International Logistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

International Logistics - Essay Example The uniqueness that this store offers and its efforts to make it different and better than what is already being offered have made the retailer a success. When the company emphasizes on being better than ever, this means that they are actually keeping themselves updated with the pace of change that is taking place in its surrounding. Retail industry of UK is very competitive and the industry is facing many challenges currently too. But Morrisons has managed to deal with these challenges in a quite efficient manner. One of the biggest challenges in retail food industry is to provide fresh food to customers and Morrisons has always believed in providing the best quality and fresh food to its customers and they manage it through their efficient supply chain system which also acts as their competitive advantage in retail market (Morrison’s, 2002). Morrisons believes in providing premium quality food to its customers and to achieve this goal, Morrisons is ready to take necessary st eps. The retailer collects freshly produced foods from local markets which are later further processed according to the manufacturing procedures of the organization. This process is done to preserve the freshness of food and to store it safely in warehouse. Morrisons uses its own temperature controlled warehouse to maintain food’s freshness and it has its own packaging plant as well. The prime motive of Morrisons is to deliver the best customer service. Customer satisfaction is of utmost importance for the organization. It serves as a point of difference for their organization as the way they treat their customers simply differentiates them from their competitors (Lovelock, and Wirtz, 2011).. Especially when a company is operating in service sector, then it has to focus on customer service in order to be successful in the long run (Lovelock, and Gummesson, 2004). For the provision of best customer service, employees are trained; employees are always kept motivated so that the y are able to deliver in the working time. Performance benchmarking is done in order to be competitive and to gain greater market share and to perform better than previous performances. All of these steps taken by the organization play a significant role in affecting customer service positively. SITUATION ANALYSIS Morrisons is counted as one of the big names in United Kingdom’s retail sector. Despite of the fact that Morrisons is one of the big names, this year sales of Morrisons faced decline as compared to the sales of previous years. Due to this there is a drop in Morrisons customer’s confWidence. Now these two factors are areas of concern for the management of Morrisons (BBC News, 2012). The market environment is getting tougher day by day. Competitors are constantly bringing up new offers and products to compete successfully in market and to capture greater market share. Competitors are performing better and trying to take and maintain lead in retail business, in such environment, there is a great pressure on Morrisons to deliver more than expected. The reason diagnosed for the decline in sales of Morrisons was their lack of performance in trading market. This reason has resulted the company to lose its market share to 11.5%. The market share of the company was 12% last year (BBC News, 2012). These are some serious issues that need to be resolved in order to be the market leader in retail category and to defeat giants like Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury. Apart from the mentioned

Tescos Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Tescos Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Strategic human resource management bridges business strategy and human resource management and focuses on the integration of HR with the business and its environment. The main rational for strategic HRM thinking is that by integrating HRM with the business strategy employees will be managed more effectively, organizational performance will improve and therefore business success will follow (Holbeche, 1999). Stroh and Caligiuri (1998) suggest that strategic HR departments are future-oriented and operate in a manner consistent with the overall business plan in their organizations. Such departments assess the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for the future and institute staffing, appraisal and evaluation, incentives and compensation, training and development to meet those needs. According to this approach, people are a key resource and a critical element in a firms performance since they build organizational effectiveness (Holbeche, 1999). Now this report will make an attempt to explain the importance of strategic human resource management in organizations and then it will assess the purpose of SHRM and how it contributes to the achievement of Tescos organizational objectives. Tesco is the largest retailer in the UK and the third largest retailer all over the world. Tesco was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen and became Tesco plc in 1983. It has 4811 stores worldwide and 472,000 employees (Tesco annual report, 2010). Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management Strategic HRM adds value to organizational effectiveness by linking people, strategy, values and performance (Becker et al., 2001).Past research suggests that an organizations employees can be a source for sustained competitive advantage and can determine the ultimate success of their organizations (Pfeffer, 1994; Prahalad, 1983).Given the importance of people in organizations; most strategic human resource departments consider the management of the competencies and capabilities of these human assets the primary goal. SHRM tends to employ progressive human resource practices in which the emphasis is on assessing the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for the future and to institute staffing, appraisal and evaluation, incentive and compensation, and training and development programs to meet those needs (Cascio, 1995). Huselid (1995) refers to these strategic HR practices collectively as high-performance work practices. Burack et al. (1994) suggests several ways that organizations can maintain high commitment and high performance among employees and ultimately organizational effectiveness: by promoting the organizations credibility with employees; encouraging the use of participative management and employee involvement programs; focusing on high achievement, mutual trust and commitment; and developing a combined group/entrepreneurial approach to management, thereby creating an organizational culture in which individual employees are encouraged to be adaptive, competitive and successful. Research by several scholars has shown a close association between these high performance work practices and organizational effectiveness. MacDuffie (1995), for example, found that the presence of integrated strategic HR practices was related to higher productivity and higher quality in automotive assembly plants. Terpstra and Rozell (1993), studying a variety of industries, found that the presence of strategic staffing practices was positively related to an organizations annual profit and its profit growth. Finally, in a study of more than 1,000 organizations, Huselid (1995) found that a relationship existed between high-performance work practices and such positive employee outcomes as lower tumover and higher productivity, as well as better corporate financial performance. Research has also shown that executives company-wide view strategic HR departments as more effective partners in directing their organizations larger business plans (Dyer, 1983). One could conclude, therefore, th at, when an organizations HR strategy is linked to its business strategy, organizational effectiveness should improve (Dyer, 1983; Stroh and Reilly, 1994). Purpose of Strategic Human Resource Management in Tesco One of the key goals of strategic human resource management is to link an organizations business strategy to its human resource strategy (Lundy and Cowling, 1996).Besides, the greater goal of strategic human resources is to support, manage and maintain high-commitment and high-performance employees (Burack et al., 1994). In addition, a strategic HR agenda is likely to have a number of key goals relating to the attraction, development and retention of talent. Further, the enabling of high performance is likely to be a key target for strategic HRM (Holbeche, 1999). However, In spite of economic down turn Tesco is expanding its business and increasing its profit year to year. The key issue behind this is its successful strategic HRM policy. Tesco has a well-established and consistent strategy for growth. The rationale for the strategy is to broaden the scope of the business to enable it to deliver strong, sustainable long-term growth by following customers into large expanding markets at home such as financial services, non-food and telecoms and new markets abroad, initially in Central Europe and Asia and more recently in the United States (Tesco, 2010). To materialize its growth strategy Tesco invests huge amount of money in its people which links its business strategy to HR strategy. Tesco has a five-year people strategy that it continually develops and update. Top management of Tesco asks its people every year whats important to them and they consistently reply the same four things: a manager who helps them, opportunities to get on, an interesting job and to be treated with respect. Tescos whole strategy is focused on how to get better at these (Pinkerfield, 2007). That means Tesco ensures a careful supervision of its employees, offers a good career prospect, provides motivational forces for performance improvement and values its employees. In a nutshell, the purpose of Tescos strategic human resource management is to get the full potential of its employees through its HR strategy for achieving its business growth strategy. 1.3 Evaluation of Tescos Strategic Human Resource Management Strategic HRM has gained both credibility and popularity over the past decade, specifically with respect to its impact on organizational performance (Paauwe Boselie, 2003). As an International organization, Tesco has strategically integrated HR into its overall business plans. Managers have been to utilize aspects of HR in their decision making. This has shown high commitment to HR, attempting to gain acceptance from all employees, and offering to all employees basic and extended training (Beardwell, 2004).Tesco is committed to providing opportunities for people to get on and turn their jobs into careers. Last year it had more people on development programs than ever before. Tesco has continued to develop apprenticeship training in the UK. Tesco believes that even in difficult times it is essential to invest in future talent. Thats why this year, while many other businesses were cutting their graduate schemes, Tesco increased its graduate intake to 810, including 535 in Asia. As a l eading global company, Tesco aims to offer the very best training and development for all its employees. The Tesco Academy helps provide an opportunity to get on for its entire people. It develops thousands of world-class leaders through excellent training in leadership, managemental employee to understand their role and importance within the organization (Tesco, 2010). There is an increased need for a higher value to be placed on employees, and therefore get the best performance from the employees. Tesco views that No-one tries harder for customers and it treats people how they like to be treated. These values are interlinked and underpin everything going on at Tesco. Tesco realizes that by managing people well in a culture of trust and respect they will in turn try their hardest for customers. By offering competitive pay and benefits and an opportunity to develop a long-term varied career with good training, Tesco is able to keep its people motivated, committed and excited about working at Tesco (Tesco, 2010).   By todays standards, supermarkets are labour-intensive businesses, which mean that how they manage, develop and reward staff, really matters (Carrington, 2003).The successful strategic HRM of Tesco is one of the main reasons behind its success. Attracting, retaining and motivating staff is core to Tescos people strategy. One of the key developments in the way supermarkets do business has been the close correlation they now draw between employees and customers. As Clare Chapman, head of Tesco HR, points out, staff loyalty is directly related to customer loyalty. What she says she wants is not the functional loyalty whereby people turn up to work every day, but the emotional loyalty that means they bring their brains in which them. The way to get this she suggests is by constantly reviewing how you reward your staff and by listening to them (Carrington, 2003). From the above discussion of Tescos strategic HRM this report can conclude that the strategic HRM of Tesco plays a significant role in achieving its organizational objectives. In this age of economic down turn Tesco is increasing its customers, expanding its scope worldwide, and increasing its revenue because of mainly having its well-trained, valued and motivated workforce. The people of Tesco build a sustainable reputation for the organization through better customer service which in turn contributes in retaining its market share worldwide. Task 2 2.1 Business Factors that underpin Human Resource Planning at Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company, a global automotive leader based in Dearborn, Michigan-USA, manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents with about 198,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide. Now this report will analyze the business factors that underpin the human resource planning at Ford Motor Company. Economic recession Now the world is facing economic downturn. The automotive industry is one of the main sectors to suffer from economic recession. As the financial crisis persist, both credit availability and consumers weakened confidence have contributed to a drastic decline in vehicle sales. So, the demand for vehicle sales goes down. Consequently, Ford Motor Company reduced its employees for reducing overhead cost and improving its balance sheet.So, the HR planning of ford is greatly affectedly by economic recession. Demographic Factors The changing characteristics of workforce or demographic projections have significant implications for managing human resources, thereby increasing the importance of human resource planning. The changing demographics mean there will be fewer entry-level employees, so competition among employers will increase. In addition, the changing demographics signal changes in the abilities, skills, interests, and values of tomorrows work force. From its inception Ford always emphasize on creating a diverse workforce which underpins its HR planning process. Customer preference and technology Consumer demand for more fuel-efficient and cleaner vehicles continues to grow. To accomplish fuel-economy goal, Ford is focused in the near term on implementing the most cost-effective fuel-efficiency technologies across a large volume of vehicles and on introducing new products that offer improved fuel efficiency without compromising style or performance. In 2009, for example, it began implementing the EcoBoost„ ¢ engine, a key technology in its fuel-efficiency strategy that uses gasoline turbocharged direct-injection technology. EcoBoost will deliver up to 20 percent better fuel economy, 15 percent fewer carbon dioxide emissions and superior driving performance compared to larger-displacement engines.  Besides, Ford is continuing to design and introduce advanced technologies that improve fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and lessen dependence on foreign oil (Ford Sustainability, 2008/09). Initiating new technology and new products require multi-skilled human resources wh ich affect the HR Planning of Ford. Growing or declining organization Human resource planning is greatly influenced by whether the organization is growing or declining position. In a growing organization human resource planners just look for needed skills and abilities. But in a declining organization they need to look at the cost associated with employees. During the third quarter of 2008, Ford reduced its salary-related costs by about 15 percent, which included the involuntary layoff of some salaried employees as it faced huge amount of loses at that time because of recession (Ford Sustainability, 2008/09). 2.2 Role of HR in Acquisition Now this report will assess the expansion of Ford Motor Company through acquisition of Land Rover, a British four-wheeler luxury brand, and how HR plays an important role in this expansion. During the end of 19th century the automobile industry was subject to serious macroeconomic pressures. The major trends of global consolidation and fragmenting consumer demand, fuelled by rising incomes and increasing development costs driven by tighter environmental legislation and increasing competition, provided the backcloth for strategic decision-making. Ford wanted to extend its market to include the growing and potentially profitable luxury car sector. The Ford brand itself was, and is, associated with mass-market vehicles rather than luxury vehicles. Its US-based luxury brands, Lincoln and Mercury, do not sell well outside the United States and were associated with an ageing buying population. The option of creating a new brand was rejected on the grounds of cost and the time needed to est ablish a new brand successfully in a highly competitive market (Scheele, 2004). The remaining option was external acquisition of existing luxury brands. In this situation ford acquired Land Rover in 2000 from BMW. Ford initiated a new HR plan for Land Rover to become successful because nine months earlier its then owners, BMW, had made some fairly far-reaching changes in Land Rovers management team. Most of the old directors had been removed and replaced with BMW nominees (Dover, 2004).This exceptional situation cleared the way for the introduction of an entirely new team responsible for integrating the company and enacting the necessary changes. Ford assembled a very strong team of Ford insiders from around the globe, and Bob Dover, from Aston Martin, was sent to run the company. To soften the impact of an international influx of new people and demonstrate opportunity, internal staffs were promoted into senior management roles (Lummis, 2004). Mergers will be more successful if companies have the ability to appoint an implementation team from both traditions who enjoy complementary functional backgrounds capable of enacting necessary change within the right timescale (Krishnan et al., 1997).Besides, it is essential to build a leadership team capable of implementing change and aligning businesses around common values in situations in which people from different national cultural backgrounds can work together (Testa and Morosini, 2001). The integration approach adopted by Ford for the Land Rover acquisition was a hands-on approach. Ford developed a multi-cultural leadership team for land Rover who were able to respond quickly to any macro and micro environmental changes. 2.3 Human Resource Plan for Ford Motor Company There are different types of human resource planning-short-term, intermediate-term and long-term, in different types of organization. Here this report will develop a short-term HRP for Ford Motor Company. Forecasting demand and supply The demand of jobs involves predicting which employees will leave the job and creates vacancies, which jobs will be eliminated and which new jobs will be created. For identifying job demand Ford will collect data about how many jobs created last year and will project it for the planning year. Besides, Ford will receive line managers Predictions about how many and what types of jobs will be eliminated or created in the short term. For supply side, Ford will determine the desired characteristics of employees who fill (or vacate) the jobs of interest. Then the availability of those characteristics in the organizations current work force and in the external labor market must be assessed. The particular characteristics of current and potential employees that is inventoried and tracked by human resource planners. Objectives of HRP at FORD Short-term human resource objectives at Ford include increasing the number of people who are attracted to the organization and apply for jobs (increase the applicant pool); attracting a different mix of applicants (with different skills, in different locations, etc.); improving the qualifications of new hires; increasing the length of time that desirable employees stay with the organization; decreasing the length of time that undesirable employees stay with the organization; and helping current and newly hired employees quickly develop the skills needed by the organization. Recruitment Selection For getting the right people Ford will advertise its requirement through different channels: website, newspaper, employee templates or notice board for internal recruitment. Ford normally practices ethnocentric staffing policy in its international operation. After getting applicants Ford selects the right person through different test: psychological test, personality test, technological skill test, aptitude test, etc.Diversity is the key priority in Fords recruitment planning. Training and Development To get better service from its newly recruited employees Ford will arrange huge range of training and development programs for employees. All employees are encouraged to invest in their own professional development by developing an Individual Development Plan, or IDP, to help them meet current and future goals. Ford will provide a comprehensive range of learning and development resources that align with ONE Ford. These include web-based and classroom training, special projects and task forces, as well as mentoring and coaching to foster functional and technical excellence, encourage teamwork, promote Ford values and enhance its ability to deliver results. Ford has created internal colleges that provide education and training in areas ranging from finance and information technology to product development and marketing. IT will also offer the Salaried Supervisor Institute/Program (SSI) for new or experienced leaders who want to enhance their ONE Ford skills. In conclusion it can be said that Ford Motor Company takes a defensive strategy in their human resource planning as the companys balance sheet was not enough well in last few years due to economic recession. As a result it downsizes its some plants to reduce employee cost and just recruited new people who are highly technically efficient. 2.4 Evaluation of Human Resource Plan The human resource plan of a company can evaluate to identify how well the objectives were achieved. Ford implemented its HRP in its business strategy. Most importantly, it established a number of Employee Resource Groups (ERG) as a part of HRP to support, outreach and develop employees who share ethnicity, race religion, life experiences, disabilities or backgrounds (Ford, 2008/09). In January 2008, it announced One Ford, which aligns its efforts toward a common definition of success. One Ford provides consistent goals and expectations for employees, whether they work in Michigan or Shanghai, with a clear focus on the skills and behaviors must demonstrate to accomplish One Team, One Plan, and One Goal. All members of the global team are held accountable for incorporating One Ford into their daily work (Ford, 2008-09). One Ford is designed to help every employee achieve his or her fullest potential as they work together to move the business forward. Over the last year, it has incorporated One Ford into its people processes, beginning with employee development. It revamped its employee leadership and professional development programs to align with One Ford, providing employees with Web-based and classroom training to foster functional and technical excellence, encourage teamwork, promote Ford values and enhance its ability to deliver results. Fords performance management processes ensure that employee objectives and behaviors align with One Ford. In the current economic environment, it is more important than ever to invest in employees, strengthen their leadership skills and recognize them for delivering results that cultivate success. Consequently, Ford became profitable in 2009 2010 and its successful HRP significantly contribute to this success. 3.1 Purpose of Human Resource Management Policies It is universally acknowledged in the corporate world that HRM policies play a significant role in achieving the objectives of an organization. In this phase the report will analyze the purposes of HRM policies in Nokia telecommunications. With more than 100,000 employees in more than 100 countries, Finnish-based Nokia is the largest maker of mobile telephones in the world.Nokia has achieved 40 percent market share of the global handset market and industry-leading profit margin of 20-25 percent during the transition period of technological change and intense competition and its HRM policies played a pivotal role in this achievement. Motivate and engage employees are the key purposes in Nokias HRM policies.Nokia HRM policies comprises four elements to motivate and engage the employees and maintain his or her satisfaction and well-being at work. They are: The Nokia way and values; Performance-based rewards; Professional and personal growth; and Work-life balance. The Nokia way and values The company emphasizes the importance of: respect treating colleagues with trust and dignity, in order to help to build an open and honest spirit at the workplace, and also respecting customers, business partners, the environment and the community; achievement recognizing and celebrating individual and shared successes; renewal fostering change and development, and having the passion and courage to look for new ideas beyond existing products, services and ways of working; management and leadership creating commitment, passion and inspiration through collaboration and coaching, and ensuring focus and efficiency by setting targets, fulfilling goals and reviewing results; and employee participation encouraging open discussion and debate through, for example, the annual globally conducted Listening to You employee survey, and Ask HR feedback channel on the companys human-resources Intranet, where every employee can comment or ask questions about Nokias people practices and processes, even anonymously, and receive a prompt and openly published response. Performance-based rewards Nokias total-compensation package is tailored to each country and typically consists of elements such as annual base salary, incentives, bonuses, possible participation in equity-plan and other local benefits. Nokias total compensation is based on a pay-for-performance philosophy. Results through consistent performance and proven, relevant competencies are rewarded.Nokia aims to provide a competitive global reward structure that uses international and local market information, but also takes into account the employees overall position and any significant economic influencers. Professional and personal growth Nokia employees are encouraged to create their own development plans, take part in on-the-job learning, and take advantage of the various courses and other learning opportunities available. Through its global network of learning centers, Nokia aims to offer a consistent standard of training and development to all its employees. The Learning Market Place Intranet contains information on all Nokias learning opportunities, including e-learning and classroom training. The company also has a full suite of training programs for new and experienced managers. All Nokia vacancies, with the exception of very senior positions, are advertised internally. Employees are encouraged to improve their competencies through job rotation. Internal job opportunities, the possibility to register on the companys internal candidate pool and other services for job-seeking inside the company are available through the company Intranet. The Nokia performance-management system, named Investing in People (IIP), is closely aligned to the companys strategy and planning processes. It involves formalized discussions between employees and their managers, twice a year. Employees are encouraged to own their IIP, to understand what is expected of them and how their individual achievements support the companys overall strategy. Work-life balance Nokia offers various services, programs and guidelines to support employees efforts to achieve a healthy work-life balance that reflects their changing needs and life situations. The various aspects may alter by country according to local needs, legislation, employment market and common practices. Typically, they include teleworking, mobile working, flexible working hours, sabbaticals, study leave, health-care services and recreational activities (Pollitt, 2004). Finally it can be concluded that Nokias employees are satisfied working at Nokia as they are  respected, reasonably paid, and offered a sustainable career. The purpose of Nokias HRM policies is to value employees and achieve organizational objectives. 3.2 Impact of Regulatory Requirements Human resource policies of Nokia in different countries are influenced by the legal requirements of those countries. Now this report will analyze the impact of regularity requirements in UK on Nokias human resource policies.Nokia-Uk, develops its pay structure according to the Employment Act, 2008 and never pay below minimum wages to any hourly employee. According to Sec 19a (1) of this act, A notice of under-payment must, subject to this section, require the employer to pay a financial penalty specified in the notice to the Secretary of State within the 28 day period. In this case Nokia is trustworthy company to the UK authority. Some of the UK Acts which affect HRM policies of Nokia are mentioned as follows: Human Rights Act 1998: The Human Rights Act 1998 was brought into effect in Nokia.The Act provides among other issues, a right to fair trial and a right to respect family life. It provides for the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms under the European Convention of Human Rights without discrimination on specified grounds, including sex, race, color, language, religion, and national or social origin. According to this act, Nokia offers flexible working hours to its employees, allows paternity and maternity leave, different safety services, study leave, etc. Race Relations Act 1976: This makes both direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds of race, color, nationality (including citizenship) ethnic or national origin unlawful. The law covers people from all racial groups, including white people.Nokia HRM policies strongly discourage any activity relating to racial discrimination. Equal Pay Act 1970: This deals with equal pay and prohibits different pay for men and women doing the same work, work rates as equivalent, or work of equal value.Nokia is always liable to this act and develops its payment structure accordingly. Trade Unions and Labor Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992: This legislation protects employees from discrimination on the grounds of trade union activities or membership, or of non trade union membership.Nokia encourages the voice of trade union as a part of its HRP policies. Employment Relations Act 1999: This Act includes a number of Family Friendly measures and includes legislation to cover the European Parental Leave Directive. The objective of the Parental Leave Directive is to provide a balance between work and home life. The Act provides employees with rights to parental leave, time off work in family emergencies as well as simplifying and improving maternity rights. In the previous section, HRM policies of Nokia have been covered and from the analysis of different regulatory requirements it can be concluded that a number of HRM policies of Nokia in UK has been derived from these regulatory acts and legal environment. Task 3 4.1 Impact of Organizational Structure on Human Resource Management Organizational structure means three things: the formal division of the organization into sub-units (horizontal differentiation), the location of decision-making responsibilities within that structure (vertical differentiation) and the establishment of integrating mechanisms (Hill, 2005). Organizational structure affects significantly on HRM of different organizations. Now this report will analyze the organizational structure of Unilever and its impact on HRM. Unilever is one of the worlds oldest multinational corporations with extensive product offerings in the food, detergent and personal care businesses. In 1996, Unilever introduced a new structure based on regional business groups instead of a decentralized structure. Within each business group are a number of divisions, each focusing on a specific category of products. Thus, within the European business group is a division focusing on detergents, another on ice cream and frozen foods and so on. These groups and divisions have been given the responsibility for coordinating the activities of national subsidiaries within their region to drive down costs and speed up the process of developing and introducing new products. The regional or divisional structure of Unilever has enabled the company to develop specialized workforce. Because of specialization Unilever offers handsome pay structure to the employees. For developing specialized skilled workforce Unilever develops a succession planning. Each division of Unilever has got autonomy and divisional manager reports to the regional manager. It allows the regional manager to analyze the performance of divisional managers and employees. As each group works as a team, there exists a good relationship among management and employees and ultimately employees are offered flexible working hours, different health and safety scheme, etc. 4.2 Impact of Organizational Culture on Human Resource Management Organizational culture is the norms and value systems that are shared among the employees of an organization. Just as societies have cultures, so do organizations (Hill, 2005). Unilevers success has been based on mainly high levels of employee productivity and product quality. The company attributes its productivity to a strong organizational culture and an incentive scheme based on performance.Unilever always practices a participative management culture where employees are encouraged in decision making process. There is an open door HR policy between workers and managers which boost employee morale and performance.Unilever believes that any gains in productivity should be shared with employees in the form of higher pay. In Unilever, production workers have been awarded a semiannual bonus based on an employees level and quality of product. That means the organizational culture of Unilever shapes its payment and reward structure. All the employees are considered equally to the company irrespective of gender

Epic Characteristics of Miltons Paradise Lost :: Epics Milton Paradise Lost Essays

Paradise Lost is one of the finest examples of the epic tradition in all of literature. In composing this extraordinary work, John Milton was, for the most part, following in the manner of epic poets of past centuries: Barbara Lewalski notes that Paradise Lost is an "epic whose closest structural affinities are to Virgil's Aeneid . . . "; she continues, however, to state that we now recognize as well the influence of epic traditions and the presence of epic features other than Virgilian. Among the poem's Homeric elements are its Iliadic subject, the death and woe resulting from an act of disobedience; the portrayal of Satan as an Archillean hero motivated by a sense of injured merit and also as an Odyssean hero of wiles and craft; the description of Satan's perilous Odyssey to find a new homeland; and the battle scenes in heaven. . . . The poem also incorporates a Hesiodic gigantomachy; numerous Ovidian metamorphoses; an Ariostan Paradise of Fools; [and] Spenserian allegorical f igures (Sin and Death) . . . . (3) There were changes, however, as John M. Steadman makes clear: The regularity with which Milton frequently conforms to principles of epic structure make his occasional (but nevertheless fundamental) variations on the epic tradition all the more striking by contrast. The most important departures from epic decorum--the rejection of a martial theme, and the choice of an argument that emphasizes the hero's transgression and defeat instead of celebrating his virtues and triumphs--are paradoxically conditioned by concern for the ethical and religious decorum of the epic genre. On the whole, Milton has retained the formal motifs and devices of the heroic poem but has invested them with Christian matter and meaning. In this sense his epic is . . . something of a "pseudomorph"--retaining the form of classical epic but replacing its values and contents with Judeo-Christian correlatives. (Epic and Tragic Structure . . . 20) Steadman goes on to defend Milton's changes in the form of the epic, saying that "such revaluations are not unusual in the epic tradition; they were in fact inevitable" (20). It is important, before continuing with an examination of Paradise Lost and its epic characteristics and conventions (specifically, those in Book I), to review for a moment exactly what an "epic" is. Again, according to Lewalski, "Renaissance critics generally thought of epics as long poems treating heroic actions or other weighty matters in a high style, thereby evoking awe or wonder" (12).

The Blue Sword CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Sungold turned and ran up the valley to the Gate, and leaped lightly through the cleft, and Harry was aware of Narknon shooting past her as she slid or fell out of the saddle and into Jack's arms. Gonturan clattered to the ground. â€Å"Brandy,† said Jack, and put something between her teeth; she drank a mouthful, gagged, and shoved the thing away. â€Å"Good for you,† said Jack, but the lightness of his tone was forced, and they both knew it. â€Å"Are you hurt?† Harry shook her head dizzily. â€Å"No. You?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"But – ?† Harry looked around. Narknon was beside her, covered with blood, but little of it seemed to be her own. Her flanks heaved and her green eyes were glassy, but she sat in her usual precise manner and, as Harry watched, slowly, stiffly, began to try to lick herself clean. The archers stood with empty quivers on their backs, cleaning their long daggers. There were fewer of them than there had been when she sent them into the valley's forested sides less than an hour before; and more than half of their cats were gone. She saw Kentarre, who had a rag wrapped around one forearm, but was on her feet. She saw Senay and Terim. Terim's horse was bleeding from a tear on its side, and Senay stood at its head, a hand on its crest, whispering to it, and Terim spread some pale ointment on the wound. The only wounds she saw were minor ones; none who were worse hurt had returned to the Gate. â€Å"Is this all of us now?† Jack nodded. â€Å"I'm afraid so.† There was barely half the tally of the defending southerners that had stood at the Madamer Gate in the morning; and there was an ashen cast to the faces that remained, for the northwest wind was not good to breathe. Unwounded limbs were numb and slow, and brains were clouded with a nagging dread that had little to do with the mortal risk of battle. Kentarre said, as she bound up another archer's arm, â€Å"Thurra is known to love slow bloodshed, and he can afford not to hurry, for nothing can stand against him. But you have done him a blow he did not expect, for you tore down his standard.† â€Å"Thurra?† Harry said in disbelief. Kentarre nodded, and Terim and Senay both stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Kentarre said: â€Å"I recognized him at once. He laughs during battle, and he always rides a white stallion who loves bloodshed as much as he does. â€Å"Why do you think there are so few of us left after so brief a meeting? We are strong fighters, and we fight with the strength of despair besides, for we are terribly outnumbered. But anyone who is struck by the white rider dies on the first blow.† â€Å"Not everybody,† said Terim. â€Å"Not Harimad-sol.† Kentarre nodded solemnly. â€Å"Why do you think we follow her?† Harry said, with her left arm across Sungold's saddle to help hold herself up, â€Å"I did not die only because he chose not to kill me. I cannot match him, even for one blow.† Sungold turned his head, and Harry reached stiffly out to put her fingers on his soft muzzle. She rested them there for a moment, and a little warmth crept into her nerveless hand. â€Å"And, perhaps, a little because I ride a better horse than his.† There was a commotion then, somewhere behind them, near the mouth of the trail; and then one of Jack's men laughed, and the commotion subsided. Harry looked inquiringly in the direction of the laugh, and saw a tall slim figure stride forcefully into the clearing, leading a tired horse. â€Å"Dickie!† she said; and blushed uncomfortably, because she knew how he hated the old childhood name. â€Å"Richard – † she began, humbly, but he had reached her by then and threw his arms around her. She hugged him back, although her right arm was still not functioning very well and the left was weaker than it should be. He let her go at last, and her eyes blurred, and she couldn't tell if the brightness in his eyes was her own tears, or his. He said to Jack, although he was staring at his sister, and his hands were closed on her arms as if she might disappear if he let her go, â€Å"I returned two days after you had left, sir. I had gotten no satisfaction on my mission, as you anticipated.† Jack grunted. â€Å"They told me what had happened, and where you were going – and who was with you – and I took a fresh horse and followed you.† He smiled at last. â€Å"Harry, damn you, we all thought you were dead.† She shook her head. â€Å"I'm not, you see.† She smiled back. â€Å"Not yet, at least.† Richard let his hands drop. The shadowed army lay spread below them, and the north wind, which had quieted a little after Tsornin beat back the wizard's stallion and Narknon pulled down the red-and-white standard, began to howl around them again, and sting their eyes and throats. â€Å"Took another horse?† said Jack musingly. Richard had dropped his reins when he reached for Harry, and the animal stood, weary and patient, where it had halted. â€Å"This looks like Bill Stubbs' horse.† Richard turned back to his commander and grinned. â€Å"It is. It always was too good for him; and I needed something fast, to catch up with you before it was all over.† â€Å"You've just blighted a spotless career with horse-stealing?† Jack said mildly. Richard sobered. â€Å"If you like. You know that all of us who have come here – thrown in our lot with the old Damarians – are finished as far as Her Majesty's Government is concerned. You knew that when you decided to come.† Harry stared at Jack, although in the back of her mind she had known this all along. â€Å"Is this true?† Jack shrugged. â€Å"Yes, it's true. That's why the two dozen of us who came are all grizzled old veterans – we don't have much to lose. But Richard, you – â€Å" Richard made an abrupt gesture with one arm. â€Å"I knew what I was doing. Blood calls to blood, I suppose – for all that I've resisted it the last few years.† He glanced at his sister. â€Å"It was your coming out here to Daria – Damar – and loving it, loving the desert, even though you knew nothing of it – I could see it. You were as bad as Colonel Dedham – begging your pardon, sir – by the end of the first month. It made me ashamed. I – I couldn't talk about it †¦ â€Å" Harry realized she was being offered an apology, and nodded. It didn't matter any more. He was here, and that was what mattered. â€Å"Then, after you disappeared,† Richard went on slowly, â€Å"these last long months, I've thought a lot – I even thought that you weren't dead – and the thought felt like betrayal †¦ You know, I came here, to the Gap, without ever having to think about it. I knew which way to turn, all those mad little trails on the way up here. I always knew.† â€Å"Blood calls to blood,† Harry said. â€Å"Why didn't you ever tell me there was Hill blood in us?† Richard looked surprised. â€Å"Father told me. I – I assumed he'd told you. I didn't want to talk about it. There was a lot I didn't want to talk about.† Harry said, â€Å"I found out a week ago, when Jack told me.† There was a silence, and Richard began to laugh. â€Å"My God. Then becoming a king's Rider must really have been a shock to you. It was shock enough to me, when Tom Lloyd told me.† He took her right hand and turned it over to look at the palm. â€Å"I was proud of you. That's when I knew I had to follow you – not only to see my sister again. To – reclaim something. Or admit to owning it all along.† The north wind snapped at their hair and eyelashes, listening to their conversation. Harry wondered idly if it understood Homelander speech. Kentarre had left them; she returned now and said, â€Å"My lady. The North prepares to move against us again.† Richard turned to face his sister; he put his shoulders back as if bracing himself for a blow. â€Å"Command me, sol,† he said awkwardly, in Hill-speech. Then in Homelander he went on: â€Å"As I came late, perhaps you'd like me to commit a daring single-handed raid.† Jack snorted. Harry smiled in spite of herself. â€Å"No; that won't be necessary. We'll arrange ourselves across the Gap, here, and on the plateau.† She paused. â€Å"I can't risk what's left of us going into the valley again †¦ â€Å" She raised her voice: â€Å"We're here to slow the Northerners down. We'll do the best we can. But we're overmatched – vastly more overmatched than I expected. I don't expect any of you to fight to the †¦ last. The day is half over; if we can hold them till this evening, they'll have to wait till morning to try again.† Harry closed her eyes and thought, I hope. Even demons see better by the light of day – or do they? Swimming through the mist behind her eyes then, she saw Corlath and his army; they were beating back a horde of Northerners that outnumbered them by no more than three to one. The black mass that filled the valley below the Madamer Gate was twice the size of the army that sought to pass the Bledfi Gap. Corlath's stallion ran red from its nose as it leaped and struck; Corlath's sword was dull with blood. She recognized Fireheart first; it took her a moment to recognize his rider, for Corlath's sash was the wrong color. She saw Mathin, who grinned fiercely as he fought at Corlath's heels. â€Å"If we have gained a day, we have gained †¦ something. Tonight, those of you that remain †¦ may scatter. Fade into these Hills; make your way back to Corlath if you can.† Senay said: â€Å"Why do you say those of you, lady? Do you not come with us? Are you so certain of death?† Terim, very low, said, â€Å"Do you seek it?† Harry sighed. â€Å"I can't leave. This defense, here, was my great idea. I can't leave. But what's-his-name, out there, will take care of that, when next we meet.† She tried to speak lightly. â€Å"Very noble of you, my dear,† said Jack, â€Å"but we will, I think, stand with Harimad-sol. We can hold here †¦ perhaps three days, if Thurra is so fond of slow death. Three days might give your Corlath a breathing-space; and it's always remotely within the realm of possibility that Sir Charles will believe the letter I wrote him, and the Northerners will find the Outlanders a little more troublesome than they expected for a few more days of preparation. We will stay.† The last three words he said in Hill-speech, and Senay and Terim and Kentarre repeated, â€Å"We will stay.† Terim said, with his usual buoyancy, â€Å"Harimad-sol, you cannot ask us to give up so easily, after we have come so far.† Harry blinked. She looked out over the valley; the Northern mass was beginning to shift forward again. â€Å"Very well,† she said gruffly. â€Å"I suggest everyone eat something and take a few minutes' rest; for Thurra is moving. And †¦ thank you.† She smiled. â€Å"Perhaps we will hold out three days.† â€Å"And think of the songs they'll sing about us,† said Jack. He handed her a bit of meat in a hard roll, and she began absently to chew it. Her right arm was still nearly useless, but her left hand closed and opened when she told it to, the elbow bent, and the shoulder swung. She squinted up at the mountains around her. The peaks that surrounded the Gate were perhaps four times a man's height from the shallow plateau where she stood; then beyond them the mountains sloped up again, and a little distance from the stony Gate some small trees covered the steep ground and spilled out toward the valley below them. She looked around, toward the forested arm where the archers had stood. She found she had finished her roll. â€Å"I'll be back in a moment,† she said. Jack and Richard looked at her questioningly. â€Å"In plenty of time to stand against our friends.† She picked up Gonturan and awkwardly wiped and resheathed her, and began to clamber slowly up the western side of the Gate. She could only use her left hand, and even its grasp was not strong. Jack said sharply, â€Å"Harry, what have you done to your arm?† She waited till she was standing on the low crest to answer: â€Å"Strained a muscle, I think,† she said. â€Å"Don't worry.† She turned away as Jack opened his mouth; and from where her little band stood, disappeared around a spur of rock. Richard started after her, but Terim moved in front him as Jack said, â€Å"No. If she wants to be left alone, we'll leave her alone. I don't like it either, but she – or the thing that's riding her – still knows a little more about this than the rest of us. Or so I believe.† Richard shrugged, but his eyes stayed on the spot where his sister had disappeared. â€Å"She did promise that we could die together,† Terim said cheerfully. Jack rubbed his face wearily. â€Å"I'm not thinking about dying yet.† He looked out into the valley, and slowly he brought his glass to his eye. More figures, some riding on strangely jointed steeds and some lumbering along on their own heavy feet, were pouring into the valley; there was no end of them. They roiled up the slope toward the Gate, the slope Harimad-sol had so laboriously pushed them down less than an hour before. He could no longer see the lower half of the rocky bowl at his feet for the creatures that walked upon it. He dropped the glass. â€Å"However foolish that may be.† Richard took the glass from Jack's hand and gazed through it. He saw Thurra's white stallion near the front; but there was no standard-bearer. Harry stumbled up, and up farther; and then her feet found something like a path or a deer track, and she gratefully followed it. She came above the trees again, and looked down. Below her was the valley, full of tiny crawling things; nearer her, but still far away – I hadn't realized I'd come so far, she thought, startled – was a small flat space behind a cleft in the rock, where her people waited. She looked down dispassionately; the thought flickered through her mind that she was too far, and should return at once; but there seemed to be something she should do first. Her numb right hand crept its way up the scabbard of Gonturan till it felt over the hilt to rest on the stone at her peak; Harry found that she was panting for breath. â€Å"Lady Aerin,† she murmured; and the scene before her wavered, and she blinked, and suddenly she could see as an eagle sees: she recognized the white stallion that Thurra rode, with the red ribbons in its mane and the red blood dried on its neck and flank, and saw the red- and green- and black-eyed faces of those who followed him, and the queer beasts many rode instead of horses, that had clawed feet and forked tongues. She saw the north wind pluck at her brother's hair and realized abruptly she felt no wind on her bare mountain top; and with that there was a stab of pain from the base of her neck down her right arm, and her hand grasped the hilt of the sword and drew her. She raised her slowly above her head, point upward, as if to cut the clouds that Thurra had brought, and throw them down on his head in knife-edged fragments. The pain in her neck rose and flooded her brain; â€Å"Corlath, help me,† she said to the air. The small knot of people on the plateau behind the Gate looked up suddenly as a blaze of light fell over them and splattered like water; and they saw Harimad-sol on a peak behind them, where no peak had stood before; and around her head and shoulders was blue-and-white fire. She r aised her right arm, and Gonturan sparkled so fiercely they could not look at her; and Harimad-sol stabbed skyward once and again and shouted words that each felt they heard distinctly but could not repeat or understand; but Ken-tarre and Jack recognized the Old Tongue of the Hills, the Language of the Gods. Blue fire began to run down from the stone on the hilt of the sword and splash to the ground, where it seemed to eddy around Harry's feet, and bits of it flaked off and floated into the air, and the bits spun and glittered like prisms, and tossed tiny rainbows down the sides of the mountains, although the rainbows had more blue in them than most rainbows. In the valley they heard hoarse cries, but the voices did not seem to reach the Blue Sword or the woman who held it, but fell back into the valley like fish who had leaped too high, gasping for their lives. They heard the white stallion scream, and heard an awful voice they knew to be Thurra's, but no one turned to look; everyone stared upward. Even the horses stood with raised heads and pricked ears, facing as their riders faced; and Narknon, who had not followed Harry although she could have, stood stone still but for her lashing tail; Sungold pranced, looking up the rocks he could not climb. The blue light fell into his eyes and mouth and nostrils till he looked like a ghost horse. The hillside began to move. Pebbles, then larger pebbles, then rocks and boulders began to tumble into the valley. The woman's clear voice went on, and the incomprehensible words poured over the Hillfolk and the Outlanders with the brilliant blue light; then the noise of the mountains falling grew louder, and many fell to their knees and bellies because they could not keep their feet. They could no longer see with their eyes, though the light burned into their brains, and they no longer heard with their ears, for the roaring of falling earth blocked them, yet they heard in their minds the blue-lit words going on and on. And then it was over. The horses shook themselves; some had to haul themselves, sweating, to their feet. The human beings turned over where they lay, and looked up at the sky, which was blue and cloudless; and shivered, and cautiously stood up. Jack looked up first; there was no sign of Harry. At first he thought it was because his eyes were still blind from the light, but he could pick out the shape of the mountain peaks around him, and he could work out where Harry had been standing; but where Harry had been was there no longer. He was sure he was looking in the right direction. Puzzled, then, he looked around for confirmation; his eyes crossed Richard's; he was going through the same bewilderment. They turned together to look out over the valley. But there was no valley. There was a smoking rubble of broken stones and uprooted trees; the cliff face beyond the Gate itself had sheared clean away, and the Gate would be a pass through the mountains no more. They stood at the edge, looking down, and then out and across; there was no sign of life anywhere. The only things that moved were clouds of dust. The dust was curiously blue-edged, and twinkled in the sunlight. A little breeze began. It came through a wide breach in the mountain that had not been there before; surprised, it began to investigate the new landscape. The weary anxious people and beasts on the ridge that was once a Gate turned a little to face it. It smelled good, of young green things. â€Å"The north wind is gone,† said Jack. â€Å"Yes,† said Richard. â€Å"This wind blows from the south and east.† They stood for a moment, collecting their thoughts. â€Å"We should look for Harry,† said Richard. â€Å"Shouldn't we?† He sounded very young. â€Å"Yes,† said Jack. â€Å"That was Harry, wasn't it?† Harry's brother said, a little uncertainly. Jack smiled a small smile. â€Å"Yes. Or it was Harry as much as it was anyone. Terim,† he went on in Hill-speech, â€Å"we would like to look for Harimad-sol. She might be too †¦ exhausted to return to us. Will you come?† Terim said, â€Å"Yes,† and Senay joined them, while the rest would wait for word. Sungold followed them to the foot of the rock wall Harry had disappeared beyond, and whinnied anxiously after them, and reared and pawed the rock behind them as they climbed away from him. â€Å"We'll bring her back,† Jack said to him. â€Å"Be patient.† Narknon came with them. The four of them seemed to move very slowly; or perhaps their feet moved at a reasonable pace, but their minds could not keep up. Narknon, instead of ranging around them as she usually did, trotted at their heels and paused when they paused. Jack felt that he was grinding out thoughts that moved as grudgingly as centuries, and when he shook his head, his brain seemed to turn over uneasily, like a bad swimmer in deep water. His eyes hurt in their sockets, and he still saw Harry with her sword raised and the blue fire around her, although the picture was memory now, and his eyes focused on scrub and dirt and rock and blue dust. They all stopped as they came to a slope with trees growing above them. â€Å"This can't be right,† said Richard; â€Å"we saw her on bare rock.† Jack peered up at the sun. â€Å"It is right, though; or at least this is the right direction. If the sun hasn't moved, which I don't guarantee †¦ perhaps these trees grew while the mountains were falling.† Jack began to climb again as if he were sure he knew the way; Terim and Senay followed, for they were less shocked by Harimad-sol's performance than Jack or Richard, and did not expect the landscape near such a piece of sorcery and kelar to conform to the usual physical rules. They had looked at the sun too, and knew they were heading in the right direction. Richard was last. He felt old, and his bones creaked, and Narknon made him uncomfortable. He knew of the Damarian hunting-cats, but he had never before met one. There was a tiny path, as if made by small hoofed animals, up the slope, and Jack followed it hopefully; and after only a few minutes they broke through the trees and into a small glade, with fresh green grass in it, the first good grass they had seen since they left Senay's village. Harry lay crumpled near one edge of the glade, with Gonturan, dull as pewter, the blue stone of her hilt opaque, lying on the grass beside her. Harry lay on her side, curled up, and both her hands touched the sword; the left awkwardly fell over the hilt, the right grasped the blade just below the guard. Jack came into the clearing first, and he was the only one who saw – or thought he saw – a figure in the trees just behind Harry; he thought he saw a glint of red hair. But he blinked, so he could stare again harder, feeling for his saber; and when he looked again, the figure was gone. He was never sure afterward if he had seen anything but an odd fall of leaf shadow, although he knew the Hi ll legends, and knew who had carried Gonturan before his young friend. â€Å"Harry,† said Richard, and ran forward, and dropped to his knees beside her. The others, who had a little more faith in Hill magic – or who understood a bit better that whatever had happened was finished now, for good or ill – followed more slowly. Jack looked around. There was nothing like the stone knoll where Harry had stood anywhere near them; the trees – real trees, not the grey and stunted things they had seen around the Gate, and in the valley that was no more – stood high overhead, rustling softly in the green breeze from the east; and beyond the little glen there was nothing but more trees, more sweet greenness, for however far the eye could reach, no sunlight-glint of a clear space anywhere. Harry was dreaming something, but Dickie was calling her. Aerin was leaning over her, smiling the wry smile Harry knew well by now; it was a smile of affection, but more of understanding. Aerin spoke to her, for the second time; she had a low rough kind voice. â€Å"This is what one mad Outlander on a Hill horse would have done; rather like something I once did. But it's not fair that the heroes get all the adventures and all the glory alone; your band will be sung of for centuries to come, and Jack's great-great-grandchildren, and Richard's and yours, and Senay's, and Terim's will remember the Madamer Gate and how the mountains fell and crushed Thurra's army. I found out that those at home don't like having no part in adventures – I didn't learn very much, but I did learn that; and it's as well if someone can learn by my mistakes †¦ â€Å" â€Å"Corlath,† said Harry miserably; and Aerin answered her gently: â€Å"Corlath is waiting for you.† Harry wanted to say, That's what I'm afraid of. But Dickie was calling her. It couldn't be Dickie, she hadn't seen him since †¦ She opened her eyes. Her memory of the immediate past was not good, but she knew she had called on Aerin, and asked Corlath for help in whatever Gonturan's past, master might send her, and that something had happened; and that Aerin had spoken to her about it †¦ and Corlath †¦ Her head hurt. â€Å"Richard,† she said. The other three sat down with a sigh beside her, and there was a silence that no one seemed to know how to break. Narknon put a paw on Harry's chest and began licking her face; a hunting-cat's tongue is much harsher than a housecat's. Harry thought her skin would crumble and peel off, but she didn't have the strength to push her away. At last Harry said, and her voice sounded low and hollow, â€Å"Not that I feel much like moving just now, but don't we have some fairly urgent business in the valley? Or have three days gone by while I †¦ and †¦ â€Å" Richard said, â€Å"There is no valley.† Jack said, â€Å"The Northerners are now lying under a very large pile of rock, which used to be a mountain range. You appear to have pulled it down around their ears, and, Harimad-sol, I salute you.† He touched his forehead and flicked the fingers out in the particular curl that is the Hillman's gesture of respect to his king. Harry smiled weakly. â€Å"That's blasphemous, you know. I'll have you court-martialed.† â€Å"By Homelanders or Hillfolk?† Jack inquired blandly. â€Å"Can you stand?† â€Å"I am gathering my courage to find out,† replied Harry. She had flopped over onto her back – Narknon was now nibbling lovingly on her hair – and then hauled herself up on one elbow; now Senay and Richard propped her up on both sides, and she reeled to her feet. Her leather vest seemed as stiff as iron. â€Å"I feel like a potato that's recently been mashed,† she said. Narknon leaned against her knee and purred madly. â€Å"Shall we carry you?† Terim said, hovering anxiously, torn between respect and caution. â€Å"Not yet, thank you,† said Harry. â€Å"But you could hand me Gonturan. I don't quite feel like bending over just now.† This was said in Hill-speech, so it is possible that Richard did not understand. But of the other three there was a brief but obvious moment when no one moved, and everyone thought of the blue fire on the mountaintop, and everyone's palms prickled. Then Jack took a step forward and bent and picked up Harimad-sol's blade, flat silver now, glinting faintly in the sunlight, and offered the hilt to her. One narrow gleam of white fire ran up the edge of the blue sword, and outlined Jack's fingers. Jack's and Harry's eyes met, for it was only when it was too late to stop her words that she realized what she was – or might be – asking. â€Å"Thank you,† she said. â€Å"I probably should have bent over myself, to find out if I could.† She resheathed the sword. Jack looked at his glowing white hand, and rubbed his palm along his thigh. There was a tingle in that hand that buzzed up his arm and fluttered for a moment in his brain. It was not an unpleasant sensation. As her fingers closed on Gonturan, Harry realized that her body was functioning; that she would be able to walk. She kept her hand on the hilt of Gonturan and took a step forward. â€Å"We'll stop where we are tonight,† she said. â€Å"Tomorrow we ride back to find Corlath.† She shut her eyes a moment; the world spun, then steadied. â€Å"They're farther west than they expected to be. Six days, if we hurry. If we can hurry.† She frowned, her eyes still closed. â€Å"They are beating the Northerners back; they are winning.† She opened her eyes again. â€Å"They're winning,† she repeated, and the color rose in her cheeks, and her three friends smiled at her. Harry concentrated on walking, and by the time they came to the rockface at the Gate she had gotten pretty good at it; she still kept her eyes on her feet, but she slid and scrambled down by herself, while Jack and Richard, who had gone before her, tried very hard not to reach up and help her. When she got to the bottom, and her people were standing around her, and Tsornin was bumping her shoulder angrily, asking her why she had gone anywhere he couldn't come too, and her Hillfolk were flicking their finger salute at her, Kentarre very deliberately touched her forehead too and flicked the fingers out, and all the archers followed suit. And Jack's Outlanders stared and bowed and pointed saber hilts at her, and she realized how quiet they were. Too quiet. She turned to look at the valley. She turned white, and then Jack and Richard did put out hands to steady her. â€Å"My God,† she said. â€Å"That was a bit of †¦ something, wasn't it?† The dust still swirled in clouds over the desert of rubble they looked at, and it hung thickly enough that they could not see beyond it. There were threads of blue woven through and over it, as if there were a webbing holding it in place. The sun burned brightly over the blue-shot fog, and hurt the eyes. The dust got into eyes and noses and throats as they breathed, and mouths as they talked, and their voices grew hoarse with it. â€Å"Kentarre,† said Harry. â€Å"Will a lot of rock simply falling on him stop someone like Thurra?† Kentarre shrugged. â€Å"My sol, I don't believe it has been tried before.† Harry smiled wanly. â€Å"It will at least have stopped his army,† said Terim; â€Å"few of them have any kelar of their own.† â€Å"They have never needed it,† said Senay, â€Å"for Thurra has always been stronger.† Jack said, â€Å"There's more than rock out there. There's something holding the rock down.† He stared out, the flecks of blue teasing the corners of his eyes. Kentarre and Senay and Terim, who knew the legends of the Northern mage, were silent. â€Å"It is possible that he will rest here,† said Kentarre at last. â€Å"But we can say that today is ours.† â€Å"Today is Harimad-sol's,† said Terim firmly, and Senay's face lit up, and she cried, â€Å"Harimad-sol!† Kentarre drew her dagger and tapped herself on the chest with the hilt and then shook the point over her head. â€Å"Harimad-sol!† she called, and â€Å"Harimad-sol!† the other archers echoed, drawing their daggers in the same gesture; and Senay's people picked up the shout next. Jack's men, shaken out of their half-fearful amazement, began to applaud and stamp, as if they didn't know what else to do; and it was Richard who yelled, â€Å"Angharad!† whereupon the Outlanders shouted â€Å"Angharad!† too, and a few whistled, as though Harry had just sung an aria at the opera. When at last they stopped, everyone was smiling and easy again, as if individually inspired landslides and earthquakes were quite a normal feat of warfare, or at least of leadership. Then everyone heaved a sigh and settled down, and supper fires were lit; and Narkno n appeared, dragging a brown deer larger than herself, and looking terribly pleased with herself. The sunset that evening over the mountains was violet-blue.

Literature Review Essay

Meaning, those who are without a home, that live on the street, abandoned building/make-shift structure/in parks and people who live in shelters. The precarious definition involves those who are at an imminent risk of being homeless. They include: those who are temporarily doubled up with family or friends and those who are in substandard housing. Traditional characteristics of homeless people vs. the â€Å"new homeless† Meanwhile, the definition of homelessness seem to fall under certain subgroups. Causes of h*omeless families These families end up being homeless as a result of sociostructural and psychological factors. The socio cultural factors involve changing labor markets, poverty, the housing system, and the nature of the welfare state while the psychological factors reflect individual agency, including alcohol dependence, substance use, social and behavioral problems. Other examples that seem to fall under both factors include a loss of benefits, eviction and domestic violence and the like. African Americans and other ethnic groups are found disproportionately among homeless families. Frequently, the mothers may end up in these situations that lead to homelessness because of a mental illness, substance abuse addiction and sometimes from an unfortunate circumstance such as losing their job without any form of maternity leave pay while there are in the later stages of pregnancy; Unfortunately, would comes next is a young mother and infant in a family shelter or doubled up with family or friends. Obviously, homelessness places a tremendous amount of stress on a mother with unfortunate and or limited resources. Experiences of families with children in family shelters Parents in shelters that are separated from their children Shockingly, research reveals that little attention is given to the homeless children who are often times taken from their biological parents (by child welfare services) because of some form of abuse and neglect experienced throughout homelessness and are placed in foster care. Often times, these children are already traumatically affected by the sad conditions that cause them to be separated from their family but they are further wounded through the constant changes in placement in regards to foster care. Thus, these changes affect their immediate and future development and mental health. Numerous children in foster care have poor developmental, mental and educational outcomes. Often times they are released from foster care without any counseling or intervention and are left to fend for themselves. Many of them struggle as they transition from foster care to young adulthood and will succumb to poor choices that will prevent them from obtaining an optimal level of health. Current policy initiatives In an effort to discourage panhandling, the National law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, reports on a survey of 50 largest cities of the U. S. noting 86% of these cities have enacted anti-panhandling laws and 73% have enacted laws against sleeping in public places. Over half of the surveyed cities remove homeless people from the public eye. This practice is widespread in cities where there are shortages of emergency shelters and affordable housing. Additionally, the Bringing America Home Bill, aimed at ending homelessness in the U. S. , supported by an extensive campaign and with 57 sponsors, never became law. The NCH also reports that federal agencies such as HUD interpret â€Å"homelessness† very narrowly. In addition to the number of federal and state government agencies aimed at tackling homelessness, there is also a National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) a nonprofit organization that targetspublic and private sectors for a united effort to end homelessness. The NAEH recommends four proactive steps to b taken simultaneouslyto end homelessness: planning for outcomes (by identifying real needs); â€Å"closing the front door† (by shifting the flow of incentives toward prevention); â€Å"opening the back door† (by helping people exit homelessness quickly); and building the infrastructure (by changing homeless assistance to improve the supply of affordable housing and providing adequate income and services for the disadvantaged. ) In a policy environment as complex as the U. S. there are clearly a wide range of public and private initiatives aimed at reducing or alleviating homelessness, including the National Center on Family Homelessness, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, National Health Care for the Homeless Council, HomeAidAmerica, Home Base and Homes for the Homeless. Home Base and Homes for the Homeless is an initiative that attempts to address the many interrelated issues that support a family in maintaining a house (including needs assessment, counseling and access to healthcare and housing search assistance, as well as skills for independent living. Adequacy of the body of research Reforms needed The literature reveals that child welfare services needs to implement more strategies to help homeless families from every vantage point (i. e. vest more interest in public shelters, Child Welfare Services should play a more explicit role in the financing, development and management of transitional and permanent, supportive housing programs for cross-system involved families etc. ) This assistance would likely reduce their homelessness and outcomes of out of home placements and negative consequences of homelessness for children and their families. And finally, a more comprehensive system of housing assistance, that assured poor families of stable, aff ordable, and adequate housing, could both reduce the incidence of homelessness and abuse and neglect.