Analysis of the Promotion of Krijen Games New Product, Andromeda 99-XD Case Study - 1

Analysis of the Promotion of Krijen Games New Product, Andromeda 99-XD in the Indian Market - Case Study Example The aspect of globalization implies an enhanced level of competition in the global consumer markets. This has made it important for every organization to carefully undertake and formulate a policy that would help it to grab a market share in a chosen target market. The enhanced aspect of competitiveness in the market has also enhanced the level of competition as more players are resorting to this strategy, considering the saturation of the traditional markets of Western Europe and the USA. The present study would include a marketing plan for the launch of a new product in a new market. A fictitious company named Krijen Games has been chosen as the firm while the name of the product is ‘Andromeda ® 99-XD’. The product would be a technological marvel that would have features unmatched by any of the presently available product of its kind in the market. The market chosen for the study is the Indian consumer market which has been deliberately chosen considering the busines s potential of the nation on accounts of its strong economic growth in recent years. The marketing plan would consist of a situation analysis which would help in analyzing the internal and external environment of the organization. A SWOT analysis would help in the analysis of the firm. In addition, Porter’s model of five forces would be used to analyze the competitive framework for the organization in the chosen market. Finally, a primary study would be conducted with two separate sets of questionnaires. These would help in devising an appropriate segmentation and positioning strategy for the Indian market. Finally, a product mix for the new product would be created on the basis of the situation analysis and the primary study that would help the firm to gain long-term sustainable competitive advantage in the Indian consumer market. The global markets and business environments are changing rapidity.

Identity In Post Colonial Australian Essay

Identity In Post Colonial Australian Essay In the second half of the 20th century, after two centuries of colonial oppression and assimilation policies in Australian history, political and social break thoughts of aboriginal people in to the dominant European culture was bought to an end, thus enabling Aboriginal Artists to have the freedom to express their traditions, culture and identity. According to Oxford Art Online, the Simultaneous explosions of the Australian art market in the 1990s, gained international recognition for Aboriginal Art that emerged into the contemporary Aboriginal art that appealed to White Australias conflicting a desire for cultural reconciliation. The recognition of artistic production in Aboriginal communities across Australia enabled artists to explore themes of cultural alienation. The first wave of contemporary Aboriginal painters including Clifford Possum, Rover Thomas, Paddy Bedford and Emily Kame Kngwarreye, utilized repertoires of dots, blocks of color, with stimulating negative spaces or gestural brushstrokes to evoke the sense of a sacred, collective knowledge. Collectors and museums began to actively collect contemporary Aboriginal works, whose conceptual paintings reinterpreted Australian colonial history. Today Aboriginal Australians are producing art in the remote regions where artists continue to explore their connections with their ancestral land and traditions of ground designs, body art, painted canvases, and bark paintings using contemporary materials. The practice of art is seen differently by indigenous art-makers than their contemporary artist counterparts; the works themselves often have a lot in common with much contemporary artwork, particularly with conceptual, installation and issues-based art. However, in early times, art had a different function than the modern ideas of self-expression or decoration; created with spiritual and hunting/survival purposes in mind. The identity of the individual artist/maker of cave paintings, masks and other traditional art forms was not as significant as it is today. Still, the traditional art objects perceived today also as a work of art, and valued for its aesthetic qualities. In addition, they are exploring contemporary art forms such as photography, film, multimedia, theatre, sculpture, printmaking, and installation. Artists such as Tracey Moffat, (b.1960), Fiona Foley, (b.1964), and Gordon Bennett (b.1955), whom consider indigenous art as a way to express political and social issues in new forms of contemporary media, reflects unique perspectives of a distinctive experiences. Whilst their art proclaims aboriginal identity, it often acts as a medium for cultural renewal, operating beyond the classical idioms, conforming to the inspiration from aboriginal practices and European, and other visual language and techniques. As, written in Wally Caruanas book, Aboriginal Art, chapter 6, Artists in the Town and City: In the second half of the twentieth century, as the movements for the recognition of aboriginal rights gained momentum, urban and rural artists found compelling reasons to produce art. Aboriginal people required imagery and symbols with which to express their ideals and inspirations. These issues of dispossession, broken families, racism-the secret history of Australia- and an intensifying of the sense of cultural identity provided strong motivation, and these themes are all apart of the repertoire of artists. For instance, works by aboriginal instillation and mixed media artist Fiona Foley, from Harvey Bay, Frazer Island, engages with the history, ideas, family tradition from her cultural heritage from the Wondunna clan of Badtjala tribe from her mothers side, and her work reflects the remembrance of colonial oppression, the colonized vision of Australia and her ancestors. Foleys work deals with the issues of displacement and dispossession of land, the people and some of her work is highly political, committing herself to the history of Aboriginal people and represents racism and violence and identity, and raises issues from a historic and contemporary cultural view. (http://eprints.utas.edu.au/2644/6/part5, (Morphy, Illus 260, 273). Annihilation of the blacks (1986), is a frightening sculptural installation which is a part of the permanent collection of the Australian National Gallery (Caruana, 1993).The work represents the massacre of the disturbing treatment of Aboriginal people by the colonizers; the work consists of a white figure standing in front of 9 hanging black figures. The upright forked posts and cross poles are a powerful symbolic medium in traditionally-oriented Aboriginal communities for shelters and homes (Reser, 1977b). It is also a sacred complex and symbol for the first residence of the Wagilak in Arnhem Land, which represents the Kunapipi ceremony (Berndt, 1951). Also within the young Aboriginal boys waiting to be born again, as young men, are viewed metaphorically as flying foxes, hanging from the beam, it is said that the flying fox ancestral spirits brought circumcision to the central Arnhem Land clans and because the flying fox is a central totemic species to clans in this region. Fiona Foley often draws inspiration from traditional Aboriginal culture and life, while making powerful and contemporary political statements. All of this gives the sculpture a very strong traditional as well as contemporary symbolic quality, with multiple and intertwined meanings and messages. Annihilation of the Blacks 1986 wood, synthetic polymer paint, feathers, string 278 x 300 x 60 cm Collection National Museum of Australia, Canberra Image courtesy National Museum of Australia, Canberra  © the artist Photograph: George Serras, National Museum of Australia http://www.mca.com.au/general/FFoley_resource.pdf In her large sculptural installation work such as Land Deal, 1995, is about the response to the words of the nineteenth colonial official John Batman, when he described how he purchased 600, 000 acres from local aborigines in Port Phillip, in exchange for beads, blankets and knives, scissors. (http://eprints.utas.edu.au/2644/6/part5.pdf). This work consists of a spiral of flour on the floor; representing the loss of lifestyle and health that consequently came about during white settlement, and also by invoking the genocidal colonial practice of poisoning the flour given to aboriginal people, (Evans, Raymond, Fighting Words: Writing about Race, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, 1999. The work also incorporates the objects, which hang from the walls. The real projection is that her expression to suggest the indigenous loss the land, as a dialogue of transaction, reminding the public of the cold absence of indigenous voice, and the lack of understanding that for the ongoing cam paigns for land return in which Foley and her own family have embarked in. Land Deal 1995 installation view, Savode Gallery, Brisbane, 1995 mixed media, flour, found objects, text dimensions variable Collection National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Image courtesy the artist and National Gallery of Australia, Canberra  © the artist http://www.mca.com.au/general/FFoley_resource.pdf Foleys personal searches to discover Badtjala material culture by referring to these objects, examining the history of their collection and interpretation. Foley reclaims their true significance to Aboriginal people. The ambiguous relationship between the descendants of the white settlers and Australias original inhabitants in Fraser Islands recent history as the struggle for recognition of native title for the Badtjala people continues. Avril Quaill Gordon Bennett, also from an aboriginal heritage from his mothers side; he was an orphan from Cherbourg reserve 240km northwest of Brisbane. Known for his paintings, installation and multimedia art forms focuses on a more personal viewpoint of past and present struggle for identity as an Australian of Aboriginal and Anglo-Celtic descent. His works present and examine a broad range of philosophical questions related to the construction of identity, perception, and knowledge. (http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/gordonbennett/education/intro.html) within cultural and historical inequities created by European settlement in Australia, (http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/gordonbennett/education/02.html) For example, he uses his self-portraits as a concept of self-identity and questioning stereotypes and labeling on a larger national scale, immersed within a White European culture. Bennett was unaware of his Aboriginality until his early teens as he described this knowledge as a psychic rupturing, (Ian McLean, Towards an Australian postcolonial art in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, 1996, p. 99). (Ian McLean, Towards an Australian postcolonial art in Ian McHis art attempts to depict the complexity of both cultural perspectives. Self portrait (Ancestor figures), 1992 deals with broader issues of cultural identity as well as personal identity. The installation consists of images of his family and drawing. The self- portrait of the artist seems to be present everywhere within the installation but is in fact nowhere. The dresser draw labelled self is closed while the drawers for history and culture that is partly open and partly closed. Bennett in dicates the need to be reconciled within the context of culture and history to develop a full sense of identity. An understanding of self in the context of family does not seem enough as the mirror, acts as a chronic symbol within his work, is not a two- dimensional illusion but an honest construct. The viewer does not confront the artist, but self. Bennett uses this symbol because: In the mirror, everything is possible because nothing is there (Ian McLean, Towards an Australian Postcolonial Art in The Art of Gordon Bennett, p.105) Gordon Bennett born Australia 1955 Self portrait (Ancestor figures) 1992 chest of drawers, watercolour, photocopies, lead, rocks, masking tape (variable) (installation) Collection of the artist, Brisbane  © Courtesy of the artist Photography: Phillip Andrews http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/gordonbennett/education/02.html What emerges for all who take part in this piece is in fact an examination of the self. The I am from Self portrait (But I always wanted to be one of the good guys) is replaced with We all are. In addition, the grid and perspective lines on the floor represent another symbol acting as the groundwork of the installation that appears to confirm this sense. In European tradition, the means to map a particular space, land, etc alludes to ownership and territory. It recalls the way stereotypes, labels, identities, and systems of thought are fixed. On each corner of the grid are the letters A B C D . While these may indicate the way maps are constructed to find different locations, they also represent the first letter of racial slurs. Identity is fixed and self is understood in the context of words such as Abo, Boong, Coon and Darkie . The Other is clearly marked out as not only different but by necessity inferior. These contrasting and complex meanings and ideas are not accidental. Bennett purposefully constructs these layers to blur fixed ideas and raise questions about the way identity is constructed. He uses his self as the vehicle to do so. Lean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, 1996, p. 99) You have to understand my position of having no designs or images or stories on which to draw to assert my Aboriginality. In just three generations, that heritage has been lost to me. Gordon Bennett 9 Blood is a potent symbol and has historically been a measure of Aboriginality. In the past Quadroon, was a socially acceptable term used to label Indigenous people as a way of establishing genetic heredity. The purer the bloodlines, the more Aboriginal you were. Mixing of pure blood with European blood was feared by Europeans, authenticity was at risk and identity diluted. As an Australian of both Aboriginal and Anglo Celtic descent, Bennett felt he had no access to his indigenous heritage. He states: The traditionalist studies of Anthropology and Ethnography have thus tended to reinforce popular romantic beliefs of an authentic Aboriginality associated with the Dreaming and images of primitive desert people, thereby supporting the popular judgment that only remote full-bloods are real Aborigines. Gordon Bennett 10 Gordon Bennett explores these ideas in Self portrait: Interior/ Exterior , 1992. Once again, the arena of self- portraiture becomes a vehicle to take over and challenge stereotypes. Here he exposes the truth of colonial occupation it was a bloody conquest. Bennett depicts self as a black empty vessel, coffin- like with lash markings almost disguised by a thick layer of black paint. Literally opening up this black skin of paint are the words cut me. They act as deep welts created when tissue scars. Gouged into the skin like a tattoo, these markings will never heal or fade away. They powerfully describe pain and violence. Bennett only uses two colours, symbolically, red and black. Gordon Bennett born Australia 1955 Self portrait: Interior/Exterior 1992 synthetic polymer paint on canvas on pine frames, leather stock whip, paper tags (1-2) 187.0 x 60.0 x 25.0 cm (each) (1-3) (variable) (installation) Collection of the artist, Brisbane  © Courtesy of the artist Photography: Phillip Andrews http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/gordonbennett/education/02.html There is no physical body. The coffin- like box acts as the body, both inside and outside are scarred with Pollock inspired lashes of paint. These scars are not just physical they are also emotional. This imagery is reinforced by the whip neatly hanging on the wall beside the body. Ultimately, this piece, one of a series of welt paintings, explores identity through pain, exploitation and suffering. Bennett does not wish to romanticise or sanitise this bloody history. The viewer is challenged to face it. The blood splashed and flowing under the layer of black skin does not discern the colour of the skin it contains, only the potency of life. Bennett challenges the viewer with contrasting identities. The oppressors, those who use the whip, and the oppressed, those enslaved by the whip. These opposites are not absolute. Bennett is more interested in exploring what lies between. My work is often seen as about exploring my identity in order to secure it, like Im searching for it, like Ive lost it somewhere, which is the total opposite to what Im doing. Sure, Im exploring identity, but Im trying to make it obvious about how open it is; how its a process of the negotiation of these different sites of memory, human relations. It is all those other things, and it shouldnt be closed off. It shouldnt be a thing that constricts nor should it be an imposed thing, from outside oneself, like a prison. Gordon Bennett 11 Bennetts art practice attempts to remove the obstacles that interfere with a positive development of self. Tracey Moffatt, born into a fostered white family in Brisbane, close to were her Aboriginal ancestors grew up, on a mission outside of Brisbane called Cherbourg, (Moffatt qtd. in Rutherford 52, plays a huge part in representing a multicultural role in society as she examines the ways Australias colonial past enlightens the present. The photographs, mostly still from her film-making, places a narrative images into many of the stories being told, representations past and present times in Aboriginal History, her perspective seems to identify to her Aboriginality and feminist view point. However, she cautiously uses her style of narratives with multiple and specific politics concern of Australian identity, with an inspiration of the lives of her Aboriginal heritage and culture. Her unique visual style of cinematic images challenges the stereotypes of race and gender, with issues symbolic of political references, (http://admin5.lisjc.lism.catholic.edu.au/~mark/Visual%20Arts%20documents/Id entity%20unit/Tracey%20Moffatt%20from%20Australian%20Artists.pdf) Her compelling and very powerful photographic works such as Up in the Sky 1998, is a sequence of twenty five monochromatic narrative photographs set in the vast desert concerning the Australian Stolen Generation. Indigenous Australian children were taken from their families and forcibly relocated under Government policy was enacted and performed on location in Queenslands outback, (http://www.answers.com/topic/tracey-moffatt). In these images Moffatt refers to both the collective memory of her own personal experiences as well as the constructing reality of the influence of culture, alienation, desolation, and the wider concerns of remote living. Tracey Moffatt Up In The Sky # 1, 1997 series of 25 images off set print 61 ÃÆ'- 76cm 72 x 102 paper size Edition of 60 http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/26/Tracey_Moffatt/73/32634/ In her films still Night Cries: A rural Tragedy 1989, she represents the truth and memory about a mother and daughter relationship with a focus on events that took place focusing on Death, childhood, loneliness and memory. The film brings forth the powerful issues related to the black and white relations of Australian history during the attempts to assimilate Australian Indigenous people into the white society, (http://www.qag.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/27504/qld_edu_kit_web.pdf) Tracey Moffatt: Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy, Still, 1989 http://www.qag.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/27504/qld_edu_kit_web.pdf Tracey Moffatt . The interest in Aboriginal art which has flourished since the 1970s has created new opportunities for indigenous artists, as their work leaves the communities to be shown in museums and galleries around the world. Meanwhile, the imperatives to produce art for traditional purposes continue, and the expanded environment in which indigenous art now operates has created further compelling reasons for artists to continue expressing the values of their culture to the wider world. In the public domain, Aboriginal art can be appreciated for its spirituality and aesthetic qualities, and as a reflection of the social and political achievements and aspirations of the peoples who create it. . Avril Quaill: World of Dreamings, Traditional and modern art of Australia, An exhibition held at the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg | 2 February 9 April 2000 H , Robinson: Feminism-art-theory: an anthology, 1968-2000, Wiley-Blackwell, 2001 Bonwick, J., John Batman, the Founder of Victoria, Melbourne: Samuel Mullens, 1867. Caruana, W., et al, The Eye of the Storm: Eight contemporary indigenous Australian artists, Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 1996. Cooper, C., Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections in Overseas Museums, Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 1989. Elder, B., Blood on the Wattle: Massacres and maltreatment of Australian Aborigines since 1788,second edition, Sydney: New Holland Publishers, 1998. Moon, D. & Krause, J., Deutsche Auswanderer Hope and Reality, History of the nineteenth century German settlement of Mount Cotton in south east Queensland, Cleveland, Queensland:Redland Museum Inc., 1999 Gordon bennetts ref: Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, 1996, p. 33 Ian McLean, Towards an Australian postcolonial art in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, 1996, p. 99 Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe in The Art of Gordon Bennett, p. 22 Rebecca Lancashire, Blurring the lines of history, The Age, Monday 5 May , 1997 Kelly Gellatly, Citizen in the Making: The art of Gordon Bennett in Gordon Bennett (exh. cat.), National Gallery of Victoria, 2007 p. 16 Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe in The Art of Gordon Bennett, p. 34 Gabriella Coslovich, Bennett puts on a brave face, The Age, 28 April, 2004 Ian McLean, Towards an Australian Postcolonial Art in The Art of Gordon Bennett, p.105 Gordon Bennett & Chris McAuliffe, Interview with Gordon Bennett in Rex Butler (e d.) What is Appropriation? An Anthology of Writings on Australian Art in the 1980s and 1990s. IMA Publishing, Brisbane, 2004, p. 27 http://leonildeviljoen.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/fiona-foley/ http://www.quitnow.info.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/C143D432E3817918CA2571F10000CC3A/$File/indall.pdf http://www.newrepublics.com/GordonBennettHomeDecor.pdf http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/33990/cda_5.pdf http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1931/is_1_27/ai_n29415749/ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1931/is_1_27/ai_n29415749/pg_2/?tag=content;col1 http://www.artaustralia.com/images/currentbookpdf/Tracey%20MoffattVol41No2.pdf http://www.artlink.com.au/articles.cfm?id=2596 http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/00/10/night.html

Andrew Jacksons Unruly Rise to the Presidency Essay -- Papers

Andrew Jackson's Unruly Rise to the Presidency In what many have called the dirtiest presidential election ever, Andrew Jackson reigned supreme over John Quincy Adams in the election of 1828. For the first time in a political campaign, the main focus was to slander the reputation of the opponent. Issues seemed to be disregarded in favor of personal attacks upon the individual. The days of standing for office and remaining silent towards the American public before elections took place were over. The election of 1828 focused on insults, name calling, and heckling between the candidates and their parties. The War of 1812 threatened to destroy the young nation's pride. Washington had been burned to the ground, the Hartford Convention was in session, and rumors of a British armada had east coast cities beginning to panic. Into this atmosphere of gloom and doubt burst the news of Andrew Jackson's crushing victory over the British in New Orleans. "The brilliant and unparalleled victory at New Orleans, has closed the war in a blaze of Glory and the nation agreed with him that Jackson's victory placed America on the very pinnacle of fame." Jackson had lifted the pride and the spirit of nationalism in previously frustrated Americans, and thus, became a national hero. Jackson's military triumphs led to suggestions by friends that he become candidate for president, but he disavowed any interest, and political leaders in Washington assumed that the flurry of support for him would prove temporary. The campaign to make him president, however, was kept alive by his continued popularity and was carefully nurtured by a small group of his friends in Nashville, who combined devotion to the general with a high degree of political ... ...ress) Rosebloom, Eugene. A History of Presidential Elections, 1970. Remini, Robert, American Presidential Elections: Election of 1828 (Packet from class.) Remini, Robert, The Election of Andrew Jackson (J.B. Lippincott Co. 1963) Troy, Gil, See How They Ran: The Changing Role of the Presidential Candidate (Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts) Ward, John, Andrew Jackson - Symbol for an Age (New York Oxford University Press, 1962) Satz, Ronald. American Indian Policy in the Jacksonian Era (Lincoln, 1975) Argus of Western America. Frankfurt, Kentucky, Wednesday, May 16, 1827. Argus of Western America. Frankfurt, Kentucky, Wednesday, June 6, 1827. Argus of Western America. Frankfurt, Kentucky, Wednesday, October 29, 1828. www.ask.com www.altavista.com www.searchopolis.com Notes From Class Andrew Jackson's Unruly Rise to the Presidency Essay -- Papers Andrew Jackson's Unruly Rise to the Presidency In what many have called the dirtiest presidential election ever, Andrew Jackson reigned supreme over John Quincy Adams in the election of 1828. For the first time in a political campaign, the main focus was to slander the reputation of the opponent. Issues seemed to be disregarded in favor of personal attacks upon the individual. The days of standing for office and remaining silent towards the American public before elections took place were over. The election of 1828 focused on insults, name calling, and heckling between the candidates and their parties. The War of 1812 threatened to destroy the young nation's pride. Washington had been burned to the ground, the Hartford Convention was in session, and rumors of a British armada had east coast cities beginning to panic. Into this atmosphere of gloom and doubt burst the news of Andrew Jackson's crushing victory over the British in New Orleans. "The brilliant and unparalleled victory at New Orleans, has closed the war in a blaze of Glory and the nation agreed with him that Jackson's victory placed America on the very pinnacle of fame." Jackson had lifted the pride and the spirit of nationalism in previously frustrated Americans, and thus, became a national hero. Jackson's military triumphs led to suggestions by friends that he become candidate for president, but he disavowed any interest, and political leaders in Washington assumed that the flurry of support for him would prove temporary. The campaign to make him president, however, was kept alive by his continued popularity and was carefully nurtured by a small group of his friends in Nashville, who combined devotion to the general with a high degree of political ... ...ress) Rosebloom, Eugene. A History of Presidential Elections, 1970. Remini, Robert, American Presidential Elections: Election of 1828 (Packet from class.) Remini, Robert, The Election of Andrew Jackson (J.B. Lippincott Co. 1963) Troy, Gil, See How They Ran: The Changing Role of the Presidential Candidate (Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts) Ward, John, Andrew Jackson - Symbol for an Age (New York Oxford University Press, 1962) Satz, Ronald. American Indian Policy in the Jacksonian Era (Lincoln, 1975) Argus of Western America. Frankfurt, Kentucky, Wednesday, May 16, 1827. Argus of Western America. Frankfurt, Kentucky, Wednesday, June 6, 1827. Argus of Western America. Frankfurt, Kentucky, Wednesday, October 29, 1828. www.ask.com www.altavista.com www.searchopolis.com Notes From Class

Blood Promise Chapter Six

I bolted upright, every part of me awake and alert. There were no city lights to shine through the window, and it took me several seconds to make out anything in the darkened room. Sydney was curled up in her own bed, her face unusually at peace as she slept. Where was the Strigoi? Definitely not in our room. Was it in the house? Everyone had said the road to Dimitri's town was dangerous. Still, I would have thought Strigoi would be going after Moroi and dhampirs-though humans were a big part of their diet too. Thinking of the nice couple who'd welcomed us into their home, I felt something tight clench in my chest. No way would I let anything happen to them. Slipping quietly out of the bed, I grabbed a hold of my stake and crept from the room without disturbing Sydney. No one else was awake, and as soon as I was in the living room, the nausea went away. Okay. The Strigoi wasn't inside, which was a good thing. It was outdoors, apparently on the side of the house near my room. Still moving silently, I went out the house's front door and walked around the corner, as quiet as the night around me. The nausea grew stronger as I approached the barn, and I couldn't help but feel smug. I was going to surprise this Strigoi who'd thought it could sneak into a tiny human village for dinner. There. Right near the barn's entrance, I could see a long shadow moving. Gotcha, I thought. I readied the stake and started to spring forward-And then something struck me on the shoulder. I stumbled, astonished, and looked into the face of a Strigoi. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the shadow by the barn materialize into another Strigoi striding forward. Panic shot through me. There were two, and my secret detection system hadn't been able to tell the difference. Worse, they'd gotten the drop on me. A thought immediately flashed into my mind: What if one's Dimitri? It wasn't. At least, this close one wasn't. It was a woman. I had yet to get a feel for the second one. That one was approaching from my other side, moving fast. I had to deal with this immediate threat, though, and swiped at the woman with my stake, hoping to wound her, but she dodged so quickly, I hardly saw her move. She struck out toward me in an almost casual way. I wasn't fast enough to react and went flying toward the other Strigoi-a guy who was not Dimitri. I responded quickly, leaping up and kicking him. I held the stake out, creating distance between us, but it did little good when the woman came up from behind and grabbed me, jerking my body against hers. I gave a muffled cry and felt her hands on my throat. She was probably going to break my neck, I realized. It was a fast, easy technique for Strigoi that then let them drag off a victim for feeding. I struggled, jostling her hands slightly, but as the other Strigoi leaned over us, I knew it was useless. They'd surprised me. There were two of them. They were strong. Panic surged in me again, an overwhelming sense of fear and desperation. I was afraid every time I fought Strigoi, but this fear was reaching a breaking point. It was unfocused and out of control, and I suspected it was touched by a bit of the madness and darkness I'd absorbed from Lissa. The feelings exploded within me, and I wondered if they'd destroy me before the Strigoi did. I was in very real danger of dying here-of letting Sydney and the others get killed. The rage and distress of that thought were smothering. Then, suddenly, it was like the earth burst open. Translucent forms, glowing softly in the darkness, sprang up everywhere. Some looked like normal people. Others were horrible, their faces gaunt and skull-like. Ghosts. Spirits. They surrounded us, their presence making my hair stand on end and sending a splitting headache through my skull. The ghosts turned toward me. I'd had this happen before, on a plane, when apparitions had swarmed and threatened to consume me. I braced myself, trying desperately to summon up the strength to build barriers that would shut me off from the spirit world. It was a skill I'd had to learn, one I usually kept in place without any effort. The desperation and panic of this situation had cracked my control. In that horrible, blood-curdling moment, I again selfishly wished Mason hadn't found peace and left this world. I would have felt better if his ghost were here. Then I realized I wasn't their target. The ghosts were mobbing the two Strigoi. The spirits didn't have solid forms, but every place they touched and passed through me felt like ice. The female Strigoi immediately began waving her arms to fend the apparitions off, snarling in rage and something almost like fear. The ghosts didn't appear to be able to hurt the Strigoi, but they were apparently pretty annoying-and distracting. I staked the male Strigoi before he ever saw me coming. Immediately, the ghosts around him moved to the woman. She was good, I'd give her that. Despite struggling to fend the spirits off, she was still able to dodge my attacks fairly well. A lucky punch from her made stars burst before my eyes and sent me into the barn wall. I still had that ghost-induced splitting headache, and my head slamming into the barn didn't help. Staggering up, dizzy, I made my way back to her and continued my efforts to get a shot in at her heart. She managed to keep her chest out of my range-at least until one particularly terrifying ghost caught her off guard. Her momentary distraction gave me my chance, and I staked her, too. She fell to the ground-leaving me alone with the spirits. With the Strigoi, the ghosts had clearly wanted to attack them. With me, it was a lot like on the plane. They seemed fascinated by me, desperate to get my attention. Only, with dozens of phantoms swarming, it might as well have been an attack. Desperately, I tried again to summon my walls, to block the ghosts off from me as I'd done long ago. The effort was excruciating. Somehow, my out-of-control emotions had brought the spirits, and while I was calmer now, that control was harder to bring about. My head continued throbbing. Gritting my teeth, I focused every ounce of my strength into blocking out the ghosts. â€Å"Go away,† I hissed. â€Å"I don't need you anymore.† For a moment, it looked like my efforts were going to be useless. Then, slowly, one by one, the spirits began to fade. I felt the control I'd learned before gradually slip into place. Soon, there was nothing there but me, the darkness, and the barn-and Sydney. I noticed her just as I collapsed to the ground. She was running out of the house in her pajamas, face pale. Kneeling at my side, she helped me sit up, legitimate fear all over her. â€Å"Rose! Are you okay?† I felt like every scrap of energy in my brain and body had been sucked out. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. â€Å"No,† I told her. And then I passed out. I dreamed of Dimitri again, his arms around me and beautiful face leaning over me to care for me as he'd done so often when I was sick. Memories of things past came to me, the two of us laughing over some joke. Sometimes, in these dreams, he'd carry me away. Sometimes, we'd be riding in a car. Occasionally, his face would start to take on that fearsome Strigoi image that always tormented me. Then I'd quickly order my mind to brush such thoughts away. Dimitri had taken care of me so many times and had always been there when I needed him. It had gone both ways, though. Admittedly, he had not seemed to end up in the infirmary as much as me. That was just my luck. Even when he was injured, he wouldn't acknowledge it. And as I dreamed and hallucinated, images came to me of one of the few times I'd been able to take care of him. Just before the school had been attacked, Dimitri had been involved in a number of tests with me and my fellow novices to see how well we reacted to surprise assaults. Dimitri was so tough that he was almost impossible to beat, though he still got bruised up a number of times. I'd run into him in the gym once during these tests, surprised to see a cut on his cheek. It was hardly fatal, but there was a fair amount of blood showing. â€Å"Do you realize you're bleeding to death?† I'd exclaimed. It was kind of an exaggeration, but still. He touched his cheek absentmindedly and seemed to notice the injury for the first time. â€Å"I wouldn't quite go that far. It's nothing.† â€Å"It's nothing until you get an infection!† â€Å"You know that's not likely,† he said obstinately. That was true. Moroi-aside from contracting the occasional rare disease, as Victor had-hardly ever got sick. We dhampirs had inherited that from them, just as Sydney's tattoo gave her some protection. Nonetheless, I wasn't about to let Dimitri bleed all over. â€Å"Come on,† I said, pointing to the small bathroom in the gym. My voice had been fierce, and to my surprise, he'd actually obeyed. After wetting a washcloth, I gently cleaned his face. He continued protesting at first but finally fell quiet. The bathroom was small, and we were just a few inches from each other. I could smell his clean, intoxicating scent and studied every detail of his face and strong body. My heart raced in my chest, but we were supposed to be on good behavior, so I tried to appear cool and collected. He was eerily calm too, but when I brushed his hair back behind his ears to clean the rest of his face, he flinched. My fingertips touching his skin had sent shock waves through me, and he'd felt them too. He caught hold of my hand and pulled it away. â€Å"Enough,† he said, voice husky. â€Å"I'm fine.† â€Å"Are you sure?† I asked. He hadn't released my hand. We were so, so close. The small bathroom seemed ready to burst with the electricity building between us. I knew this couldn't last but hated to let go of him. God, it was hard being responsible sometimes. â€Å"Yes,† he said. His voice was soft, and I knew he wasn't mad at me. He was afraid, afraid of how little it would take to ignite a fire between us. As it was, I was warm all over, just from the feel of his hand. Touching him made me feel complete, like the person I was always meant to be. â€Å"Thank you, Roza.† He released my hand, and we left, both off to do our own things that day. But the feel of his skin and hair stayed with me for hours afterward†¦ I don't know why I dreamed that memory after being attacked near the barn. It seemed weird that I'd dream of taking care of Dimitri when I was the one who needed care. I guess it didn't really matter what the memory was, so long as it involved him. Dimitri always made me feel better, even in my dreams, giving me strength and resolve. But as I lay in that delirium and moved in and out of consciousness, his comforting face would occasionally take on those terrible red eyes and fangs. I'd whimper, fighting hard to push that sight away. Other times, he didn't look like Dimitri at all. He'd turn into a man I didn't know, an older Moroi with dark hair and cunning eyes, gold jewelry glinting on his neck and ears. I'd cry out for Dimitri again, and eventually, his face would return, safe and wonderful. At one point, though, the image shifted again, this time into a woman's. Clearly, she wasn't Dimitri, but there was something about her brown eyes that reminded me of him. She was older, in her forties maybe, and a dhampir. She laid a cool cloth across my forehead, and I realized I wasn't dreaming anymore. My body ached, and I was in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. No sign of the Strigoi. Had I dreamed them, too? â€Å"Don't try to move,† the woman said with the faintest trace of a Russian accent. â€Å"You took some bad hits.† My eyes widened as the events by the barn came back to me, the ghosts I'd summoned up. It hadn't been a dream. â€Å"Where's Sydney? Is she okay?† â€Å"She's fine. Don't worry.† Something in the woman's voice told me I could believe her. â€Å"Where am I?† â€Å"In Baia.† Baia, Baia. Somewhere, in the back of my head, that name was familiar. All of a sudden, it clicked. Long, long ago, Dimitri had said it. He'd only ever mentioned his town's name once and, even though I'd tried, I had never been able to remember it. Sydney would never tell me the name. But now we were here. Dimitri's home. â€Å"Who are you?† I asked. â€Å"Olena,† she said. â€Å"Olena Belikova.†

Importance of IT measurements for an organization Essay

The performance of a business is a strategic issue which depends greatly on IT contribution. IT is crucial for any business to grow as it enables efficient and effective communication between the employees and with the customers. Similarly, in collaboration with internet, IT provides means of networking, marketing and communication. It provides storage capacity for the company’s data, data protection, data processing, transmission and retrieval of data as required (Alexandrou, 2009). Furthermore, it saves space which would have been used for storage of many paper works. IT has many advantages to a business but it can also have disadvantages. It is therefore important for businesses to evaluate it before adopting it within its structure. IT offers different features and since different businesses have different needs it is therefore important for a business to lay down its objectives before adopting it. In most of the big organizations IT has been adopted entirely in most of their operations while the small ones use it in performing a number of operations. Adopting IT for the entire business operations requires much financial investment and analysis of the technology. According to Myers (2004), few organizations have put in place measures that ensure their corporate strategies and IT are aligned. In other words, few organizations have put in place rigorous systems for measuring the value brought about by IT to their business. In some organizations tools for the management and measurement of IT spending are present and these include IT steering committee, activity based costing, annual budgets, tightly controlled systems of purchasing, benchmarking among others (Myers, 2004). However, these tools do not measure its impacts on the business. Measurement of IT in an organization is vitally important but there are difficulties which hamper the evaluation processes. In most organizations the IT managers lack full understanding of the business and are therefore not included in the decisions made by the senior management personnel. The senior management personnel lack the knowledge of conducting IT measurement processes thus many organization do not measure their IT effectively. To add to that most of the IT managers lack the fully understanding of the measurement of IT processes and will therefore not conduct them (Williams, n. d. ). In Curley’s (n. d. ) view, for IT to deliver business value, its measurement should be done in terms of revenue growth, profitability and customer satisfaction. The performance of the IT system in business is normally evaluated by checking how the business operations are improved. A good system should be able to improve the operations of the business. The performance of an IT system should be directly proportional to its contribution to customer satisfaction. With improvements in the business operations, more customers will become satisfied with services provided by the business. Moreover, the measurement of IT performance is a complement to the measurement of IT contribution to customer satisfaction. The performance of IT is evaluated by the operations of the business while its contribution is evaluated by the increase in the number of customers and thus business growth. The measurement of IT in an organization is vital as it is useful in justifying the existing or the proposed system, comparing different systems, providing tools for system management and in providing a learning experience (Bjork, 2000). When evaluating an IT system in a business several things are usually considered; effectiveness, efficiency and performance benefits. It is important for organizations to develop a framework for evaluating the potential costs and benefits of new IT systems, and the performance of these systems after being implemented. Benefits of measuring IT By measuring and evaluating the IT system, its efficiency, effectiveness and performance benefits can be fully determined and this will be helpful in making decisions concerning the adoption of a new IT system. To add to that, the organization will gain an understanding of the existing IT and will therefore have the capability to determine whether it is beneficial to the current needs of the business or not. With IT measurements, the organization will be saved from wastage of monetary resources in purchasing low quality systems. An organization might purchase IT systems which are not useful in meeting the objectives of the organization thereby leading to wastage of funds which would have been used for other important needs. Consequently, the business will be able to purchase a system which will be of much benefit to the organization. With an efficient IT system the business planning times will be greatly reduced, the cost of marketing will be greatly reduced and more inquiries will be handled within a short time. Similarly, there will be a reduction in the communication cost and paperwork. Furthermore, an effective IT system will minimize business risks, increase the flexibility and competitiveness of the business, increase sales and will provide a sustainable increase in the market share. Furthermore, the performance benefits from the IT system include improvements in strategic intelligence for new markets, provision of capacity and space for business growth, overcoming obsolescence, provision of more relevant and reliable data, among others (Bjork, 2004). The measurements will be helpful in evaluating the weaknesses in the system and in providing guidelines on the ways of improving the system for the better. In other words, they will provide an opportunity to evaluate the loopholes in the technology. As time goes the needs of an organization changes or increases and thus improvements in technology are required. The goals of most organizations is to grow and become competitive in business and as it grows its IT should also grow with it otherwise it will become a hindrance in achieving its goals. The measurement of IT is therefore essential as it provides an opportunity for further advancements in this technology. In conclusion, IT measurements provide many benefits to an organization and are therefore essential. However, in many organizations, the success of IT in a business is measured in terms of the IT parameters which include capacity, processing speed and up time. This therefore shows that many businesses do not measure IT with regard to customer satisfaction or profitability. Customers are one of the most important assets of a business and should be included in IT measurements to ensure a sustainable business growth. Similarly, organizations should invest more funds in IT measurements. In measuring the impacts of IT in organizations knowledge and understanding is a necessity and thus funds are required. Measurement of IT is not an easy task and cannot be done by anyone; IT professionals are threfore needed and should have much experience in IT measurements. Since in many organizations the IT professionals have little experience in IT measurements, IT experts from outside will be helpful in ensuring IT measurements are conducted in an efficient and effective manner.