Powerplay in Texts – Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare), Gladiator (Ridley Scott) & the Statue of Liberty (Warren Brown)

Power is conditional; it’s a measure of one individual’s ability to control the environment around itself, including the behaviour of other entities through manipulation and exploitation. The application of power, whether this be physical or sexual, individual or political, private or public, replicates one’s ability to control, command and influence others. Ultimately, an entity with power is permitted to employ this for the benefit of others, or unfortunately to their detriment. Power is transient therefore, gains or losses in power can significantly impact on an individual’s human experience. Three texts permeated by power struggles include Shakespeare’s catastrophic play Antony and Cleopatra, Ridley Scott’s film ‘Gladiator’ (2000), and Warren Brown’s political cartoon ‘The Statue of Liberty’. Each composer employs a variety of literary and visual techniques including dialogue, symbolism, sound (both diegetic and non-diegetic), mise-en-scene, irony, soliloquy and emotive language, to explore the transformative effect of power on the human experience. These powerplays are extremely persuasive, and thus we are convinced to embrace the perspectives offered in these texts. The major powers examined in the three texts are political, militaristic and sexual. Antony and Cleopatra is a disastrous play that illustrates a chronicle of two leaders from two very different worlds who fall profoundly in love with each other and their endeavor to sustain their relationship against the Roman Empire, however, it ends tragically with their suicides. Antony grapples with the conflict between his love for Cleopatra and his duties to the Roman Empire; the geographical poles that draw him in opposite directions represent deep-seated conflicts between his reason and emotion, his sense of duty and his desire, his obligations to the state and his private needs. Soliloquies are used throughout the play as a means of aiding the audience to understand the subconscious thoughts of the characters. In Act IV, scene 12, Antony states to himself â€Å"O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more†, foreshadowing his own death. Various persuasive forms of power are displayed in this play convincing us to embrace perspectives offered in this text; those forms of power being political, sexual and militaristic. Before Antony met Cleopatra, he held military and political power so great, even his lieutenants were afraid to out preform him, â€Å"But ‘twould offend him, and his offence†¦Should my performance perish. † Antony’s affair with Cleopatra makes him disregard his responsibilities where the sexual power present allows for passion to overtake his reasonable judgement. Antony knew this in his use of fertility and sexual imagery in the metaphor â€Å"These strong Egyptian fetters I must break, or lose myself in dotage. † Sympathy for Antony was formed through his personal conflict between love and duty, thus weakening Antony’s control over himself and his known loss of power. Antony blames himself for the wrong decision â€Å"My very hairs do mutiny, for the white†¦reprove the brown for rashness† Here hair is used as a metaphor for age, and Antony hasn’t acted as a man with â€Å"white† hair should which is with maturity, instead acting on impulse, brown hair symbolising a younger man. We see the enchanting sexual power of Cleopatra when Enobarbus’ explains to Agrippa â€Å"From the barge, a strange invisible perfume hits the senses†, personifying the sexual power held by Cleopatra, not only over Antony, but the radiating power she holds over all who cross paths with her. â€Å"Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself. † This order delivered by Cleopatra herself is the order, which ultimately, brings Antony to kill himself illustrating Cleopatra’s manipulative power over him. When she learns that she’s being taken to Rome, it produces a fear of humiliation for her; accordingly, she ends her life. Caesars’ use of Antony’s own surrendered men in the front battle line creates a psychological advantage over Antony by bringing emotion onto the field, â€Å"Plant those who have revolted in the van†¦that Antony may seem to spend his fury†¦upon himself†. The emotive language manipulates the situation by making Antony feel he is fighting himself when fighting his deserted soldiers through metaphrasing them as himself. The suicide of both Antony and Cleopatra takes away from Octavius because they become tragic lovers who would always be remembered, â€Å"Our army shall†¦in solemn show attend this funeral†¦and then to Rome†¦see†¦high order in this great solemnity. † Irony is used when Caesar parades both Antony and Cleopatra to maximise his gain in power but instead makes the best political move giving them a great ceremony. The varied force of power is extremely persuasive. Throughout the entire play the effects of Powerplay direct the vents of the characters lives and create and destroy relationships between all characters involved, persuading us to embrace these perspectives concerning the significance of power in the human experience. Similarly, Scott’s film Gladiator, Maximus (Russell Crowe), the Roman general turned Gladiator and Commodus, the son of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius manipulates others to gain power in order to fulfill their desires. The dominant po werplays in this text and political and militaristic, and due to the perspectives offered on the significance of power in the human experience, we are persuaded to embrace these perspectives. Maximus is portrayed as a powerful character by Scott through the use of mise-en-scene, in particular Maximus’ costumes, that being of an Upper Class Roman General and props (ie – his Imperial Sword), and the fact that when we see Maximus fighting, whether it be at the beginning of the film with the Barbarians or near to the end in the arena, we see him through a low-angled camera shot, exemplifying his fighting power and knowledge over his enemies. Maximus’ image of power is gained, lost, and then later re-gained through the duration of the film, despite the capturing of this power ultimately leads to his death. Correspondingly, we are persuaded to embrace these perspectives about the significance of power in the human experience in Warren Brown’s political cartoon ‘The Statue of Liberty’. This text uses a number of techniques to convey its political power play perspective including contrast of size between the two personas. It is a widely shared notion that power is associated with size; the greater the size the greater the level of power. Yet, this cartoon chooses to test this and illustrate the idea that Osama holds power over the Statue of Liberty. This is both ironic and a contrast of size. Although America, represented as the Statue, has been damaged to various terrorist attacks, it still aims to protect itself, just as Maximus aimed to protect Rome at all costs, even after he had been captured and sold as a slave and gladiator. The fact that Osama is not present within this frame suggests that he holds power of the statue. The political perspectives offered in this text are persuasive, thus convincing us of the significance of power in the human experience.

Organization Behavior Concepts on the US Army Essay

Many organizations today offer unique perspectives into the possibilities for organizational structure, culture and behavior. Given the United States’ system of government and inherent freedoms, these areas are not often easily controlled or mandated. Corporations tend to impart a â€Å"feel-good† attitude were employees are asked to be nice to one another and the hierarchy seeks to keep a stable, friendly atmosphere. Promotions are based on performance evaluations, sometimes aligned with the contents of a grievance folder. If any grievances have been filed against an individual, these items are considered during the promotion process, but the contents are not standardized typically. The US Army handles this entire environment differently. Personnel voluntarily sign up with the organization, but are there after held to a strict moral code for three to eight years. The US Army has created a model of organizational structure, which gives them direct control over its anticipated culture and behavior. Reprimands are swift and complete. This paper will consider the many aspects of US Army organization and the impacts this has on three Main Organizational Behavior concepts as presented in the 2005 Robbins text: Organizational Structure, Organizational Culture and Group Behavior, suggesting the US Army has created an efficient and proscriptive model. The Viet Nam war caused many changes within the US Army. The conflicts and reprimands of soldiers from civilian and military personnel increased because of this Conflict. Theft and dishonesty grew from the distinct depression of morale in soldiers, causing a ripple effect of poor behavior. The US Army formed a committee to address the issue, which met at Fort Ord in California. Organizational Effectiveness grew from this time, giving the Army its own program to change the behaviors and attitudes of it members. â€Å"The Merit Reward System evolved from this project. Trainees and cadre members were rewarded for behavior that was clearly related to high performance and to high morale,† (Deaner, 1991, p. 13). This particular aspect of the former system lives on as a mainstay in US Army culture. In offering a payment for soldier behavior as well as performance, the US Army sets itself apart from the usual difficulties of control. Soldiers are beholden to its employers for the length of their contract, defunct behavior landing them in an â€Å"employee jail† or the brig. But, this overall control also allows the US Army to solely promote from within, reward through medals and advancement, and to offer prime employment locations through station selection. This reward structure is not available to other organizations, setting the US Army apart in its control of Organizational Structure and Culture, as well Group Behavior. The US Army no longer uses Organizational Effectiveness program. Its failing has been labeled as self-inflicted† by Deaner (1991, p. 18) although it is still used by outside organizations today. The basic principles as tested in the former system have evolved into a much more efficient and serviceable behavior model. Leadership remains the focal point in controlling the atmosphere in any organization. â€Å"In choosing the most appropriate procedures for developing leaders, an organization must first determine what leadership precisely entails,† (Campbell & Dardis, 2004, p. 27). The US Army has developed a definitive set of cultural guidelines for its organization. Leaders are expected to possess certain qualities, which will not only allow them the capacity to perform, but also to guide and influence others to do the right thing. In maintaining this strict code of ethics through promotion and contractual continuation, the US Army offers a unique perspective on Group Behavior, Organizational Structure and Culture. This format has been aligned into what is known as the â€Å"Be, Know, Do† model. Shaped and modeled by actual experience in developing officers and non-commissioned officers in the different branches of the U. S. Army, various drafts and versions of the BKD model have influenced Army leadership doctrine for over 50 years. Thus, the Army’s long-term continuing reliance on the model offers strong evidence of its robustness,† (Campbell & Dardis, 2004, p. 27). This model offers a construct for the entire premise behind the core value system imbedded within the structure of the US Army. Group behavior is aligned through a definitive chain of expectation prior to advancement to higher paying status. Cadence to control stepping in the same foothold, formations to align each body within the group, uniform control: all of these contribute to the maintenance of group behavior, offering individuals the chance to see themselves as a working part of a group. â€Å"Now a typical American soldier has a high school diploma, and many are college-educated. More than 50 percent of the military service members are married, and many have children attending the US Department of Defense dependent school system,† (Macdonald & Myers, 2005, p. 18). This distinct change in personnel adds to the efficiency of the US Army machine. Increasingly educated, ethics are becoming a fundamental staple in US Army culture. Although there are obvious inconsistencies (as with the Iraqi Prisoner of War scandal), the US Army still emerges as a leader in influencing the moral and ethical decisions its employees make. The most obvious difference between the US Army culture and that of typical business organizations comes from the complete sense of community created. â€Å"Like all civilian cities or counties, on-base military neighborhoods have key stakeholders that contribute to the growth of the entire community,† (MacDonald & Myers, 2005, p. 1). Where the typical corporation has employees living anywhere they chose, many US Army employees live either on base, or very near by. This close proximity offers the employees a direct influence on their environment and living arrangements. The spouses of employed personnel are involved in the â€Å"company† as it were. Complete communities are created to draw the family units of personnel into the mix, offering shopping centers, gas stations, libraries, schools, hospitals and even its own selections of medical personnel. Every aspect of life is shared and standardized. Cookie-cutter style housing offers levels of improvement within the ranking status. Similar-ranked people are afforded duplicate housing, often times on the same street or area of the base. High-ranking officials live in homes of higher value, yet still grouped in the same area of the base. This allows the employees a chance to solidify their performance and solidify the cohesiveness of the group. If an employee wants the better housing, salary and playground, he or she must gain education, perform admirably and meet specified standards in performance. The rewards are visibly set before the individual to further entice coherence and unity. A study performed by Pascale, Millemann and Goija considered the cultural differences in Sears, Shell and the US Army searching for key identifiers in how the culture of these organizations are affected by the employees in terms of culture within the companies. They concluded â€Å"power, identity, conflict and learning† were the base elements in these organizations (Pascale, Millemann & Goija, 1997, p. 129). Nowhere is the transformational power of re-socialization more evident than at three highly unusual U.  S. Army training centers-at Fort Irwin, California; Fort Polk, Louisiana; and Hoenfelds, Germany. In fact, the training is sufficiently remarkable to have been studied by the chief education officers at Shell, Sears, Motorola, and GE, and by senior delegations from every country in Western Europe, Russia, and most nations of Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. † (Pascale, Millemann & Goija, 1997, p. 134) The US Army has proven itself a leader in the creation of group behavior inline with the culture mandated by the organization. The interest of some many other countries indicates the US Army is an innovator in terms of structure and culture when sending troops and families off to become a part of another base. The culture remains under the same umbrella, allowing each a smooth transition despite the massive size of the organization. The very nature of military structure is unified in many countries. Soldiers are most often located in a central area, with families supported directly from the pay of the soldiers in question. In maintaining the group atmosphere of the military units, the governments expect, and often see a solidified goal structure. Group effectiveness is the extent to which explicit groups goals, that are assigned by the organization, are achieved. The successful attainment of such goals includes both the quality of group outputs as well as their timeliness,† (Langfred, 2000, p. 569). Although Langfred did an empirical study of the Danish Army to prove his theories of unit cohesion, the structure of the tests directly applies to the US Army as well. Cohesiveness in terms of group goals and communications were paramount in forming the cohesive units required for standardization. The US Army, however, is a leader in community structure in that the support often far-outreaches the constructs of similar organizations. The uniformity is across the board in terms of family support, job description, promotional evaluations and ethical standards. The beginnings of the US Army are directly connected to its cohesiveness of today. Originally designed as a conscription service where legions were formed by required participation of any and all applicable men, the organization itself has transformed into a voluntary unit of men and women. Originally devised from people of all age, economic and social stratus, anyone can now enlist provided they have at least a General Education Diploma (GED). The elitist nature from the past of the upper echelon serving as officers, and their subsequent promotions based on time-in-service over actual performance has changed drastically. According to an article written by Andrew Birtle, the change took a long time, but now allows anyone proving their worth and moral code can advance. Socio-economic status no longer remains as a qualifier for promotion or advancement. Although not a perfect system by any means, nepotism being obvious in some lines of service, the US Army provides a distinct design for the creation of cohesiveness and unification across behavior and cultural lines of organization (2003). The US Army has taken the advantages and cultural mores within its organization and applied them to harmony among all lines, to include race relations. â€Å"The Army has no peer in its broad record of promotions of blacks to positions of influence,† (Racial Integration, 2001, p. 35). Although not perfect by any means, the US Army still maintains this distinct line of communication and promotion for all its soldiers. Within each unit, the Army maintains an Equal Opportunity Officer who will listen and record any and all forms of complaint due to discrimination, sexual, racial, or other. All complaints are written down and added to applicable personnel files following a thorough investigation. At each promotional stage in the soldiers career, these files are considered, thus offering a distinct incentive to avoid disharmony or bigoted hate. â€Å"The Army is probably the only important institution in the U.  S. where whites don’t get promoted if they show racist behavior,† (Racial Integration, 2001, p. 35). In conclusion, the US Army offers a unique environment controlling and influencing the Organizational Culture and Group Behavior through its differentiated Organizational Structure. In maintaining a similar environment for soldiers and their families, the US Army homogenizes the livelihood of its employees through unification across the board. The promotional structure offered directly entices soldiers to conform in order to gain a better life and environment for themselves and their families. Although not easily duplicated in the business world, many companies have studied the US Army for innovative approaches to standardizing their own commercial culture. â€Å"The first step toward restoring organizational vitality is to engage every employee in the company’s principal challenges,† (Pascale, Millemann & Gioja, 1997, p. 131). The model used by the US Army controls the majority of situations within its construct and if studied further would offer commercial enterprises a blueprint applicable to other avenues of business organizations and their organizational behavior models. The unique Organizational Structure of the US Army dictates not only the Organizational Culture and Group Behavior; it also influences the Decision Making process, Motivation, Communication, Power and Politics, Human Resource Management and Change Management inherent in any large organization. The unique structure considers each of these aspects of organizational behavior and builds a concise view and standard operating procedures to control and maintain its vision of it future and mission. Although this paper looked at only three aspects, the US Army offers a distinctive model for any Organizational Behavior study.

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 22

22. Meeting at the Palace RIVERA They traded in the Ford at the city motor pool for one that had a Plexiglas divider between the front and rear seats. Cavuto's knees were pressed against the glove compartment, since the seat didn't adjust, but it was worth the trade-off. It turned out the organic dog biscuits that Rivera had bought gave Marvin gas. He now had his own little glass partition in which to exhaust, and the inspectors drank their coffee relatively free of doggy stench. â€Å"I don't sleep well during the day,† Cavuto said. â€Å"Roger that,† said Rivera. â€Å"I feel like I've been up for a week.† He dialed his messages, then looked at his partner. â€Å"Fifteen unplayed messages? Are we out of the service area or something?† â€Å"You turned it off when we were zeroing in on that litter of dangerous kittens.† Rivera tried to drink his coffee while handling the phone and ended up pulling the car over to the curb. â€Å"They're all from the Emperor. Something about a ship down at Pier Nine being full of old vampires.† â€Å"No,† said Cavuto. â€Å"There are no more vampires until I've had two full cups of coffee and a healthy piss. That's my personal rule.† Cavuto keyed the radio and checked into dispatch. They did most of their communications by cell phone these days, but there were still rules. If you were a rolling unit, dispatch needed to know where you were. â€Å"Rivera and Cavuto,† said the dispatcher. â€Å"I have you guys tagged to call if there are any cases of cats attacking humans, is that right?† â€Å"Roger, dispatch.† â€Å"Well, live the dream, Inspector, we have report of a giant cat attacking a man at Baker and Beach. We have a unit on the scene reporting nothing.† Cavuto looked at Rivera. â€Å"That's the Palace of Fine Arts. The Marina is new territory.† â€Å"There might not be anything now. The uniforms don't know to look for clothes with dust and I don't want them to. Tell them we're on the way.† â€Å"Dispatch, we are responding. Tell unit on scene that we'll take care of it. Part of an ongoing investigation of a 5150 making false reports.† Cavuto grinned and looked at his partner. â€Å"Nice improvisation.† â€Å"Yeah, but I think this cat might be out of the bag, Rivera.† â€Å"I hope not.† They rolled up to the great faux stone classical dome, the only building left from the World Exposition of 1911, when San Francisco was trying to show the world that it had recovered from the earthquake of '06. The uniform unit was on the far side of the reflection pool, standing by their squad car. Cavuto waved them on. â€Å"We got this, guys. Thanks.† What there wasn't, was a huge shaved vampire cat attacking a guy. â€Å"You think it's a hoax?† asked Cavuto. â€Å"Pretty outrageous coincidence if it is.† Cavuto got out of the car and let Marvin out, who waited for his leash to be attached, then dragged Cavuto over to a tree by the pond to have a wee. Swans who had settled under the trees for the night stirred and gave Marvin dirty looks. â€Å"Nothing here,† said Cavuto. â€Å"Marvin's not doing his signal thing.† Rivera's phone chirped and he looked at the screen. â€Å"It's Allison Green, the creepy little Goth girl.† â€Å"If she called this in I will put her in Juvi overnight.† â€Å"Rivera,† Rivera said into the phone. â€Å"Turn your sun jackets on right now,† she said. â€Å"Right fucking now, both of you.† Rivera looked at Cavuto. â€Å"Turn on the LEDs on your coat, Nick.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Do it. She's not fucking with us.† Rivera hit the switch on the cuff of his sun jacket and the LEDs came on blindingly bright. A few blocks away they heard a man scream. Marvin barked. â€Å"Oh, trs bon, cop. Byez,† Abby said. The line went dead. â€Å"The fuck was that about?† said Cavuto. ROLF Rolf was actually looking forward to shooting someone. After hundreds of years, you get bored with killing, with hunting. The three of them had gone through cycles of stealthy killing of the unwanted, to outright slaughter of whole villages, to long periods where there was no killing at all. But it had been fifty years since he'd actually had to shoot someone. The change of pace was nice. Of course, it was messy, bodies, waste of good blood, but better that than having policemen running around telling people about them. No matter what kind of debaucheries they had indulged in over the years, and there had been many kinds-these too went in cycles-the one rule they held fast to was â€Å"stay hidden.† And to stay hidden, you couldn't permit yourself to get so bored that you didn't care about living. Well, surviving. Maybe it was just the two cops from last night. Elijah, in a rare moment of lucidity finally admitted that there were only two policemen that he knew of, and because they had taken money from the sale of the old vampire's art collection, they did not want the secret known. Clearly though, they were beyond their depth with the cats. He and Bella had made short work of the smaller cats. They used rapid-fire pellet guns, nearly silent, that fired pellets containing a liquid that destroyed vampire flesh on contact-a heinous, herbal mixture that someone in China had discovered hundreds of years ago. A weak UV light on the front of the weapons held the animals in solid form long enough for the pellets to impact. The pellets would injure a human vampire, but they were devastating to a feline. The Chinese had somehow tuned it to the cats. They had used the mixture to contain every outbreak since its discovery. Rolf remembered firing it from crossbows. Rolf keyed his cell phone, then called the emergency number and reported a man being attacked by a giant cat. Then he set up the bipod on his rifle, zeroed the twenty-power scope in on one of the swans under a eucalyptus tree, and lay down to wait. Seven minutes later the police cruiser arrived. They were both fresh-faced young men with bright pink life auras. From his rooftop, four blocks away, Rolf could just make out the squawking of their radios. They knew nothing. They panned their flashlights under the bushes surrounding the pond, and he watched them shake their heads to one another. Seventeen minutes after the call, the brown unmarked car pulled up and Rolf relaxed into his shooting posture. These were the two from the night before. The big red dog. The dog looked his way, briefly, then dragged the big cop down to a tree by the pond. He put the crosshairs on the thinner cop's face. But no, a headshot was arrogant. He had to make two shots, very quickly, so he would go for the center of their bodies. Shoot the thin cop first, then pan to the big one. A bigger target. Even if his first shot didn't kill him, it would drop him. He waited, waited for them to get clear of the car and the cover. The thin cop was walking toward the other one, then stopped to take a phone call. Rolf put the crosshairs over his heart and began to squeeze the trigger. Then the entire side of his head seemed to explode with pain and he screamed and grabbed at the flames that were shooting out of his empty eye socket. TOMMY â€Å"Are we doing this right?† Tommy asked. They were several blocks behind Rolf, who was moving so smoothly and easily through the Marina district that Tommy would have thought he lived there and was out for his evening jog. Except that no one in the Marina would be wearing a black duster. It would either be cashmere or Gore-Tex, business or fitness. The Marina was a rich, fit neighborhood. â€Å"We're following him,† said Abby. â€Å"How many ways can you do that?† Jody was leading them. She held up a hand for them to stop. The blond vampire had stopped at the corner of a four-story apartment building and was scaling it using just the space between the bricks as handholds. Tommy looked around and spotted a flat-roofed building down the alley. â€Å"That one has a fire escape. We'll be above him, we can watch him.† â€Å"I don't think watching is going to be enough,† Jody said. â€Å"He looks badass,† said Abby. â€Å"He's watching those cops over at the Palace.† â€Å"He won't just shoot a cop,† said Tommy. â€Å"Why would he shoot a cop?† â€Å"Plain clothes unit pulling in,† Jody said. â€Å"It's Rivera and Cavuto.† â€Å"And Marvin,† Abby said. â€Å"He knows they know,† said Tommy. â€Å"We need to go,† Jody said. â€Å"Abby, you have Rivera's number?† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"Call him. Give me that laser thing.† â€Å"The light from their jackets magnified through the scope will work,† Tommy said. â€Å"Let's go.† Jody ran to the edge of the roof and stopped. Abby hopped on her toes. â€Å"Spider-Man it, Countess.† â€Å"No fucking way,† Jody said, looking down just as Tommy ran by her and jumped across the alley to the next building. They were coming across the roof of a building a block away when they saw the side of the vampire's head ignite and heard him scream. He rolled away from the gun, clawing at his face. â€Å"Too far,† Jody said. The final gap between roofs was over a full street, not an alley, and they were a floor lower than the blond vampire. â€Å"Down.† Without thinking, Tommy jumped, then said, â€Å"What the fuck did I just do?† He landed on the balls of his feet and went down to crouch, catching himself just as he was about to drive his knee into the concrete. He looked up. Jody was still on the roof. â€Å"C'mon, Red, I'm not going up there alone.† â€Å"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,† she said, and then landed beside him and rolled. When he saw she wasn't hurt, he said, â€Å"Graceful.† â€Å"He's getting up,† she said, and she pointed at the next building. Tommy knew if he thought about it, he'd never do it, so he just started climbing up the corner of the building as fast as he could. He'd done this before. He didn't remember it, but his body did. Climbing the wall like a cat. Jody was right behind him. As he reached the top of the wall he stopped and looked back. â€Å"Sunglasses,† he whispered so faintly that only someone with vampire hearing would hear. He wedged his right hand between the bricks, then reached into his shirt pocket, flung open the sunglasses, and put them on. He couldn't climb with the laser in his hand. He'd have to clear the top, then grab the weapon out of his pants pocket. Jody had her glasses on, too. She nodded for him to go. He coiled, and sprang to catapult himself over the edge of the wall, but in midair a bright light went off in his head and he felt himself spinning, then a bone-crushing impact on the ground. Something had hit him, probably the rifle butt. He rolled over and looked up the wall. Jody was still clinging there, six feet below the edge, too far to be hit with the rifle. The blond vampire, his face charred, was turning the rifle, working the bolt. He was going to shoot her in the face. â€Å"Jody!† He saw her let go with one hand, reach for the small of her back, then there was another blinding light. He'd lost his sunglasses during the fall. Something splatted beside him on the pavement. He could smell burned flesh, and blood. â€Å"You okay?† she said. He felt a hand on his face. â€Å"I'm kinda blind. And I think I have a couple of broken ribs.† He blinked the blood tears out of his eyes, then saw something dark, circular on the pavement. â€Å"What's that?† â€Å"That's the top of his skull,† Jody said. Footsteps, then Abby was there. â€Å"That was awesome. Gruesome, but awesome. You were amazing, Countess.† â€Å"Not feeling all that amazing.† â€Å"You probably should drink some blood, Tommy. You're kind of fucked up.† He took the plastic blood pack from her and bit into it, draining almost the whole pint in seconds, feeling his bones and skin knitting together. Then Abby snatched it away from him and started drinking herself. â€Å"I feel like death on toast. I probably shouldn't have eaten that pigeon.† MARVIN Marvin ruffed three times fast, â€Å"Biscuit, biscuit, biscuit.† Then, as he pulled Cavuto around the corner and smelled the fourth dead one he ruffed again. â€Å"Another biscuit.† Then, mission accomplished. He sat. â€Å"Marvin!† Abby said. She dropped the empty blood bag and scratched between his ears, then fed him a Gummi bear. Rivera came around the corner with his Glock drawn. Jody stood, reached past the gun, and snagged the battery out of the cop's inside pocket. Abby did the same to Cavuto, who leveled a long orange Super Soaker at her. â€Å"Really, Ass Bear?† she said. â€Å"Really?† She snatched the squirt gun out of his hand and backhanded it a full block down the street where it shattered. â€Å"I have a gun on you, Missy,† said Rivera. â€Å"Biscuit,† Marvin ruffed. Clearly there are three dead people here and part of a fourth, and biscuits are in order. Jody snatched Rivera's Glock out of his hand so quickly he was still in aiming position when she popped the clip out of it. Cavuto started to draw the big Desert Eagle and Abby caught his arm and leaned in close. â€Å"Ninja, please, unless you're going to use that to take your own life out of humiliation for the squirt gun, just let it go.† She turned and looked at Tommy, who was sitting splayed-legged on the sidewalk, holding his ribs. â€Å"This fucking vampy power rocks my deepest dark.† Then back to Cavuto. â€Å"I'd slap you around a little, but I'm feeling kinda nauseous.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Cavuto. â€Å"I get that. That's how I know you're around.† â€Å"So you three are, all, uh, them,† said Rivera. â€Å"Not exactly them,† Tommy said. â€Å"Jody just took the top off the head of one of them.† He pointed at the charred brainpan. â€Å"He was about to take you out with a sniper rifle,† Abby said. â€Å"That's why I called. Thanks for just doing what I said and not being an assbag, by the way.† â€Å"You'll find the rest of him along with the rifle on the roof,† Jody said. â€Å"That's who called in the vampire cat attack?† Cavuto said. Tommy nodded. â€Å"There are at least three of them. Maybe two, now. Very old. They came in that black yacht that's down at Pier Nine. They are cleaning up the mess Elijah left. They must know you guys are hunting Chet and the vampire cats.† â€Å"He must have seen us last night, with the Animals. We thought the cats got Barry.† Tommy climbed to his feet. â€Å"Barry's dead?† â€Å"Sorry,† Rivera said. â€Å"So they know about the Animals, too?† Tommy said, â€Å"The Animals were the ones who took Elijah's art collection and blew up his yacht. Of course, they know about the Animals.† â€Å"We've got to get over there,† Rivera said. â€Å"They'll be hunting the Emperor, too. He's been calling all day about a black ship. I thought it was just more craziness. I don't even know where to start looking for him.† Jody handed Rivera back his gun and the battery to his jacket. â€Å"Wire those back up as soon as you get back in your car. They work.† Marvin let go with a barrage of barking, which translated, â€Å"I have found some dead people and I am going to make a fuss if I don't get a biscuit and the ear-scratch girl is dead and sick.† â€Å"Easy, Marvin,† Abby said. She steadied herself against the big dog and Cavuto caught her by the arm to keep her from falling. â€Å"I really don't feel good.† She crumpled to the sidewalk. Tommy caught her in time to keep her head from hitting the concrete. â€Å"My tail kind of hurts.† Jody snatched Rivera's gun out of his hand again. â€Å"Give Tommy your car keys.† â€Å"What! No!† Jody smacked Rivera's jacket, heard a jingle, then reached in his pocket and took the keys. Rivera stood there like he was five, being dressed by his mother. Jody threw the keys to Tommy. â€Å"Take her to the loft. Foo will still be there. Maybe he can change her back in time.† â€Å"Where are you going?† Tommy said. â€Å"I'm going to the ship. Maybe I can stop one of them there. They're going to come to the loft, so be ready.† â€Å"Not so fast, Red,† said Cavuto. â€Å"You will shut the fuck up!† Jody said. â€Å"You guys are six blocks from the Marina Safeway. The Animals should be at work, or will be there in a few minutes. That's where I went when I wanted to find them, that's where these vampires will go. So shag ass over there and warn them. Wire the batteries back into your jackets on the way there or they'll have you for lunch. Call for another car if you need to, but we just saved your lives and your car is ours.† Rivera smiled. â€Å"I'm okay with that.† Cavuto said, â€Å"You are?† Tommy picked Abby up and held her with one arm while he reached into her messenger bag, took out her phone, and handed it to Jody. â€Å"Call Foo, tell him we're coming.† â€Å"I will. Be careful.† She kissed him. â€Å"Save our minion.† â€Å"Got it,† Tommy said. Marvin whimpered at them as they went away, which translated to, â€Å"I'm worried about the ear-scratching dead girl with the Gummi bears.†

Working Capital Strategies Paper and Power Point Presentation Essay

Working Capital Strategies Paper and Power Point Presentation - Essay Example this the core concentration of the company is now on improving its operations and to attain a better position in the industry by deploying suitable cash management strategies. This particular report will focus on the different asset-liability management strategies that the company has adapted so far. The report analyses the results of the year 2006, 2007 and 2008. It also makes an assessment about the future cash management strategies that the company can adapt. Â   The end of financial year 2006 showed a steady increase in the Net sales for the company. The increase was more than US $ 9 billion, when compared to the figures of the financial year 2005. (Annual report Home Depot, 2006).Side by side the company’s net asset also increased to US $ 52.3 billion from US $ 44.4 billion in this particular year. (Annual report Home Depot, 2006). This increase in current assets is mostly due to the acquisition of Hughes Supply in the supply segment. Also apart from this the company made another major acquisition in China, in its retail segments. Thus the supply chains were made stronger as well as there was a steady strategic decision, which increased the number of outlets in the developing market of China. Due to all these facts it can be concluded that though the net sales of the company increased by 11.4% but the Net earnings remained same to US $5.8 billion, when compared to the previous year. (Annual report Home Depot, 2006). In fact the net earning as a percentage of net sales showed a decreasing trend. The cause for this decline can be twofold. Firstly it may be due to the increase in fixed asset of the company that year (which incurred a huge amount of cost), and it may also be due to the lowering of demand of the household appliances. The later fact is also reflected in the company’s balance sheet where it shows that weighted average weekly sales per operating store as well as the retail comparable store, as a percentage of total sales have decreased to some

Supervision Topic of Issue Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Supervision Topic of Issue - Research Paper Example Thus, this discussion seeks to evaluate the relevance of supervision in social work, with a view to underlining the different types of supervisions necessary for the accomplishment of effective social work services delivery. Supervision in social work has become an important aspect of determining the success of maintaining the best practices in both the health and human services professions. Successful client outcomes, is the major target of social work supervision (Noble & Irwin, 2009). Through good supervision, high levels of job satisfaction are achieved, while commitment to the organization and a high rate of social workers is realized. The first area through which social work employees are able to perceive the nature of support that they are offered by their organization is in supervision. This is because; social work consists of emotionally charged nature of tasks, which then requires that the social workers are granted sufficient support in order to be able to cope with the nature of their work. Thus, effective social work supervision has been identified as one of the ways of enhancing social workers retention within health and human services organizations (Reamer, 2003). The relevance of supervision in social work draws from the fact that the knowledge of social work has greatly increased, while the population served by the social workers has increasingly become complex. Equally relevant in the social work profession is the need to protect the clients from any form of harm that might arise out of unethical social practices that degrades the client’s dignity or breaches their confidentiality (Pack, 2009). In this respect, it is essential that all social workers are suitably equipped with the right skills and training to deliver social services effectively, while also ensuing that any form of assistance that the social workers might need to execute social work responsibilities

Parable of the Sadhu, McKoy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Parable of the Sadhu, McKoy - Essay Example transmitter of river blindness, in the third world was a serious crisis that lacked the necessary interventions from the United States and other developed international countries. As a matter of fact, these countries consider the business viability of drug manufacturing, rather than the ethical service delivery and elimination of human diseases. The United States effected legislation, in 1978, to help the drug manufacturing industries develop and innovate drug formulations to counter many diseases affecting Americans. This included tax benefits and exclusive marketing rights for the American manufacturers, for the American people. Many people affected by the river blindness disease hailed from the third world countries, where most of the population could not afford low drug prices. The increment of attacks along the rivers caused migration from the fertile and wet lands, and hence created risks for food shortages and abject poverty. This is bound to have adverse effects on agricultural growth and food production, which are vital in economic development. The author implies that an intervention by the US government and other developed nations and organizations, such as the World Health Organization, could have achieved the development of a more effective drug formulation. This could have eased the economic and health burden o n the poor third world population, especially those affected by the river blindness. Merck organizational policies and business ethics are highly contradictory since at some point there was conflict of interest due to fear of failure. Merck could have invested in Dr. William Campbell’s research on the development of an effective drug formulation from the Sample No. 0S3153, which yielded the veterinary Ivomec drug. Failure inevitability in drug innovation and the tediousness, and cost, of the research led to the use of sophisticated research managers, such as Vagelos, and thereby hindered the critical innovation and approval of potential drug

Full case study in Jobber, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2012) Principles

Full in Jobber, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2012) Principles and Practice of Marketing (7th ed). London, McGraw-Hill H - Case Study Example This would reveal the extent to which the company followed the formal process of marketing planning. Dixons was a product oriented company when it stated its journey in electrical retail segment. Their followed the strategy â€Å"stack-em high – sell-em cheap in brightly coloured stores.† This strategy validated the fact that Dixons focused more towards selling good product in well-designed stores, but customer satisfaction was overlooked and it did not occupy centre position in the strategic approach of the company. A general formal marketing planning process is segregated into four parts that is goal setting, analysing present situations, create marketing strategies and allocate the marketing monitoring system and resources. In the goal, setting segment companies set their mission and objectives. Dixons also established its mission to stock products and sell them in brightly coloured stores. Their objective was to offer variety of products and generate lucrative retur ns. However, the company missed customer service, which its competitors took advantage of. So it can be said that Dixons followed the first step of marketing planning process. The second step is to analyse current situation. The company came to know about its drawbacks during the economic crisis in 2006. It identified that there were major threats of recession in the global market and its competitors Best Buy started grabbing market share by providing better services to customers. At this juncture, Dixons revolutionised its move towards customers. This proves that the company followed the second step of marketing planning process too. The third step is to create marketing strategies, which Dixons rolled out in order to face the intense competition. It can be also called a transformation strategy of the company because it changed the focus of the company from being product oriented to customer oriented. The new business model also re-defined five specific objectives for the company. The fourth and final stage was to allocate resources and monitor the plan. The major focus was now on after-sales and support and customer choice, value and service was the major function in the new business model. This discussion proves how Dixons followed and applied marketing planning process for devising the strategies (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Another superior marketing strategy that the organization applied is the integration of technology in their marketing strategy. In the company’s service-led business model the internet was a core component of the customer insight. Gay, Worth and Esen (2007) point out that online marketing is a superior tool for marketing in a technology driven society. In online marketing, Dixon employed a multi-channel approach to allow customers to research about the organization order their desired good, reserve and even purchase goods. To reach to this approach, the organization noted that those people who purchased goods online prefer red to collect them by themselves at a later date. Consequently, applying a multichannel approach provided a customer value method by allowing them to have a flexible purchase plan in the company. The success of this strategy can be associated with the global trends of internet penetration that is growing each day. By developing an information rich website, it is possible for an organization to roll out their products to their target customers

American History Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

American History - Research Paper Example This research paper determines to answer to four various questions on American History topic. Firstly, the researcher focuses on the factors that led to the emergence of American middle class. It is stated in the research paper that the middle class comprised of farmers of the white origin, mechanics, and the country’s laborers. The continuous oppression and tactical exploitation of their skills led to the diminishing levels of their incomes. Then, the researcher discusses the quest of Indian removal. It is mentioned that Andrew Jackson observed the negative practices of the Indian tribes of Cherokee, Seminoles, Chickasaw, and the Creek to harbor fugitives as unconstitutional and against his personal will. Therefore, he called upon the military police officers to help eradicate the possible stronghold that the dissidents held. Thirdly, the researcher briefly discussed 3. the Oregon tress and stages of developing a frontier. When the American society discovered that importing l abor from the East Asia was cheaper, merchants took heed to aboard and sail the Asians the American society. This was referred to as obtrusion and the immigrants moved to Oregon and uprisings emerged since the Native American was not accommodating. The act resulted to deaths and loss of property but the government maintained little interest to the ongoing crisis. In conclusion, the researcher also discusses the topic of abolitionism of the American slave practices and the antislavery and the abolitionist movement.... Andrew Jackson further found it obstructing to suppress the five tribes, as their unity would subsequently lead to the emergence of revolts against the American government. Another hindrance was that the accord in which the tribes allowed America to acquire half of their land and develop it without any further threats of secession of the land. The removal affected the Native Americans negatively as the continuous aggression by Andrew eventually led to the forced migration and loss of land to the whites (Tucker, 2009). The Native Americans thus, were subjects to poverty following displacements, with the only choice remaining to be slaves and immigrants. 3. The Oregon tress and stages of developing a frontier When the American society discovered that importing labor from the East Asia was cheaper, merchants took heed to aboard and sail the Asians the American society. This was referred to as obtrusion and the immigrants often lived with animosity with the native and the white communiti es that had lost jobs. They moved to Oregon and uprisings emerged since the Native American was not accommodating (Behrman, 2005). The act resulted to deaths and loss of property but the government maintained little interest to the ongoing crisis. Towards half of the 19th century, the government retaliated to the ethnic aggressions, but this following the killings of white men along the Rouge River as it implicated on the seriousness of the issue. The government interest in the Oregon state was to acquire land for the white farmers while displacing the natives. This led to heated animosity as the native tribes continually aggressed and brutally massacred the aliens including the

Airport Planning and Expansion Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Airport Planning and Expansion - Case Study Example In this study, I intend to focus the analysis on the overall facility by reviewing the constraints within which the airport works and at the end offer recommendations on a probable development scheme so as to augment on the capacity in reference to flight and travellers accommodation. The Changi Airport found in Singapore has grown to rise to be a major aviation hub in Asian region. Its importance is particularly crucial to the southeast part of Asia. Occupying change, the airport rests on a thirteen square kilometres land, and about 17 kilometres to the north-east of the commercial hub. This is a military and public airport that is owned by the government of Singapore. The Changi Airport opened in 1981 is at an elevation of 22ft or 7meters above sea level and serves the Singapore Government and is run by the Changi Airport Group. It is considered as a landmark achievement for the country of Singapore. The company has won a plethora of awards totalling to about 280 in a span of 20 years, that is from 1987- 2007, for providing excellent service that is considered as a benchmark in the Aviation industry. The year 2007 alone saw the company earn 19 awards in the best airport category. The airport has made measures to address the age issue by offering periodic physical upgrades to the already in place terminals, building fresh facilities and taking actions towards the development of high level customer services. The Changi Airport is base to the Singapore Airlines, Tiger Airways, Valuair, Jett8 Airlines Cargo, Singapore Airlines Cargo, Jetstar Asia Airways, and SilkAir, and the main stopping point for Qantas which uses it as the main stop point en route kangaroo - a route that connects Australia and

Joint Power Agreement Essay Example for Free

Joint Power Agreement Essay The concept joint powers agreement can be defined under the following fields. The first one is custom lease agreement which implies creation of a custom lease in agreement for commercial, residential or property. The commercial lease entails all the terms necessary when the tenant plans to lease anything either from low land for office suite when transacting any kind of business. Residential rental agreement applies when renting apartments and houses whereby the lease creates a binding agreement between tenant and the land. Fro the case of a property, it can perfectly apply to lease of agricultural lands for farming or ranching. The concept can also be defined through analyzing partnership which implies the documentary agreement that governs the management and control of partnership for instance in corporations. A Service level agreement (SLAs) is another form of defining the concept of joint powers agreement which is applicable in information technology. The engine machine monitors the availability and performance of critical business applications. World examples of joint powers agreement include; business in contract between two counties. For instance, a certain country may have mineral deposits like gold and due to inadequate machinery and skills; it decides to give the tender to another country which is done in documentary form. It can also be applicable in service level agreements for applications in business thus providing out of the box report of performance which is used in effective IT utilization of resources and in capacity planning. Incident commander is a person who is responsible for commanding the incident response. He is the decision making final authority. At the scene of critical incidents, the incident commander has the authority to conduct the command staff immediately. The command staff which has different sections seeks for information directly from the scene seas to organize on how to handle the matter. The incident commander then attents the scene for assessment. He then orders his entire staff to attend the incident where he manages the incident operation. He should ensure that the persons involved in rescue process are well protected and are using devices which are efficient. After the incident is rescued, he later follows up the compensation measures (Arakelian 1950). Unified management refers to a system whereby the business activities operate with a consistency and overall framework. Such operations and practices in business include budget plans, managed marketing strategies and plans for business managements, services management, people, assets and technology, objective of management, problems and issued and also performance plans. Though unified management, many of the business operational practices should be defined. All these segments should not be left to the general manager by departmental managers should join hands together in a certain firm to address issue affecting their firm jointly. Some of the scenarios where unified management team would effectively work include; establishment of unified management framework governance with dimensions to provide the processes of management for directions, development and delivering the business which can also be called the 3Ds across its suppliers, consumer capabilities and services, and also products so as both to fulfill the requirements of consumer and the objective of the business. Another scenario where unified management can be applied effectively is the value of network dimensions which give a structure for process in business around the value streams which through the service, products, suppliers, government dimensions and capabilities of the business. Another scenario of unified management application is ensuring control and facilitating Processes which happen to be standard to every manager wherever they operate business and whatever they manage it ensures unified management processes. References. Arakelian A, (1950). Industrial Management in the USSR. New York.

Economic Impacts of transnational corporations on industrialised countries

Economic Impacts of transnational corporations on industrialised countries Identify and comment on the economic and environmental impacts of transnational corporations on newly industrialized countries you have studied. Introduction The object of this report is to assess the economic environmental impacts of the transnational corporations (TNC) on the newly industrialized countries (NICs) such as India, China, Thailand, Mexico, Philippine, Malaysia, Turkey, South Africa and Brazil Since the mid of 1980s, the economic strategies of NICs include Singapore, Malayasia Thailand have shown a amazing degree of meeting in one impact-driven growth strategies. They rely essential on transnational corporations (TNCs). While achieving this type of strategic economic growth the newly industrialized countries have been dun economical environmental both positive and negative impacts from the transnational corporations. Under below arias the report describes how TNCs impact to the NICs. The mainly focused arias are Investment, Technology, Transport, Employment, Urbanization, Environment-Safety, Furthermore the report assess TNSc overall impact to the Environment as well as to the economy of NICs. What are TNCs? Trans National Corporations (TNCs) are companies which operate in at least 2 countries. Its organization is very hierarchical with the headquarters as well as research development often located in the mother country. Production centers tend to be host countries. When organization becomes more worldwide regional headquarters and regional research development will widen in the manufacturing countries. This gives TNCs many advantages, such as right of entry to the global market, cheap labor, low production costs, consequently greater profits. The headquarters of these remains in its mother country, most of the time lots of them are developed nations in the world, like USA UK. Their established factories allover the world, which either produces entire finished Goods or parts, for the company to sell on the global market. Among all the TNCs in the world, Most of them are oil companies such as Exxon (Esso) BP, car manufacturing companies (for instance Toyota, Ford, Nissan and Volkswagen). Other familiar companies like IBM, Sony Coca-Cola are also can defined as being TNCs. Trance National Corporations are established globally for their advantages, to earn more profits. They bring with them both positive and negative impacts for the country which host to TNCs. Top 10 TNCs in 2009 TNCs manufacturing high-tech Scientific instructions, pharmaceuticals microelectronics, (Mitsubishi, Smithkleine, Glaxo- Sony) Large volume of consumer goods Tyres, Motor vehicles, televisions other electronic products (Toyota, Daimler, Ford, Volkswagen, General Motors) 3) Mass produced consumer goods cigarettes, beverages, breakfast cereals, cosmetics branded goods (Mars, Uniliever, Nestle, Kraft foods) 4) Service Banking/ insurance, hotel chains, freight transport, advertising, fast food outlets (IN group, AXA, Citigroup, HSBC, Allianz, Dexia) TNCs organize manage economic activities in different regions develop trade inside between units of the similar corporation in different regions. It means most of the time control the terms of the trade can diminish the effect of quota boundaries on the movement of products, go around trade tariffs. What are NICs? Country that has within recent decades experienced a get through into rapid productivity growth, rapid export oriented economic growth, quick industrialization farther a high amount of investment and assets formation largely funded from local savings, and a high tendency to export, with end user durables and machinery accounting for a large share of exports. Superior examples are South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. These countries invest capital and production facilities in other developing countries like China, Vietnam, India, and some countries in South East Asia. Within 20th century lots of East Asia countries were industrialized such as South Koria, Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan. These states are called as NICs (Newly Industrialized Countries). Further sometimes they are called as Tiger Economies because of the attractive growth rate of these regions. The governments of NICs controlled over industrial development motivated industries to export manufactured products to abrade such as more developed states. The exports profits were re-invested in the local economy. Local businesses did grow; wages rose workers did spend their new assets to buy domestic goods and services thus motivating further growth. This type of rotation, knock-on effect, in that money paid out from businesses is invested again inside the country, is often called the multiplier effect. NICs have been being succeeded for the last 30 years. That successfulness of these economies has contributed to the turn down of manufacturing industries in MEDCs like UK. Industries struggled to compete with the NICs competition, because their production cost and wages were very low. Characteristics of NICs Countries whorled market exporter share is increasing, they often copying existing products then reproducing for a much low price. Continues growth in the production sector that results for more exports continues increasing of GDP. Generally NICs Can be developed by three stagers, thats traditional society to a developed country society. Three stagers are explained below. The time frame of whole process can be minimum 30 years. Traditional society: There are more labors work under the industry, its labor oriented. Concentrating on small cottage-style traditional industries, concentrated on local raw materials. Instance could include food processing, textile manufacture Most of the time, lots of people are still work in the primary sector, doing things include farming. Using primary technologies most of the people have less money. Import the products what they want, that indicate county is not producing what they actually needed addicted to import products. Import substitution industries: The country does promote its own industries. Newly started companies imitate products from well known market giants and then produce them for low price. The government operates tariff barrios for the products are being imported trades that make similar products. The purpose of that is protecting their own domestic companies whilst they grow. Instance industries are computer manufacture, car manufacture, electronic goods and other electrical goods, like hi-fis. Export orientated industries: The new companies set up in their state they are allowed to run free upon the global market. Industries are being capital intensive, using high technology aimed at earning a big profit. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the country starts to increase, mostly growing at above 5% per One year that is a wonderful rate. Now the country has been being an NIC. How do TNCs affect to the NICs economy their environment? Investment: Advantages: The companies earn, invest, bring foreign currency into the country. Though most of their earnings come back to the companys country of host, all the remunerations do come to the local economy Disadvantages: The salaries paid to host country workers are very low and a lot of companies have been accused of exploiting the workforce before benefiting that. There are frequently tax incentives for such TNCs to establish in countries in the developing world. Due to the fact that they get lots of their profits out of the country that says the real economic benefit to the country could be limited. Technology: Advantages: TNCs help the development of the NICs by bringing in latest technology and new knowledge that the host country doesnt use. Disadvantages: If not the company does actively participate in the program to educate domestic companies in the latest technologies, the countrys industry wont actually benefit. TNCs are not going to share too much information. If the local industry competition will increase because of new knowledge TNCs have to compete even with the local companies. Transport: Advantages: The new TNCs mostly help to develop transport links around the company area. Disadvantages: Mostly serve only the direct roads, rails that needs of the company, not the surrounding area as well. Employment: Advantages: They do create job opportunities for the NICs domestic employees. Disadvantages: Most of the jobs opportunities are highly skilled so the company uses their own people to do the work Because of the technological environment of these companies. Remain less jobs opportunities. Urbanization: -launching a TNC in a city in NIC does encourage urbanization. Young migrant workers gather to the city. It influence to the rural communities their development Environment-Safety: Advantages: TNSc bring with them some environmental friendly technologies expertise to decrees harmful pollution establish a safe working environment. Disadvantages: a lot of TNCs have very bad history on environmental pollution workers safety. They have been complained of trying to cut both safety of working environment and environmental pollution in order to keep costs down. . Advantages to TNCs They have the capability to take benefits of spatial differences in factors of manufacture line. TNCs can utilize differences in the accessibility of labor, capital, and building or land costs. e.g. In 2002 Dyson did move its manufacture plant in Malmesbury, Wiltshire to Malayasia to take benefit of cheap labor. Dyson retained several hundred jobs of employees in Wiltshire for research and development (RD) saving of 30% of cost in production. They can position to take benefit of government policy barriers include, subsidies, lower taxes grants and less strict government lows on employment and environmental pollution. Overall impact to the Economic growth Development of NICs can be potentially promoted by transnational corporations through their activities that generate economic growth. Some evidence exists that the foreign exchange and foreign direct investment that TNCs provide can improve the performance of the economy of the NICs which they operate in. The process of economic growth is impacted by the TNCs influencing the transfer of soft hard technology, quality amount of capital formation, growth of trade opportunities the imprudent of labor. Further, Such as Taiwan, Province of China South Korea demonstrates that under some situations economic development can promote social development. For instance in Taiwan, enormous growth of economy has been combined with developed educational levels, the longer life spans, got good health conditions, advanced political liberalization, housing environment, superior civil liberties. Theoretically TNCs can uplift the development of the NICs society by fostering economic growth; practically this relationship exists for two reasons. Mainly, in the host countries it is not clear whether transnational corporations are really responsible for the growth of economy. In the most recent two notable cases related to economic transformation, Taiwan and South Korea, a negligible role was played by transnational corporations. Further, TNCs actually have the ability to prevent NICs local economic growth by running local entrepreneurs out of the business zone, along with the importing of main goods and services, reducing large amounts of the profits from their local NICs, and transferring royalties and fees to the main companies which are located away from the host economy. Secondly, even if the economy of the NIC is not developing, there is a tenuous relationship between social development and economic growth. Even though there is an global economic growth annually, it is yet hard to prevent the problems of poverty, unemployment, inequality in wealth, and such other issues of social malaise. For example In Cote dIvoire, from 1960 to 1975 the TNCs could have helped to foster aggregate the growth of the economy, they did only a very little to uplift the development of the society: increase in unemployment, income distribution expanded and nationals increasingly started losing the control over the industrial capacities of the country. In some, under some circumstances TNCs can act as the engines of growth of economy, the power of economy is very rarely harnessed to the achievement of development. Overall impact to the Environment Transnational corporations can have a negative impact through a demotion of resources in the environment to the social development. And over the past ten years such entities had been responsible for environmental disasters. For an example, Union Carbide in Bhopal, India, Exxons Valdez spill off Alaska, and Texaco To a group of environmental problems TNCs have been linked. Fifty percent of the green house emissions are generated by them, in which they are responsible for global warming. Furthermore they are also the users of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and they are also producers of CFCs. Explaining further, transnational corporations are responsible for the pollution of land, air, wetlands, water and the oceans. Ultimately, through their mining activities and commercial logging, there is a contribution to deforestation by the TNC. For example in the mid-1980s, there was a control of 90per cent of the logging by the foreign corporations in Gabon and in Congo it was 77 per cent. As a result of such mining and logging negative effects such as flooding, loss of topsoil rapid run-off of rain have occurred; Farmers are economically not in a rich status to buy the land from forest owners and usually TNCs dont internalize such social costs. Hence such negative externalities cannot be p revented. The connection between TNCs the environment is massively complex even though transnational corporations can definitely obstruct social development through their environmental practices .But yet the Critics dont mention that consumption of environmental resources should be abstained by transnational corporations, instead they should promote sustainable growth and development via their activities. In the meantime there is a practice by the TNCs to follow demoted environmental standards in the developing countries with comparison to the developed countries; and it is found with evidence that environmental practices are very responsible in developing regions than in domestic firms functioning in such countries. Nevertheless, critics emphasize that, as a result of having better resources they have better access to RD, It is the liability of the TNCs to promote environmentally sustainable practices and they bare that responsibility. Some companies undergoing so much of pressure have start ed to follow more environmentally responsible policies. Example, a maligned polluter named Dow Chemical, had to establish one-and-a-half days each session with the environmentalists brief senior management quarterly. The salary of the manager was pegged to the goals of the environment, and a toxic release of 32 per cent between 1988 and 1991. Further some laudable environmental practices were also implemented by the IBM including rewards for the employees for technical innovations which helped to comply with the environmental standards. Finally 18 environmental awards were won by ATT since 1990. On the other hand, expect these three companies majority pillage to consume environmental resources from the countries that are developing and they consume these environmental resources in a destructive and unsuitable manner. practices that definitely hamper prospects for development. Some of the companies that involves in issues related to the environment are General Electric and DuPont, for example, Dupont was responsible for toxic chemical releases in 254 million pounds during the period of 1991 in the United States, and this has led to minimize such practices that destroys environment. e.g. Conclusion The report offers a basic understanding of the economic environmental impacts of the transnational corporations (TNC) on the newly industrialized countries (NICs) such as India, China, Thailand, Mexico, Philippine, Malaysia, Turkey, South Africa and Brazil. It presents and showing that state to some famous beliefs, TNCs investments helped the host stats in industrialization of the host states were given credits. An in detailed analysis is given on the variety of critical factors that TNCs concentrate on the investment decisions. Such as Investment, Technology, Transport, Employment, Urbanization, Environment-Safety and so forth. The report will be a useful source to be aware of how sustainable economic growth will achieve by reducing environmental pollutions saving environmental resources for potential needs. Further the NICs must reach their targets by focusing their concentrations towards TNCs their habits. Otherwise NICs will not be able go for their future goals through TNCs operations. NICs must be the strongest partner NICs need to be influence the TNCs by using their power. Then finally both NICs and TNCs can reach the goals together.

Relative Age Effect in Football

Relative Age Effect in Football Abstract The purpose of the study was to investigate the performance level at which birth date effects selection for performance pathways in English football, as well as examining whether coaches are currently implementing arrangements to limit the relative age effect. The study comprised of 2450 players from performance levels including community, grass root and academy. The birth dates of each player within every performance level were analysed through the use of statistical tools within Microsoft Excel, with interviews analysed through transcription and the highlighting of recurrent themes. The sub-groups were viewed by age group, month of birth and the total percentage of players born within each quartile of the selection year to analyse the birth bias within specific performance levels. The statistical data of each sub-group were then collated to view differences in progressing through each performance level. The main results found an over-representation of players born in the first quartile throughout each performance level. The bias within the community and grass root subgroup was 4.1%, with a 39.9% bias towards the eldest players at academy standard. The evidence highlighted that birth date only has significant impact on selection once the academy standard of play is reached, with minimal difference in impact when progressing through inferior performance levels. Coaches in the study showed high awareness of the effect, with implementation of two strategies to reduce the relative age effect being implemented. The two strategies were found to be ineffective in the reduction of the relative age effect, through implementation occurring after selection. To conclude the academy pathway highlighted the most significant bias, with birth date having minimal impact at inferior performance levels. Strategies to reduce the relative age effect are currently ineffective requiring further research into reducing the bias prior to selection. Introduction Aims To investigate the performance level at which birth date may affect selection for performance pathways in English football. To examine if football coaches are making arrangements to limit the Relative age effect in football Research Question: In English football is there a starting point to the relative age effect and if this is the case then how are football coaches currently taking this bias into consideration when working with children at all levels of football.  Ã‚   Rationale Relative age effect is the difference in ages between children in the same age group. An example being, a child born in the start of the selection period in football i.e. 1st September will be 11 months older than a player who falls in the same age group born on the 1st of August. (Barnsley et al, 1992) Throughout the study research has referred to the relative age effect as birth date and birth bias, all meaning the same. The football world is competitive and making sure that your team are developing young athletes to progress into the first team and national team is very important. This has made the selection and development of children an important aspect in youth football. Studies have progressively shown that in football there are children not given the opportunity, due to a simple aspect such as their age. (Brewer et al 1995; Cobley et al 2008; Delorme et al 2010) The research that has previously been carried out has rarely been specified around the English game with only a minority being carried out in this area. (Simmons Paull, 2001; Musch Grondin, 2001) The research has predominantly been aimed towards a number of different nations across the world. (Glamser Vincent, 2004; Jimenez, 2008; Delorme et al 2010; Campo et al 2010) The limited amount of research on the English game highlighted an area in which further study could be carried out in order to fully understand the impact the relative age effect has within English football. Correspondingly the research into the affect performance level has on the impact of the relative age effect within English football has been under-represented by preceding research. The research specific to this area of ten views different nations or sports. (Mujika et al, 2007; Cobley et al, 2009; Till et al, 2010) The knowledge of how performance level could affect selection will allow understanding of where birth bias is present and predominant, furthermore highlighting the level at which change is needed to reduce the relative age effect. The results will be of great value to coaches within the performance level that the relative age effect is most predominant by raising awareness and creating knowledge for change. Preceding research has also viewed how different organisations and football associations have tried to reduce the impact of the relative age effect in different countries. (Helson et al 2000; Vaeyens et al 2003) Although this research has shown how interventions have been made there has not been a study on how the coaches within the football clubs in these associations are practically trying to reduce the bias or in fact if they are. This is an area of research that is being analysed. This will help compare the current tools being put in place and to see if there is a working intervention to help reduce the birth bias. The context of the study will include raising awareness of the relative age effect to the coaches in which the relative age effect is most predominant within the standard at which they coach. Research has previously highlighted this to be an advantage in reducing the effect, increasing the value of the study. (Baker et al, 2010; Cobley et al, 2009)    The study begins viewing previous research on the relative age effect reviewing specifically topics around the aims and secondary topics in which can affect the predominance of the effect. The second section views the method in which the study carried out the research with reasoning and description, progressing onto the results in which are presented with the discussion following. A conclusion in relation to the aims of the study is carried out in the penultimate section, ending with self reflection discussing the learning throughout the study.     Ã‚   Literature Review 1. Relative Age Effect Children are split into age groups throughout school and whilst they are in education. In England the children are split into age groups running from nursery, primary school with years 1-6, then into secondary schools with years of 7-11. In England the school year starts in early September and runs to August (Direct.gov, 2009). This means that two children within the same year participating in educational studies and sports could have a difference of more than eleven months between them. In sport, the relative age effect was first noticed in Cana ­dian ice-hockey and volleyball. Grondin et al, (1984) found unequal birth-date distributions for males and females at recreational, competitive and senior professional levels for both sports dur ­ing the 1981/1982 season. 2. What age does the relative age effect occur? Simmons Paull (2001) are a set of researches who have previously viewed the relative age effect in England. They found that there was a bias within centre of excellences in England. In 1997 in the age groups of U-15 U16 there was seen to be a large difference within the birth dates of players participating, players oldest within the year consisted of 58.7% with just 12.7% of younger children being within these centres. Glamser, Vincent, (2004); Musch Grondin (2001) found specifically that ‘players in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Belgium approximately 70% of elite youth players had birthdays in the first half of the soccer year. This shows that there is a bias within English football and shows that the age effect occurs highly in these ages. The relative age effect does not just occur within England. Del Campo et al (2010) viewed the relative age effect within Spain. The research that was carried out found that the relative age effect occurred through age groups including under 11s to 18s. The players within the teams included within the research consisted of a minimum of 45% of players born within the first trimester, with only a maximum of 15% of the players coming from the fourth trimester. This shows that throughout each age group the difference between the players born early in the year and the ones later in the year was 30% in favour to the players born in the early stages of the selection period. Williams, (2009) study on the U-17 World Cup also suggests that the relative age effect is continued into not just the older age groups but also into senior international teams. Williams (2009) looked at all the players participating within the tournament and found a large difference in the months of when the players were born. The study found that, ‘Nearly 40% of the players are born in the first three months of the year while only 16% are born in the last quarter. Dudink (1994) research supports the research carried out by Williams (2009) into evidence that the relative age effect progresses through all age groups. Dudink (1994) claimed that both Dutch and English players born early in the competition year are more likely to participate in national soccer leagues. This research not only suggests that the relative age effect occurs through childhood and adolescence but also occurs through to adulthood. 3. Why does the relative age effect occur? Research has shown many reasons behind why there are biases towards players who are older than their peers. (Delorme Raspaud, 2009: Musch and Grondin, 2001). Musch and Grondin, (2001) suggests that ‘as children are separated into age groups there are regularly cognitive, physical and emotional differences between the youngest and oldest. Research backing up this is seen from Malina et al,(2004) who states there are ‘advantages in body size, fat free mass and several components of physical fitness including aerobic power, muscular strength, power, endurance, and speed. This means that there is a difference within all aspects of a character within players in the same year. It has been sug ­gested that the size of the relative age effect may be affect ­ed by additional maturational variation at ages associated with the onset of puber ­ty, generally applicable at the ages of 13-15 in boys and 12-14 in girls (Musch Grondin, 2001). This meaning that puberty is a large s ection of a players selection/development process in which could affect the number of players who are chosen. Helsen et al (2000) found that relative age effect was present within children aged as young as 8. As players develop differently at different stages this would suggest the younger players would have a larger disadvantage at the stage of puberty. Research from Gil et al, (2007b) found when looking at the selection of young soccer players in terms of anthropometric and physiological factors found that during puberty the players selected were taller, heavier, leaner and faster than the non-selected players and that a high percentage of those chosen were found to be born within the first 6 months of the year. Helsen et al, (2000) looked at the possible difference between two players within the same selection year: ‘A 10-year-old child in the 5th percentile is likely to be 1.26 m tall with a body mass of 22 kg, whereas a child in the 95th percentile who is almost 11 years of age is likely to be 1.54 m tall and 49 kg in mass. This shows that one player could be as much as 0.3m taller and 27kg heavier than a player placed in the same selection year showing a clear advantage physically towards the older player. Along with maturation levels studies have shown that the playing position of a player also has an effect. Ashworth and Heyndels (2007) noted the relative age effect var ­ied according to playing position in elite German soccer. The strongest effect sizes were found for goalkeepers and defend ­ers, with relative age effects not evident for forwards. Research carried out by Gil et al, (2007a) found that goalkeepers and defenders are on average are the tallest players being five centre meters taller than both the midfielders and attackers. This with the research found from Malina et al., (2004) shows that it could be very difficult for the younger players to achieve selection within these positions. Research by Gil et al, (2007a) also progresses on to further back up research from Malina et al, (2004) as when viewing players who were in the selection process, players who had better endurance, were faster and in some instances taller were primarily selected. Although there were stati stical information found within research from Gil et al, (2007a) looking further into the study there were also instances in which the research challenged the statement by Malina et al,(2004) in which they stated players who were faster and taller for example had an advantage. Gil et al (2007a) found that when viewing players who were selected and those not, it turned out that the non selected players were taller faster and had superior endurance. Examples being that the goalkeepers non-selected were four centre meters taller, 0.3 seconds faster than the selected players. The research found that in midfield where players are seen to run the most which in turn means they need to have greater endurance levels the non selected players were found to have lower heart rates after an endurance test. (Gil et al, 2007a) This research highlights evidence contesting the advantages older children are perceived to possess. 4. The effect on participation levels Researchers have also viewed that the relative age effect can make players drop out of sport. Delorme et al (2010), suggests that the players born later within the year ‘experience inferiority and failure within their practice and may be reduced to less playing time. Vaeyens et al (2005) also had similar thoughts and stated that the reason why the relative age effect relates to the players dropping out is due to the older players receiving more playing time than the younger players. This leading to the younger players feeling less competent and increasing the possibility of them dropping out of the sport.   Cobley et al (2009) noted that the size of the relative age effect increased with age un ­til late adolescence, but then decreased in adult sporting contexts meaning that if the players who are born in the younger part of the year, who carry on in sport have a good chance of being selected to play at a high standard, contesting research carried out by Williams (2009) and Dudink (1994). While Musch and Grondin (2001), stated that; ‘The relative age effect is not only thought to generate discrimination in the selection process, but also to lead to dropout among less advantaged players   (i.e. those born at the end of the year) Delorme et al, (2010) found that the rates of drop outs in French football were highest within players in the last two quarters of the year. This means that although Cobley et al, (2009) found that the relative age effect decreases into adulthood the number of the late born players progressing through to that stage is low. Research by Delorme et al, (2010) supports research by Cobley et al (2009) as they found the number of players dropping out in French adult football was higher within the players born early within the year with a number of 1,612 players dropping out more than the late born players.   Although this can be seen from the research, Delorme et al (2010) also show that the number of players born late in the years that are dropping out is higher throughout the ages of 9 15. This means that a high number of players born within the last part of the year have already dropped out implying that as the years progress the number of players that can drop out have reduced significantly. 5. Does the level of play affect the relative age effect? Research from Mujika et al, (2007) views similar areas to the one carried out in this study with the difference of them viewing this within Spanish football. They viewed the difference between the relative age effect at different levels of football within Spain. The levels they viewed were players from La Liga (Spains highest division) club AC Bilbao, Elite youth from AC Bilbao, Regional Youth and School Youth. The research found that players born in the first quarter of the selection period decreased as did the level of football, after the La Liga players group who had 43.9%. Elite youth players consisted of 46.6% of players in the first quarter, the regional youth group consisted of 28.6% whilst the school youth group had the lowest percentage at 27.1%. These statistics show that throughout youth football the relative age effect increases, slightly decreasing when reaching the highest level of football although only by 2.1%. They also found that players in the last quarter were fou nd mostly in the School Youth subgroup consisting 22.9%, decreasing to 21.2% in the regional youth group, then significantly decreasing to just 10% of players within the Elite youth subgroup, finishing with a very slight increase in the number of players within the La Liga group of 2.2% to a total of 12.2% of players being within the last quarter. This again shows that there is a bias throughout the progression in performance level within Spanish football.   Cobley et al (2009) viewed performance level in relation to the size of the relative age effect among similar levels to the current study. Cobley et al (2009) found that the largest bias towards the oldest players was found within players that participate within the representative stage. This stage related to the level below the elite stage which was viewed to be the highest level in the study. Cobley et al (2009) progressed to suggest that the level that players partake within has an effect on the size of the relative age effect. The relative age effect was found to increase within each progression in performance level until the optimal performance level is reached comparable to the findings by Mujika et al (2007) Till et al (2010) viewed the relative age effect within rugby league players, similar to Mujika et al (2007) they found that as the performance level increases as does the impact of the relative age effect.   In the study throughout each increase in performance level there was an increase in the size of the relative age effect. The highest bias towards the eldest players found was 61.34%, this statistic was found within the under 13s age group. The research highlights that the birth bias is affected by skill/performance level not just within football but also other sporting environments.  Ã‚   6. Is being young an advantage? While previous research has shown a bias towards the players born early within a selection period, there is research suggesting that if the later born players successfully progress through and become professional players they can be at an advantage. Ashworth and Heyndels (2007) found that players who were seen as being born in the later period of selection had higher wages than the players born in the early period. When looking at German football players during the 97-98 and 98-99 seasons, players born in the cut off month of August 1st earned 2 million deutschemarks where players born later in the selection period earn up to 2.8 million deutschemarks. Ashworth and Heyndels (2007) stated that this occurred when the later born players played in a high standard soccer education programme. The later born players benefited playing with the early born players or perceived better players, enhancing their development as young players benefit from playing alongside or against superior player s. They further progress to imply that for the later born players to succeed throughout the selection process, when younger they must have above average talent. 7. Can the relative age effect be decreased? Research has viewed the possibilities of whether a change in selection dates will correct the bias that occurs within football. The Royal Belgian Football Association changed their cut off date in 1997 to reduce the impact of the relative age effect, but the shift from August the 1st to the 1st January just meant a shift in the Bias. (Vaeyens et al, 2005) Similarly research has viewed Japans competition year which begins on 1st April and the bias is observed in May and July, Germany and Brazil produce similar distributions with a start date of 1 August. In each case, the season-of-birth bias aligns with whichever quarter is earliest in the competition year. (Simmons and Paull, 2001) Fifa and Uefa have also been seen to prolong the selection period for players in order to make it fairer. Research found that the number of players within teams that were looked at had more players in a wider range of months but there was still a bias to the younger players in the selection process. (Helson et al, 2005) Although footballs attempt to shift the selection dates has seen little or slight improvements in producing equality into the selection process, varying the cut off dates for selection in sports has before been seen as a way of being successful in reducing if not preventing relative age effect. For example in swimming they have no cut off date. Ryan (1989) stated this would be successful if key competitions were avoided within certain months. Although this may work for individual sports such as swimming has been seen to not be applicable in team sports. (Musch Grondin, 2001) This shows that there is a possibility of reducing the relative age effect. The results and interventions found and used in other nations will help when aiming to reduce the impact which may be found within the English game and to see if there are any differences between England and the other Nations. Although these have been used to try and reduce the relative age effect in the sport few research have gone into what the coaches can do. Cobley et al (2009) suggested that just raising awareness of those responsible for the infrastructure and coordination of youth sport may be effective. Baker et al (2010) also suggested that increasing awareness and under ­standing of the relative age effect, as part of coach training and education programs, may help centre coaches attention to the potential selection bi ­as. Methodology Sample The study comprised of a total of 2540 football players, ranging from the under 9 to under 15 age category within England. The players were allocated to one of three sub groups relating to their standard of play within the sport. The Academy group perceived as the highest level within the study consisted of a total number of 416players who played for an academy football team at the time of the study. The Grass root group consisted of 354players who played for a FA Chartered team. The third subgroup contained players who played recreational football within a community scheme that related to the lowest standard of play within the study. The total number of players in the recreational sub group was 1770.   Area 1 The study required the birth dates of football players within age groups from U-9 to U-15. The players were chosen from community football, grass root football to academy football. The players were then sub-divided into secondary groups of grass root team players, community players and academy players. The details of the players were collected through contacting teams from the respective leagues through the use of letters. These letters detailed the information required from the clubs and how the results of the information would be used. Area 2 There were a number of coaches selected to undertake an interview. The coaches were chosen from the category in which the largest relative age effect was found from area one which was within the academy standard. The number of coaches chosen was four and this was due to limited time. The coaches selected were based on accessibility. Prior to interview the coaches were provided information regarding to the research in which is to be carried out. (Appendix 1.1)   Data Collection There are two types of research, these are qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative research involves ‘researches describing kinds of characteristics of people and events without the use of measurements or amounts. (Thomas, 2003). Quantitative research involves ‘measurements and amounts of the characteristics displayed by people and events. (Thomas, 2003).  Ã‚  Ã‚   The data that will be collected will be both qualitative and quantitative. The quantitative data will be collected through primary research. Individual clubs from each area and age group were contacted through a letter which included the details of what the study will involve, the information needed and ethical considerations. The letter was sent to the coaches of the grass root teams, the academy managers and the chief executive of the community scheme. This data collection method was chosen to save time which is limited and through previous research having successfully acquired similar data. (Diaz Del Campo, 2010)   Grass root team players are players from teams who were found to be FA chartered and within division A of their respected leagues. The recreational players came from a local community scheme located in South Yorkshire. The academy players were selected from a number of professional academy teams. The players and teams that were selected were based on accessibility and convenience. The teams that were chosen were local teams based within South Yorkshire, as money and time limitations would not enable collecting data from teams located in different regions.   The teams were presented with a sample research response sheet in which they entered the necessary information required for the study. (Appendix 1.2, 1.3, 1.4) To collect the data from the coaches structured interviews were carried out involving a number of open and probing questions. (Appendix 1.5) Open ended questions were used to allow the interviewee to provide more detail, rather than a one word answer from a closed question. The open ended questions allowed the interviewee to communicate using their own language and this takes you into their own world to view the area from their perspective. (Johnson Christensen, 2011). This would add value to the study information being reliable. (Johnson Christensen, 2011). The interviews were recorded through the use of a Dictaphone to reduce the risk of missing information and this enabled re analysis to ensure all important data was processed. Although a Dictaphone can help in recording the interviews, they can also have changed the behaviour of the interviewee and the answers they gave. (Silk et al, 2005) The interviewer made sure the coach was comfortable before progressing with the interview to enable reliable results could be collected and the coachs responses werent systematic and fictitious.   Structured interviews will be used as the reliability of the interviews will be increased. (Hersen et al 2007) When looking at the purpose of the study which is to see if the coaches are aware of the relative age effect and what they are doing about it, the coaches could diverse into different areas if a structured path is not in place similar to a semi structured interview. (Hersen et al 2007) Although when designing this interview considerations such as making sure all areas needed are covered were considered to ensure the responses did not divulge into unnecessary areas. (Hersen et al 2007). The questions started with short and easy questions in which they could comfortably answer in order not to scare them and make them feel comfortable. (Johnson Christensen, 2011) The interview then progressed onto more sensitive questions in which were placed once the interviewee felt comfortable and had given alot of their time to the interview reducing the possibility of fictitious responses being given. (Johnson Christensen, 2011). Questionnaires were not used as a tool to collect this data as questionnaires could be returned incomplete and also could be found as being ambiguous. This would lead to incomplete data and unreliable sources. (Gratton Jones, 2005) Data Analysis Analysing data from the birth dates of players, each teams data that was collected were placed into the categories assigned for them (Community, grass root and academy). The different age groups were separately analysed to highlight which age group had the largest relative age effect. The birth dates were organised into sub categories, these were the birth months of the players. These sub categories are; September to November, December to February, March to May and June to August. These categories have been used in previous studies, (Simmons Paull, 2001) and using these will give an area of comparison. The statistics will then show in which area the birth bias is evident and the different impact of the bias within different levels of the sport. Percentages of which players are born within each month will be produced giving a statistic which can be easily be compared. The statistical analysis tools within Microsoft Excel were used to create the data throughout the study.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã ‚   The data collected through the structured interviews were analysed by transcription of the interviews, in which throughout this key themes could be formed to help seek whether there are current similarities in how coaches are selecting players and strategies minimizing the impact of the relative age effect. (Appendix 1.6) Any interventions being inputted by coaches were highlighted and used to compare what coaches are doing to overcome the relative age effect in their teams currently. Direct quotes seen as aiding research and results of the research are highlighted within the main body to provide evidence. Ethical Considerations Throughout the research of the study ethical issues will be considered throughout. When collecting data for the birth dates of players, the managers of the grass roots teams, chief executive of the community scheme and academy managers were told specifically what they will be partaking within and what information is needed from them. (Appendix 1.7)To keep the players details confidential all that was required were the birth dates of the child, as this will keep personal details which are not required safe and ensured the research could not be related back to any specific person. Consent forms were included to evidence their cooperation within the study. (Appendix 1.2, 1.3, 1.4) When giving information the use of a data template in which the teams filled out to make sure only the necessary information is given was used. The collection of data for the interviews will include specifically explaining verbally and documenting what the coaches will be partaking within, and where the results of the research will be used with consent forms highlighting their cooperation within the study. (Appendix 1.9)The necessary resources needed to carry out the interviews were accessed prior to the interviews, such as Dictaphones and interview rooms. (Appendix 2.0). The information collected from the coaches was specific to the research needs and the only information needed personally from the coach was of what club they are involved with. The information gathered through the interview was only viewed by the researcher and the MIS Supervisor. Questions were designed prior to the interviews to enable ethical approval on them. (Appendix 1.5) It was made aware to all parties involved within the research project that there was ethical approval approved by an appropriate representative of the Faculty Research Ethics Committee at Leeds Metropolitan University and that if any issues arise they will be informed to ensure confidence in the divulgence of research. This was done through the completion of necessary forms, such as risk assessment (Appendix 2.1) local level approval . The r