Professional Project Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Professional Project - Dissertation Example Based on critical analysis and assessment, a group of entrepreneurs can determine the best option for their organization. It was based on such critical analysis that owners the ABC organization chose two of the three options, which are merger and acquisition. This M&A will be between a Dutch and Japanese Organization. In business or finance, merger occurs when one organization is united with another one in such a way that the separate organizations coming together begin to share all profits and loss. To this end, the Business Link Journal (2010) explain that â€Å"A merger is when you integrate your business with another and share control of the combined businesses with the other owner(s).† acquisition on the order hand occurs when one organization buys an entire organization, inheriting all its asserts and deficits and becoming the outright owner of the bought company. The Business Link Journal (2010) explains that â€Å"An acquisition is when you buy another business and en d up controlling it.† Drawing the difference between merger and acquisition, the Economy Watch (2011) argues that â€Å"Mergers occur when the merging companies have their mutual consent as different from acquisitions, which can take the form of a hostile takeover.† What is peculiar about ABC’s move is that the intended merger and acquisition is to take place between organizations of different cultural and national backgrounds. There is thus a situation whereby management has to deal with the fact that there will be employees from different cultures who must be resourced and managed in such a way that their diversity would produce benefits instead of demerits. This dissertation has therefore been set out to identify and examine how these two cultures – Japanese and Dutch will impact on staff morale in the merger. It is also about how organizational cultural change affects or influence staff morale. The professional project is divided into six major compone nts. The first section is the introduction which provides a brief overview of the whole project by outlining the workplace context, giving information about aspects of the researcher’s professional background that is particularly relevant to the professional project and giving details about who are involved in the project. The second session is dubbed literature review and it is committed to reviewing literature relevant to the research problem. There is also the approach, which provides information about what I did, how I did it, who was involved, when it was done and where it was done. Again, there is the section for findings where the researcher makes known, the data that was collected. After the findings, the researcher undertakes a reflective discussion of the findings and closes the professional project with a conclusion. The professional context of the researcher in relation to this project is that the researcher is a worker at the human resource department of his orga nization. Due to this, he has a responsibility ensuring the welfare and improved morale of his own employees. The project on ABC Organization would therefore be a test ground and a learning platform for him to translate to his own organization. Participants of the project are therefore mainly employees of various organizations were there is an intercultural employee system in place. The major role of these

Globalization; International Manufacturing, Outsourcing and Logistics Essay

Globalization; International Manufacturing, Outsourcing and Logistics - Essay Example Domestic manufacturing companies are facing numerous confrontations; they are finding it hard to survive in the existing market and are seeking manufacturing strategies for competing in the global market. (International Manufacturing strategy) International Marketing Strategy Survey (IMSS) set up in 1992 is a cooperative network of more than 600 manufacturing companies and 20 business schools that provides a database for the study of management strategies, direct information on trends on manufacturing market and practices on a global scale. IMSS aims at identifying the manufacturing management strategies and collectively achieve the strategic objective. (WheelWright & Hayes,1975) This also helps the companies to make a comparative analysis using the international benchmarks. IMSS encourages communication and interaction between different companies and management schools which helps in sharing best practices. (What is the IMSS?) Every country and state has different manufacturing regulations, economic factors, historical position, market size, product manufactured and strategies are tailored accordingly. (Per & Christopher, 1998) Before creating a strategy, understanding the practice and performance of the manufacturing company is essential. Managers need to make decisions on the investments, organization form, system to be used, technological factors, location and product factors. In order to understand and study the various issues in the manufacturing industry and help companies in making good decisions a research study was conducted by London Business School which aimed at investigating the industry’s practices, manufacturing strategies around the world which would help in making the best decisions.(Per & Christopher,1998) Manufacturing strategy refers to exploiting some properties and using them as a competitive weapon. There are different factors that are critical for deciding the strategy of a manufacturing company. A

Symptoms Of Sick Building Syndrome Construction Essay

Symptoms Of Sick Building Syndrome Construction Essay SBS stands for Sick Building Syndrome. It covers a mixture of symptoms thought to be generated when a student at school spends time in a particular building. The symptoms range from itchy eyes, skin rashes, and nasal allergy symptoms, to more complicated symptoms such as fatigue, pains, and sensitivity to odours. On the other hand, it may be lead to more serious diseases like cancer and pneumonia. SBS was first identified in the 1970s, and its identification at this time because of the increasing number of electronic equipment and other factors. The term SBS is used when a large number of people occupying a particular building develop symptoms associated with their presence in that building. Later on, the symptoms disappear. In most cases sick building syndrome occurs in office buildings, schools and apartment buildings.   SBS is suspected when the following circumstances are present: Symptoms are temporary and associated with time spent in a particular building or place. Symptoms disappear when the individual is not in the building. Symptoms reappear seasonally (heating, cooling). Symptoms and their severity are different from person to person.   The signs and symptoms of a diagnosable illness are easy to identify and can be directed to specific airborne building contaminants. On the other hand, the cause(s) of symptoms in cases of SBS are often difficult to pin down and in many cases different factors may lead to the situation. When a sick building is identified an investigation should be done. Once the causes are identified, corrective measures must be taken to ensure that any adverse reaction exhibited and cause(s) are isolated to make the area safe for the students and school personnel. The prevalence of sick building syndrome is a problem, but statistics are limited. A World Health Organization (WHO) report from 1984 suggested that up to 30% of new and renovated buildings worldwide may generate excessive complaints related to indoor air quality (1). This high rate may be associated with modern mass produced construction materials that tend to off load gas irritating volatile organic chemicals (VOCs). In a U.S. report on office workers questioned at random, 24% reported air quality problems in their work place, and 20% believed this harmed their ability to do their job effectively (2) (http://www.houseofplants.co.uk). Symptoms of SBS People suffering from SBS present different symptoms, like other conditions such as: Headaches Eye infections and irritations Visual impairment tremors Damage to the central nervous system Running noses and throat irritations Dry coughs Dry, itchy skin and rashes Dizziness and nausea Difficulty in concentrating Fatigue and tiredness Breathing difficulties Pneumonia and chest infections Causes of SBS The mechanism by which a building or anything within the building causes employees to become sick is unknown. Problem areas can be easily identified and curative action taken after an investigation. Causes are listed below: Building design, maintenance Failure of ventilation system Interior design factors Levels of specific pollutants, humidity and temperature Multiple chemicals acting in combination to cause sickness Age of building Type of materials used in building SBS is associated with the presence of certain mechanisms and pollutants. Most of the symptoms appear because of known toxic effects of high levels of certain chemicals. Some symptoms are mainly allergic irritations which could result from various allergens in a building. Other symptoms are suggestive of those really experienced by sufferers of chemical sensitivity and many of the indoor pollutants. Occurs in building with ventilation problems and may occur along with upper respiratory tract infection, Or with direct contact with chemicals, dust and gases. Itchiness, soreness, redness, eye lashes drop and excessive tear production. Headache Tension, prolonged exposure to different irritant substances and long working hours. Pain across the forehead, begins in the back of the head and upper neck as a band-like tightness or pressure and may end with vomiting. Fever Caused by breathing water droplets from humidifiers or from an air filter ventilation system. Or exposure to chemicals that irritate the lungs and cause infection in the lung. Productive cough, aching limbs, headache, tiredness, lethargy and abdominal pain. Skin problems Occurs in exposed areas because of the direct exposure to chemical and different irritant substances like painting materials and products. Rashes, batches, itchy, dry skin and may end with chronic skin inflammation. Stress Physical changes: lack of sleep and new environment. Headaches, digestive disorders, fatigue and lethargy, sleeping disorders, skin disorders and isolation from community. Lung problem Exposure to dust, ventilation problems and chemicals. Cough, breathlessness, may end with lung cancer. Throat Problems Dry mucous membranes, ventilation problems and chemicals. Hoarseness, dry throat pain, recurrent throat infections and chronic Asthma. School Environment Students spend most of their day in the school; its their second house. From that aspect, the school environment should be physically and emotionally safe, well disciplined, and conducive to learning. Safety is an important issue, which may affect the students physically and psychologically from this aspect, and there are important points that should be considered: Structure of the school: School building structures consist of columns, structural walls, beams, floors, and roof structures, which provide their stability. School buildings develop invisible cracks in concrete columns, structural walls, beams and floors. At the beginning, they are not an important issue. With time, the school building moves, creating stresses at joints in materials which ends in small cracks appearing. However, this is the normal process of a structure settling in its foundation. But, with the presence of other factors it makes the issue more serious. The idea is to be able to differentiate. In the event of a major structural problem in a school building, it should be evaluated by a structural engineer, and corrective measures should be made accordingly. Special attention should be made to these aspects: Bending in columns, beams, and roof structure Rotting in wood structural components and floor structure Rusting of metal structural components especially in high humidity weather ROOFING The roof protects the school building from rain, sun, wind, and keeps water from getting into the school building. The waterproofing system should be kept in a proper way. To prevent problems from happening, the roof should be kept in good shape and annually maintained. BUILDING EXTERIOR Using different building materials in school buildings is common nowadays; for example, using fashion blocks in the walls and having exteriors as maintenance free as possible to lower costs. But new school buildings may feature concrete blocks or brick walls even though fashion blocks in some walls are kept. The school buildings exteriors will still need annual maintenance plans to protect the materials. The plan will consider the type and quality of materials used and their current condition. Some school buildings are old, and the exterior may not be quite suitable for a maintenance free plan. The biggest threats to school buildings exteriors are water, sun, wind, and being in areas near the coast. BUILDING INTERIOR The design of the inside of a building is an important issue. Paint maintenance should be paid special attention, because it plays a major roll in preventing the deterioration of the building, and usually cracks are invisible when they start to appear. Also, the paint should be good quality to avoid any irritation reaction. GROUNDS The area around the school is made of concrete, but a pathway may be concrete, brick, stone, asphalt, or even wood. Such materials need good maintenance and must be watched for conditions that may cause major hazards such as slips and falls. Any major hazards should be eliminated through repair, ramping or clearing. Annual checkups and repairs must be done if the condition of the material deteriorates. Classrooms: Healthy classrooms are ones that have adequate ventilation, lighting, an adequate number of students per class, and proper classroom temperature. All previous points which were discussed should be applied properly. Ventilation Proper Ventilation is important to the indoor air quality. Air-conditioning, the type of material used and maintenance also affect indoor air quality in order to optimise performance and prevent students becoming sick. Many factors may affect indoor air quality and contribute to many health problems, the comfort, and the performance of students. Temperature There are many causes of sick building syndrome like uncontrolled temperature (high or low). If there is a wide variation in temperature, it will affect other factors such as the increasing possibility of exposure to fever and throat infections. Therefore, maintaining adequate temperature inside classrooms will allow the students to perform butter. One must make sure that dangerous or offensive fumes are prevented from escaping into the classroom through the heating or cooling system. Humidity Humidity can lead to different problems. It could vary from a simple one to a complicated one. For example, bacteria, fungi, and parasites live in places where humidity is above the normal levels, and they enter the body mainly through the respiratory system, resulting in some kind of respiratory infection. In classrooms, the range of controlled humidity is 40% to 70% in order to increase students effectiveness. The range of relative humidity in warm classrooms should be less than 40%. Therefore, there should be annual checking of controls on a regular basis, and also, checking should cover the cleanliness of equipment for humidifying. Adequate lighting Ensure that there is adequate lighting in the classrooms and whole building to avoid a lot of problems. Surveys by the National Institute of Ophthalmology showed that around 38.8 percent of students at 260 schools in Ho Chi Minh City have refraction problems, short-sightedness, far-sightedness, and astigmatism. The ratio in the northern Hai Phong City was 60 percent, while in Hanoi, Da Nang and the central Ha Tinh Province, it ranged from 25 percent to above 30 percent. Doctors attributed the high incidence of weak eyesight to substandard classrooms in terms of size, area and light, as well excessive time spent working with computers Summary To sum up, there are different factors that could affect the school environment, and some of them were discussed above. Some problems can be avoided by early detections and by finding proper solutions to avoid any health problems that arise. If a problem is detected earlier it can be solved during the design step or maybe later in order to maintain a safe school environment. SBS affects productivity, increases the rate of absenteeism, poor concentration and fatigue. It affects the well-being of the students and all school personnel and their performance. All the measures are directed to avoid and reduce the risk factors that affect student health. Task 2 BREEAM BREEAM is a method used internationally to assess a buildings surrounding area. It can be applied to asses both new and old buildings. There are several types of environmental assessment systems in use such as BREEAM, ESRSA, and CEEQUAL. Because it is used in two significant areas of the globe, BRE Global introduced two new geographical schemes that are use by BREEEAM International assessors which are BREEAM Europe and BREEAM Gulf. In addition to these two schemes, the BREEAM In Use and BREEAM Communities schemes are also available for use on international buildings and developments. Since BREEAM is widely used in Europe and as it used in the gulf, the BREEAM Gulf scheme can be used to assess the environmental impacts of any building located in the Gulf region. This will be explained later on in this paper. BREEAM provides designers, planner and others with key factors: It ensures the best environmental practice is included in a building It finds solutions that help to minimise the environmental impact It ensures the use of high standards and regulations It reduces the costs and improves working and living environments It reduces the time needed to finish the work Steps of BREEAM assessment There are two steps in BREEAM which can be used to evaluate the environmental effect secondary to building development: 1. Design Stage (DS) 2. Post-Construction Stage (PCS) Design Stage This step should be done before construction works start. Related information should be available to enable the BREEAM assessor to demonstrate, in a healthy manner, the buildings performance against the reporting and evidential requirements of the technical guidance. The official assessment of DS will be carried out at the detailed design stages. Post-Construction Stage This step starts after construction work has finished. In this step, an evaluation and the BREMM rating are used before building occupation. The post-construction stage is divided into two approaches: 1. A post-construction review of a design-stage assessment 2. A post-construction assessment A post-construction appraisal aims to detect the BREEAM rating achieved at the design stage in accordance with the reporting and evidential requirements of the technical guidance. Where a formal DS assessment has not been carried out and a BREEAM assessment and rating is required, a full PCS assessment can be conducted. BREEAM Gulf BREEAM Gulf has been developed and established in collaboration with a variety of large organisations based in Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The purpose of the system is to bring all the new and used building types in the area into use. The available BREEAM system can be used to evaluate, demonstrate and improve the building environment. The system has been developed in the Gulf region to resemble UK BREEAM system categories; it provides special assessment points in relation to environmental impacts associated with construction in the Gulf region. The BREEAM Gulf system The BREEAM system for the Gulf assessment point areas is as below: Materials Waste Water Management Health and Wellbeing Land Use and Ecology Energy Transport Pollution During the assessment phase within each point from the above table, numbers of credits must be assessed to appraise the performance achieved by the development. This set of points is modified to fit the Gulf regions conditions and climate. They are applied to each point to enable the weighted scores to be added together to produce a single overall score for the building. Then, the score is translated into a 1-5 star rating and the highest level of environmental performance will score 5 stars. Unlike BREEAM in the UK which generally looks at building uses separately, a BREEAM assessment in the Gulf evaluates the performance of a whole building taking into account the different uses that are present (e.g. offices, retail, residential etc.). This approach reflects the construction market in the  region where mixed use buildings are the norm. The assessment, therefore, produces a single score for each assessed building based on an area weighted calculation. Differences with BREEAM in the UK The purpose of BREEAM Gulf is to evaluate the construction industry in the region to achieve and maintain higher levels of sustainability. It also aims to identify local contexts and issues, and with this consideration, all of the codes and standards which should be maintained are described in the guidance.   Figure3: factors affecting indoor environment www.yoshino-gypsum.com//sickhouse01.htm Appendixes Case study 1 The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has conducted a study about IAQ (Indoor Air Quality). William Blackstone Elementary School was one of three schools selected to pilot EPA Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools (IAQ TfS) Kit and Program in 1999. The school is located in Bostons South End and is one of 120 schools in the Boston Public School System. The school was built in 1975, using the typical design of that time; brick walls, mostly flat roofs, Plexiglas windows, and visible duct work. It has a history of IAQ and health-related problems, specifically high rates of asthma among students. William Blackstone Elementary School was one of three schools selected to pilot EPA Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools (IAQ TfS) Kit and Program in 1999. The school nurse noticed that the asthma rate was higher than the national average of two cases per classroom. Staff were also aware of serious problems with water intrusion during heavy rain, stained and collapsed ceiling tiles, peeling p aint and stains on the walls, rust on support beams, and water damage to equipment and furniture. Problem recognition Problems identified by the checklists and walkthrough included the following: An above-average number of asthma cases and illnesses typically associated with indoor air quality problems (headaches, nausea, etc.). Water damage, such as mold and mildew, missing, stained, and broken ceiling tiles, fungal growth on ceiling tiles, and damaged ceiling and wall plaster. Thermal discomfort, such as widely fluctuating temperatures, too high or too low humidity levels, and cold drafts. Ventilation problems, such as poor air circulation and lack of exhaust fans in some bathrooms. Cleanliness problems, such as dust accumulation around the supply vents and surrounding ceiling tiles, infrequent dusting and vacuuming, and pest problems. So, according to the findings, the IAQ team was formed and they established a meeting to list the causes of the problems and find solutions. Improvements The IAQ team implemented some actions to improve the indoor air quality at Blackstone Elementary School. The EPAs IAQ TfS Kit gave the team the leverage it needed to persuade the school district to improve the environmental problems in the school. Once the Superintendent was informed of the schools IAQ issues and the teams recommendations, Blackstone Elementary was placed on a high-priority list for roof repairs and other renovations. A number of improvements have been done, including roof repairs. There is a plan for installing new energy-efficient lighting and new ceiling tiles. Additionally, carpets will be replaced with tiles in the classrooms. The school nurse started to assess students health and document any new asthma cases over the next year to establish a link between the indoor environment and childrens health. Summary The surrounding environment plays a role in students performance and affects their health directly. This means that attention must be given at some point during design stage or later to avoid unwanted risky problems that may affect students health. Some problems can be detected easily like eye infections, but others like asthma will be treated but its effects are lifelong. Poor ventilation, lighting, humidity and temperature all can produce health problems; therefore, good ventilation, adequate lighting, and proper temperature should be maintained. High performance building features should be incorporated into the design process, and school building systems should be commissioned to ensure that they are operating according to design. Case study 2 Mold in schools is getting a lot of attention at local, state and federal levels, the Houston Chronicle reported in 2002. Wide variations in temperatures and humidity levels in South Texas make it difficult to maintain internal atmospheric conditions to minimise the formation of mold or mildew. Pharr-San Juan-Alamo School Districts Memorial High School, three years after it was established, faced a toxic mold problem that reached crisis stage. There were complaints from teachers, staff and students that some staff and students were becoming ill, and as a result students left the school. As with many schools, the indoor air quality at the school was poor because of high ventilation, the high number of students per classroom, high intermittent ventilation loads and carryover from showers in gyms and locker rooms, and long periods where the building was vacant. There was an increase in heat, humidity, moisture, bad ventilation and filtration. The building had reached a saturation point. Leaks from the roof and windows contributed to the problem, and mold growth. Humidity inside the building was as high as 90 percent. Problem recognition Instability of the weather (uncontrolled hot, humidity, moisture) Bad ventilation and filtration Leaks from roof and window Mold growth Solution Cut off the source of moisture and mold removed Fresh air from outside drawn to the building to regulate ventilation Equipment fixed to supply dry air to the building via temporary desiccant dryers Carpets exchanged for tiles Improvements outcome After three months the desiccant dehumidification system dried the building The school is kept at 45 percent relative humidity and 75 °F temp The mold growth is inhibited. Reduced absenteeism rate among students Conclusion Healthy environments in school settings empower students to learn more and increase their effectiveness. It also helps school personnel to meet their goals in teaching and other work. From the above case study it can be seen that any problem in the school environment affects students health and learning ability. The problem can be easily detected by studying the causes and solving them. Many problems can be avoided by: Choosing a good design of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning Controlling moisture to prevent mold growth and preventing damage to building materials and systems Maintenance of the roof and windows

Beer Pong for Dummies :: Research Papers

Beer Pong for Dummies Throughout the many years, college students have engaged in many activities to either entertain themselves or pass endless time. These activities have ranged from sports, either intramural or varsity, to various clubs and organizations devoted to students personal interests. While these have sparked interest and lasted a long time, none has exceeded the expectations of the wonderful game of beer pong. As I began to think about ways on approaching this topic I became very excited, but realized that all my information could not be displayed all at the same time. So I decided to take things easy and introduce the topic on a level where everyone can relate to it. My search began the night I received this assignment. I went to the search engine we all know and use so well, Yahoo, and began my search from there. When I typed in the words beer pong into the search box, I received almost two hundred thousand related links. I became even more pleased with this result, knowing that there was so much to tell. Eventually I came across a catching site, known as the National Beer Pong League. There is something of this nature that exists? I wondered so I clicked. Since my exploration I began to find out interesting information about the National Beer Pong League. According to a question and answer section with the founder of the site and group, the league has been around for about a good fifteen years, but just recently they have started to get some recognition. By means of recognition I mean, the government has acknowledged their league and their website has been up and running for the past three years, summer of 2001. The league overall was created by a student attending the prestigious Duke University. In an interview with the founder he states that he started playing and gaining an interest in beer pong â€Å"about Jr. or Sr. year of high school†. Can you believe that he was pre-gamming it before he even stepped on a college campus? That goes to show he started to develop his skills to demonstrate to others. As the founder created this site, the founders name is Jason; his intent was to inform people of the game and also to get a larger fan base than it had already. This site has recognized various ways of playing beer pong, and also he has included a total of fifteen colleges who have been recognized for their school way of playing beer pong, now that’s what I call some good school spirit. Beer Pong for Dummies :: Research Papers Beer Pong for Dummies Throughout the many years, college students have engaged in many activities to either entertain themselves or pass endless time. These activities have ranged from sports, either intramural or varsity, to various clubs and organizations devoted to students personal interests. While these have sparked interest and lasted a long time, none has exceeded the expectations of the wonderful game of beer pong. As I began to think about ways on approaching this topic I became very excited, but realized that all my information could not be displayed all at the same time. So I decided to take things easy and introduce the topic on a level where everyone can relate to it. My search began the night I received this assignment. I went to the search engine we all know and use so well, Yahoo, and began my search from there. When I typed in the words beer pong into the search box, I received almost two hundred thousand related links. I became even more pleased with this result, knowing that there was so much to tell. Eventually I came across a catching site, known as the National Beer Pong League. There is something of this nature that exists? I wondered so I clicked. Since my exploration I began to find out interesting information about the National Beer Pong League. According to a question and answer section with the founder of the site and group, the league has been around for about a good fifteen years, but just recently they have started to get some recognition. By means of recognition I mean, the government has acknowledged their league and their website has been up and running for the past three years, summer of 2001. The league overall was created by a student attending the prestigious Duke University. In an interview with the founder he states that he started playing and gaining an interest in beer pong â€Å"about Jr. or Sr. year of high school†. Can you believe that he was pre-gamming it before he even stepped on a college campus? That goes to show he started to develop his skills to demonstrate to others. As the founder created this site, the founders name is Jason; his intent was to inform people of the game and also to get a larger fan base than it had already. This site has recognized various ways of playing beer pong, and also he has included a total of fifteen colleges who have been recognized for their school way of playing beer pong, now that’s what I call some good school spirit.

The Lost Symbol Chapter 52-57

CHAPTER 52 Mal'akh could feel the tattooed muscles on his back rippling as he sprinted back around the building toward the open bay door of Pod 5. I must gain access to her lab. Katherine's escape had been unanticipated . . . and problematic. Not only did she know where Mal'akh lived, she now knew his true identity . . . and that he was the one who had invaded their home a decade earlier. Mal'akh had not forgotten that night either. He had come within inches of possessing the pyramid, but destiny had obstructed him. I was not yet ready. But he was ready now. More powerful. More influential. Having endured unthinkable hardship in preparation for his return, Mal'akh was poised tonight to fulfill his destiny at last. He felt certain that before the night was over, he would indeed be staring into the dying eyes of Katherine Solomon. As Mal'akh reached the bay door, he reassured himself that Katherine had not truly escaped; she had only prolonged the inevitable. He slid through the opening and strode confidently across the darkness until his feet hit the carpet. Then he took a right turn and headed for the Cube. The banging on the door of Pod 5 had stopped, and Mal'akh suspected the guard was now trying to remove the dime Mal'akh had jammed into the key panel to render it useless. When Mal'akh reached the door that led into the Cube, he located the outer keypad and inserted Trish's key card. The panel lit up. He entered Trish's PIN and went inside. The lights were all ablaze, and as he moved into the sterile space, he squinted in amazement at the dazzling array of equipment. Mal'akh was no stranger to the power of technology; he performed his own breed of science in the basement of his home, and last night some of that science had borne fruit. The Truth. Peter Solomon's unique confinement–trapped alone in the in-between–had laid bare all of the man's secrets. I can see his soul. Mal'akh had learned certain secrets he anticipated, and others he had not, including the news about Katherine's lab and her shocking discoveries. Science is getting close, Mal'akh had realized. And I will not allow it to light the way for the unworthy. Katherine's work here had begun using modern science to answer ancient philosophical questions. Does anyone hear our prayers? Is there life after death? Do humans have souls? Incredibly, Katherine had answered all of these questions, and more. Scientifically. Conclusively. The methods she used were irrefutable. Even the most skeptical of people would be persuaded by the results of her experiments. If this information were published and made known, a fundamental shift would begin in the consciousness of man. They will start to find their way. Mal'akh's last task tonight, before his transformation, was to ensure that this did not happen. As he moved through the lab, Mal'akh located the data room that Peter had told him about. He peered through the heavy glass walls at the two holographic data-storage units. Exactly as he said they would be. Mal'akh found it hard to imagine that the contents of these little boxes could change the course of human development, and yet Truth had always been the most potent of all the catalysts. Eyeing the holographic storage units, Mal'akh produced Trish's key card and inserted it in the door's security panel. To his surprise, the panel did not light up. Apparently, access to this room was not a trust extended to Trish Dunne. He now reached for the key card he had found in Katherine's lab-coat pocket. When he inserted this one, the panel lit up. Mal'akh had a problem. I never got Katherine's PIN. He tried Trish's PIN, but it didn't work. Stroking his chin, he stepped back and examined the three-inch-thick Plexiglas door. Even with an ax, he knew he would be unable to break through and obtain the drives he needed to destroy. Mal'akh had planned for this contingency, however. Inside the power-supply room, exactly as Peter had described, Mal'akh located the rack holding several metal cylinders resembling large scuba tanks. The cylinders bore the letters LH, the number 2, and the universal symbol for combustible. One of the canisters was connected to the lab's hydrogen fuel cell. Mal'akh left one canister connected and carefully heaved one of the reserve cylinders down onto a dolly beside the rack. Then he rolled the cylinder out of the power-supply room, across the lab, to the Plexiglas door of the data-storage room. Although this location would certainly be plenty close enough, he had noticed one weakness in the heavy Plexiglas door–the small space between the bottom and the jamb. At the threshold, he carefully laid the canister on its side and slid the flexible rubber tube beneath the door. It took him a moment to remove the safety seals and access the cylinder's valve, but once he did, ever so gently, he uncocked the valve. Through the Plexiglas, he could see the clear, bubbling liquid begin draining out of the tube onto the floor inside the storage room. Mal'akh watched the puddle expand, oozing across the floor, steaming and bubbling as it grew. Hydrogen remained in liquid form only when it was cold, and as it warmed up, it would start to boil off. The resulting gas, conveniently, was even more flammable than the liquid. Remember the Hindenburg. Mal'akh hurried now into the lab and retrieved the Pyrex jug of Bunsen-burner fuel–a viscous, highly flammable, yet noncombustible oil. He carried it to the Plexiglas door, pleased to see the liquid hydrogen canister was still draining, the puddle of boiling liquid inside the data-storage room now covering the entire floor, encircling the pedestals that supported the holographic storage units. A whitish mist now rose from the boiling puddle as the liquid hydrogen began turning to gas . . . filling the small space. Mal'akh raised the jug of Bunsen-burner fuel and squirted a healthy amount on the hydrogen canister, the tubing, and into the small opening beneath the door. Then, very carefully, he began backing out of the lab, leaving an unbroken stream of oil on the floor as he went. The dispatch operator handling 911 calls for Washington, D.C., had been unusually busy tonight. Football, beer, and a full moon, she thought as yet another emergency call appeared on her screen, this one from a gas-station pay phone on the Suitland Parkway in Anacostia. A car accident probably. â€Å"Nine-one-one,† she answered. â€Å"What is your emergency?† â€Å"I was just attacked at the Smithsonian Museum Support Center,† a panicked woman's voice said. â€Å"Please send the police! Forty-two-ten Silver Hill Road!† â€Å"Okay, slow down,† the operator said. â€Å"You need to–â€Å" â€Å"I need you to send officers also to a mansion in Kalorama Heights where I think my brother may be held captive!† The operator sighed. Full moon. CHAPTER 53 As I tried to tell you,† Bellamy was saying to Langdon, â€Å"there is more to this pyramid than meets the eye.† Apparently so. Langdon had to admit that the stone pyramid sitting in his unzipped daybag looked much more mysterious to him now. His decryption of the Masonic cipher had rendered a seemingly meaningless grid of letters. Chaos. For a long while, Langdon examined the grid, searching for any hint of meaning within the letters–hidden words, anagrams, clues of any sort–but he found nothing. â€Å"The Masonic Pyramid,† Bellamy explained, â€Å"is said to guard its secrets behind many veils. Each time you pull back a curtain, you face another. You have unveiled these letters, and yet they tell you nothing until you peel back another layer. Of course, the way to do that is known only to the one who holds the capstone. The capstone, I suspect, has an inscription as well, which tells you how to decipher the pyramid.† Langdon glanced at the cube-shaped package on the desk. From what Bellamy had said, Langdon now understood that the capstone and pyramid were a â€Å"segmented cipher†Ã¢â‚¬â€œa code broken into pieces. Modern cryptologists used segmented ciphers all the time, although the security scheme had been invented in ancient Greece. The Greeks, when they wanted to store secret information, inscribed it on a clay tablet and then shattered the tablet into pieces, storing each piece in a separate location. Only when all the pieces were gathered together could the secrets be read. This kind of inscribed clay tablet–called a symbolon–was in fact the origin of the modern word symbol. â€Å"Robert,† Bellamy said, â€Å"this pyramid and capstone have been kept apart for generations, ensuring the secret's safety.† His tone turned rueful. â€Å"Tonight, however, the pieces have come dangerously close. I'm sure I don't have to say this . . . but it is our duty to ensure this pyramid is not assembled.† Langdon found Bellamy's sense of drama to be somewhat overwrought. Is he describing the capstone and pyramid . . . or a detonator and nuclear bomb? He still couldn't quite accept Bellamy's claims, but it hardly seemed to matter. â€Å"Even if this is the Masonic Pyramid, and even if this inscription does somehow reveal the location of ancient knowledge, how could that knowledge possibly impart the kind of power it is said to impart?† â€Å"Peter always told me you were a hard man to convince–an academic who prefers proof to speculation.† â€Å"You're saying you do believe that?† Langdon demanded, feeling impatient now. â€Å"Respectfully . . . you are a modern, educated man. How could you believe such a thing?† Bellamy gave a patient smile. â€Å"The craft of Freemasonry has given me a deep respect for that which transcends human understanding. I've learned never to close my mind to an idea simply because it seems miraculous.† CHAPTER 54 Frantically, the SMSC perimeter patrolman dashed down the gravel pathway that ran along the outside of the building. He'd just received a call from an officer inside saying that the keypad to Pod 5 had been sabotaged, and that a security light indicated that Pod 5's specimen bay door was now open. What the hell is going on?! As he arrived at the specimen bay, sure enough he found the door open a couple of feet. Bizarre, he thought. This can only be unlocked from the inside. He took the flashlight off his belt and shone it into the inky blackness of the pod. Nothing. Having no desire to step into the unknown, he moved only as far as the threshold and then stuck the flashlight through the opening, swinging it to the left, and then to the– Powerful hands seized his wrist and yanked him into the blackness. The guard felt himself being spun around by an invisible force. He smelled ethanol. The flashlight flew out of his hand, and before he could even process what was happening, a rock-hard fist collided with his sternum. The guard crumpled to the cement floor . . . groaning in pain as a large black form stepped away from him. The guard lay on his side, gasping and wheezing for breath. His flashlight lay nearby, its beam spilling across the floor and illuminating what appeared to be a metal can of some sort. The can's label said it was fuel oil for a Bunsen burner. A cigarette lighter sparked, and the orange flame illuminated a vision that hardly seemed human. Jesus Christ! The guard barely had time to process what he was seeing before the bare-chested creature knelt down and touched the flame to the floor. Instantly, a strip of fire materialized, leaping away from them, racing into the void. Bewildered, the guard looked back, but the creature was already slipping out the open bay door into the night. The guard managed to sit up, wincing in pain as his eyes followed the thin ribbon of fire. What the hell?! The flame looked too small to be truly dangerous, and yet now he saw something utterly terrifying. The fire was no longer illuminating only the darkened void. It had traveled all the way to the back wall, where it was now illuminating a massive cinder-block structure. The guard had never been permitted inside Pod 5, but he knew very well what this structure must be. The Cube. Katherine Solomon's lab. The flame raced in a straight line directly to the lab's outer door. The guard clambered to his feet, knowing full well that the ribbon of oil probably continued beneath the lab door . . . and would soon start a fire inside. But as he turned to run for help, he felt an unexpected puff of air sucking past him. For a brief instant, all of Pod 5 was bathed in light. The guard never saw the hydrogen fireball erupting skyward, ripping the roof off Pod 5 and billowing hundreds of feet into the air. Nor did he see the sky raining fragments of titanium mesh, electronic equipment, and droplets of melted silicon from the lab's holographic storage units. Katherine Solomon was driving north when she saw the sudden flash of light in her rearview mirror. A deep rumble thundered through the night air, startling her. Fireworks? she wondered. Do the Redskins have a halftime show? She refocused on the road, her thoughts still on the 911 call she'd placed from the deserted gas station's pay phone. Katherine had successfully convinced the 911 dispatcher to send the police to the SMSC to investigate a tattooed intruder and, Katherine prayed, to find her assistant, Trish. In addition, she urged the dispatcher to check Dr. Abaddon's address in Kalorama Heights, where she thought Peter was being held hostage. Unfortunately, Katherine had been unable to obtain Robert Langdon's unlisted cell-phone number. So now, seeing no other option, she was speeding toward the Library of Congress, where Langdon had told her he was headed. The terrifying revelation of Dr. Abaddon's true identity had changed everything. Katherine had no idea what to believe anymore. All she knew for certain was that the same man who had killed her mother and nephew all those years ago had now captured her brother and had come to kill her. Who is this madman? What does he want? The only answer she could come up with made no sense. A pyramid? Equally confusing was why this man had come to her lab tonight. If he wanted to hurt her, why hadn't he done so in the privacy of his own home earlier today? Why go to the trouble of sending a text message and risk breaking into her lab? Unexpectedly, the fireworks in her rearview mirror grew brighter, the initial flash followed by an unexpected sight–a blazing orange fireball that Katherine could see rising above the tree line. What in the world?! The fireball was accompanied by dark black smoke . . . and it was nowhere near the Redskins' FedEx Field. Bewildered, she tried to determine what industry might be located on the other side of those trees . . . just southeast of the parkway. Then, like an oncoming truck, it hit her. CHAPTER 55 Warren Bellamy stabbed urgently at the buttons on his cell phone, trying again to make contact with someone who could help them, whoever that might be. Langdon watched Bellamy, but his mind was with Peter, trying to figure out how best to find him. Decipher the engraving, Peter's captor had commanded, and it will tell you the hiding place of mankind's greatest treasure . . . We will go together . . . and make our trade. Bellamy hung up, frowning. Still no answer. â€Å"Here's what I don't understand,† Langdon said. â€Å"Even if I could somehow accept that this hidden wisdom exists . . . and that this pyramid somehow points to its underground location . . . what am I looking for? A vault? A bunker?† Bellamy sat quietly for a long moment. Then he gave a reluctant sigh and spoke guardedly. â€Å"Robert, according to what I've heard through the years, the pyramid leads to the entrance of a spiral staircase.† â€Å"A staircase?† â€Å"That's right. A staircase that leads down into the earth . . . many hundreds of feet.† Langdon could not believe what he was hearing. He leaned closer. â€Å"I've heard it said that the ancient wisdom is buried at the bottom.† Robert Langdon stood up and began pacing. A spiral staircase descending hundreds of feet into the earth . . . in Washington, D.C. â€Å"And nobody has ever seen this staircase?† â€Å"Allegedly the entrance has been covered with an enormous stone.† Langdon sighed. The idea of a tomb covered with an enormous stone was right out of the biblical accounts of Jesus' tomb. This archetypal hybrid was the grandfather of them all. â€Å"Warren, do you believe this secret mystical staircase into the earth exists?† â€Å"I've never seen it personally, but a few of the older Masons swear it exists. I was trying to call one of them just now.† Langdon continued pacing, uncertain what to say next. â€Å"Robert, you leave me a difficult task with respect to this pyramid.† Warren Bellamy's gaze hardened in the soft glow of the reading lamp. â€Å"I know of no way to force a man to believe what he does not want to believe. And yet I hope you understand your duty to Peter Solomon.† Yes, I have a duty to help him, Langdon thought. â€Å"I don't need you to believe in the power this pyramid can unveil. Nor do I need you to believe in the staircase it supposedly leads to. But I do need you to believe that you are morally obliged to protect this secret . . . whatever it may be.† Bellamy motioned to the little cube-shaped package. â€Å"Peter entrusted the capstone to you because he had faith you would obey his wishes and keep it secret. And now you must do exactly that, even if it means sacrificing Peter's life.† Langdon stopped short and wheeled around. â€Å"What?!† Bellamy remained seated, his expression pained but resolute. â€Å"It's what he would want. You need to forget Peter. He's gone. Peter did his job, doing the best he could to protect the pyramid. Now it is our job to make sure his efforts were not in vain.† â€Å"I can't believe you're saying this!† Langdon exclaimed, temper flaring. â€Å"Even if this pyramid is everything you say it is, Peter is your Masonic brother. You're sworn to protect him above all else, even your country!† â€Å"No, Robert. A Mason must protect a fellow Mason above all things . . . except one–the great secret our brotherhood protects for all mankind. Whether or not I believe this lost wisdom has the potential that history suggests, I have taken a vow to keep it out of the hands of the unworthy. And I would not give it over to anyone . . . even in exchange for Peter Solomon's life.† â€Å"I know plenty of Masons,† Langdon said angrily, â€Å"including the most advanced, and I'm damned sure these men are not sworn to sacrifice their lives for the sake of a stone pyramid. And I'm also damned sure none of them believes in a secret staircase that descends to a treasure buried deep in the earth.† â€Å"There are circles within circles, Robert. Not everyone knows everything.† Langdon exhaled, trying to control his emotions. He, like everyone, had heard the rumors of elite circles within the Masons. Whether or not it was true seemed irrelevant in the face of this situation. â€Å"Warren, if this pyramid and capstone truly reveal the ultimate Masonic secret, then why would Peter involve me? I'm not even a brother . . . much less part of any inner circle.† â€Å"I know, and I suspect that is precisely why Peter chose you to guard it. This pyramid has been targeted in the past, even by those who infiltrated our brotherhood with unworthy motives. Peter's choice to store it outside the brotherhood was a clever one.† â€Å"Were you aware I had the capstone?† Langdon asked. â€Å"No. And if Peter told anyone at all, it would have been only one man.† Bellamy pulled out his cell phone and hit redial. â€Å"And so far, I've been unable to reach him.† He got a voice-mail greeting and hung up. â€Å"Well, Robert, it looks like you and I are on our own for the moment. And we have a decision to make.† Langdon looked at his Mickey Mouse watch. 9:42 P.M. â€Å"You do realize that Peter's captor is waiting for me to decipher this pyramid tonight and tell him what it says.† Bellamy frowned. â€Å"Great men throughout history have made deep personal sacrifices to protect the Ancient Mysteries. You and I must do the same.† He stood up now. â€Å"We should keep moving. Sooner or later Sato will figure out where we are.† â€Å"What about Katherine?!† Langdon demanded, not wanting to leave. â€Å"I can't reach her, and she never called.† â€Å"Obviously, something happened.† â€Å"But we can't just abandon her!† â€Å"Forget Katherine!† Bellamy said, his voice commanding now. â€Å"Forget Peter! Forget everyone! Don't you understand, Robert, that you've been entrusted with a duty that is bigger than all of us–you, Peter, Katherine, myself?† He locked eyes with Langdon. â€Å"We need to find a safe place to hide this pyramid and capstone far from–â€Å" A loud metallic crash echoed in the direction of the great hall. Bellamy wheeled, eyes filling with fear. â€Å"That was fast.† Langdon turned toward the door. The sound apparently had come from the metal bucket that Bellamy had placed on the ladder blocking the tunnel doors. They're coming for us. Then, quite unexpectedly, the crash echoed again. And again. And again. The homeless man on the bench in front of the Library of Congress rubbed his eyes and watched the strange scene unfolding before him. A white Volvo had just jumped the curb, lurched across the deserted pedestrian walkway, and screeched to a halt at the foot of the library's main entrance. An attractive, dark-haired woman had leaped out, anxiously surveyed the area, and, spotting the homeless man, had shouted, â€Å"Do you have a phone?† Lady, I don't have a left shoe. Apparently realizing as much, the woman dashed up the staircase toward the library's main doors. Arriving at the top of the stairs, she grabbed the handle and tried desperately to open each of the three giant doors. The library's closed, lady. But the woman didn't seem to care. She seized one of the heavy ring-shaped handles, heaved it backward, and let it fall with a loud crash against the door. Then she did it again. And again. And again. Wow, the homeless man thought, she must really need a book. CHAPTER 56 When Katherine Solomon finally saw the massive bronze doors of the library swing open before her, she felt as if an emotional floodgate had burst. All the fear and confusion she had bottled up tonight came pouring through. The figure in the library doorway was Warren Bellamy, a friend and confidant of her brother's. But it was the man behind Bellamy in the shadows whom Katherine felt happiest to see. The feeling was apparently mutual. Robert Langdon's eyes filled with relief as she rushed through the doorway . . . directly into his arms. As Katherine lost herself in the comforting embrace of an old friend, Bellamy closed the front door. She heard the heavy lock click into place, and at last she felt safe. Tears came unexpectedly, but she fought them back. Langdon held her. â€Å"It's okay,† he whispered. â€Å"You're okay.† Because you saved me, Katherine wanted to tell him. He destroyed my lab . . . all my work. Years of research . . . up in smoke. She wanted to tell him everything, but she could barely breathe. â€Å"We'll find Peter.† Langdon's deep voice resonated against her chest, comforting her somehow. â€Å"I promise.† I know who did this! Katherine wanted to yell. The same man who killed my mother and nephew! Before she could explain herself, an unexpected sound broke the silence of the library. The loud crash echoed up from beneath them in a vestibule stairwell–as if a large metal object had fallen on a tile floor. Katherine felt Langdon's muscles stiffen instantly. Bellamy stepped forward, his expression dire. â€Å"We're leaving. Now.† Bewildered, Katherine followed as the Architect and Langdon hurried across the great hall toward the library's famed reading room, which was ablaze with light. Bellamy quickly locked the two sets of doors behind them, first the outer, then the inner. Katherine followed in a daze as Bellamy hustled them both toward the center of the room. The threesome arrived at a reading desk where a leather bag sat beneath a light. Beside the bag, there was a tiny cube-shaped package, which Bellamy scooped up and placed inside the bag, alongside a– Katherine stopped short. A pyramid? Although she had never seen this engraved stone pyramid, she felt her entire body recoil in recognition. Somehow her gut knew the truth. Katherine Solomon had just come face-to-face with the object that had so deeply damaged her life. The pyramid. Bellamy zipped up the bag and handed it to Langdon. â€Å"Don't let this out of your sight.† A sudden explosion rocked the room's outer doors. The tinkling of shattered glass followed. â€Å"This way!† Bellamy spun, looking scared now as he rushed them over to the central circulation desk–eight counters around a massive octagonal cabinet. He guided them in behind the counters and then pointed to an opening in the cabinet. â€Å"Get in there!† â€Å"In there?† Langdon demanded. â€Å"They'll find us for sure!† â€Å"Trust me,† Bellamy said. â€Å"It's not what you think.† CHAPTER 57 Mal'akh gunned his limousine north toward Kalorama Heights. The explosion in Katherine's lab had been bigger than he had anticipated, and he had been lucky to escape unscathed. Conveniently, the ensuing chaos had enabled him to slip out without opposition, powering his limousine past a distracted gate guard who was busy yelling into a telephone. I've got to get off the road, he thought. If Katherine hadn't yet phoned the police, the explosion would certainly draw their attention. And a shirtless man driving a limousine would be hard to miss. After years of preparation, Mal'akh could scarcely believe the night was now upon him. The journey to this moment had been a long, difficult one. What began years ago in misery . . . will end tonight in glory. On the night it all began, he had not had the name Mal'akh. In fact, on the night it all began, he had not had any name at all. Inmate 37. Like most of the prisoners at the brutal Soganlik Prison outside of Istanbul, Inmate 37 was here because of drugs. He had been lying on his bunk in a cement cell, hungry and cold in the darkness, wondering how long he would be incarcerated. His new cellmate, whom he'd met only twenty-four hours ago, was sleeping in the bunk above him. The prison administrator, an obese alcoholic who hated his job and took it out on the inmates, had just killed all the lights for the night. It was almost ten o'clock when Inmate 37 heard the conversation filtering in through the ventilation shaft. The first voice was unmistakably clear–the piercing, belligerent accent of the prison administrator, who clearly did not appreciate being woken up by a late-night visitor. â€Å"Yes, yes, you've come a long way,† he was saying, â€Å"but there are no visitors for the first month. State regulations. No exceptions.† The voice that replied was soft and refined, filled with pain. â€Å"Is my son safe?† â€Å"He is a drug addict.† â€Å"Is he being treated well?† â€Å"Well enough,† the administrator said. â€Å"This is not a hotel.† There was a pained pause. â€Å"You do realize the U.S. State Department will request extradition.† â€Å"Yes, yes, they always do. It will be granted, although the paperwork might take us a couple of weeks . . . or even a month . . . depending.† â€Å"Depending on what?† â€Å"Well,† the administrator said, â€Å"we are understaffed.† He paused. â€Å"Of course, sometimes concerned parties like yourself make donations to the prison staff to help us push things through more quickly.† The visitor did not reply. â€Å"Mr. Solomon,† the administrator continued, lowering his voice, â€Å"for a man like yourself, for whom money is no object, there are always options. I know people in government. If you and I work together, we may be able to get your son out of here . . . tomorrow, with all the charges dropped. He would not even have to face prosecution at home.† The response was immediate. â€Å"Forgetting the legal ramifications of your suggestion, I refuse to teach my son that money solves all problems or that there is no accountability in life, especially in a serious matter like this.† â€Å"You'd like to leave him here?† â€Å"I'd like to speak to him. Right now.† â€Å"As I said, we have rules. Your son is unavailable to you . . . unless you would like to negotiate his immediate release.† A cold silence hung for several moments. â€Å"The State Department will be contacting you. Keep Zachary safe. I expect him on a plane home within the week. Good night.† The door slammed. Inmate 37 could not believe his ears. What kind of father leaves his son in this hellhole in order to teach him a lesson? Peter Solomon had even rejected an offer to clear Zachary's record. It was later that night, lying awake in his bunk, that Inmate 37 had realized how he would free himself. If money was the only thing separating a prisoner from freedom, then Inmate 37 was as good as free. Peter Solomon might not be willing to part with money, but as anyone who read the tabloids knew, his son, Zachary, had plenty of money, too. The next day, Inmate 37 spoke privately to the administrator and suggested a plan–a bold, ingenious scheme that would give them both exactly what they wanted. â€Å"Zachary Solomon would have to die for this to work,† explained Inmate 37. â€Å"But we could both disappear immediately. You could retire to the Greek Islands. You would never see this place again.† After some discussion, the two men shook hands. Soon Zachary Solomon will be dead, Inmate 37 thought, smiling to think how easy it would be. It was two days later that the State Department contacted the Solomon family with the horrific news. The prison snapshots showed their son's brutally bludgeoned body, lying curled and lifeless on the floor of his prison cell. His head had been bashed in by a steel bar, and the rest of him was battered and twisted beyond what was humanly imaginable. He appeared to have been tortured and finally killed. The prime suspect was the prison administrator himself, who had disappeared, probably with all of the murdered boy's money. Zachary had signed papers moving his vast fortune into a private numbered account, which had been emptied immediately following his death. There was no telling where the money was now. Peter Solomon flew to Turkey on a private jet and returned with their son's casket, which they buried in the Solomon family cemetery. The prison administrator was never found. Nor would he be, Inmate 37 knew. The Turk's rotund body was now resting at the bottom of the Sea of Marmara, feeding the blue manna crabs that migrated in through the Bosporus Strait. The vast fortune belonging to Zachary Solomon had all been moved to an untraceable numbered account. Inmate 37 was a free man again–a free man with a massive fortune. The Greek Islands were like heaven. The light. The water. The women. There was nothing money couldn't buy–new identities, new passports, new hope. He chose a Greek name–Andros Dareios–Andros meaning â€Å"warrior,† and Dareios meaning â€Å"wealthy.† The dark nights in prison had frightened him, and Andros vowed never to go back. He shaved off his shaggy hair and shunned the drug world entirely. He began life anew–exploring never- before-imagined sensual pleasures. The serenity of sailing alone on the ink-blue Aegean Sea became his new heroin trance; the sensuality of sucking moist arni souvlakia right off the skewer became his new Ecstasy; and the rush of cliff diving into the foam-filled ravines of Mykonos became his new cocaine. I am reborn. Andros bought a sprawling villa on the island of Syros and settled in among the bella gente in the exclusive town of Possidonia. This new world was a community not only of wealth, but of culture and physical perfection. His neighbors took great pride in their bodies and minds, and it was contagious. The newcomer suddenly found himself jogging on the beach, tanning his pale body, and reading books. Andros read Homer's Odyssey, captivated by the images of powerful bronze men doing battle on these islands. The next day, he began lifting weights, and was amazed to see how quickly his chest and arms grew larger. Gradually, he began to feel women's eyes on him, and the admiration was intoxicating. He longed to grow stronger still. And he did. With the help of aggressive cycles of steroids intermixed with black-market growth hormones and endless hours of weight lifting, Andros transformed himself into something he had never imagined he could be–a perfect male specimen. He grew in bot h height and musculature, developing flawless pectorals and massive, sinewy legs, which he kept perfectly tanned. Everyone was looking now. As Andros had been warned, the heavy steroids and hormones changed not only his body, but also his voice box, giving him an eerie, breathy whisper, which made him feel more mysterious. The soft, enigmatic voice, combined with his new body, his wealth, and his refusal to speak about his mysterious past, served as catnip for the women who met him. They gave themselves willingly, and he satisfied them all–from fashion models visiting his island on photo shoots, to nubile American college girls on vacation, to the lonely wives of his neighbors, to the occasional young man. They could not get enough. I am a masterpiece. As the years passed, however, Andros's sexual adventures began to lose their thrill. As did everything. The island's sumptuous cuisine lost its taste, books no longer held his interest, and even the dazzling sunsets from his villa looked dull. How could this be? He was only in his midtwenties, and yet he felt old. What more is there to life? He had sculpted his body into a masterpiece; he had educated himself and nourished his mind with culture; he had made his home in paradise; and he had the love of anyone he desired. And yet, incredibly, he felt as empty as he had in that Turkish prison. What is it I am missing? The answer had come to him several months later. Andros was sitting alone in his villa, absently surfing channels in the middle of the night, when he stumbled across a program about the secrets of Freemasonry. The show was poorly done, posing more questions than answers, and yet he found himself intrigued by the plethora of conspiracy theories surrounding the brotherhood. The narrator described legend after legend. Freemasons and the New World Order . . . The Great Masonic Seal of the United States . . . The P2 Masonic Lodge . . . The Lost Secret of Freemasonry . . . The Masonic Pyramid . . . Andros sat up, startled. Pyramid. The narrator began recounting the story of a mysterious stone pyramid whose encrypted engraving promised to lead to lost wisdom and unfathomable power. The story, though seemingly implausible, sparked in him a distant memory . . . a faint recollection from a much darker time. Andros remembered what Zachary Solomon had heard from his father about a mysterious pyramid. Could it be? Andros strained to recall the details. When the show ended, he stepped out onto the balcony, letting the cool air clear his mind. He remembered more now, and as it all came back, he began to sense there might be some truth to this legend after all. And if so, then Zachary Solomon–although long dead–still had something to offer. What do I have to lose? Three weeks later, his timing carefully planned, Andros stood in the frigid cold outside the conservatory of the Solomons' Potomac estate. Through the glass, he could see Peter Solomon chatting and laughing with his sister, Katherine. It looks like they've had no trouble forgetting Zachary, he thought. Before he pulled the ski mask over his face, Andros took a hit of cocaine, his first in ages. He felt the familiar rush of fearlessness. He pulled out a handgun, used an old key to unlock the door, and stepped inside. â€Å"Hello, Solomons.† Unfortunately, the night had not gone as Andros had planned. Rather than obtaining the pyramid for which he had come, he found himself riddled with bird shot and fleeing across the snow- covered lawn toward the dense woods. To his surprise, behind him, Peter Solomon was giving chase, pistol glinting in his hand. Andros dashed into the woods, running down a trail along the edge of a deep ravine. Far below, the sounds of a waterfall echoed up through the crisp winter air. He passed a stand of oak trees and rounded a corner to his left. Seconds later, he was skidding to a stop on the icy path, narrowly escaping death. My God! Only feet in front of him, the path ended, plunging straight down into an icy river far below. The large boulder at the side of the path had been carved by the unskilled hand of a child: On the far side of the ravine, the path continued on. So where's the bridge?! The cocaine was no longer working. I'm trapped! Panicking now, Andros turned to flee back up the path, but he found himself facing Peter Solomon, who stood breathless before him, pistol in hand. Andros looked at the gun and took a step backward. The drop behind him was at least fifty feet to an ice-covered river. The mist from the waterfall upstream billowed around them, chilling him to the bone. â€Å"Zach's bridge rotted out long ago,† Solomon said, panting. â€Å"He was the only one who ever came down this far.† Solomon held the gun remarkably steady. â€Å"Why did you kill my son?† â€Å"He was nothing,† Andros replied. â€Å"A drug addict. I did him a favor.† Solomon moved closer, gun aimed directly at Andros's chest. â€Å"Perhaps I should do you the same favor.† His tone was surprisingly fierce. â€Å"You bludgeoned my son to death. How does a man do such a thing?† â€Å"Men do the unthinkable when pushed to the brink.† â€Å"You killed my son!† â€Å"No,† Andros replied, hotly now. â€Å"You killed your son. What kind of man leaves his son in a prison when he has the option to get him out! You killed your son! Not me.† â€Å"You know nothing!† Solomon yelled, his voice filled with pain. You're wrong, Andros thought. I know everything. Peter Solomon drew closer, only five yards away now, gun leveled. Andros's chest was burning, and he could tell he was bleeding badly. The warmth ran down over his stomach. He looked over his shoulder at the drop. Impossible. He turned back to Solomon. â€Å"I know more about you than you think,† he whispered. â€Å"I know you are not the kind of man who kills in cold blood.† Solomon stepped closer, taking dead aim. â€Å"I'm warning you,† Andros said, â€Å"if you pull that trigger, I will haunt you forever.† â€Å"You already will.† And with that, Solomon fired. As he raced his black limousine back toward Kalorama Heights, the one who now called himself Mal'akh reflected on the miraculous events that had delivered him from certain death atop that icy ravine. He had been transformed forever. The gunshot had echoed only for an instant, and yet its effects had reverberated across decades. His body, once tanned and perfect, was now marred by scars from that night . . . scars he kept hidden beneath the tattooed symbols of his new identity. I am Mal'akh. This was my destiny all along. He had walked through fire, been reduced to ashes, and then emerged again . . . transformed once more. Tonight would be the final step of his long and magnificent journey.

School leadership and social justice: Evidence from Ghana and Tanzania

This paper will be a critical analysis of the quality and rightness of the methods of informations aggregation and analysis in the paper produced by Bosu et Al. ( 2011 ) . I will try to supply with logical thinking, an apprehension for the grounds of the methods used in the instance surveies analysed and do usage of literature to supply back uping and opposing positions on the informations aggregation methods every bit good as its analysis. The context of the paper is set in the African states of Ghana and Tanzania, both considered 'emerging and developing economic systems ‘ harmonizing to the International Monetary Fund ( IMF, 2010, p. 152 ) . Three instance surveies are scrutinised, each with the subject of educational leading with undertones of societal justness nevertheless it is non clear what the aims of the research workers are, which is critical in a instance survey due to their being â€Å" wide in nature † ( Best, 2010a, p. 1 ) . Each was an explanatory instance survey, look intoing the consequences of determinations made by school leaders based upon informations collected utilizing an etic attack. In each instance survey there is a reappraisal of an action research run, where the facilitator was the caput instructor of a school. Two of the caput instructors, both from Ghana, attended an action research workshop where they were introduced to research techniques, there is no reference of the history of the Tanzanian caput instructor, or if they had received similar preparation. There is no lucidity of the research workers focus, be it the difference that go toing the workshop makes to the effectivity of action research, the difference caused by lodgers or merely the end point of changing methods of action research. At this occasion I shall try to reexamine the informations aggregation methods of each single instance survey, reasoning by reexamining the informations aggregation by the research workers, of the paper as a whole. Case Study: School A – Gold coast This instance survey had the focal point of trying to cut down adolescent gestations of members of the school in inquiry. To accomplish this, the caput teacher attempted to derive information from the community. There is clear grounds of the usage of interview techniques, notably the caput teacher keeping a ‘discussion ‘ with the PTA which was a focus-group interview. A focal point group interview does look allow in this instance as they are designed to â€Å" explicate and understand, the significances, feelings, beliefs and attitudes that influence the behavior of persons who are assumed to portion a common civilization, job or issue † ( Best, 2010b, p. 23 ) which in this instance seems to be pertinent despite a deficiency of information as to who is invited to the PTA and if they do hold a cognition of the country to be discussed. Maxwell ( 1997 ) explains the importance of purposive trying – of which this is grounds – saying â€Å" peculiar scene s, individuals, or events are intentionally selected for the of import information they can supply that can non be gotten every bit good from other picks † ( p. 87 ) . There is no clear indicant of the construction, although utilizing the word treatment, one could determine that the signifier of an in-depth interview was taken where the caput instructor had compiled a list of the issues to be covered and the interview construction was of a guided conversation. The proclamation of progressive betterment in footings of Numberss of gestations, and in reading accomplishments by the caput instructor was followed by a announcement that the intercession was a success. There is besides an indirect suggestion by the research workers that all communities and schools can work collaboratively facilitated by the caput instructor to turn to societal justness jobs. This is clearly grounds of a authoritative characteristic of the literature and observations of school betterment, as evidenced by Coe ( 2009, p. 368 ) , with instructors frequently declaring: ‘My school was neglecting in A, B, C ways. We did X, Y, Z. Now the grounds of success is P, Q, R ‘ Coe warns against doing summing ups that what is observed in one school may needfully be true for another ( ibid. ) Case Study: School B – Gold coast This instance surveies focus was that of trying to cut down hookies of students who on market yearss absented from school to do money. Harmonizing to the baseline informations collected by the caput instructor, utilizing quantitative informations beginnings such as registries and text books, there was a clear group of male childs identified with low attendings and hapless public presentation, this is an illustration of secondary analysis, which harmonizing to Lewis ( 2003, p. 76 ) is analyzing a set of informations which was originally used for one intent with a different intent. There was a meeting between the caput instructor and a instructor to make up one's mind upon an intercession, there is no reference of the format of this meeting or how the format of the intercession was taken. It was concluded that a focal point group interview with the students followed by single interviews. The quality of this information is arguably high, harmonizing to Best ( 2010b, p. 23 ) the group in terview can potentially supply ‘deeper and richer ‘ informations due to the societal interaction and inquiring of the group members. As with School A this is grounds of purposive sampling. The usage of single interviews besides allows for personal issues to be expressed, which participants may experience uncomfortable with showing in the group environment. This is grounds of usage of method triangulation in that the caput teacher used two different informations aggregation methods on the same group of students in order to increase the cogency of the informations. An chance to roll up farther information arose from the meetings with the parents, enabling the caput instructor to foreground a group of three students every bit high hazard due to parental indifference with respect to their kids ‘s instruction. The intent of these meetings were clearly to educate the parents, nevertheless it seems unintentionally critical information has come from them. Due to the intercession the caput instructor provided informations for attending as being 100 % , with increased degrees in mathematics and English, collected from monthly trials. The quality of these trials could be questioned every bit good as the instruction methods used as there is no information provided. One could oppugn if these kids were taught specifically to execute in trials. The caput instructor took this farther roll uping informations on six of the male childs after graduation to junior high school ; the consequences harmonizing to the research workers were sustained. Case Study: School C – Tanzania The instance of the Tanzanian caput teacher differed from the old instances due to the deficiency of history in relation to their experience in action research. The caput instructor, look intoing the consequence of poorness and hard place environments on the schooling of the students, attempted to reply some inquiries. The caput teacher ‘sought information ‘ from instructors, the format of which is unspecified, nevertheless due to the anterior readying and clear apprehension of the inquiries needed replying it could be suggested that there was an interview, utilizing a structured or semi-structured method. In add-on informations was collected from quantitative beginnings including, day-to-day attending records and trial and scrutiny consequences, every bit good as qualitative beginnings like category assignments and prep. In uniting multiple methods a research worker must be cognizant of equilibrating differing theoretical backgrounds with any ascertained relationships be tween the informations sets ( Brannen, 1992, p. 33 ) . It is the position of Ritchie ( 2003, p. 38 ) that there can be benefit in tackling the two methods provided that the two informations sets can be described exactly. There may be biographical histories within the category assignments or the prep which can supply critical information and â€Å" sensitise a research worker to identify issues † ( Plummer, 2001, p. 130 ) . This is supported by Angell and Freedman ( 1953 ) who explain that this signifier of information has great value at the get downing phases of research instead than the terminal stages in order to derive an apprehension of an probe, which is reflected in the methodological analysis of this instance survey. They emphasise the value of the apprehension that this type of informations can supply with regard to the topic of probe ( p. 305 ) . Harmonizing to Best ( 2010c ) the dependability of this attack is questionable nevertheless utilizing a theoretical generalization the informations can be used to beef up the cogency of a chosen theory or in this instance the signifier of an intercession ( p. 5 ) . It is of import at this phase to underscore the obvious ethical issues in this instance, ab initio due to the nature of the survey, look intoing students personal lives, and secondly due to the aggregation of the biographical information of students. Interviews were held with the students separately, presumptively utilizing the same set of inquiries. If this was the instance it would be grounds of usage of informations triangulation by the research worker, in that the same informations aggregation method was used on legion respondents in an effort to increase cogency of the consequences. All students insisted they enjoyed school and they felt that they could â€Å" freely show their jobs to instructors who were comparatively more caring and considerate than many of their parents and defenders † ( p. 75 ) . One could oppugn nevertheless if the responses were wholly true due to the nature of the relationship between the students and the caput instructor and if the students would supply different responses to a alien. There is grounds to propose that interviewees are more willing to supply true replies to aliens, although this statement relates specifically to online scenes instead than in face to confront interviews ( Paine et al. , 2007, p. 533 ; Nguyen and Alexander, 1996, p. 104 ; Wellman and Gulia, 1999, p. 172 & A ; 178 ) . Harrison ( 2008, p. forty ) highlights the importance of the ‘subjective ‘ nature of informations aggregation every bit good as how the relationship between the research worker and participant may ‘impinge ‘ on its cogency. An intercession similar to that in School A was held, with fluctuating consequences, with students neglecting to go to and execute good in monthly trials. There is a clear contrast from the consequences of the old instance surveies, nevertheless due to the nature of the description of the instance surveies it is ill-defined what the cause of assortment in consequences is. The research workers attempt to salve some sense of achievement by underscoring the sense of authorization of the caput instructor, where due to the fortunes, it would be probably that many would experience helpless. Provided is no grounds of the authorization of the caput instructor after the completion of the instance survey, every bit good as a deficiency of grounds for the innuendo that the fortunes would most likely generate a sense of weakness, taking to inquiries of the quality of informations analysis displayed in this instance. In the chief the informations analysed was qualitative, which as Harrison ( 2008 ) notes, has a different attack to analyzing quantitative informations, although there are attacks which aim to accomplish a comparable ‘routinization ‘ ( that is a modus operandi of analysis ) ( p. 51 ) . Chiefly there is the method of analyzing the construction of the text and based on Glaser and Strauss ‘ ( 1967 ) propositions, the designation of commonalties and relevant theory ( p. 105-106 ) . Evidence of usage of this methodological analysis is present with the research workers placing typical instances in each of the instance surveies, doing comparings with literature and adverting the ascertained differences between the Westernised literature and African world. Second there is the method of nonsubjective hermeneutics ( that is the survey of reading theory ) developed by Oevermann et Al. ( 1979, in Harrison, 2008, p. 51 ) . It involves the reading of the motivations behind an action, with research workers adhering to two rules ( Soeffner, 1997, p. xiv ; Harrison, 2008, p. 51 ) . The research worker should bring forth a extremely extended reading, supplying all points of position that the information may stand for nevertheless improbable, and look into the motive behind an action extensively before supplying any sentiment about the information. There is grounds that both of these rules have been neglected to some grade by the research workers ; there is a mostly unbalanced penchant towards the positives that action research has provided in these instances despite its clear failure in the survey of School C of which there is small mentioned. There is besides grounds of the informations being used to suit the statement, with a clear anterior co gnition of practise in Ghana that relates to the research carried out. Decisions Although the fact-finding attack of the research workers is by usage of instance surveies, it is besides biographical in nature as there is a clear narration produced, reflecting upon the experiences of the caput instructors. All three caput instructors participate in action research that affects them straight, harmonizing to Erben ( 1993, p. 15 ) this is good pattern for a biographical research worker ; supported by Mills ‘ statement, as explained by Best ( 2010c, p. 7 ) that frequently ‘personal jobs are public issues. ‘ It is clear that the research workers feel they have obtained critical informations from the instance surveies that strengthens their stance on action research as a method of school betterment ( p. 75-76 ) . There is clear grounds of varied interview methods including single and focus-group interviews with varying construction, with more than one method used in the instances. One could propose that the rules of method triangulation could besides use for analyzing the usage of different interview attacks. Although there is fluctuation in the method of informations aggregation, the literature suggests that there are informations aggregation methods that were non utilised in this paper, such as questionnaires, ocular analysis ( exposure, picture, being present ) , on-line interviews or usage of informations analysis package to explain qualitative informations. It could be suggested that a more complete, higher quality of informations could hold been accumulated had there been more fluctuation in the techniques used by the caput instructors in the instance surveies, inquiries can so be raised about the quality of the action research workshop. Bearing in head the context of the instance surveies, it is apprehensible that in developing states, there may non be every bit much entree to computing machines and hence electronic mail, and that people may non hold every bit much clip to pass on informations aggregation because of a demand to be at work to do money. The information that was collected nevertheless was utile to each caput teacher, evidenced by a considered attack to each intercession warranting the information as appropriate for each instance. The decisions drawn by the research workers focus on the positives that action research offers, and the chances it offers, in these instances to the caput instructors, schools and communities ( p. 75-76 ) . The writers nevertheless are involved in the administration at the caput of the undertaking which has hereafter purposes to supply service in developing states ( p. 69-70 ) . The quality of the analysis is besides questionable, Harrison ( 2008 ) high spots two attacks to analyzing qualitative informations, and the research workers have merely displayed grounds of the usage of one of these. Although the intent of the probe clearly has value, covering with issues of societal justness, one could presume that the writers have non taken a entirely humanistic attack. Due to their engagement and the wholly affirmatory nature of the decisions drawn, it is right to oppugn the objectiveness of the research workers as there may be an component of politically oriented rating evident ( Best, 2 010d, p. 1-2 ) .

The eNotes Blog The past is an undiscovered continent A Discussion with MartinAmis

The past is an undiscovered continent A Discussion with MartinAmis This past Sunday, I was fortunate to catch a reading and discussion with British novelist Martin Amis when he passed through town. Amis (author of Time’s Arrow, London Fields, Money, and more) was there to discuss his latest novel, Lionel Asbo: State of England. But what was advertised as a promotional stop on a book tour soon became so much more, as Amis touched on everything, eloquently bouncing from Mitt Romney to the Holocaust, and from Space Invaders to â€Å"chavs,† with so much in between. Read on for a taste of this master’s thoughts†¦ On how to be a novelist: Upon taking his seat before us, an awestruck audience of fanboys and girls, the author brushed over his hellos and immediately launched into unexpected and honest advice. In a total of three opening sentences, Amis remarked on the duties of both a voter in the upcoming presidential elections and on the novelist. A few choice comments about Romney, which I cannot repeat here, made his opinion on that front plainly known. Meanwhile, his comments on the role of an author were actually more astounding, given that he recited W. H. Auden’s â€Å"The Novelist† to expound on his thoughts. He preceded this with his opinion that the author must be grounded in his emotions; he must be ordinary to the point of banality. Then, of the poet, he recited, Encased in talent like a uniform, The rank of every poet is well known; They can amaze us like a thunderstorm, Or die so young, or live for years alone. Whereas the novelist, he continued, must†¦ Become the whole of boredom, subject to Vulgar complaints like love, among the Just  Be just, among the Filthy filthy too, And in his own weak person, if he can, Must suffer dully all the wrongs of Man. On aging: Amis transitioned from there into a topic that has pervaded his work lately: that of the ever-growing past. In fact, in person he spoke almost the exact words that appear at the beginning of his second-most recent novel, The Pregnant Widow: This is the way it goes. In your mid-forties you have your first crisis of mortality (death will not ignore me); and ten years later you have your first crisis of age (my body whispers that death is already intrigued by me). But something very interesting happens to you in between. As the fiftieth birthday approaches, you get the sense that your life is thinning out, and will continue to thin out, until it thins out into nothing. And you sometimes say to yourself: That went a bit quick Then fifty comes and goes, and fifty-one, and fifty-two. And life thickens out again. Because there is now an enormous and unsuspected presence within your being, like an undiscovered continent. This is the past. When we age, life, Amis says, becomes a retrospection of the past. After a certain age, you come to realize this is a good thing; the past is an undiscovered continent, which only you can visit. We fixate on memories, he said, but most especially  erotic memories. (Makes sense given that The Pregnant Widow  is the story of a man thinking back to his twenties, when the world was in the flux of the sexual revolution.) He continued, You think about how things went with women, how they went with children. Saul Bellow spoke to his friend on his death bed, I’ve been thinking. Now which is it? Is it: there goes a man or there goes a jerk?’ And his friend, Karl, said, ‘There goes a man.’ And Saul said, ‘OK. I’ll take your word for it.’ When you think about the fact that Bellow had five marriages and four children, you know that he wasnt thinking at that moment of his Nobel Prize, or his career. With the death of his close friend Christopher Hitchens last December, Amis has had more than his fair share of the weight of death on his mind. In a grave moment, the author touched on his friends passing, saying,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Hitchens’ death was an unmitigated disaster But three weeks later,† he paused to knock on wood, â€Å"I inherited his love of life.† On the source of inspiration and the writing process: Amis said the best description for the first appearance of inspiration was Vladimir Nabokovsa throb. You wont know when or from where it will come to you, but the moment that you realize it has, an ache will start to pervade your body. And the most abstract ideas can awake a story within you; Amis referenced Nabokovs inspiration for writing Lolita as an example, which the Russian author famously described himself: The first little throb of  Lolita  went through me late in 1939 or early in 1940, in Paris somehow prompted by a newspaper story about an ape in the Jardin des Plantes, who, after months of coaxing by a scientist, produced the first drawing ever charcoaled by an animal: this sketch showed the bars of the poor creatures cage. You can almost see how Lolita could have come from that, Amis remarked, but still, its a large jump.  Clearly, inspiration is a mysterious beast. The author further mentioned of the creative writing process how his stepmotherhis father Kingsley Amis second wife, Elizabeth Jane Howardcouldnt begin a new novel without being able to write exactly what it was about on the back of an envelope. Amis, though he does not follow the exact same process, says he adopts this tactic when editing his final drafts. Anything that doesnt fulfill the purpose set out in that one sentence summary of the novel must be cut. From there, Amis read two excerpts from his newly published novel Lionel Asbo: State of England. The title gives two clues to the reader of what to expect. One is of the lead characters dispositionthe professional criminal at the heart of the story renamed himself after Britains notorious  Anti-Social Behaviour Order. The second is the admission that the novel, in Amis mind, encompasses the state of England today. Although, asked about what he thought of the countrys decline, Amis spoke with very little disdain. He argues that this decline is the natural result of the loss of Britains governance in the world, something that was never meant to be. And though the dark characters of his novels, like Lionel, appear distasteful and vulgar, he admitted that he loves every one of them in their own special way. Hearkening in theme to a Dickensian tale while drawing upon almost caricatured pop culture references, Lionel Asbo has already been hailed as the unintended sequel to Money. And that,  surely, seals this as a novel Martin Amis fans will not find disappointing. More popular Martin Amis Study Guides from : Experience The Information Night Train House of Meetings The War Against Clichà © Visiting Mrs. Nabokov and more.

Chinese manufacturer Lenovo Essays

Chinese manufacturer Lenovo Essays Chinese manufacturer Lenovo Essay Chinese manufacturer Lenovo Essay The merger meets opposition; On November 7, 2001 at 10 oclock that morning, Walter Hewlett, son of HP co-founder William Hewlett, called Ms. Fiorina, chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP). In their brief conversation, the co-founders son informed Fiorina that he and his family would publicly oppose the planned merger between Hewlett-Packard and Compaq. In addition, Hewlett told Fiorina that he would be issuing a news release within the hour to announce their decision. Then, just hours later, David Packard Jr., the oldest son of the other Hewlett-Packard co-founder, issued a statement announcing that he would also vote against the merger. (Hoopes, 2003) Suddenly, the future of HP-the company that created Silicon Valley-seemed to rest in the hands of heirs who had never wanted an active role in their fathers company. (Williams McWilliams, Family Affair: HP Deals Fate Rests with Skeptical Heirs, 2001) Had Fiorina failed to effectively sell the deal to Hewlett and Packard family members before making it public? Had she underestimated the power and influence these family members might have in determining the future of the company? (Hoopes, 2003) Despite the cold reception of the deal by many investors and analysts, once approved by the boards at both HP and Compaq, the merger could be stopped from going through in only a handful of ways. The deal could be terminated if the companies mutually agreed to cancel it, if either company experienced a material adverse change, or if regulators rejected it. In addition, either company could decide to break up the deal; however, it would have to pay the other company a $675 million termination fee to do so. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, as a stock transaction, the deal could be terminated if shareholders of either company rejected it. (Williams, Hewletts Reject Deal to Join HP, Compaq, 2001) On September 3, 2001, Walter Hewlett voted with the rest of HPs board to O. K. the proposed merger. However, in the months leading up to the boards vote, Hewlett had expressed concern about the deal and its impact on his familys charities. But just days before the vote, he learned that the merger agreement called for unanimous board approval in order to ensure the best possible shareholder reception. Believing that the board would find a way to approve the merger regardless of how he voted, Hewlett reluctantly cast his final vote in favor of the deal. (Hoopes, 2003) 4 CONCLUSION: Ask Carly Fiorina Although the merger met with poor reception from Wall Street and industry analysts, Fiorina did not back down. She argued that the merger would eliminate one player in an oversupplied PC marketplace. Fiorina often spoke out of context for true economic theory, she needed guidance, yet skirted topics key to point such as integration and merger activities and vertical integration versus horizontal integration. On the other hand, a horizontal merger, by its very definition, reduces the number of firms that compete in the product market place, so maybe she was right. The merger would also eventually improve HPs market share across the hardware line and double the size of HPs service unit-both essential steps in being able to compete with industry-giant IBM. In addition, Fiorina argued, the merger would create a full-service technology firm capable of doing everything from selling PCs and printers to setting up complex networks. The merger would eliminate redundant product groups and costs in marketing, advertising, and shipping, while at the same time preserving much of the two companies revenues. (Hoopes, 2003) To critics who questioned HPs motives for the deal, Fiorina emphasized that the chief driver for the HP-Compaq merger was competitive positioning. To those who questioned the chances that the merger would succeed, Fiorina pointed out that the distinguishing characteristic of successful mergers is the focus on consolidation, not diversification-exactly what HP planned to do after its merger with Compaq. (Hoopes, 2003) To Fiorinas defense, IBM sold its PC division to Chinese manufacturer Lenovo. The company did eventually do everything that she set out to do, only not under her leadership. I believe that she had the vision statement down; it was the mission statement that needed some work. She did not fail in providing vision; she simply did not succeed in her execution of the mission. HP provided pink slips to thousands of former Compaq, DEC, HP, and Tandem employees, and its stock price generally declined and profits did not perk up. Though the merger initially helped HP make it to the top as the number one PC maker, it soon lost the lead along with further market share to Dell. In addition, the merging of stagnant Compaq with HPs lucrative printing and imaging division was criticized as that overshadowed the latters profitability. In February 2005, the Board of Directors ousted Fiorina. Former Compaq CEO, Capellas, was mentioned by some as a potential successor, but several months afterwards, Mark Hurd was hired as CEO. (Flyer, 2008) In late 2005, HPQ seemed to find its feet under the new leadership of Mark Hurd. At this same time, Dell seemed to be faltering and HPQ took back the number one sales position. Hurd separated the PC division from the imaging and printing division. HPs PC segment has since been reinvigorated and now generates more revenue than the traditionally more profitable printers. (Wikpedia, Compaq, 2009) Most Compaq products have been re-branded with the HP nameplate, such as the companys market leading ProLiant server line, while the Compaq brand remains on only some consumer-orientated products, notably Compaq Presario PCs. HPs business computers line was discontinued in favor of the Compaq Evo line, which was rebranded HP Compaq. HPs Jornada PDAs were replaced by Compaq iPAQ PDAs, which were renamed HP iPAQ. (Wikpedia, Compaq, 2009) In May 2007, HP in a press release announced a new logo for their Compaq Division to be placed on the new model Compaq Presario. In 2008, HP dropped the Compaq name from its HP Compaq business notebooks and is now marketing them as the HP EliteBook and as of early 2009, the HP ProBook, leaving the Compaq name for HPs entry-level consumer platforms. (Wikpedia, Compaq, 2009) Bibliography AllBusiness. (1998, September 28). The most powerful woman in American business is Carly Florina. | Media Telecommunications Publishing from AllBusiness. com. Retrieved June 26, 2009, from AllBusiness. com: allbusiness. com/media-telecommunications/publishing-electronic-publishing/7697607-1. html Baye, M. R. (2009). Managerial Economics and Business Strategy. In M. R. Baye, Managerial Economics and Business Strategy (pp. 5-15, 36, 257). New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Fiorina, C. (2001, September 4). HP Press Release: Compaq. com Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Agree to Merge, Creating $87 Billion Global Technology Leader. Retrieved June 26, 2009, from HP: hp. com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2001pmc/pr2001090402. html