Traditional Personnel Management and Modern HRM

Traditional Personnel Management and Modern HRM As the first step it is necessary to identify the difference between two functions with correct definition as follows; Personnel Management  Ã‚  this is a administrative function conducting operational level to maintain records. This is mainly conducting fair terms in general to manage the employees working as organization with proper records on individual departments. The ultimate purpose is to get organizational success efficient employees management. Human Resource Management  Ã‚  this is a modern practice of develop and implement personnel strategies to achieve corporate objectives of the organization. This is not just a management function and doing an additional strategic role. Mainly consider to maintain and develop the organizational culture, values, set objectives, good structure, motivation and perfect direction to achieve HRM objectives. (137410-difference-between-human-resource-development-traditional-personnel-management.html, 2010) Even though the concept has been changed still HRM is performing previous functional activities of the personnel management in advanced way such as job analysis, HR Planning, recruitment and selection, performance management, training and etc. Main Differences between Personnel Management and HRM Personnel Management Human Resource Management Highly considering the workforce (employees) of the organization such as recruiting, training, payments, explain the job responsibilities and drive them to functional activities. This is a resource oriented approach. Mainly focus the management function and drive the employees to the strategically / corporate objectives. It is properly organized approach. Not clear about the objectives of the management. Only target to achieve functional objectives such as daily performance to measure a person. This is a forecasting of the organizational requirement. Continuously measure and monitoring performance of the employees and take immediate actions to adjust the operation to reach objectives. This is basically an operational function which is focussing daily minor activities of the employees. HRM is  strategic  function with lot of responsibilities to continue the process throughout the entire process. This is maintaining and administrative activity to adjust the people in to right track. HRM is more  proactive develop people to be more accurate, innovative, effective and efficient in their responsibilities. Role of a HR Director In each and every modern organization there should be a person to look after employees with modern Human Resource Management functions. Generally Human Resource Manager is responsible for this activity. If the organization is having large number of employees need several defined layers as this organization. Many studies indicate that teams, and organisations, are at their most successful when people are emotionally engaged and believe in what the team as well as organisation is looking to achieve. As such it is crucial a team development and talent management plan is put together to ensure the high performance and cohesiveness of the new teams put in place and perhaps more importantly, gain the employees buy into the plan is the major responsibility. A key role in delivering this is the HR Directors role. The role is primarily to create value for the customers, the organisation, their team as well as other stakeholders within the company. The HR Director is also responsible for maintaining sales and safeguarding the brand from competition and other influential factors by creating customer oriented staff. 1.3 Line Managers Role All line managers have to play a vital role in Human Resource Management. As a result it is essential that team members are clearly briefed about the objectives that need to be achieved and met, what needs to be done, by whom, why, when and how to do them. The extent to which these need to be stressed by the line manager depends on the people that are involved in the work, the work context and the nature of the particular task. In instances where team members are delegated certain responsibilities, the managers need not brief them in great detail and entrust them to work independently as they see fit. It is anticipated that the majority of the current employees of the LOCOG team will continue within the new public private partnership. It is therefore considered that these employees should be transferred to their new employer under the same terms and conditions that they currently enjoy. An employee who is unwilling to accept such a transfer should be allowed to make that decision. The following objectives have been set in order to facilitate the development of the teams within the newly structured organisation and this is the main responsibility of each and every line manager. Increase the skills, knowledge and capabilities of the team members based on their job specifications and responsibilities. Increase the cohesiveness and coordination between team members and increase the level of transparency and communication. 2. Recruitment and Selection Process 2.1 HR Planning process for the London 2012 Olympics Initially need to do situational analysis about the current situation and future expectation. An analysis of the current skill levels, knowledge, capabilities, cohesiveness and performance level of the marketing team members are examined and evaluated as the first step to identify where they stand within the current organisation. From the analysis the following capabilities have been identified: LOCOG regularly funds staff training relevant to their areas of work/expertise. Strong emphasis to recruit people within LOCOG. Majority of employees have working experience for several years. Strong functional skills across trading, marketing, supply, operations, web, systems and finance teams. Limited horizontal movement between functions with staff employed to fulfil specific roles. Limited integration between departments due to isolation of skill sets. When looking to develop a team it is important to remember that the context in which a team operates will affect how the team performs and the relationship that develops as a result. People implement organisational strategies within the context of organisational structures and to fully understand how strategy may be implemented effectively it is important to consider management teams and team management within the new organisation. Belbin (2004) has identified nine important team roles and assigned individuals to these roles based on established personality theories. Each of these roles can be separated into three areas; action orientated roles, people orientated roles and task orientated roles. It is crucial to consider which areas people within the current organisation fall into when looking to form teams within the new organisation. Due to the current management approach employed within LOCOG the majority of employees will fall between action and people orientated roles. Having identified the roles necessary for a successful team to function it is also important to consider the various stages that will take place after the formation to the team. According to Tuckman there are five stages of group development that team performance goes through over a period of time; Forming (where the team members get together and the team is initiated), Storming (where the team members ideas and perspectives compete with each other), Norming (where group harmony increases), Performing (where the group starts working well with each other) and Adjourning (where the task is completed and the team is dispersed). Two factors the new organisation will need to focus on are the resolution of interpersonal relationships and of task activities to ensure the cohesiveness and high performance of the teams through the various stages mentioned. 2.2 Importance of a Structured HR planning process The implementation of a new structured HR Planning process in order to revise the role of marketing is a very significant change in culture for both the public and private sector. It will and can only work to the greatest effect if all marketing and promotional activity in the Island is either under direct control or can, to a great extent, be influenced by the new organisation. The new organisation must be a real partnership if it is going to be successful. This makes it imperative that private sector members, who will be making a contribution to the annual budget, are given a significant role to play in partnership with EDD who would continue to be the major source of funding. Throughout the organization, from its Board through to employees and members, individuals will need to subscribe to the partnership ethos and be empowered to adopt a commercial approach to marketing and promoting LOCOG as a best games hut to entertain participants from all around the world. 2.3 Selection and Retaining Methods Segmentation LOCOG need to segment the internal customers in order to define their buyer characteristics and their adoption mentality. Interview method is only one selection method of the LOCOG. But it is necessary to retain all these existing staff by motivating and creating skill full and talented staff. LOCOG is a special even and it is necessary to create suitable mind set of all employees. Criteria Employee Type Employee Type Manager Supervisor Front Line Support Staff Employee numbers 10 50 500 5,000 Buyer Characteristic DMU Adopter Adopter Adopter Location H/O based H/O and field based H/O and field based H/O based Customer Contact Influencer Contractor Contractor Isolated/Modifier Business Division All Departments Sales and Marketing Sales, Marketing, Customer service HR, Finance, production, distribution Access to communication channel High High High High Mentality Support Neutral Oppose Oppose Targeting The internal customers within the identified segments can be characterised under supporters, neutrals and opposes. Supporters will fully adopt the new changes within the organisation and embrace. The neutral employee has a central stance with regard change, and information on the short and long term benefits to themselves and the organisation will adopt and adapt to change. Oppose is fundamentally opposed to change and has a traditional approach to the organisations environment. Adoption mentality Internal Customer Supporter Manager Supervisor Front Line Support Staff Neutral Manager Supervisor Front Line Support Staff Opposes Manager Supervisor Front Line Support Staff It is important for LOCOG to target the supporters within the management segment first with the internal marketing plan. These individuals are responsive to change and quick to adapt and adopt new strategies. Their personal ownership of the new internal objectives will have a positive multiplier effect when member of the decision making unit adapt to the new changes. It is important to label the managers as opinion leaders within the business and therefore employees at the lower levels of the hierarchy such as the front line and support staff segments are influenced by management. In addition within each segment of managers, supervisors, front line and support staff there will be supporters, neutrals and opposers. We will therefore target the benefits of the internal marketing plan first on the supporters of change in each segment once the supportive managers have adopted the new innovative changes. Smith and Nephew will then follow a structured internal communication plan to target the neutral and opposers with each segment. Positioning The new internal marketing plan for LOCOG will be positioned to the customer in a customer orientation framework, focusing on the needs of the customer and the benefits the new plan can offer them. This will be conducted in a SIVA (solution, information, value, access) approach to customer orientation. This mix of benefits relayed to the workforce through internal communication will motivate staff and lead to adoption of strategies and adaption into wok processes. 2.4 Legal Process in basic Selection Process Within Government l legal legislation there is sometimes a conflict between the needs and wants of the employees, and therefore the role of HR and political and policy decision making. Not all decisions made by government are popular e.g. the research evidence into the benefits of minimum wages suggested an unpopular cause of action. This external conflict of public opinion and policy making can be alleviated in part through marketing, predicting and mitigating risk as well as targeting communications around insights. Each and every European country is having separate or similar labour legislation and judicial enforcement. This has been adjusted according to the social patterns and democracy of the country. UK operates a highly liberal labour market compared to other countries. This legislation standards with the minimum of legislative intervention and administrative red tape. Employment rights have taken shape around the common law of contract and onto this central pillar have been bolted a number of statutory constraints in such spheres as working time, maternity, union rights and minimum pay. The UK does not have a written constitution and its court system has grown in a rather piecemeal way. However, specialist employment tribunals are empowered to hear almost all individual disputes and they are an integrated element in the civil court structure. Official guidance on maternity provisions  (pdf) Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Employment Rights Act 1996 Protection From Harassment Act 1997 National Minimum Wage Act 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 Data Protection Act 1998 Employment Rights (Disputes Resolution) Act 1998 Human Rights Act 1998 The Employment Relations Act 1999 Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 3312 Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 3323 (natlaw.html) 3. Principles and procedures for monitoring and rewarding employees 3.1 London 2010 Projects job evaluation process Target Measured Performance Monthly Departmental Meeting Attendance Monthly Completion of training Monthly Developmental Objectives Mid and Year End Internal Marketing Awareness Monthly Motivation Survey Quarterly Talent Development Yearly In order to achieve the planned team and talent development of member of the LOCOG the above key performance indicators need to be measured on an agreed time scale that is both realistic and achievable for LOCOG the individual. Feedback In order to ensure employee motivation and job satisfaction, individuals will be required to complete a motivational questionnaire and survey on job satisfaction. This will initially be on a quarterly basis. As motivation and job satisfaction are directly linked to performance and retention this is an essential control mechanism for the success of the development plan. Performance The performance of the marketing department will be monitored against both marketing output such as the number and type of marketing communications will customers as well as against the overall sales of smith and nephew. Absenteeism and staff retention This will be closely measured against the previous year figures absenteeism and staff turnover and its success is associated with all other aspects of the development plan. A failure to reduce the factors will result in the evaluation of all other aspects of the development plan. Talent development plan This will be measure on the number of successful applicants filling internal vacancies within LOCOG upon completing the internal and external training of new skills and knowledge. 3.2 Reward systems and Impact on Employees Performance The HR Manager has a core role in monitoring and controlling the implementation of the plan and is supported by effective managing information systems. This rewording system plan also requires extensive cross functional communication and relies on a collaborative rather than competitive approach to resources. The more cross functional interaction, the more realistic the costs and the better the final external communications. Budgeting sets out a plan and clear goal that improves coordination and motivation through good rewording system. It also enables control functions to be established to ensure a systematic and agreed plan is fulfilled. Currently the HR budget is allocated top down, with HR being allocated an overall financial sum by policy functions based on overall affordability, influenced to a degree by historical spend. However, the recommendation going forward would be to have a bottom up planning and control approach once overarching objectives have been agreed with policy colleagues. Whilst a top down approach based on profit or effectiveness would be desirable for rewording system, the complexities of proving the contribution of marketing to road casualty reduction is challenging A bottom up approach would reflect marketing industry standard and enable the whole team to be involved in the budgeting process. It would also encourage efficiencies and value for money with less pressure to spend the allocated budget without the risk that this would have implications on the following years allocation. Agreeing a longer term strategy would be beneficial to gain greater stability and certainty of marketing budgets over a period of several years. With a focus on reducing overall communication spend across Whitehall competitive parity will be more evident than in previous years. Rather than competing for share of voice with other Government Departments overall spend will be down and any larger budgets will be under significant scrutiny. 3.3 Monitoring Performance Following Demings control cycle will ensure that the implementation of the plan is effectively monitored against targets with action taken to address and issues. As well as providing a framework for control and monitoring, adopting a quality model also encourages a quality mindset in the team which will improve outputs for both internal and external customers. The model will also set a standard and provide clarity for the internal customer base who have not historically worked with the marketing function. The balance scorecard approach can also be used to monitor outputs across the four key areas of financial performance, internal processes, innovation and learning and customers. Within each area goals, measures, limitations and frequency for review are identified. Examples of measures include: Increase in profits via more targeted/relevant communications Actual against forecast variance Meetings and events attended KPIS meet on service delivery Number of complaints Effectiveness of communications e.g. intranet page views Staff turnover Staff satisfaction Objectives and training and development plans in place Innovation against benchmark Customer satisfaction Customer retention Customer acquisition Performance benchmarking against other Departments Contingency planning should also be carried out given the limitations of marketing operating in this new way and in new environments. There are some influences on the effectiveness of this plan that we are unable to control, these should be identified and included within the risk analysis. Due to the significance and implications of decisions made by the Department, it is culturally very risk averse. This risk adverse culture must therefore be reflected in the planning and implementation of this programme of work. 4. Exit from the Organisation 4.1 Exit Procedures Employee Redundant However, where this occurs, such an employee should be considered to have voluntarily terminated his contract rather than transferring it and he would not, therefore, have title to any redundancy terms provided by the LOCOG after the event. Where, however, there are no equivalent roles for a LOCOG employee in the new public private partnership or where there are significant differences between the role that an employee currently undertakes and other roles that remain vacant within the newly created public private partnership, it would be inappropriate for the LOCOG to require that person to transfer. In these circumstances, the States should offer alternative suitable employment for those employees within the public sector or agree mutually acceptable redundancy terms. Clearly, it would not be fair and responsible to force employees into roles for which they are not suited, nor would it be sensible to place the success of the new public private partnership in jeopardy if such people were placed into roles for which they did not possess the relevant knowledge, skills and experience. An additional safeguard that will be provided to any employee who has transferred to the new public private partnership and which has been provided to other employees in similar circumstances is that these people will be circulated with all vacancies that arise within the public sector and would be able to apply for any such vacancies for a period of a year following their transfer. If they were to make a job application then they would be treated by the LOCOG as if they were a States employee, which would mean that they would have to undertake any of the recruitment processes that are applied on such occasions to internal applicants.

Cult Brands :: Business Marketing

Cult Brands Maslow's postulated that we humans have an ascending order of needs and used a hierarchal pyramid to prioritize them. At the bottom levels of the pyramid are our physiological needs, which include basic things like food, shelter, and clothing that we all need to survive. At progressively higher levels in Maslow's Hierarchy are the needs for safety and security, social interaction, and self-esteem. At the very top is self-actualization, a term Maslow coined to describe the ultimate human need to learn, grow, and reach one's full potential as a person. We all desire on some level to self-actualize, both to be at peace with ourselves and to try to be the best we can be. As humans, we are drawn to people, places, groups, causes, companies, and, ultimately, brands that we believe can help us towards our ultimate goal of self-actualization and total fulfillment. Higher level needs influence future human behavior much greater than lower level needs. It is the brands that can fulfill human needs on the higher levels of the hierarchy that become irreplaceable in the mind of the consumer. Brands sometimes like to think of themselves as religions. These are called cult brands (Holt) and organize their community of clients as a congregation, with a holy land or place, churches, rituals, etc. It has to be said that few of these brands actually evoke religious fervor in their subscribers. That's what customer loyalty is really all about. Being irreplaceable. True customer loyalty is not only about getting a customer to consistently choose your brand over another. It's for that same customer to always believe (and then go tell the world) that your company's brand has no equal! This is when the customers form a cult. You need not look much farther than a Harley-Davidson rally, a Star Trek convention, or a Jimmy Buffett concert to see the cult branding phenomenon at work: thousands of passionate, faithful fans spreading the good word and spending lots of money. Not all brands have the dash of edginess, the devoted fan base, or the niche positioning to be cult brands. But those that do tend to share similar characteristics that make them successful. Douglas Atkins' definition of "cult brand": "A brand for which a group of customers exhibit a great devotion or dedication. Its ideology is distinctive and it has a well-defined and committed community. It enjoys exclusive devotion (that is, not shared with another brand in the same category) and its members often become voluntary advocates. Cult Brands :: Business Marketing Cult Brands Maslow's postulated that we humans have an ascending order of needs and used a hierarchal pyramid to prioritize them. At the bottom levels of the pyramid are our physiological needs, which include basic things like food, shelter, and clothing that we all need to survive. At progressively higher levels in Maslow's Hierarchy are the needs for safety and security, social interaction, and self-esteem. At the very top is self-actualization, a term Maslow coined to describe the ultimate human need to learn, grow, and reach one's full potential as a person. We all desire on some level to self-actualize, both to be at peace with ourselves and to try to be the best we can be. As humans, we are drawn to people, places, groups, causes, companies, and, ultimately, brands that we believe can help us towards our ultimate goal of self-actualization and total fulfillment. Higher level needs influence future human behavior much greater than lower level needs. It is the brands that can fulfill human needs on the higher levels of the hierarchy that become irreplaceable in the mind of the consumer. Brands sometimes like to think of themselves as religions. These are called cult brands (Holt) and organize their community of clients as a congregation, with a holy land or place, churches, rituals, etc. It has to be said that few of these brands actually evoke religious fervor in their subscribers. That's what customer loyalty is really all about. Being irreplaceable. True customer loyalty is not only about getting a customer to consistently choose your brand over another. It's for that same customer to always believe (and then go tell the world) that your company's brand has no equal! This is when the customers form a cult. You need not look much farther than a Harley-Davidson rally, a Star Trek convention, or a Jimmy Buffett concert to see the cult branding phenomenon at work: thousands of passionate, faithful fans spreading the good word and spending lots of money. Not all brands have the dash of edginess, the devoted fan base, or the niche positioning to be cult brands. But those that do tend to share similar characteristics that make them successful. Douglas Atkins' definition of "cult brand": "A brand for which a group of customers exhibit a great devotion or dedication. Its ideology is distinctive and it has a well-defined and committed community. It enjoys exclusive devotion (that is, not shared with another brand in the same category) and its members often become voluntary advocates.

Stephen Kings Why We Crave Horror Films Essay -- essays research paper

As I was lying in bed recalling the event happened an hour before I was thinking to myself that I will never look at lightning the same way again. Thunder and lightning was still present in the night sky as I lay there in bed thanking God I was alive and well. Each flash of lightning lit the entire room and each clap of thunder rattled the windows of my hotel room. Lightning can seem much more terrifying when you’re up 20,000 ft in the mountains, and the thunder sounds a lot louder too. The sound of nature’s fury seemed to slowly descend as the night went on, but my nerves did not. I was still stunned and in shock of being stuck in a lightning storm high in the mountains. I never thought about the power and damage lightning can inflict upon its surroundings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was summer 2001 and we had been invited to attend the wedding in Colorado for one of our friends. The wedding took place on a mountain top in Keystone, Colorado. The wedding reception also took place in the lodge on the mountain top. The mountain top was about 20,000 ft about sea level. In order to get there you had to ride two gondolas. Each gondola sat about six people and would carry on up the mountain and down the mountain and down the mountain; much like a ski lift. Each ride lasted about 15 minutes. The wedding was a success, and it was one of the best weddings I’ve ever attended. The reception went all into the night. Laughter and conversation could be heard yards away from the lo...

Moral Reconciliation Essay

From the beginning of the story to the end, Huckleberry Finn’s morals change rather dramatically and the novel focuses largely on this. Forced to reconcile his personal feelings of friendship for an escaped slave (Jim) with what society has told him is â€Å"right,† Huck learns through the course of the story to trust his moral instincts. As the story progresses, we see Huck’s character develop strong morals that eventually lead to his reconciliation. Early in the book, Huck is shown to have a low level of maturity and is very naà ¯ve. He relies more on the opinions of others more so than his own. Huck seems to know the rightful place of a slave, especially growing up in the American South. But this changes, in time, when he meets a runaway slave named Jim on Jackson Island. Huck knows he is defying society by not turning Jim in, but he continues to stay by Jim’s side and feels he can’t betray him as their friendship grows. This is an internal moral struggle for Huck, because he knows to society he is â€Å"wrong,† but to him their friendship made it â€Å"right.† While floating down the Mississippi, Huck and Jim come across a shipwreck. Huck, being the young, curious boy he is wants to explore it. Jim on the other hand is very reluctant to do so, but he feels obliged to follow Huck along anyways because he is a slave and Huck is white. On the wreck the two find a gang of robbers and a tied up man, they decide to leave immediately at this site. Huck and Jim then steal the robbers boat, but Huck feels a little guilty for doing this. So he makes up a story to a ferryboat watchman that his family was on the wreck and they needed help. The watchman showed up on the site just to discover that it sank, and the robbers most likely dead. Compassion is a key part in developing good morality and at this point Huck’s morality is slowly taking shape because he feels compassion for others. During a terrible storm, Huck and Jim are separated. Jim searches for Huck, but he cannot pinpoint him, so he goes to sleep. Huck eventually arrives on the raft to find Jim sleeping. Once Jim woke up Huck told him that the whole storm fiasco was just an elaborate dream he had, but Jim soon discovers he is lying and becomes upset. Seeing this, Huck felt guilty for hurting Jim’s feelings and apologizes. This is a pivotal point in the novel because Huck realizes that he has feelings for this slave. Once again he knows society would see this as â€Å"wrong† and just plain crazy. Huck is having another internal conflict, but feels that his friendship with Jim is morally â€Å"right† contrary to what society would think. Huck’s moral dilemmas are rooted in conflicting systems of morality: that of his upbringing and that of his own natural feelings of friendship for Jim. â€Å"I was paddling off, all in a sweat to tell on him; but when he says this, it seemed to kind of take the tuck all out of me. I went along slow then, and I warn’t right down certain whether I was glad I started or whether I warn’t. When I was fifty yards off, Jim says: â€Å"Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on’y white genlman dat ever kep’ his promise to ole Jim.† Well, I just felt sick. But I says, I GOT to do it – I can’t get OUT of it. Right then along comes a skiff with two men in it with guns, and they stopped and I stopped.† This a good example of Huck’s moral conflictions. At the climax of the novel, Huck as an epiphany. When Jim gets turned in by the conmen (the Duke and the King), Huck is devastated. Confused at what to do, Huck writes a letter that is intended for Ms. Watson, the letter reads: â€Å"Miss Watson, your runaway nigger Jim is down here two mile below Pikesville, and Mr. Phelps has got him and he will give him up for the reward if you send. Huck Finn.† After wrestling with his morals and consciousness, Huck makes his most important moral decision yet, when he states: â€Å"All right, then, I’ll GO to hell† – and tore it up. He ultimately helped Jim escape. In the end, Huck acted on the highest level of morality regardless of society’s laws and ideas. Early in the story Huck displayed childish traits and a skewed morality because of how he grew up. But Huck changed entirely in his time spent with Jim. When life was forced upon Huck he had to develop and â€Å"grow up† rather fast. He quickly progressed from a naà ¯ve boy to a mature morally correct young man. Most humans strive for the betterment of themselves and society as a whole, and this is what makes Huck’s final reconciliation so compelling.

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 33

To her surprise, Elena felt no anger, only a determination to protect Stefan if she could. And then she saw that in the cell she'd assumed was empty, there was a kitsune. The kitsune looked nothing like Shinichi or Misao. He had long, long hair as white as snow – but his face was young. He was wearing all white, too, tunic and breeches out of some flowing, silky material and his tail practically filled the small cell, it was so fluffy. He also had fox ears which twitched this way and that. His eyes were the gold of fireworks. He was gorgeous. The kitsune coughed again. Then he produced – from his long hair, Elena thought, a very, very small and thin-skinned leather bag. Like, Elena thought, the perfect bag for one perfect jewel. Now the kitsune took a pretend bottle of Black Magic (it was heavy and a pretend drink was delicious), and filled the little bag with it. Then he took a pretend syringe (he held it as Dr. Meggar had and tapped it to get the bubbles out) and filled it from the little bag. Finally, he stuck the pretend syringe through his own bars and depressed his thumb, emptying it. â€Å"I can feed you Black Magic wine,† Elena translated. â€Å"With his little pouch I can hold it and fill the syringe. Dr. Meggar could fill the syringe, too. But there's no time, so I'm going to do it.† â€Å"I – † began Stefan. â€Å"You are going to drink as fast as you can.† Elena loved Stefan, wanted to hear his voice, wanted to fill her eyes with him, but there was a life to be saved, and the life was his. She took the little pouch with a bow of thanks to the kitsune and left her cloak on the floor. She was too intent on Stefan to even remember how she was dressed. Her hands wanted to shake but she wouldn't let them. She had three bottles of Black Magic here: her own, in her cloak, Dr. Meggar's, and somewhere, in his cloak, Damon's. So with the delicate efficiency of a machine, she repeated what the kitsune had shown her over and over. Dip, pull up lever, push through bars, squirt. Over and over and over. After about a dozen of these Elena developed a new technique, the catapult. Filling the tiny bag with wine and holding it by the top until Stefan got his mouth positioned, and then, all in one motion, smashing the bag with her palm and squirting a fair amount straight into Stefan's mouth. It got the bars sticky, it got Stefan sticky; it would never have worked if the steel had been razor-sharp for him, but it actually forced a surprising amount down his throat. The other bottle of Black Magic wine she put in the kitsune's cell, which had regular bars. She didn't quite know how to thank him, but when she could spare a second, she turned to him and smiled. He was chugging the Black Magic straight from the bottle, and his face was set in an expression of cool, appreciative pleasure. The end came too quickly. Elena heard Sage's voice booming, â€Å"It is no fair! Elena will not be ready! Elena has not had enough time with him!† Elena didn't need an anvil dropped on her head. She shoved the last bottle of Black Magic wine into the kitsune's cell, she bowed for the last time and gave him back his tiny pouch – but with the canary diamond from her navel in it. It was the largest piece of jewelry she had left and she saw him turn it over precisely in long-nailed fingers and then rise to his feet and make a tiny bow to her. There was a moment for a mutual smile and then Elena was cleaning up Dr. Meggar's bag, and pulling on her red cloak. Then she was turning to Stefan, jelly inside once more, gasping: â€Å"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make it a medical visit.† â€Å"But you saw the chance to save my life and just couldn't pass it up.† Sometimes the brothers were very much alike. â€Å"Stefan, don't! Oh, I love you!† â€Å"Elena.† He kissed her fingers, pressed to the bars. Then, to the guards: â€Å"No, please, please, don't take her away! For pity's sake, give us one more minute! Just one!† But Elena had to let go of his fingers to hold her cloak together. The last she saw of Stefan, he was pounding on the bars with his fists and calling, â€Å"Elena, I love you! Elena!† Then Elena was dragged out of the hallway and a door shut between them. She sagged. Arms went around her, helped her to walk. Elena got angry! If Stefan was being put back in his old lice-ridden cell – as she supposed he was, right about now – he was being made to walk. And these demons did nothing gently, she knew that. He was probably being driven like an animal with sharp instruments of wood. Elena could walk, too. As they reached the front of the Shi no Shi lobby Elena looked around. â€Å"Where's Damon?† â€Å"In the coach,† Sage answered in his gentlest voice. â€Å"He needed some time.† Part of Elena said, â€Å"I'll give him time! Time to scream once before I rip his throat out!† But the rest of her was just sad. â€Å"I didn't get to say anything I wanted to say. I wanted to tell him how sorry Damon is; and how Damon's changed. He didn't even remember that Damon had been there – â€Å" â€Å"He talked to you?† Sage seemed astonished. The two of them, Sage and Elena, walked out of the final marble doors of the building of the Gods of Death. That was the name Elena had chosen for it in her own mind. The carriage was at the curb in front of them, but no one got in. Instead, Sage gently steered Elena a little distance from the others. There he put his large hands on her shoulders and spoke, still in that very soft voice, â€Å"Mon Dieu, my child, but I do not want to say this to you. It is that I must. I fear that even if we get your Stefan out of jail by the day of Lady Bloddeuwedd's party that – that it will be too late. In three days he will already be†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Is that your medical opinion?† Elena said sharply, looking up at him. She knew her face was pinched and white and that he pitied her greatly, but what she wanted was an answer. â€Å"I am not a medical man,† he said slowly. â€Å"I am just another vampire.† â€Å"Just another Old One?† Sage's eyebrows went up. â€Å"Now, what gave you that little idea?† â€Å"Nothing. I'm sorry if I'm wrong. But will you please get Dr. Meggar?† Sage looked at her for a long minute more, then departed to get the doctor. Both men came back. Elena was ready for them. â€Å"Dr. Meggar, Sage only saw Stefan at the beginning, before you gave him that injection. It was Sage's opinion that Stefan would be dead in three days. Given the effects of the injection, do you agree?† Dr. Meggar peered at her and she could see the shine of tears in his short-sighted eyes. â€Å"It is – possible – just possible that if he has enough willpower, he could still be alive by then. But most likely†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Would it make any difference to your opinion if I said that he drank maybe a third of a bottle of Black Magic wine tonight?† Both men stared at her. â€Å"Are you saying – â€Å" â€Å"Is this just a plan you have now?† â€Å"Please!† Forgetting about her cape, forgetting everything, Elena grasped Dr. Meggar's hands. â€Å"I found a way to get him to drink about that much. Does it make a difference?† She squeezed the elderly hands until she could feel bone. â€Å"It certainly should.† Dr. Meggar looked bewildered and afraid to hope. â€Å"If you really got that much into his system, he would be almost certain to live until the night of Bloddeuwedd's party. That's what you want, isn't it?† Elena sank back, unable to resist giving his hands a little kiss as she let go. â€Å"And now let's go tell Damon the good news,† she said. In the carriage, Damon was sitting bolt upright, his profile outlined against a blood-red sky. Elena got in and shut the door behind her. With no expression at all, he said, â€Å"Is it over?† â€Å"Over?† Elena wasn't really this dense, but she figured it was important that Damon be clear in his own mind as to what he was asking. â€Å"Is he – dead?† Damon said wearily, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Elena allowed the silence to go on for a few beats longer. Damon must know Stefan was not likely to actually die in the next half hour. Now that he wasn't getting instant confirmation of this his head snapped up. â€Å"Elena, tell me! What happened?† he demanded, urgency in his voice. â€Å"Is my brother dead?† â€Å"No,† Elena said quietly. â€Å"But he's likely to die in a few days. He was coherent this time, Damon. Why didn't you speak to him?† There was an almost palpable drawing-in on Damon's part. â€Å"What do I have to say to him that matters?† he asked harshly. â€Å"‘Oh, I'm sorry I almost killed you'? ‘Oh, I hope you make it another few days'?† â€Å"Things like that, maybe, if you lose the sarcasm.† â€Å"When I die,† Damon said cuttingly, â€Å"I'm going to be standing on my own two feet and fighting.† Elena slapped him across the mouth. There wasn't room to get much leverage here, but she put as much Power behind the motion as she dared without risking breaking the carriage. Afterward, there was a long silence. Damon was touching his bleeding lip, accelerating the healing, swallowing his own blood. Finally he said, â€Å"It never even occurred to you that you are my slave, did it? That I'm your master?† â€Å"If you're going to retreat into fantasy, that's your affair,† Elena said. â€Å"Myself, I have to deal with the real world. And, by the way, soon after you ran away, Stefan was not only standing but laughing.† â€Å"Elena† – on a quick rising note. â€Å"You found a way to give him blood?† He grasped her arm so hard it hurt. â€Å"Not blood. A little Black Magic. With two of us there, it would have gone twice as fast.† â€Å"There were three of you there.† â€Å"Sage and Dr. Meggar had to distract the guards.† Damon took his hand away. â€Å"I see,† he said, expressionlessly. â€Å"So I failed him yet again.† Elena looked at him with sympathy. â€Å"You're completely inside the stone ball now, aren't you?† â€Å"I don't know what you're talking about.† â€Å"The stone ball you stick anything that might hurt you inside. You even draw yourself inside it, although it must be very cramped in there. Katherine must be in there, I suppose, walled off in her own little chamber.† She remembered the night at the hotel. â€Å"And your mother, of course. I should say, Stefan's mother. She was the mother you knew.† â€Å"Don't†¦my mother†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Damon couldn't even form a coherent sentence. Elena knew what he wanted. He wanted to be held and soothed and told it was all right – just the two of them, under her cloak with her warm arms holding him. But he wasn't going to get it. This time she was saying no. She had promised Stefan that this was for him, alone. And, she thought, she would keep to the spirit of that promise, if she hadn't kept to the letter, forever. As the week progressed, Elena was able to recover from the pain of seeing Stefan. Although none of them could speak about it except in choked, brief exclamations, they listened when Elena said that there was still a job to be done, and that if they managed to complete it well they would be able to go home soon – while if they did not complete it, Elena didn't care whether she went home or stayed here in the Dark Dimension. Home! It had the sound of a haven, even though Bonnie and Meredith knew firsthand what kind of hell was lurking in Fell's Church for them. But somehow anything would be preferable to this land of bloody light. With hope kindling interest in their surroundings, they were once again able to feel pleasure at the dresses Lady Ulma was having made for them. Designing was the one pursuit that the lady could still enjoy during her official bed rest, and Lady Ulma had been hard at work with her sketchbook. Since Bloddeuwedd's party would be an indoor/outdoor affair, all three dresses had to be carefully designed to be attractive both under candlelight and under the giant red sun's crimson rays. Meredith's gown was deep metallic blue, violet in the sunlight, and it showed an entirely different side of the girl from the siren in the skin-tight mermaid dress who had attended Fazina's gala. It reminded Elena somehow of something an Egyptian princess would wear. Once again, it left Meredith's arms and shoulders bare, but the modest narrow skirt that fell in straight lines to her sandals, and the delicacy of the sapphire beads that adorned the shoulder straps served to give Meredith an unassuming look. That look was emphasized by Meredith's hair, which Lady Ulma dictated be worn down, and her face, which was bare of makeup except kohl around the eyes. At her throat, a necklace made of the very largest oval-cut sapphires formed an elaborate collar. She also had matching blue gems on her wrists and slender fingers. Bonnie's dress was a little clever invention: it was made of a silvery material which took on a pastel tinge of the color of the ambient lighting. Moonlight-colored indoors, it shone a soft shimmering pink, almost exactly the color of Bonnie's strawberry hair, when she was outside. It sported a belt, necklace, bracelets, earrings, and rings all of matching cabochon-cut white opals. Bonnie's curls were to be carefully pinned up and away from her face, in a daringly mussed-up mass, leaving her translucent skin to shine softly rose in the sunlight, and ethereally pale inside. Once again, Elena's dress was the simplest and the most striking. Her gown was scarlet, the same color under blood-red sun or indoor gas lamp. It was rather low cut, giving her creamy skin a chance to shine golden in the sunlight. Clinging close to her figure, it was slashed up one side to give her room to walk or dance. On the afternoon of the party Lady Ulma had Elena's hair carefully brushed into a tangled cloud that shimmered Titian outdoors, golden indoors. Her jewelry ranged from an inset of diamonds at the bottom of the neckline, to diamonds on her fingers, wrists and one upper arm, plus a diamond choker that fit over Stefan's necklace. All these would blaze as red as rubies in the sunlight, but would occasionally glint another startling color, like a burst of mini-fireworks. Onlookers, Lady Ulma promised, would be dazzled. â€Å"But I can't wear these,† Elena had protested to Lady Ulma. â€Å"I might not get to see you again before we get Stefan – and from that moment we're on the run!† â€Å"It's the same for all of us,† Meredith had added quietly, looking at each of the girls in their â€Å"indoor† colors of silvery-blue, scarlet, and opal. â€Å"We're all wearing the most jewelry we've ever worn indoors or out – but you might lose it all!† â€Å"And you might need it all,† Lucen had said quietly. â€Å"All the more reason for you each to have jewelry that you can trade for carriages, safety, food, whatever. It's simply designed, too – you can wrench out a stone and use it as payment, and the jewels are not in an elaborate setting that might not be to some collector's taste.† â€Å"In addition to which, they are all of the highest quality,† Lady Ulma had added. â€Å"They are the most flawless examples of their kind we could get on such short notice.† At that point, all three girls had reached their limit, and rushed the couple – Lady Ulma on her enormous bed, sketchbook always beside her, and Lucen standing nearby – and cried and kissed and generally undid the beautiful jobs that had been done on their faces. â€Å"You're like angels to us, do you know that?† Elena sobbed. â€Å"Just like fairy godparents or angels! I don't know how I can say good-bye!† â€Å"Like angels,† Lady Ulma had said then, wiping a tear from Elena's cheek. Then she grasped Elena, saying â€Å"Look!† and gestured to herself comfortably in bed, with a couple of blooming, dewy-eyed young women ready to attend to her wishes. Lady Ulma had then nodded at the window, out of which a small mill stream could be seen, and some plum trees, with ripe fruit blazing like jewels on the branches, and then with a sweep of her hand indicated the gardens, orchards, fields, and forests on the estate. Then she had taken Elena's hand and smoothed it over her own softly curving abdomen. â€Å"You see?† she had spoken almost in a whisper. â€Å"Do you see all of this – and can you remember how you found me? Which of us is an angel now?† At the words â€Å"how you found me† Elena's hands had flown up to cover her face – as if she'd been unable to bear what memory showed her at that moment. Then she was hugging and kissing Lady Ulma again, and a whole new round of cosmetic-destroying embraces had begun. â€Å"Master Damon was even kind enough to buy Lucen,† Lady Ulma had said, â€Å"and you may not be able to picture it, but† – here she had looked at the quiet, bearded jeweler with eyes full of tears – â€Å"I feel for him as you feel for your Stefan.† And then she had blushed and hidden her face in her hands. â€Å"He's freeing Lucen today,† Elena had said, dropping to her knees to rest her head against Lady Ulma's pillow. â€Å"And giving the estate to you irrevocably. He's had a lawyer – an advocate, you'd say – working on the papers all week with a Guardian. They're done now, and even if that hideous general should come back, he couldn't touch you. You have your home forever.† More crying. More kissing. Sage, who had been innocently walking down the hallway, whistling, after a romp with his dog, Saber, had passed Lady Ulma's room and had been drawn in. â€Å"We'll all miss you, too!† Elena had wept. â€Å"Oh, thank you!† Later that day, Damon had made good on all of Elena's promises, besides giving a large bonus to each member of the staff. The air had been full of metallic confetti, rose petals, music, and cries of farewell as Damon, Elena, Bonnie, and Meredith had been carried to Bloddeuwedd's party – and away forever. â€Å"Come to think of it, why didn't Damon free us?† Bonnie asked Meredith as they rode in litters toward Bloddeuwedd's mansion. â€Å"I can understand that we needed to be slaves to get into this world, but we're in now. Why not make honest girls of us?† â€Å"Bonnie, we're honest girls already,† Meredith reminded her. â€Å"And I think the point is that we were never real slaves at all.† â€Å"Well, I meant: Why doesn't he free us so that everyone knows we're honest girls, Meredith, and you know it.† â€Å"Because you can't free somebody who's free already, that's why.† â€Å"But he could have gone through the ceremony,† Bonnie persisted. â€Å"Or is it really hard to free a slave here?† â€Å"I don't know,† Meredith said, breaking at last under this tireless inquisition. â€Å"But I'll tell you why I think he doesn't do it. I think that it's because this way he's responsible for us. I mean, it's not that slaves can't be punished – we saw that with Elena.† Meredith paused while they both shuddered at the memory. â€Å"But, ultimately, it's the slave owner that can lose their life over it. Remember, they wanted to stake Damon for what Elena did.† â€Å"So he's doing it for us? To protect us?† â€Å"I don't know. I†¦suppose so,† Meredith said slowly. â€Å"Then – I guess we've been wrong about him in the past?† Bonnie generously said â€Å"we've† instead of â€Å"you've.† Meredith had always been the one of Elena's group most resistant to Damon's charm. â€Å"I†¦suppose so,† Meredith said again. â€Å"Although it seems that everyone is forgetting that until recently Damon helped the kitsune twins to put Stefan here! And Stefan definitely hadn't done anything to deserve it.† â€Å"Well, of course that's true,† Bonnie said, sounding relieved not to have been too wrong, and at the same time strangely wistful. â€Å"All Stefan ever wanted from Damon was peace and quiet,† Meredith continued, as if on more steady ground there. â€Å"And Elena,† Bonnie added automatically. â€Å"Yes, yes – and Elena. But all Elena wanted was Stefan! I mean – all Elena wants†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Meredith's voice trailed off. The sentence didn't seem to work properly in the present tense anymore. She tried again. â€Å"All Elena wants now is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bonnie just watched her speechlessly. â€Å"Well, whatever she wants,† Meredith concluded, rather shaken, â€Å"she wants Stefan to be a part of it. And she doesn't want any of us to have to stay here – in this†¦this hellhole.† In another litter just beside them things were very quiet. Bonnie and Meredith were so used by now to traveling in closed litters that they hadn't even realized that another palanquin had drawn abreast of them and that their voices carried clearly in the hot, still afternoon air. In the second litter, Damon and Elena both looked very hard at the silken curtains fluttering open. Now, Elena, with an almost mad air of needing something to do, hurriedly unwound a cord and the curtains dropped into place. It was a mistake. It closed Elena and Damon into a surreal glowing red oblong, in which only the words that they had just heard seemed to have validity. Elena felt her breath coming too quickly. Her aura was slipping. Everything was slipping sideways. They don't believe that I only want to be with Stefan! â€Å"Steady on,† Damon said. â€Å"This is the last night. By tomorrow – â€Å" Elena held up a hand to keep him from saying it. â€Å"By tomorrow we'll have found the key and gotten Stefan and we'll be out of here,† Damon said anyway. Jinx, thought Elena. And sent up a prayer after it. They rode in silence up toward Bloddeuwedd's grand mansion. For a surprisingly long time Elena didn't realize that Damon was trembling. It was a quick, involuntary shaken breath that alerted her. â€Å"Damon! Dear – dear heaven!† Elena was stricken, at a loss, not for words, but for the right words. â€Å"Damon, look at me! Why?† Why? Damon replied in the only voice he could trust not to tremble or crack or break. Because – do you ever think of what's happening to Stefan while you're going to a party wearing splendid clothes, being carried along, to drink the finest wine and to dance – while he – while he – The thought remained unfinished. This is just what I needed right before being seen in public, Elena thought, as they reached the long driveway to Bloddeuwedd's home. She tried to call on all of her resources before the curtains were drawn and they were free to step out at the location of the second half of the key.

Mind game Essay

Interrogation is a mind game. I will set up a friendly environment where the suspect feels comfortable to gain his trust and becomes receptive to my questions. I will play with his thoughts and emotions that perhaps what he did was unintentional or a result of unavoidable circumstance. I will not directly put the blame on the suspect but will make him fully understand the moral seriousness of the crime. Furthermore, I will tell him that there is overwhelming physical evidence that would implicate him to the crime and that there are witnesses and fingerprints found in the crime scene, even if I have to make a bluff. Then I will offer him different theories to what happened, one more justifiable than the other. Whichever he chose, guilt is already admitted. Preparation is essential for a successful interrogation. First, the surrounding should be conducive without distractions and guarantees privacy. This will also give me the opportunity to analyze the body language of the suspect. I will study the case facts which will be the basis for my questionings. My knowledge about the crime can somehow persuade the suspect to tell the truth. In addition, I will also study the personal background information of both the victim and suspect, more so about the suspect’s feelings, attitudes, and values. Finally, I will resolve the details of the documentation like forms, audiotape, and videos so that the interrogation process is not disrupted. The Miranda warning has adversely affected the procedures of police work. In its report Handcuffing the Cops: Miranda’s Harmful Effects on Law Enforcement, the National Center for Policy Analysis disclosed that the warning caused a significant drop in confessions. With few confessions, police have difficulty in solving crimes. Therefore, the Supreme Court should suspend Miranda for crime prevention to be effective and detect early terrorism threats. References Cassell, P. G. (1998). Handcuffing the Cops: Miranda’s Harmful Effects on Law Enforcement. National Center for Policy Analysis. NCPA Policy Report No. 218, August 1998. ISBN #1-56808-040-9 Fleisher, W L. & Gordon, N. J. (2001). Effective Interviewing and Interrogation Techniques. Academic Press, New York. 1st edition. ISBN-10: 0122603818 Inbau, F. E. , Reid, J. E. , Buckley, J. P. & Jayne, B. C. (2004). Essentials of the Reid Technique: Criminal Interrogation and Confessions. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc. , MA. ISBN-10: 0763727288

How to Write a Great Statement of Purpose Essay

Statement of Purpose Growing up in an educated family was a great motivation to find my position in life and establish my own dreams. During my high school education, I started searching for undergraduate programs that matched my personality and interests. After a long journey of searching, I decided to study a major that focuses mainly on health science in order to help people to stay safe and healthy. When I imaged how a small pill can switch people’s lives from hell to heaven, it motivated me to learn more about scientific processes to facilitate these transformations. Once I received my Pharm-D degree from Taif University, I determined to obtain a Master’s degree in the U.S in Pharmacoeconomics, Health Care Outcomes and Clinical Services. I discovered my specific academic passion when I was a senior pharmacy student, during my hospital rotations besides my graduation project. I worked with Professor Abubaker, who is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice division at Taif University, on a project titled â€Å"Self-Medication with Antibiotics: A population-based survey in Taif, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.† This project had a great effect on my desire to continue studying pharmacy in graduate school because it showed me that many patients have low awareness of the effects of using wrong or unspecified dose of medication, especially in antibiotics due to either low awareness or social impacts. This matched my experience in five rotations of hospitals and college training as a senior pharmacy student. One of the important rotations to me was when I worked with physicians in a walk-in Ambulatory clinic. I interacted face to face with the patients and observed their treatment plans to raise awareness or make changes . In addition to my internship, I participated in many events during my college years. One of the important participation to me was when I participated in DUPHAT Conference 2015 in Dubai as a conference delegate and student poster presenter of a group graduation project. The concepts of hard work and the commitment to what I am doing and aiming for were reinforced in me by these extracurricular activities. I chose to apply to your program because it offers a highly unique Health Outcomes and Pharmacy Practice program. This program hits two birds with one stone for me. It focuses academically on providing the knowledge and analytical skills, which are necessary to demonstrate the pharmaceutical and healthcare products, to help to improve the health system in order to provide more accurate treatments for patients as well as to reduce health care cost and use budgets appropriately. The other interest of this program is providing six fellowship experiences in areas of specialization. My passion for studying this subject has grown due to the scarcity of specialists and experts in my country. I have researched the faculty of your program to find matches with my interests. I am interested in working with Dr. Linda L. Norton, or with Dr. Veronica T. Bandy, because of their research interests and both of them have experience in teaching Nonprescription therapy and self-care courses, which is the same topic of my graduation project. Also, I am interested in working with Dr. Yvonne Mai, because she has a degree in Pharmacoeconomics, Health Care Outcomes and Clinical Services Fellowship, which is the same as my specialized program. I have looked at all the faculty backgrounds and interests, and Dr. Mai is the only one who has this degree. I believe we can collaborate to take health care and clinical services to a new level in my country due to our same interest field and passions. After I obtain a master’s degree, I will return home to work in one of Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry Hospitals as a part of my full scholarship agreement. After that, I plan to continue my journey in higher education to transfer my passion to young pharmacy students to improve the health outcomes and pharmacy practice in Saudi Arabia.