very prestigious recognitions. In 1985 , the same year Top-Gun was released, the phoner was recognized as The ruff Sunglasses in the World by the Council of behavior Designers of America5. Due to this recognition, Ray-Bans owner Luxottica, is able to become a corporate affiliate of the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America)6.Four years later, Ray-Ban receives another recognition and is awarded the Woolmark Prize in 1989, for their mogul to influence the look of a North American male. In the 90s, Ray-Ban proceed to be featured in films and TV shows in which various of the protagonists were displayed sporting mostly Wayfarers. Reservoir Dogs, for example, has the opening scene in which a fewer of the films characters are shown actually putting the sunglasses on. perennial arranging is what made Ray-Ban sunglasses famous Ray-Ban now places its glasses in 160 films and TV shows each year7 This decade also brought about the development and patenting process of DiamondHard Scratch-Protection. This was a covering put on the lenses of the sunglasses that would make them ten times more resistant that the usual anti-rupture lenses. This clear to a boom of the Orbs style, which was dark shut in classes sometimes having strange designs that consisted of a very thin mounting.This and the Predator style both represent a great part of the success of the brand in recent years and their growing popularity within the male population. This was done by making more market specific commercials and displaying the men and women wearing these as fashionable and attractive. once we reach the 21st century, the fashion industry seemed to be on a designer block. The new fashion was simply old styles with new qualities. 8 For Ray-Ban, this was great news. Once again Ray-Ban was able to put on store shelves their definitive Aviator and Wayfarer styles simply renewed and with better quality.Their advertisements for these classic retros were the same as when they were first introduced. The public seemed to love the look of old commercials and ads. Ray-Ban took a few steps backwards and a huge springtime forward. In the year 2003 though, apart from traditional collection of sunglasses, there is the introduction of optical glasses use lenses created to fit in with the Ray-Ban designs. There is also the introduction of the Junior collection which is comprised of various models of the known styles simply designed to fit the visage of a child. At this point, Ray-Ban began to recognize how important children were to the market.Fashion was meet bigger even for children but Ray-Ban did not advertise to the children. Ray-Ban came up with slipway to market this Junior collection to adults, parents. Ray-Ban showed matching mommy and baby sunglasses as the new fashion icon. Ever since Luxottica acquired the rights to the brand, previously owned by Bausch and Lomb9, Ray-Ban has been constantly coming up with new slogans such as potpourri your view, and the most recent being Never Hide. These new publicity slogans are taking the interests of the coming generations and making it their objective.Still using the classic styles but adding a great variety of color and design, these new slogans are telling the population to be themselves and not be afraid. To stand in the introduction of these, in December 2008, the attach to had a concert called Ray-Ban Remasters which brought unneurotic numerous bands, celebrities, and artists. Instead of having many small advertisements Ray-Ban came out with a single(a) big bang. A new strategy which until today seems to have worked, Ray-Ban is more than a brand of sunglasses. Over time Ray-Ban grew into a fashion icon. unnumerable have said or say that they add a interest of retro and avant-garde style. Many would say they define your personality. When you choose a Ray-Ban you are often choosing an image shaped by history and soaked personalities. If we take a look at the history of Ray-Bans sunglasses production, it was a company which sunglasses went through many ups and downs throughout most all of the products and styles. Due to the great struggle in the worlds economy, if any other company experienced the same path in which this one did, they would have definitely given up and carried on.Ray-Ban, on the other hand, with their constant push to be up in the market and to be present in fashion, has sincerely proven to be victorious in their market strategy. Ray-Bans classic Wayfarers, was the brand which most struggle but ended up being the most sold sunglass brand to date. As discussed before, the Ray Ban Wayfarer was introduced in the early 1950s. Their production began when Ray Ban decided to stray away from the common metal framed sunglasses and take a risky change. They used colorful plastic frames, an idea which took flight in the fashion world immediately. Wayfarers are sometimes cited as the best-selling design of sunglasses in history, and have been called a classic of modern design and one of the most enduring fashion icons of the 20th century. 10 The Wayfarers though, did not start off this way. These sunglasses started off with a strong stable position in the industry when they were introduced in the 1950s and 1960s. The new product was like a shiny new act as for all of Americas fashion industry. Once the fad pronto passed, Ray Bans sales quickly dropped.Despite Ray Bans efforts to get artists, such as the Blues Brothers, to be human advertisements, by the 1980s these sunglasses were no longer a success. Ray Ban had to change their promotion strategy and desist if there was going to be any chance of the Wayfarer surviving. In 1982 Ray Ban came to terms with their let on and took a large financial leap to correct this problem. A $50,000 yearly contract was signed with Unique harvesting Placement to have Ray Bans sunglasses on screening and in front of consumer eyes. The sunglasses would be appearing in movies and television shows.Throughout this period Ray Bans were displayed in more than 50 shows and big screen movies per year11. Some of the most famous on screen phenomenon in which these appeared were Risky Business, The Breakfast Club, Miami Vice. precisely four years prior, Ray-Ban had been considering discontinuing their Wayfarer product. Due to their new product placement contract, the Wayfarer Sunglass peaked at $1. 5 million in sales in 1986 alone. This popularity did not stop with just films a nd television shows though. Ray-Ban made trustworthy their incredible come back kept them on top. Wayfarers were the decades sunglasses of choice. 12As the 90s rolled around, once again the Wayfarers lost their great popularity. The great success they found in the 80s just did not seem to stick. Ray-Bay though, being the true innovators that they are, learned how to deal with this issue quickly. In 2001, Ray-Ban had the Wayfarer undergo a dramatic design which include smaller frames which were also less pointed. They also changed from acetate, a cellulite compound used for binding, and changed it to a lighter plastic based chemical. The reasoning behind this redesign was to make the sunglasses more wearable and to have their physique be different and more appealing.Wayfarers stuck it through and stayed in the limelight well into the late 2000s when celebrities decided to change their sunglass style to much larger vintage frames. The companys designers quickly caught on to the new trend and realized how high the vintage Wayfarers were selling for on varies online bargaining sites. Ray-Bans trade strategy was threefold a return to the sunglasses original, rebellious design, an edgy advertising campaign and high-profile PR events, and the use of new media like MySpace to connect with consumers Brunelli, Richard. Ray-Ban Wayfarers do in the Shade13.As of October 2007, the Ray-Ban Wayfarer became Luxotticas third best selling style later increasing sales over 40%. Despite their past fails, Ray-Ban learned and put to practice great promotional strategies which lead them to success. One of the main reasons this company stayed solid and in line of merchandise is because Ray Ban has always stayed true to having a clear and successful promotion mix. Not to be confused with marketing mix, promotion mix consists of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, corporate image, direct marketing, and exhibitions.When it comes to advertising, Ray-Ban can be considered experts. A great portion of the companys success in being one of the most popular styles in the fashion world can definitely be awarded to Hollywood, TV, movie stars, and musicians, but it was mostly through the advertising strategies that Ray-Ban was able to expand and make themselves known. Ray-Bans constant evolving marketing campaigns is what truly set them apart from the rest. Wanting to keep up with the fast pace of the fashion industry Ray-Ban had to constantly come up with new ideas and products to adapt to new technologies.Ray-Ban started off simply having picture ads, now Ray-Ban uses the internet, television, pictures, and even big screen advertising in the center of New York City. An example of an extremely successful advertisement campaign has been the Never Hide campaign, in which celebrities and regular Ray-Ban customers send in pictures of themselves sporting a Ray-Ban style to the companys site. Many of these pictures are displayed in New York Cit ys big screens for everyone to see. Not only does this create demand but shows the companys respect and love of everyones interest and creativity.This doing can also be considered a sales promotion, marketing communication with the purpose of increasing consumer demand and stimulating market demand. Another promotion mix gene is public relations which consist of stimulation of supply for a product by planting significant news about it or the maker in a well known favorable media source. Ray-Ban can surcharge themselves on the fact that the way they marketed their products through well known and highly respected sources, increased their products quality belief and promotes the companys image positively.The image of an organization is an extremely important part of marketing. In order to have consumers trust and their willingness to buy a product from a company, the companys reputation must be a good one. Ray-Ban has no doubt, a very good image. This reputation has come from the c onstancy it has maintained regardless of the constant roller coaster in the economy and market. Ray-Bans image also positively changed when the bigger, more respected company Luxottica bought out the brand. So in conclusion, Ray-Ban Sunglass company, has simply had the key to success from start to present, and that is marketing.

Sunday, January 27, 2019

General Profile City of Kelsey

The city of Kelsey is a very eco-friendly lodge. Their goals were to provide a safer surroundings for their companionship. They wanted to encourage their quality of life with health lifestyles and efforts for the environment. They meet constitutional gardens, and orchards. They really focus on natural resources and preservation. The type of work in the City of Kelsey is a consulting firm, trucking company, organic fruits and vegetables, and a device company.The found shipping company is Huffman trucking which ships there organic, fruits and vegetables. Kelsey gardens runs a restaurant and have positions available in the vacationing season. They also have a construction company that admirers Jobs become available for the residents of Kelsey such as construction, contracting, designing and engineering. The union of the City of Kelsey has an annual balloon fest every year, and a monthly farmers mart for the community. They also partake in the St.Patricks Day Parade, craft fair s, and a memorial softball tournament, and an annual 10K marathon. The residents of the City of Kelsey ar very involved in their community and there are lots of activities for all. The members of the community really rupture together to make things happen and keep on everyone going. They also have a post office that allow fors shipping and mailing services for the residents. There health check center allows you to get the proper care when you need it.The responsibilities of the people of the City of Kelsey is to let the community now that they focus on continuously meliorate and making the City of Kelsey a happy place for all. There are so many opportunities at the City of Kelsey whether its finding employment or Joining the small or large businesses of the community. Each member of this community puts all efforts to making sure that they keep their community clean and help everyone developing a healthy lifestyle.The responsibilities of the community to their individuals are to let them heart like they can e comfortable and involved in their community. They offer numerous activities to bring everyone closer together as a community and at the same era they are having fun and staying healthy. As a member of this community being socially responsible would consist of volunteering my time and efforts to be a part of this community and do whatever it takes to keep it going strong and help come up with fresh new-sprung(prenominal) ideas for the community to grow and become a part of.

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Policy in Higher Education in USA Essay

high program line in the USA has been receiving the highest enrolments for school-age childs in colleges and universities followed by the UK (Dill, 2007). general research funding continues to increase annu tout ensembley to en confident(predicate) that the students are well-to-do and the enrolments should keep on increasing. The chip of international students is likewise increasing and these foreign students are vital for institutional funding and without them the sector would be literary bankrupt whilst many of the science and tech noogy departments would have few or no postgraduate students.Although the revenue position of USA universities has improved, there remain a large backlog of investment in infrastructure oddly for teaching. The higher institutions will continue to be the subject of pressures from the government and employees to be more efficient and relevant and provide a bump learn and social experience for the students money. Some literature review to the sa me split that services have ventured into synchronous forms of communication using chat technologies, modify an interactive, real time connection (Alderman, & Brown, 2005)..Its main advantages include its ostentation gratification that reading crumb now be assessed from everywhere and tolerate be set into a 24/7 service (Dill, 2007). soon enough much of the literature reports low uptake and dissatisfaction. Description of the policy matter To tackle the problem of the high numbers of students going for higher education then there should be an increase in the fee pennant coupled by the reduction in generosity of the present student support regime (Alderman, & Brown, 2007).Raising the fees is likely to create catgut effects for competition that will exacerbate the differences in funding and record between institutions and the social groups which they serve without any compensating gains in effectiveness or efficiency. The distorting influence of prestige in US means th at the educational be for elite universities provide a price umbrella to the rest of the system of rules and present spending targets of less elite institutions that wish to compete by raising their prices (Brown, 2006).Competitive markets will encourage an academic arms washout for prestige amongst all institutions, which rapidly increase the cost of higher education and devalue the improvement of student learning. Away of making the policy applicable is to have some know off points for pursuing a trustworthy level of education. Also particular courses which are in high demand, the cut off grade for pursuing the same should be high to regularise the tone of education offered.The state should dedicate funds in forms of loans and also avail an amble atmosphere for research work. It should also make sure that students have internship programs to enable them put into practice what they learn. Others the federals can offer them calling opportunities so that they work while pursu ing their education. What the state should attempt to do and how The immediate response is likely to be an increase in inter-institutional coaction in order to strengthen market position and to make better use of resources (Alderman, & Brown, 2005).This is likely to be in a number of ways local quislingism with other higher education institutions inside US, collaboration with institutions overseas so that students dont have to father all the way to the USA to look for higher education when they can access the same services while in their home countries, and collaboration with partners outside the sector. Conclusions The presented policy may not be easy to give especially in teaching as older universities will idolize to collaborate with new ones for fear of loosing prestige.Some newer universities on the other lot may not want to collaborate with competitors. However the state should tell to it that the collaboration is not tampered with and all institutions work together for the benefit of all people who are in need of higher education (Dill, 2007).ReferencesAlderman, G & Brown, R (2005), Can Quality Assurance Survive The commercialise Accreditation and Audit at the Crossroads? Higher Education Quarterly Vol. 59, no. 4 Alderman, G & Brown, R (2007), American and British Higher Education Common Problems, Common Responses. College and University Journal, vol. 82, no 3, 19-24. Brown, R. (2006) Higher Education and the Market. young York and London Routledge Dill, D. (2007) Will market competition assure academic quality? An analysis of the UK and US experience in Westerheijden, D. , Stensaker, B. and Rosa, M. J. (Eds) Quality Assurance in Higher Education Trends in Regulation, Translation and Transformation Dordrecht Springer

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Lenin in accounting for Stalins defeat of his opponents in the years 1924-1929 Essay

How significant were the personalities of the contenders to succeed Lenin in invoice for Stalins over analyse of his opponents in the years 1924-1929Stalin, throughout the fierce strife for force-out exploited his attributes to the best of his mightiness, however his tactic were not the wholly fixings in his eventual winner. Perhaps whats much interesting is the arrogant fails, one by one of each of his contenders which was due to their individual personalities. galore(postnominal) argue this is the more(prenominal) significant argue for Stalins rise to might, and that if this had mother been changed Stalins success would have been entirely contrastive.Stalins opponents, understandably had in truth different personalities. up to now thinking in hindsight none of them fascinatem to bring out a difficult situation for Stalin. This could be due to Stalins ingrained faculty to change and use his opponents strengths and weaknesses, or perhaps the general naivety o f gayy in the politburo. One main example of this is Trotsky, and his rather selfish and arrogant spirit. This intern made people weary of his power, and made him all told oversee Stalin as a contender for power.Lenin in his testament says himself he is not sure whether he will always be assailable of using that authority with sufficient caution and the politburo completely over aphorism this cautious remark for their own reputation. The secernate seems to mention members of the Bolshevik troupe didnt use their personalitys to the best if their potential. what is more Trotsky seemed rattling trivial about the whole situation. In 1924 he didnt pull Lenins funeral, eventually blaming that on Stalin. In the successive years later he didnt make pregnant politburo meetings and refused to make alliances. In 1926 he did eventually see light forming the united opposition however by consequently it was in like manner late and Stalins fan bestial was too large in the central commission.Another example of this is how Bukharin in 1925 fixed to stay strictly to the Bolshevik rules. This perhaps shows how good a man he is, but not how good a politician he is. In that situation he has seen his fellow socialist members being taken over by Stalin, but does genuinely little to stop this. Furthermore he says himself Stalin is an unprincipled intriguer who subordinates e actuallything for his appetite for power The order here(predicate) suggests he saw the dilemma, but does very little about it.In hindsight we now know he allowed Stalin to use his power lower-ranking for his own political marketing. This shows the trustworthy naivety of Bukharin and how Stalins personality completely overshadowed anybody elses in the politburo. barely this shows how truly significant the personalities of every one of Stalins contenders were, in allowing and creating a path for Stalin to walk to power. Perhaps if other people in the politburo were unstrained to play surre ptitious maneuver like Stalin, the end would have been different. In retrospect we can see personalities might not be a main factor perhaps the individual ideologies played a bigger role, but its the way people acted towards Stalin, completely overshadowing him that makes personalities so significant. otherwise peoples personalities did play a vital role, but now in marginal contrast we begin looking at Stalins personality strengths, and how he uses them to the best of his ability. He, from the very beginning was a yes man following Lenin work the very end. However one major strength that Lenin foresaw was Stalins ability to challenge his thoughts and ideologies. Stalin from the very beginning has a very strong personality (Lenin) and this was used this in the July days (a troubled time for the Bolshevik companionship) when Lenin take this unique quality from him. Arguably this is Stalins biggest asset. Furthermore Stalins ability to change tactics and ideologies, evently in t he later stage of the power struggle was, down to an incredibly versatile personality. Moreover his ability to look into the future and plan his actions to aid his emphasize was stunning, as if he mean every move meticulously and almost in hindsight. Looking at the evidence, Stalins personality was vital in his accent, but perhaps if the others had been different the overall outcome would have drastically changed.Personalities were vital in the success and failures of the struggle, however Stalins under hand tactics played an as important role. Before and during the 5 year struggle he implemented many tactics to undermine his opponents, and one by one reverse them from the possibility of power. Lenin saw this in his final years, and discussed it in his testament, however Stalin persuaded Kamenev and Zinoviev to fight his side, and intern keep his job. Furthermore his ability to switch ideologies and allies is a testament to his versatile personality. An example of this is in t he later stages of the struggle, when only him and Bukharin were leftover(a) for the job. Stalin suddenly rejected NEP because it was failing and turned radically left.This sudden target allowed left wing supporters and nationalist war communists to support him, as intimately as gaining the support of anti NEP politicians. In all this he managed to commit Bukharin to pick up the pieces of NEP. Furthermore Stalin re introduced grain requisitioning in early on 1928 to make sure NEP was a complete fail. Its these quite brilliant tactics that formulate into a plan that make Stalin truly versatile and incredibly shrewd and devious. In everything Stalin did there always seemed to be a very formulated plan, and in this was surrounded by brilliant political tactics. However these tactics were merely ways of getting rid of political opponents, and due to personalities as whole, arguably tactics are not as important as other factors.Alternatively the power bases of other opponents could be as significant as personality in the war struggle for power, and the defeat of all his opponents. All Stalins opponents had important roles within the Bolshevik party, and in many ways more significant roles than Stalin. One in particular is Trotsky. Head of the Red army, and an incredibly influential role within the Politburo. Lenin says himself in person he is, to be sure, the most able man in the generate primaeval Committee His power base is remarkable, with huge amounts of Kudus within the Bolshevik party. However arguably as well as him being too self-confident Stalin used this wealth of power base to his advantage by forming the Triumvirate with Zinoviev and Kamenev. When we turn to other members such as Bukharin, we see that generally their powerbases, although more significant for policy making were not as useful for gaining power as Stalins, and perhaps this was a significant argue for their in individual defeat. Stalins role within the party was full general sec retary and head of enrolment and promotions.This involved the inner workings of the Party. The evidence indicates that Stalin used his role, from 1922 to intone his fan base within the party and Central committee, which later in 1925/26 seemed to secure his position within the party, in 1923 it was up to 30%, and steadily rising. This seems to indicate his role and power base far out saw anyone elses within the party, and that actually he was in the perfect position to take up power, even foreseeing this in 1924 by stopling what Lenin saw from the politburo, and vice versa. Stalin took up a highly administrative role, and this worked in his advantage, however the evidence suggests that if other factors were stronger, such as opposition personalities that Stalin still wouldnt have made it to power. Arguably in this light personalities seem more significant.Ideologies of the opposition and Stalin play of key import in how arguments were won and lost. For example, Trotsky stayed fa r left with all his ideologies perhaps in a more noble way than Stalin, and eventually he was engulfed by Stalins devious tactics. Another example would be Zinoviev and Kamenev, in the triumvirate staying function of the spectrum. However when they rejoin to form the left and united opposition they brook huge respect for changing ideologies within the party. Interestingly this seems like an incredibly vital point leading onto Stalins ideological viewpoints. Throughout the originate of the political struggle, he sways right but doesnt involve himself in any main arguments about, for example rapid industrialisation. This tactic to stay the fondness man has its disadvantages.For example he is described by members of the Bolshevik party as a grey blur. However it also has its advantages. Stalin was then able to sway from his very Right views within communism to left views with not much notice he was able to move ideologies to strengthen his fan base and his viewpoints. For exa mple when the NEP failed he removed himself from it, thus allowing Bukharin to take the blame and him stay in the positive public spotlight. Its this very middle ideological viewpoint that the evidence suggest allowed Stalin to change as he did, allowing him to use it to his great advantage. Despite this, other arguments perhaps suggest it is not the most significant factor in Stalins accent within the government, and that actually his deceitful, arrogant and shrewd personality was the true reason that allowed him to flourish the way he did.In conclusion, looking at all the evidence it is clear a combination of factors were involved in Stalins accent of power. On one hand it seems Stalins powerbase seems to be the firsthand factor, that despite anyones efforts his place within government allowed to build a vast fan base in such a nearsighted amount of time. Furthermore others power base didnt seem to fit in the superiority of his, even though on the forefront they seem more imp ortant, Trotsky is a prime example of this. On the other hand his tactics seem the obvious significant factor looking at how he manipulated allies and oppositions, such as Bukharin and Zinoviev. More over his ability to control the politburo with his allies over the testament suggests that this could have been a primary twist point for Stalins direction on how to achieve power.However dive into the muddle of linked causes, personalities seems to come out on top. The tactics and honourable high ground was generally taken by his opposition, but it seems they didnt play hard enough. They didnt morally want to use underhand tactics and switch ideologies because they believed in what they were fighting in. Its this decorum that contributed more than anything else. Looking at the other side of the spectrum Stalins fierce personality, with no conscience seems to be the perfect mix to manipulate not only the communist party but the general public as well. It is this crystalline inhuma ne ability to be deceptive in this way that allows the evidence to suggest, on the top, personality is the most significant factor in accounting for Stalins defeat of his opponents in the years 1924-1929.

Friday, January 18, 2019

Assess the view that ethnic differences Essay

?An heathenish minority emphasize increases your chances of hitch and reliance, some hoi polloi moot that jurisprudence racial discrimination in it ego results in higher suspicion against sub dued mountain in general. According to official statistics there atomic number 18 important heathen differences in the likelihood of being involved in the woeful arbitrator system. Black and Asians be overrepresented in the system. For fount abusive people lease up 2. 8% of the universe, but 11% of the prison population. contrastingly discolours ar underrepresented. just such statistics do not tell us whether members of mavin heathenish group be much in all likelihood than members of some other social group to commit an offence in the first send off they just tell us more than or slight involvement in the poisonous justice system. For example differences in stop and search or arrest range whitethorn be due to law racism, maculation differences in rates of imprisonment may be the result of courts handing down harsher sentences on minorities. There atomic number 18 other sources of statistics to reveal link of heathenishity and anger. victim watchs assume singles to say what nuisances they en sexuality been victims of.We fecal matter get information on ethnicality and pique from surveys when we ask what ethnicity of the person who committed the annoyance against them. For example in the role of mugging cruddys argon overly represented among those indentified by victims as offenders. Victim surveys intend much abomination is intra-ethnic it takes place within rather than amidst ethnic groups. For example the British offensive survey (2007) put in 90% of where the victim was clean-living at least one of the offenders was in like manner white. hitherto bandage victim surveys be useful in identifying ethnic patterns of offending, they look at several limitations. They rely on a victims storehouse of events.Ben Bow ling and Coretta Phillips (2002) effectuate whites may over identify blacks, saying the offender was black even when not sure. They simply cover personal crimes, which make up 20% of all crimes. They exclude under 16s minority ethnic groups contain a higher counterpoise of new-fangled people. They exclude crimes by big business indeed tell us nothing of ethnicity of white collar criminals. Thus victim surveys only tell us some the ethnicity of a small proportion of offenders, which may not be good example of offenders in general. Self reputation studies ask individuals to disclose their own thieving(prenominal) and violent behaviour.Graham and Bowling (1995) tack that blacks and whites had quasi(prenominal) rates of offending, while Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis had lower rates. Similarly Sharp and Budd (2005) pecker that the 2003 offending, crime and justice survey of 12,000 people found whites and mixed ethnic origin groups were more probable than blacks and As ians to say they had committed offences. The Home Office postulate conducted nine self report studies on drugs since the early 1990s, all with similar findings. Sharp and Budd (2005) found 27% of mixed ethnicity individuals said they had used drugs in the last year, compared to 16% of blacks and whites, and 5% of Asians.Use of class a drugs, such as heroin or cocaine was 3 measure higher among whites than blacks and Asians. The findings of self report studies challenge stereotypes of blacks more credibly than whites to offend, though they support the widely held context Asians are less potential to offend, however self report studies have their limitations in relation to ethnicity and offending. Overall the show of ethnicity and offending is inconsistent. For example while official statistics and victim surveys point to the likelihood of higher rates of offending by blacks this is generally not the results of self report studies.There are ethnic differences at each stage of the criminal justice process. To beg off them we occupy to look at main stages of the process that an individual may go through with(predicate), possibly culminating in a custodial sentence. Phillips and Bowling (2007) represent since the 70s there have been many allegations of oppressive policing of minorities, including stop and search, deaths in custody, practice of law violence and failure to respond effectively to racist violence. Minorities are more presumable to be halt and searched by law of nature. Statistics show Asians were terce measure more likely to be searched under this act.Its thus unsurprising minorities are less likely to gauge patrol acted politely when stopped, or think they were stopped fairly. Phillips and Bowling (2007) designate these communities feel over constabularyd and over protect and have limited faith in the natural law. There are three possible reasons for the disproportionate use of stop and search against minorities. Police racism the Macpherson Report (1999) on the police force investigation of the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence concluded there was institutional racism in the metropolitan police.Other have found deeply ingrained racist attitudes among individual officers. For example Phillips and Bowling point out that many officers hold ban stereotypes about ethnic minorities as criminals, leading to deliberate targeting for stop and search. such stereotypes are endorsed and upheld by the pull up stakesteen culture of rank and file officers. Ethnic differences in offending an alternative explanation is that the disproportionality in stop and searches barely glows ethnic differences in levels of offending.yet its useful to distinguish surrounded by low savvy and high discretion stops. In low discretion stops police act on relevant information about a limited offence, for example a victims comment of the offender. In high discretion stops police act without specific intelligence. It is in these stops police can use stereotypes that disproportionality and discrimination are more likely. Demographic factors ethnic minorities are over represented in the population groups who are most likely to be stopped such as the young, the pink-slipped, manual workers and urban dwellers.These groups are all more likely to be stopped, regardless of their ethnicity, but they are besides groups who have a higher proportion of ethnic minorities in them, so minorities get stopped more. Figures in England and Wales show that in 2006/07, the arrest rates for blacks was 3. 6 times higher than for whites. Contrastingly once arrested blacks and Asians were less likely to receive a police caution. One reason for this may be more likely to deny the offence and likely to exercise their right to legal advice. heretofore not admitting the offence means they cannot be let off with a caution and are more likely to be charged instead.The eyeshade prosecution service is the body responsib le for deciding whether a font brought by the police should be prosecuted in court. In doing so cycle per second must decide whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction and whether the prosecution is in the publics interest. Studies raise the CPS is more likely to drop cases against minorities. Bowling and Phillips (2002) argue this may be be wee the evidence presented to the CPS by the police is often weaker and based on stereotyping of ethnic minorities as criminals.When cases do go ahead minorities are more likely to elect trial before a jury in the eyeshade Court rather than the magistrates court, perhaps due to mistrust of magistrates impartiality. and diadem courts can impose more severe sentences if convicted. Thus is interesting to note minorities are less likely to be found guilty. This suggests discrimination, in that the police and CPS may be bringing weaker or less monstrous cases against ethnic minorities that are thrown out by the courts.In 2006/7 custod ial sentences were given to a great proportion of black offenders (68%) than white (55%) or Asian offenders (59%), whereas whites and Asians were more likely than blacks to receive community sentences. This may be due to differences in seriousness of the offences or defendants previous convictions. However a study of 5 crown courts by roger Hood (1992) found even when such factors were taken into account, black men were 5% more likely to receive a custodial sentence, and were given sentences of an average of 3 months longer than whites.Another reason for harsher sentences id pre sentence reports (PRs) written by probation officers. A PRs is intended as a risk assessment to assist magistrates in deciding on the appropriate sentence for a given offender. However Hudson and Bramhall (2005) argue that PRs allow for unwitting discrimination. They found reports on Asian offenders were less comprehensive and suggested that they were less remorseful than white offenders. They place this bi as in the context of demonising Muslims in the wake of 9/11 attacks. In 2007, one quarter of the male prison population was minorities.Blacks were five times more likely to be in prison than whites. Black and Asians were more likely to be serving longer sentences. Within the total prison population all minorities had a higher than average proportion of prisoners on remand. This is because minorities are less likely to be granted bail whilst awaiting trial. There are similar patterns in other countries, for example in USA 2 fifths of prison population is black. There was large scale migration from the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent in the 50s, at this time it was agreed minorities had lower crime rates.However by the 70s there was conflict betwixt blacks and the police meaning black viciousness became more of a problem. Contrastingly by the 90s Asian crime also became pictureed as a problem. Events e. g. 9/11 cemented the idea that Asians were a dismay to public order. There are two main explanations for ethnic differences in crime left realism and neo-Marxism. Left realists ley and juvenile (1993) argue ethnic differences in statistics reflect real differences in the levels of offending by different ethnic groups. Left realists see crime the product of congress deprivation, subculture and marginalisation.They argue racism had led to economic exclusion of ethnic minorities who formulation higher unemployment, poverty and poor housing. At the same time the Medias strain on consumerism promotes a sense of relative deprivation by setting materialistic goals that many minorities are unable to reach by legitimise means. One response is formation of delinquent subcultures, especially by young unemployed blacks. It produces higher utilitarian crime to cope with relative deprivation. what is more as these groups are marginalised and have no groups to represent their interests their frustration is apt(predicate) to produce non utilitarian crime such as rioting.Lea and Young acknowledge police often act in racist shipway and results in unjustified criminalisation of some members of minorities. However they dont believe discriminatory policing fully explains the statistics. For example over 90% of crimes know to the police are reported by the public rather than discover themselves. Under these circumstances even if police act discriminatory its unlikely it can account for ethnic differences in statistics. Similarly Lea and Young argue we cannot explain differences in minorities in terms of police racism. For example blacks are more criminalised than Asians.The police would have to be discriminating in their racism for racism to cause these differences. Lea and Young thus conclude that the statistics represent real differences in levels of offending between ethnic groups and these are caused by real differences in levels of relative deprivation and marginalisation. However Lea and Young can be criticised for their views on the rol e of police racism. For example arrest rates may be lower for Asians because police stereotype them differently. Stereotypes may have changed since 9/11, explaining rising criminalisation of this group. spot left realists see official statistics reflecting real differences in offending between ethnic groups, other sociologists have argued differences in statistics do not reflect reality. These differences are the outcome of a process of social construction that stereotypes ethnic minorities as inherently more criminal than the majority of the population. The work of neo Marxists Paul Gilroy (1982) and Stuart hallway (1979) illustrates this view. Gilroy argues the idea of black criminality is a romance created by racist stereotypes of African Caribbeans and Asians.In reality these groups are no more criminal than any other. However as a result of the police and criminal justice system acting on these racist stereotypes, ethnic minorities came to be criminalised and thus to appear i n greater numbers in official statistics. Gilroy argues ethnic minority crime can be seen as a form of political resistance against a racist society, and this struggle has roots in earlier struggle against British imperialism. Gilroy holds a similar view to that of critical criminology which argues working class crime is a political act against capitalism.Most blacks and Asians in the UK originated from former colonies where their anti imperialist struggles taught them how to resist oppression, for example through riots and demonstrations. When they found themselves facing racism in Britain they adopted the same form of struggles to defend themselves, but their political struggle was criminalised by the British state. However Lea, Young and Gilroy are criticised on several grounds. First generation immigrants were very law abiding, so its unlikely they passed their anti colonialist struggle onto their children.Most crime is interethnic, criminals and victims usually have similar eth nic backgrounds, so it cant be seen as anti colonial struggle against racism. Lea and Young argue Gilroy romanticises roadway crime as revolutionary. Asian crime rates are similar to or lower than whites. If Gilroy were right then the police are only racist towards black and not Asians, which seems unlikely. Stuart dormitory room et al adopt a neo Marxist perspective. They argue the 70s saw a moral terror over black muggers that served the interests of capitalism.Hall et all argues the ruling class can normally rule the subordinate classes through consent. However in times of crisis this becomes more difficult. In the early 70s British capitalism faced a crisis. High inflation and rising unemployment provoked widespread industrial unrest and strikes. When opposition to capitalism was growing the ruling class may need to use force to keep control. However the use of force of necessity to be legitimated or provoke more resistance. The 70s also saw a media driven panic of the growt h of mugging.In reality mugging was a new name for street robbery and Hall et al suggest there was no significant increase of this crime at the time. stick up was soon to be associated by the media, police and politicians with black callowness. Hall et al argues that the emergence of the moral panic about mugging as a specifically black crime at the same time as crisis of capitalism was no coincidence the moral panic and crisis were linked. The myth of the black mugger served as a scapegoat to distract attention from the true cause of problems of unemployment, namely the crisis of capitalism.The black mugger symbolised disintegration of social order. By presenting black youth as a threat to the fabric of society the moral panic served to divide the working class on racial grounds and come apart opposition to capitalism as well as winning touristed consent to authoritarian forms of rule to suppress opposition. However Hall et al do not argue that black crime was solely a product of media and police labelling. The crisis of capitalism was increasingly marginalising black youth through unemployment and drove them to a lifestyle of hustling and petty crime to survive.However Hall et al have been criticised on several grounds. Downes and Rock (2003) argue that Hall et al are inconsistent in claiming that black street crime was not rising, but also that it was rising because of unemployment. They do not show how a capitalist crisis led to a moral panic, nor do they provide evidence that the public were in fact panicking or blaming crime on blacks. Left realists argue inner city residents fears about mugging are not panicky but realistic. Until recently the focus of the ethnicity and crime deal was largely about the over representation of blacks in the criminal justice system.However recently sociologists have studied racist using of ethnic minorities. Racist victimisation occurs when an individual is selected as a target because of their race, gender or religi on. Racist victimisation is nothing new, but brought into public view with the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and the subsequent Macpherson inquiry into the police investigation. culture of victimisation comes from two main sources the British crime survey and police enter statistics. These generally cover racist incidents, any incident sensed to be racist by the victim or another person.They also cover racially or religiously aggravated offences where the offender is actuate by hostility towards members of a racial or religious group. The police recorded 60,000 racist incidents in England and Wales in 2006/7, mostly damage to retention and verbal harassment. However most incidents go unreported the British crime survey estimates there were 184,000 racially motivated incidents in 2006/7. The police recorded 42,600 racially or religiously aggravated offences on 06/7, mostly harassment. 10,600 people were prosecuted or cautioned for racially aggravated offences in 2006 .The risk of being a victim of any sort of crime varies by ethnic group. The 2006/7 British crime survey shows people of mixed ethnic background had a higher risk of becoming a victim of crime than blacks, Asians or whites. The differences may be partly the result of factors other than ethnicity. For example for violent crime factors such as being young, male and unemployed are strongly linked to victimisation.Ethnic groups with a high proportion of young males are thus likely to have higher rates of victimisation. However some of these factors such as unemployment are themselves partly due to discrimination while the statistics record the instances of victimisation they dont come the victims experience of it. As Sampson and Phillips (1992) note racist victimisation tends to be over time with repeated minor instances of abuse with triennial physical violence. The resulting long term psychological impact needs to be added to the physical injury and damage to property caused by offe nders. Members of minority ethnic communities have often been active in responding to victimisation.Responses range from situational crime taproom measures such as fireproof doors to organised self defence campaigns. such(prenominal) responses need to be understood in the context of accusations of under justification by the police who often ignore the racist dimension in victimisation and fail to investigate incidents properly. For example the Macpherson enquiry (1999) concluded the police investigation into the death of black teenager Stephen Lawrence was marred by incompetence, institutional racism and failure of leadership by senior officers. Others have found deeply ingrained racist attitudes among individual officers.

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Thorn Queen Chapter Three

Once I stopped hyperventilating from of completely timey the upkeep on me, I immediately realized Nia had been right ab appear the curry. analogous always, the nobility dressed exchangeable that they were exit to a Renaissance Faire that served ecstasy. Satin, velvety, silk. unconstipated a comminuted leather here and there. Lots of jewelry, lots of skin. The glisten array dazzled the eye, the food colors shining, rich, and natural.I wore a sundress signifyt to collapse cast of a vintage odor. Made of tan gauze scatte rosy with a design of tiny yellow f disdains, it had an empire waist and a clingy half-size skirt that went to my knees. The straps tied behind my neck, and most of my back stayed b ar, all the break to show off my tat alsos a wo cosmoss face within a enough moon on my neck and a line of violets on my lower back. The dresss color odored groovy with the dusky, light auburn of my hair.Unfortunately, time the shabby-chic peasant look might be expens ive and very much in tendency in the adult male world, dressing interchangeable a peasant in a place resembling the set from an epic medieval movie firebrand you look wish hygienic, healthy, a peasant.Oh my God, I hissed to Shaya as we walked through the room. I look completely out(p) of place.Be quiet, she snapped, in a r ar pageant of the consternation she probably actually always held or so me. You are cigarette of the Thorn Land. You destroyed genius of the shining bingle and only(a)s most powerful kings. You drive home the right to wear what ever you regard, so act manage it.I swallowed my retort and hoped she and her tough love were right. As it was, I had to resist the cheer to cling to her snuff it wish a child. That inept social breeding of mine made navigating this kind of attention tender. Shaya had promised to stay by my grimace and ensure my etiquette, though that had allayed my fears scarcely marginally. With a great force of provide, I tried to follow her advice and look haughty and unconcerned by my appearance.You m over-the-hilliness go to Maiwenn first, she murmured, and then most of them will start out to you for introductions. Youve been a great source of curiosity, and this is your first public appearance since taking the opinion poll.Got it. Maiwenn first.The Willow king appeared to be surrounded by a throng of people. We channelizeed toward them. On the way, I received an assortment of nods, curtsies, and bows. The room held a handful of monarchs, my peers, solely all(prenominal) other noble held a rank lower than mine. A a couple of(prenominal) of those we passed bided greeting. I suspected I might pitch met them at a ball Id attended perish spring. Most simply gave me polite murmurings of Your majesty.We reached Maiwenns stria of admirers. I entailt to h all over on the edges, but the people parted for us, in short freehanded Shaya and me a front-row view.Maiwenn sat in an ornately carved wooden t hr one, its whirling designs accented here and there with gold. She herself was golden, with lustrous, tanned skin and colossal hair that looked like spilled sunshine. A gown of teal velvet-the same color as her eyeball-showed her maternal curves to great advantage. Yet, her sterling(prenominal) ornamentation, in my opinion, was the striking descriptor of Kiyo standing close toby, one hand re stay on the back of her chair. He wore nobility clothing tonight, simple sour slacks and a long-sleeved white silk tunica that he probably could contract worn among humans without question. His look, warm and dark, met mine briefly before turning back to the person addressing Maiwenn. Heat flared betwixt him and me in that moment, and electricity coursed through my body as I remembered last night.-best wishes for you and your child, your majesty, the man was saying. Truly this is a joyous occasion, and we pray to the gods for close possibility and sizable health.I pondered his word s, recalling Kiyo expressing me this was less of a baby shower bath and to a greater extent of a peck ceremony. The gentry did non cogitate often, nor did they comport children easily. Infant mortality was high. old superstition held that a compevery like this, with so m all well-wishers, would imbue the child with luck and ensure prosperity.The man finished his spiel and movementd to a servant to bring his gift. The servant give over a humbled golden chest, nearly the size of a shoebox, which his master opened with a flourish. A a a few(prenominal)(prenominal) oohs sounded from those gathered, and I craned my head to see what it held. A glitter of red met my look.This is my gift to your son or daughter the finest rubies from my land, polished and cut to perfection.I blinked and glanced around, wondering if I was the only one who found that gift ridiculous. What the hell was an infant personnel casualty to do with a crate of rubies? Choke on them? Those things definit ely needed a none For Children Under 3 warning on them. No one else shared my view, and the group seemed to be in agreement on the gifts value. Kiyo, however, caught my eye, and I saw the faintest of smiles play over his face as he stabed what I was forecasting.The man left, and all eyes swiveled to me. We hadnt arrived first, but apparently my rank bought me peachy rights. Following Shayas ear consistr instructions, I footstepped forward and kissed Maiwenns cheek. She kissed mine in return.Eugenie, Im so ingenious to see you once more.She looked it, as well. I dont vex intercourse if it was faked or non, but she was one of those people who could always look happy and go you trust she authentically aidd about you. I suspected most of her forgivingness was sincere, but she had to have the same uneasiness around me as I did with her, prone our individual relationships with Kiyo.Glancing at his dark looks and her golden ones, I unawares had a vivid image of them in bed together. I wondered if hed been as wild with her as with me. I wondered if shed liked it.Pushing that picture out of my head, I try a return smile. Thank you for inviting me. Sorry Im late.She waved a dismissive hand. You didnt have to bob up at all. Im skilful glad youre here.I didnt have any elegant speeches, so I kept my words simple. Imvery happy for you. I hope things go great with you and the baby.I glanced over at Shaya, whod been prop my backpack. She handed it to me, and I noticed then that the form of watchers had increased, eyes curious as to what the half-human queen would give. The Kiyo Love Triangle was no cloak-and-dagger gentry gossip spread around the Otherworld faster than any human tabloid could have kept up with.Producing a teddy bear, I handed it over to her. She took it, eyes surprised as her hands ran over its smooth, sable-brown fur. Id paid a lot of money for it. It was some kind of precedent brand Id been told was much coveted among upper-class sub urban moms.Its, um, a toy, I explained, immediately feeling idiotic. The gentry werent technologically advanced, but even they could put down that one out.Its lovely, she express, touching the seams. We reart match this kind of workmanship. Thank you.Oh, and wellI honestly didnt think there was anything else I could give that the baby wouldnt already have. So, instead, I made a donation in its name to a childrens charity. Or rather, once we k right away its name, Ill finalize the donation.Forgetting the teddy bear, she looked up at me, clearly perplexed. I dont understand. Those gathered apparently didnt either, judging from the curious expressions.I, um, well, gave money to a group that assistants sick kids. Theyll use that money to take care of them, and itll be I grasped for something gentry- fellowly. itll be done in your babys sinlessness.A lordly look of delight flooded her gorgeous face, and I knew without a doubtfulness she wasnt faking it. She understood, and she lik ed the gift.Its very generous, Kiyo explained to her. The smoldering message his eyes gave me indicated he had a few ideas of how to express his gratitude for the present.She put her arms around the teddy bear, holding it to her ample chest while her eyes gazed off with thought. Acts of much(prenominal) kindnessdone in the babys name She buttockscelled that radiance back to me. Acts like that cannot help but generate keen will from the gods. Thank you, Eugenie.A murmur of considering whispers stirred behind us. She and I exchanged a few more remarks, and then I yielded the floor to the next well-wisher.Was that okay? I asked Shaya as we walked outside(a).Extremely. A wry note hung in her voice. I doubted your gift, but at one time I think you understand this custom better than we do. She switched to a lower tone. Ah, this is Katrice, the rowan tree Queen, coming toward us.I looked up with interest, having passed through the Rowan Land so many times during my Otherworldly jou rney. Katrice looked about lambert or so in human years, which meant she could boast a few centuries. Only a fiddling silver laced her thick black hair, and her dark eyes glittered with a keen intellect. A dress of red and white satin cover her stout figure.Oh, oh, oh This is her at last The Thorn Queen. My dependable child, you have been too absent from our gatherings. She put her arms around me and kissed my cheek. It was a bit more slobbery than Maiwenns kiss. A little overwhelmed by her presence, I returned the gesture. She smelled like roses.Itits nice to concern you.You are so lovely Look at her, Marlin. Isnt she lovely?She grabbed the arm of a man who looked about twice her age, his dull gray hair barely covering his head. His eyes indicated he wasnt real at the party right now.What? he asked.Katrice raised her voice. Lovely. Isnt she LOVELY?Loverly, he muttered, staring off to my left.Duke Marlin, the queens consort, Shaya whispered.Look at you, look at you Katrice con tinued, restrained bubbling over. How could a little thing like you have killed Aeson? Hmm? Old Tirigan Storm King would be so proud.I jerked with surprise, taken aback by the callous reference to both my slaying of Aeson and my fathers name. Not noticing my reaction, she gestured harmful to a young man passing nearby. He had slim good looks and raven-black hair tied back in a ponytail. He too wore red and white, and I remembered once seeing the Rowan Lands flag, a rowan tree bordered in red and white. Apparently, they were a patriotic group.Darling, favourite Come meet the Thorn Queen. Smiling, he hastened to her side and gave me a skillful nod. This is my son, Leith. Leith, Queen Eugenie.He took my hand and kissed it very properly, as was the custom. A pleasure, your majesty. resemblingwise.I studied him, curious at seeing a gentry prince. With all the gentry reproductive issues, none of the other monarchs Id met-aside from Maiwenn-had any children. They tended to be solitar y rulers.He looked so nice and friendly-and like he wasnt currently make plans to get in my pants-that I complimentsed to make conversation, but I was never very good at initiating that kind of thing. Katrice took the dilemma out of my hands.Isnt she beautiful, Leith? I was solely saying how I can scarce view she killed old Aeson. Can you believe that? What was it that I perceive, my dear? That you drowned him?I modify my throat uncomfortably. Um, no, not exactly. I sort of summoned all the water out of his body and blew him apart.Oh She clapped her hands together as though it were the most tremendous thing shed ever heard. Oh Oh Isnt that fascinating? And so cleverApparently noting my discomfort, Leith hurriedly said, Mother, Im sure the Thorn Queen would prefer to discuss more lovely topics. This is hardly the place to chew out about death.I flashed him a appreciative smile. We did indeed move to more mundane topics, and I found he managed a conversation far more effecti vely than his mother did. I saw your expression over the rubies, he teased. You dont think the baby will appreciate those?I made a face. Maybe if they can coiffe a crib with them. Or maybe make a mobile. argon those kinds of gifts normal?Im afraid so, he said, button up smiling. As I heard you say, there isnt much this baby wont get from Maiwenn. Most of these nobles are more interested in making the queen happy, not the baby-hence all the futile gifts.Why, Leith, scolded his mother. Thats ridiculous. Im sure Maiwenns child will absolutely love the crystal dinnerware we brought.When I finally excused us, Leith kissed my hand again and spoke in a voice too low for Katrice to hear.Im sorry about her. She doesnt always think before she chatters.I laughed. Its okay, I murmured back. Shes a queen. Thats her job.More loudly and properly, he said, I hope youll move up lambast us. Mothers been dying to receive you at our court.Sure, I agreed. adept of these days. I tried to reciproc ate the politeness. You should come visit us too. Im not around much, but youre welcome whenever.He brightened, as did Katrice who actually stayed silent for a change. Thank you, your majesty. Id love to. Ive heard un tellable things about your land. They say its very fierce. Fierce, but beautiful.Shaya laughed softly as we at rest(p). Oh, you dont know what youve done.I stared at her. What do you mean? I think I handled that well, considering that adult females endless chattering.Dont let her surface fool you. Shes shrewder than you think. And powerful. Unfortunately, her son is not.Leith? What do you mean? Magically?She nodded. His deceit is approximately nonexistent. He wont be able to inherit her kingdom.Whoa Considering how long gentry lived, Id never thought much about hereditary pattern issues. But he seemed pretty competent. Very intelligent.He is. Extremely so. Hes an artisan of sorts. Hes created things that have revolutionized their kingdom-and the others, slowly. He most recently created tools to print text in books the way your people do. Itll save a fortune in scribes.Like a printing press? Wow. Who knew? Leith was like a honorabley adaptation of Gutenberg. Cool. Maybe the Otherworld was well on its way to the Industrial Revolution. And that doesnt count for anything with popular opinion?No. Shaya didnt sound sympathetic in the least. Magical strength was the greatest measure of a gentrys outlay, which is why my bastard father had been held in much(prenominal) high regard. Those who believed I would match him one day regarded me similarly. Ingenuity all is not enough to inherit the throne or bind the land. However, his betting odds might improve if he had a powerful consort.I suddenly tripped on my own feet when I caught her meaning. What, you mean me?By their estimation, youre a good match. Powerful, already ruling a kingdom. Your human blood and ability to conceive makes you extremely attractive, your role in the prophecy doubly s o.Christ. You people are nuts. She seemed to be enjoying my dismay. Like I said, Katrice is shrewd. She wasnt lying when she said she wanted to meet you. Shes probably planned this for a while. You inviting Leith to visit fulfilled her dreams. Just wait, hell come soon.How come you guys have no concept of honourable friends around here? Why is every guy I meet a capability mate? Leith was nice enough and cute, but I meancome on.I believed I shouldnt have been surprised, genuinely. The gentry had much looser cozy mores than humans-as a few couples in the rooms corners were currently demonstrating-so they probably treated everything as a possible romantic encounter. Considering the wights less-than-romantic bid for my affections earlier, I should have been agreeable for Leiths more civilized courtship. Still, I found it all wearying.Shaya introduced me to a number of other nobles that afternoon. Most blurred together. I simply smiled and nodded a lot, fantasizing about creation home in bed with Kiyo. Near the end of the party, one new person actually caught my attention.The first interesting thing was precisely how dark his skin was-a rarity in the otherwise Caucasian gentry of this portion of the Otherworld. His black hair hung around his face in a shower of tiny braids, perfectly setting off the burgundy satin cloak around him. He bowed low over my hand, drop backing his cloak away with a flourish.Your majesty, he said with a faint French accent. It is an honor and a privilege. The stories of your beauty do not do you justice. I am Girard de la Colline.I accepted his hand kiss with astonishment. You must be from very far away.The Otherworld mirrored my own world in geography. The residents here, near Arizona, spoke variations of American English. I wondered idly if those who ruled now had supplanted an American Indian version of the gentry.Such a journey is well worth it to be in your presence, but sometime, if you like, I would be honored to tell yo u stories of my homeland. Its beauty is enough to make a man weep, though Im given to understand that the terrible beauty of your own kingdom can make men weep as well-for different reasons.I laughed. I suppose so. Those who respect it can survive it those who dontwell, dont.It sounds just like its queen. He disposed(p) his head. I also have a small talent with metalwork, if you would ever like anything crafted. I live in the Rowan Land now but would happily take a commission if you require one.I thanked him for the offer and said Id think about it. When we left him, I turned to Shaya. I liked him. But let me guess-he wants to woo me and father my child, too?Oh, he wouldnt be opposed to it, but thats not his short-term goal. He really is quite a gifted artisan-hes even got a little human blood in his ancestry, which lets him somewhat touch iron. But a man like himwell, hes a courtier. He hangs around nobility and tries to muster connections that might help him rule a kingdom of his own one day.Which, my dear Shaya, is a very kind way of saying he is a schmoozing bottom-feeder who will do anything to further his own political aspirations. I will agree with you on his artistic talents, however. Why, we should have him make our good friend the Thorn Queen here a proper crown and solidify her title.That smooth, laconic voice sliced my heart in ii, and I froze. Turning around slowly, I met a pair of long-lashed green eyes flecked with gold and hazel, all framed by a sweep of long, fiery hair that rivaled the trees of autumn in his kingdom.Dorian, King of the Oak Land.Your majesty, exclaimed Shaya happily, giving him a low curtsey. How are you? How is your domain?Dorian smiled and lightly chucked her chin. are you afraid my household has fallen apart without you? I confess, it does run a bit less smoothly than before, but we endure what we must. I have no doubts your new mistress has more need of your services than I, so I shall suffer longer for her sake.He gave me a pointed look. I said nothing. Shaya glanced between the two of us, her happy mien turning nervous. If youll excuse me, your majesties, Im going to bump some refreshment. Ill return momentarily.I sincerely doubted that, but she departed too quickly for me to protest. I wanted to follow her but was now trapped.A bit of his showmanship dimmed, but the wit and lazy amusement that perpetually cloaked Dorian remained. He always behaved as though he were on a breaker point, both in his mannerisms and his melodramatic-and often wry-commentary. I guess as a king he kind of was on stage during his life.Well, Eugenie, here we are. Dorian carelessly smoothed down the black velvet of his robe. Gold and red patterns danced around the hems. You are a vision of sumptuous beauty, as always.Oh come on, I exclaimed. Not from you, of all people. Im the most shoddily dressed person in this room.No. I saw a scullery maid dressed nearly as badly. A crown really would go a long way to establish y our standing. But, barring that, your dress is actually lovely and well-made, even if plain. Wait and watch youll see women tiring copies of it soon. The fact that you can still draw eyes while draining it is a testament to your beauty and presence. You achieve what most of these trumped-up, painted women cannot, no case how many layers of heavy, rich cloth cover them up.I gestured toward his robe. Youre covered up in a fair amount of heavy, rich fabric yourself.The edges of his lips curled up. If they bother you, I can remove as many of these layers as you like.I rolled my eyes, but the damage was done. With those few words, I once again saw his naked body, smooth and perfect in the moonlight, hovering over mine as I lay bound to his bed. It had been one night, one night only, but it was a night Id had little luck in forgetting for the last three months. Seeing Dorian stirred it all up again, filling me with confusion over the way my body had responded to such domination.Long b efore that night, Dorian had been one of my first allies in the Otherworld. Hed supported Storm King-and would have loved to knock me up-but had stood firm against any notion of rape. Hed wanted me of my own free will. In the end, hed helped me defeat Aeson and had shown me the rudiments of using magic.Did you give Maiwenn something? I asked abruptly, steering us elsewhere.He scrutinized me a moment before answering. Yes, of course. What was it? Ah. Yes. Bolts of lovely cloth that Im sure she can dosomethinglovely with. My steward picked it out. A paltry present compared to yours, or so I hear. His eyes tracked across the room to where Maiwenn and Kiyo laughed with some woman I didnt recognize. Look at them. Their child will be something to see, dont you think? They make a very striking couple. I should commission a painter to do a family portrait once the baby arrives. Something they can all treasure for years to come.I stiffened. Thats why you wanted to talk to me, huh? You haven t changed, Dorian, and Im not going to stay here and play if youre just going to try to bait me. I didnt want to talk to you anyway.Dorian gave a long-suffering sigh. You always think so little of me, Eugenie. I wished to speak with you because I wanted to know how youve been. Ive missed you. How do you like being a queen? Your land hasnt perishedyetso Im taking that as a good sign.Still irked by the Kiyo jibe, I fixed him with a glare. I didnt want to be a queen at all. Its your work shift Ive gotten into this. If you hadnt contrivanceed me into claiming the land, Id be in Tucson right now and away from all of this. The sting of what hed done, binding me to the Thorn Land, still itched within me. I wasnt sure if I could ever forgive him for that.Not true. Youd still be here, moping around while your lover receives gifts for his child, just as you are right now. And men like the young Rowan prince would still solicit you because whatever other titles come and go, you will always b e Storm Kings daughter.I dont really want to be that either.He spread his hands out, palms up, in a gesture of helplessness. That I cannot change. All I can do with that is help you to contract the powers you inherited, but youve already refused my aid there.I looked away. I dont need your help. excursus from the grudge I held against him, I couldnt shake the feeling that more of his help would result in me in his bed again.He took a step toward me. Have you been statement yourself?I didnt answer.You have been, havent you? Or trying to, at least. Odd, considering I distinctly recall you saying you were satisfied with the level of magic youd reached through my training. He smiled. How is that going? Perhaps youd like my help again?I jerked my head back toward him. Too much at this party had ground me down already, and his serpents tongue was the point that threatened to break me. No. I dont need your help. I dont need anyones help, okay? Im happy with what Im teaching myself. If I advance, fine. If I dont, fine. It doesnt matter to me.He laughed, a soft and deadly sound that poured over me like honey. Eugenie, Eugenie. You may lie to other people, you may lie to your kitsune, and you may even lie to yourself. But do not lie to me. I was the one who first taught you to control your magic. Ive seen how you crave it, how you glowing with the rush of that power. I know how it makes you feel because Ive felt it too. I can see in those lovely violet eyes of yours how passionately you want to tap more of that magic. Its consuming you.As usual, I said in a low voice that matched his own, youre imagining more than is actually there.And you, as usual, are denying what is there, not to mention your own nature. You are what you are, Eugenie, and the quite you accept that, the sooner you can begin doing great things.This conversation is done, I snapped, turning away.Dorians hand closed around my wrist, and he pulled me toward him with an unexpected harshness. I dont th ink hed meant to do it quite so hard. I let out a small gasp as those fingers tightened against my skin. I wasnt trapped by any blossom forth of the imagination, but for half a moment, I could believe I was. The painful easiness on my wrist sent shockwaves of heat through my body, and the twine of cinnamon drifted around me, standing this close to him. My breathing had grown heavy, and I willed it to slow down.He hadnt expected that reaction. A slight widening of his eyes showed rarely expressed surprise. Leaning his face toward mine, his thumb stroked the skin on my arm while the rest of the fingers maintained their hold.Just like old times, hmm? It seems you havent entirely lost your taste for restraint. Yet, like everything else, Im sure you deny yourself that as well.You think so? I asked nastily. You should try fucking Kiyo. Lots of restraint there.Amusement lit his face, contrasting with the dark desire in his eyes. Since Im presuming you dont mean you finally bought him a leash, let me say simply that there is a big difference between allowing an animal to ravage you and allowing yourself to be ravaged. One is common. The other is art. It is planned. Crafted, even. Only capable of being done by a master. His next words came out so conversationally, we might as well have been discussing the weather. As it is, Ive been planning out what Id like to do the next time we make love. I think I want you to lie on your stomach, with your hands bound to the front of the bed. Well have to shift your hips up a bit, put you on your knees just a little, but otherwise youll stay prostrate, almost like youre bowing in humble bow as I kneel behind you and take you. He paused. Unless you have other suggestions?I broke from his grasp and backed up, surprised to fetch I was shaking.This was Dorian. The same dangerous, presumptuous, and scheming Dorian Id first met months ago, no matter the sweetness and charm that poured off of him. He had no right to speak to me like that, not after Id parted ways over his trick with the Thorn Land, not after Id told him I wanted to stay with Kiyo.And yet, he had once been my friend and my teacher and my ally in battleand my lover. And as I stood there staring at him, I could imagine everything hed just described. I could feel it. And, God help me, I wanted it. My livelong body tingled with the arousal his words wrought.I have to go, I said. It took two tries for my dry mouth to get the words out. I have to find Shaya.He inclined his head politely. Of course.I turned and walked away, but not before I heard him call after me.Eugenie? Dont forget, if you change your mind, my offer still stands. For all things.I bit my lip so as not to retort and was so focused on maintaining control that I nearly ran into a woman heading in the direction Id just come from. She was gorgeous, with red hair that stood out like bright flames against her fair skin. She wore a puff-sleeved dress that matched the sky blue of her long-la shed eyes and reminded me a little of Cinderellas ball gown. Of course, Disney would have never allowed that much cleavage. The woman stepped gracefully aside, just barely avoiding a collision. And then, to my complete and total shock, she sidled up to Dorian and disguised herself around him, pressing her lips to his cheeks.Ah, there you are, he said happily. He returned the kiss-except, well, it was on her lips. And lasted awhile. With tongue.I stood there, frozen, urging myself to ignore them and keep moving. Yet, I couldnt. Dorian, seeing me still there, gave me one of his grander smiles. Queen Eugenie, a moment. Have you met my charming young friend yet?That, of course, was one of Dorians more annoying habits. He knew perfectly well Id never met her but enjoyed playing the innocent.I havent, I said stiffly, get across my arms over my chest.Queen Eugenie, may I present Ysabel, one of my subjects in the Oak Land. Shes been spending some timein the castle. I took the subtext to m ean that said time was specifically being spent in his bed.Ysabel bowed, giving me a polite Your majesty. Yet, when she straightened up, I saw the look in her eyes was anything but polite. There was a distinct hostility there, and it was direct at me. I was a bit taken aback until I realized what it was. Jealousy. This woman was insanely, adamantly green-eyed of me. She pressed herself closer to Dorian, almost possessively, her hands roaming over his body in the way that was so well-worn among their kind.A pleasure, I replied. I turned around to leave again, having no desire to watch Ysabel grope Dorian. If she wanted to make me jealous, she was wasting her efforts. Dorian and I were finished. There was nothing more between us, nor would there ever be again.Dorians latest lover, Shaya explained later.Yeah, I kind of calculate that out.My understanding is that he went an astonishingly long time without a consort ever since She didnt finish. She was referring to when Dorian and I ha d been involved.How long is a long time? I asked.Mmma couple of weeks.A couple of weeks after we broke up? Thats a long time?For King Dorian? Yes. I believe shes his one-quarter since then, but she bears a distinct resemblance to all the others. Shaya looked at me meaningfully.So? I asked, not getting the point.Always fair skinned. Always redheads. purple eyes are harder to find, though, so hes settled on blue.It took me a few moments more to catch on. Wait. Are you saying Dorians been taking lovers that look like me?It could just be a coincidence, she said diplomatically.Jesus Christ, I said, suddenly freaked out. Had I really made that big of an impression on him?Shaya paused a moment, face thoughtful. I dont think Ysabel likes you very much.I kind of figured that out too. She was trying to make me jealous. Then, in case there was any question, I added, But Im not.As you say, replied Shaya, voice and face perfectly pleasant.I couldnt tell if she believed me or not, but it didnt matter. I knew the truth. I really wasnt jealous of Ysabel and Dorian.Well, not much, anyway.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

PS4 Situational Analysis Essay

Sony is a Japan based company that operates in all over 180 countries worldwide. ( party Profile for Sony Corporation, 2011) Sony was co-founded by Masaru Ibuka and Aki Miruta in 1946 and since then has liberal into an international multimillion dollar company (Sony Corporation, 2014). Ibuka and Miruta originally started out manufacturing measuring equipment (Sony Corporation, 2014), and collect expanded into more complex scientific solutions, such as laptops, sport consoles, and communications devices. One yield in particular is the PlayStation 4. The PS4 is the most recent of Sonys manoeuvre consoles and since its liberation at the end of 2013 has exchange 7 million units (Plafke, 2013), raking in 45 billion dollars of r nonethelessue for Sony (n4g, 2014). The nonplus of this key is to assist Sony in identifying securities industrys that they ware the potential to enter. The report al secondary take a situational analysis on Sonys most recent crossing, the PlayStat ion 4. through looking at the companys current market, competitors and the external big environment that has second hand effects on them. Furthermore, I will conduct a TOWS analysis, and then go on to birth recommendations in relation to improving Sonys corporate outline. SITUATIONAL ANALYSISMarket depth psychologyThe current market for technological goods and services is rattling high and will only rise in the future as consumers and separate companies expire more reliant on it for day to day subroutine. Competitor compendiumSony has galore(postnominal) different competitors because they are so diverse and have many different areas of technology in which they operate. An example of Product Competition is Microsoft, as they released their Xbox One just one month before the PS4 was released. They are in a similar price range, with the Xbox One selling for $750 and the PS4 selling for $650. Since the release of these gaming consoles last year, Sony and Microsoft have been ne ck in neck with gross revenue volumes and profits, but it appears that overall Son has come out on top, with 7 Million units sold by March 2014 compared to the 6 Million sold by Microsoft. Another case of product arguing is Samsung. Both Samsung and Sony erect innovative technology in the form of video solutions and televisions. Samsungs strategy however, is to go for the higher income consumers, while Sony targets the middle class. Sony has many competitors, but it handles them truly well. Macro environmental AnalysisPoliticalA political doer that affects Sony is government law, and more specifically, minimum wage. This increases almost every year and causes Sonys costs to increase. Sony also needs to take into account some of the substances they use to create their products. There are a couple of class 1 substances and several class 3 ones. The government in most countries have very strict laws about how to dispose the wastes. To comply with certain standards of operation, Sony bases its tendency of dangerous substances around the Japans pollutant Release and Transfer annals (Sony Corporation, 2014). EnvironmentalDespite being a large cooperation, Sony is very advised of effects to the natural environment. The company Technological Sony always tries to be at the front of technological change. This can be seen with their attempts to reduce the amount of resources in their products, epically the VAIO laptops. They recycle all of their wastes and their inputs largely come from recycled materials. SocialThe social macro environment refers to how they relate to societal culture. This includes their employee and customer relations. In terms of employees, Sony has prove that they care about their staff, by providing them with numerous benefits such as wellness care. (Singh, 2010). TechnologicalThis macro environmental factor can only be seen as an opportunity for Sony, as they are constantly creating new technological solutions and try to stay ahead of the curve. The company is often the one creating the newest technology, give care in the case of the Walkman. (Sony Corporation, 2014). TOWS ANALYSISThreatsThe main threat Sony faces is price competition from every angle of the market. The company is competing with Microsoft in the computer and gaming consoles product area, then with Panasonic in the television and music department and with LGs communications products. A second threat Sony faces relates to most of its production being in Japan. The company is susceptible to a fluctuating currency rate. For example the Japanese Yen has been steadily rising against both the US dollar and the Euro since November 2013 and go through a 5% increase against the US dollar in declination 2013. (OANDA, 2014). This made Sonys imports to these countries from Japan seem relatively more big-ticket(prenominal) than products made locally. Another threat Sony faces is one relating to the specific product being discussed in this report. Rece ntly the PS4 earnings was hacked, allowing users credit card details and other private information to be taken. (MacManus, 2012). Being vulnerable to attacks from hackers is a very big threat for the Sony Corporation. OpportunitiesThe Sony brand has been given many opportunities. One of these is that Blu-ray is fail increasingly more popular, which gives Sony the opportunity to make these players as cheaply and efficiently as they can. A second opportunity is their partnership with the big gaming franchise Fifa. This enhances Sonys corporate value. WeaknessesOne weakness of the Sony Corporation is its location. roughly its entire manufacturing takes place in Japan, which means it is very far remote from 60% of its other consumers. A second weakness is that the companys revenue appears to be decreasing over the past several years, with revenues fall constantly by just under 20%. (Sony Global, 2012). StrengthsOne military force of the Sony brand is that its name is very well es tablished and is internationally know as a household brand name when it comes to technology. These deep root allowed it to take 29th place at the InterBrands in 2009, (InterBrand, 2009) which means that comes to the judgement of a potential consumer before a company competing for brand recognition. A second strength is that it is an internationally recognized company, with almost products and services acquirable in almost 200 countries throughout the world. For example, Sony receives revenue from all over the world, for example, in the 2012 financial year the company received 18% of revenues from the joined States, 14% from Europe, 42% from Japan and 25% from other countries. (Sony Global, 2012). This example of market diversification is a strength to Sonys cooperate strategy because it minimizes and even offsets impacts of adverse macro conditions (e.g. economical) that may occur in one realm of operation. TARGET MARKETSSonys overall target market is very broad. They aim the ir products at upper middle class people in develop countries. These people earn an average salary and Sony prices their products accordingly. The specific product I am researching, the PS4, has a slight more specific target market. This product is aimed at the younger generations, people under 30. Their marketing was directed towards gamers in every sense of the word (Placeholder2). RECOMMENDATIONSOne recommendation I would make to the Sony Corporation is to consider market development, where they sell their lower budget products in places like India. For example, Samsung sells their cheaper headsets in India because there is a high demand. If Sony did this they would increase their market share and gain a whole new chuck of consumers.BIBLIOGRAPHYCompany Profile for Sony Corporation. (2011). Retrieved from in.reuters http//in.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=SNE.N InterBrand. (2009). InterBrands 2009. Retrieved from InterBrand http//www.interbrand.com/en/ Joseph, S . (2013, November 18). Sony to Switch PS4 Marketing from low key to high impact. Retrieved from Marketing Week http//www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/sony-to-switch-ps4-marketing-from-low-key-to-high-impact-in-2014/4008590.article MacManus, C. (2012, October 24). Sonys PlayStation network hack. Retrieved from cnet.com http//www.cnet.com/news/sonys-playstation-3-experiences-its-biggest-hack-yet/ n4g. (2014, March 28). PS4 reaches 7 million worldwide. Retrieved from n4g http//n4g.com/news/1483878/ps4-reaches-7-million-worldwide-as-infamous-second-son-sells-a-million-at-launch OANDA. (2014). Historical give-and-take Rates. Retrieved from OANDA http//www.oanda.com/currency/historical-rates/ Plafke, J. (2013, November 28). PS4 sale make more profit for AMD than Sony. Retrieved from geek.com