Poverty-Inequality Reduction in India Term Paper

Destitution Inequality Reduction in India - Term Paper Example With around two third of the populace living in the country zone, even urban neediness originates from the rustic relocation to the city. This paper is to take as through the different ways taken by the legislature in attempting to diminish destitution. In addition, an individual ought to be in a situation to comprehend the destitution and disparity experienced in India. What's more, it is imperative to comprehend the human neediness in India for the correct comprehension of the subject of destitution imbalance decrease in India. India has been encountering a less noteworthy development when contrasted with China; notwithstanding, contrasted and other creating nations the monetary development in India has been all the more intriguing. The GPD of India has been on the ascent throughout the previous two decades. One of the significant credits to this development in GDP, depends on the way that India has encountered a decrease in populace development. In increment in the per Capita and the GDP has been connected to the measure of basic change (Ghosh, Madhusudan, pg 3). The pace of speculation has expanded after some time. This circumstance has made India to have an expansion in per capita development, and this stands to about 36% increment, from the times of 1990s. Simultaneously, the GDP level of Agriculture has diminished and is presently found on the anticipated line. Be that as it may, not all divisions have encountered some monetary development or improvement. For example, since 1990s, the optional division has not encountered some development. On the segment of the tertiary area, truly expanded and now represents practically 50% of the pay of the country. The change experienced in the yield shares didn't go connected at the hip with an equivalent change in the workforce dispersion. This has been proceeding notwithstanding of the decrease on the horticultural offer and the breakdown of business produced from rural in the current decades. Throughout the previous two decades, the speculation high rate has not added to a grater

Boss Man Essay Example

Head honcho Essay Example Head honcho Essay Head honcho Essay Pick a sonnet which communicates a perspective you find upsetting. Clarify what distubs you about the artists perspective and examine to what degree you are in any case ready to respect the manner in which the sonnet is written.Carol Ann Duffys sonnet Havisham is an emotional monolog composed from the eyes of the scandalous character Miss Havisham who is extricated from Dickens’s Great Expectations. Miss Havisham is an upsetting character for various reasons brought about by the agony and hurt she has suffered for an amazing duration in the wake of being abandoned at the special raised area numerous years prior to the sonnet is set. All through Havisham we discover that there is more fundamental issues to Havisham than what was once recognized. Disdain totally obliterates Havisham and that as opposed to helping her to seek retribution, it aggravates her which brings about her detesting all men.In the main verse of the sonnet, we promptly find out about Miss Havisham through he r coarse genuineness. She is communicating the torment of being abandoned at the special stepped area as she uncovers her own sentiments of the man she was going to marry.â€Å"Beloved darling bastard.†Here we see Duffy opening the sonnet in an oxymoronic way. She utilizes this method to entise us in to the sonnet and to accentuate the difference of her rushed emotions towards her ex-darling. This is likewise an extremely disputable method of opening the sonnet, conceivably tossing us in at the profound end directly toward the begin to build up what sort of individual Havisham is and to set us up for the thrill ride ahead. Dearest being the man she once cherished, Sweetheart a word we normally call our friends and family and Bastard a hostile swear word. All exceptionally differentiating words which causes us to feel upset as we enter the sonnet. This opening of the sonnet is extremely unexpected and its as though weve strolled in on Miss Havisham amidst a breakdown. Its addi tionally climatic, something in which marry regularly observe toward the finish of a sonnet, building pressure however dubiously Duffy opens thusly

Conjugating the German Verb Sehen, Meaning to See

Conjugating the German Verb Sehen, Meaning to See The German action word sehen intends to see. It is one of the most-widely recognized words you may find in German content, positioning around 270 of every one robotized study. Sehen is an unpredictable or solid action word. This implies it doesnt keep a severe principle for conjugation. So as to conjugate it accurately, you should contemplate its various tenses and resort to remembering them. Stem-Changing Verbs The action word sehen is both a stem-changing action word and an unpredictable (solid) action word. Notice the change from e to ie in the du and er/sie/es current state structures. The past participle is gesehen. These anomalies can stumble you in perusing and composing employments of sehen. Sehen - Present Tense -  Prsens Deutsch English Particular Current state ich sehe I see/am seeing du siehst you see/are seeing er siehtsie siehtes sieht he sees/is seeingshe sees/is seeingit sees/is seeing Plural Present Tense wir sehen we see/are seeing ihr seht you all observe/are seeing sie sehen they see/are seeing Sie sehen you see/are seeing Models Using Present Tense for Sehen Wann sehen wir euch?When will we be seeing you folks)? Er sieht uns.He sees us. Sehen - Simple Past Tense -  Imperfekt Deutsch English Solitary Simple Past Tense ich sah I saw du sahst you saw er sahsie sahes sah he sawshe sawit saw Plural Simple Past Tense wir sahen we saw ihr saht you folks saw sie sahen they saw Sie sahen you saw Sehen -  Compound Past Tense (Present Perfect) -  Perfekt Deutsch English Solitary Compound Past Tense ich habe gesehen I saw/have seen du hast gesehen you saw/have seen er cap gesehensie cap gesehenes cap gesehen he saw/has seenshe saw/has seenit saw/has seen Plural Compound Past Tense wir haben gesehen we saw/have seen ihr habt gesehen you all sawhave seen sie haben gesehen they saw/have seen Sie haben gesehen you saw/have seen Sehen - Past Perfect Tense -  Plusquamperfekt Deutsch English Particular Past Perfect Tense ich hatte gesehen I had seen du hattest gesehen you had seen er hatte gesehensie hatte gesehenes hatte gesehen he had seenshe had seenit had seen Plural Past Perfect Tense wir hatten gesehen we had seen ihr hattet gesehen you all had seen sie hatten gesehen they had seen Sie hatten gesehen you had seen Future Tenses for Sehen German regularly substitutes the current state for what's to come. The model withâ sehenâ is Wirâ sehenâ uns morgen, deciphering too observe you tomorrow. The essential future tense would conjugate werden (will) and include sehen. Models; ich werdeâ sehenâ -I will see, du wirst sehenâ -you will see, wirâ werden spielenâ -we will play. The future impeccable tense is to some degree uncommon in German. It utilizes a conjugated type of werden and afterward puts haben or sein toward the finish of the sentence. For instance, ich werde gesehenâ habenâ -I will have seen. Orders Using Sehen sehe!â see!sehen Sie!â see! Different Uses of Sehen Sie sieht nicht gut. She doesnt see well.Wo hast du ihn gesehen? Where did you see him?

Writing a Good Argumentative Essay Topic

Writing a Good Argumentative Essay TopicWriting an argumentative essay is a different and exciting way to use the persuasive power of language. It's also a learning experience, an ability to write about something that is important in the world we live in. Writing an argumentative essay is about discovering your own voice as a writer and finding ways to describe issues that matter.One way to get started with writing argumentative essay topics is to look around you. See how others are describing things they love. Ask them what they think of and what you should write about. Keep in mind the kinds of questions people ask when writing an essay. The following list is a quick guide to some argumentative essay topics to consider.Education. This is a popular topic because many people talk about the importance of education. A broad range of subjects are covered, but you can include things like the need for more teachers, jobs and careers available to those with the right training, and the impo rtance of higher education for children and adults alike. What do you find valuable about education? What is it that you think will help make it better? Are there new approaches to education that you would like to explore?You may find it helpful to look at the United States' many educational systems and find what works for each one. For example, one could take a look at how California educates its students. They have more students per teacher than any other state. What makes California's system effective?Questions about a particular topic or issue in the news, political or economic events. Do you believe the issues affecting our country are critical? Do you feel strongly about a particular topic? Is there something that will help you make a statement in opposition to something? What are some things that you feel strongly about?Invitations to graduation ceremonies, high school graduations, sporting events, and other types of public events. Some people celebrate accomplishments and ac hievements by writing about these events. Others use it as a tool to express feelings they don't always feel comfortable expressing in a formal setting.Writing is a skill that you can develop in your everyday life and writing topics are a way to hone the skills. If you have a knack for writing, it is possible to write about topics that interest you.

Factors influencing buying behaviors in Metro Cities - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 18 Words: 5333 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Life Insurance in its modern form came to India from England in the year 1818. Oriental Life Insurance Company started by Europeans in Calcutta was the first life insurance company on Indian Soil. All the insurance companies established during that period were brought up with the purpose of looking after the needs of European community and Indian natives were not being insured by these companies. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Factors influencing buying behaviors in Metro Cities" essay for you Create order However, later with the efforts of eminent people like Babu Muttylal Seal, the foreign life insurance companies started insuring Indian lives. But Indian lives were being treated as sub-standard lives and heavy extra premiums were being charged on them. Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society heralded the birth of first Indian life insurance company in the year 1870, and covered Indian lives at normal rates. Insurance is an Rs 450 billion industry in India. The life insurance segment writes about 80% of the overall market value. Indian Insurance market was at its all time high in 2003 with a growth of about 17.4% over the pervious year. Since 2001 Insurance is growing at the rate of 15-20 % annually. The growth in the insurance industry is affected by volatility in real estate rates, GDP rates and long term interest rates. Fluctuations in exchange rates also affect the growth in this sector. The gross premium as a percentage of the GDP has gone up from 2.3 in the year 2000 to 4.8 in 2006. The premium as percentage of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) has increased from 4.8 percent in 2006 to 5.2 percent in 2011. Together with banking services, it adds about 7% to the countrys GDP. Some of the important milestones in the life insurance business in India are: 1818: Oriental Life Insurance Company, the first life insurance company on Indian soil started functioning. 1870: Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society, the first Indian life insurance company started its business 1912: The Indian Life Assurance Companies Act enacted as the first statute to regulate the life insurance business. 1928: The Indian Insurance Companies Act enacted to enable the government to collect statistical information about both life and non-life insurance businesses. 1938: Earlier legislation consolidated and amended to by the Insurance Act with the objective of protecting the interests of the insuring public. 1956: 245 Indian and foreign insurers and provident s ocieties are taken over by the central government and nationalized. LIC formed by an Act of Parliament, viz. LIC Act, 1956, with a capital contribution of Rs. 5 crores from the Government of India. Indian Insurance in 21st Century: 2000: IRDA starts giving licenses to private insurers: ICICI prudential and HDFC Standard Life insurance first private insurers to sell a policy 2002: Banks allowed selling insurance plans. As TPAs enter the scene, insurers start setting non-life claims in the cashless mode 2007: First Online Insurance portal, www.insurancemall.in set up by an Indian Insurance Broker, Bonsai Insurance Broking Pvt Ltd. 1.2. A brief introduction about project: The project is focused on analyzing the Internal and the External factors which aims at determining the customers buying behavior towards insurance products in India. It is mainly focused in trying to understand the various factors responsible for the buying decision, in order to try and understand these factors are a critical task. The purchase decision in general is prompt by number of factors viz. Psycho graphical, Economical, Social, Politico legal and Demographical. There are certain other factors which need to be understood while keeping in mind the investment decisions made by customers which includes Customer Buying Behavior, Customer Preferences, and Customers Perception, Brand Loyalty etc. 1.2.1. Objective of the Project: Primary Objective: To provide some simple tools that can be used for thinking about consumers, speculating about their possible behaviors, analyzing marketing problems from a consumer. To find how consumers learn about products and services from their environment and how they use this information to direct their behavior. Secondary Objective: To present a simple model in order to analyze the consumer decision making for IDBI. To give the information about customers values ,life styles and culture of the customers 1.2.2. Study and Research Methodology: Initially I have been interacting with customers directly in the field by various means like tele-calling, cold calling, campaigning and through references in order to know their interest whether to invest in insurance or not. Secondly a questionnaire has been developed by me in order to know the consumer behavior and as a data base (My time credit) for the company also. This study, which was conducted in the suburbs of Hyderabad city. The duration of the study was 4 months. The method which I used to collect the information was through questionnaire and personnel interaction. The data collection method was through random method and the sample size is moderate. I met around 180 people among them actual eligible were 150. The collection of primary and secondary data was then restructured and reevaluated according to the need and the objective of the study. The data thus collected undergone the various round of editing, coding and decoding .The target group for the stu dy was the age group of above 25 yrs. I have started searching for the potential consumers in the offices, employees from the natural market and around my residence Main Aim to conduct this study was to get the closer view of the consumers about life Insurance which was a little difficult as it is an intangible product .Filling up questionnaire from the people was a great experience as they ask all the information about the insurance terminology and it was a satisfying survey also as more and more customers are aware about the presence of IDBI Life Insurance. 1.2.3. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE BUYING BEHAVIOR: Understanding Consumer Buying Behavior offers consumers greater satisfaction. We must assume that the company has adopted the Marketing Concept and are consumer oriented. Cultural Factors: Culture is the most fundamental determinant of a persons wants and behavior. Whereas lower creatures are governed by instinct, human behavior is largely learned. The child growing up in a society learns a basic set of values, perceptions, preferences and behaviors through a process of socialization involving the family and other key institution. Subculture: Each culture contain smaller group of subculture that provide more specific identification and socialization for its members Social Class: Virtually all human societies exhibit social stratification. Stratification sometimes takes the form of a caste system where the member of different caste is reared for certain roles and cannot change their caste membership .More frequently, stratification takes the form of social classes .Social C lasses have several characteristics. First, Person with in each social class tends to behave more alike than persons from two different social classes. Second, persons are perceived as occupying inferior or superior positions according to their social class. Third, a persons social class is indicated by a number of variables, such as occupation, income, wealth, education , and value orientation, rather than by any single variable , fourth, individuals are able to move from one social class to another up or down during their lifetime. The Extent of this mobility varies according to the rigidity of social stratification a given society. Social Factors: A consumers behavior is also influenced by social factors, such as the consumers reference group, family, and social roles and statuses. Reference Group: A persons behavior is strongly influenced by many group .A persons reference group are those groups that have a direct (face to face) or indirect influence on the persons attitud es or behavior. Group having a direct influence on a person are called membership group. These are group to which the person belongs and interacts. Some are primary groups. With which there is fairly continuous interaction, such as family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Primary group tend to be informal. The person also belong to secondary group, which tend to be more formal and where there is less continuous interaction: they include religious organizations, professional associations, and trade unions. Family Group: Members of the buyers family can exercise a strong influence on the buyers behavior. The distinguish can be made between two families in the buyers life. The family of orientation consists of ones parents. From parents a persons acquires an orientation towards religious, politics, and economics and a sense of personal ambitions, self -worth, and love. Even if the buyer no longer interacts very much with his or her parents, the parents influence on the unconsciou s behavior of the buyer can be significant. In countries where parents continue to live with their children, their influence can be substantial. In case of expensive products and services, husband and wives engage in more joint decision making. The market needs to determine which member normally has the greater influence in the purchase of a particular products or services. Either the husband or the wife, or they have equal influence. How to succeed: Before establishing the base of product, they should engage in a lot of researches. Their researches were made on the peoples social life, personal tastes and preferences, way of life, how they identify an effective product and what makes them get attracted towards a product. The social and economic conditions were analyzed. A customers want has to be identified and his expectations must be matched with the other economic and social factors so that their product is receptive. This can be related to any product. Adapting to social conditions play the most important role in establishing brand in the market. This also means that customers are open to new and different products from time to time. Its just that they want the product to be flexible and adaptable to their needs and preferences. People are changing from time to time, so do their tastes and preferences. Identifying those is the first step towards achieving success and the rest depends on the performance of the product . 1.2.4. Changing customer trends: As insurance sector is becoming more and more competitive the consumers are changing the trends according to the situation. The survey reveals the main challenging trends in the consumer buying behavior. The profile of the typical insurance customer is taking a new and definite shape and one thing is clear: the customer is increasingly aware about internet, comparative pricing and increased bargaining power. In short customers have become more self sufficient, price sensitive, and less loyal. Lets take a look about the changing trends in consumers: Priority Relationship: Consumers want that insurers should give them a priority in every aspect. As insurers are already giving them priority they are more inclined towards increased attentiveness and less patient. They dont like to wait for the solution of their problem. So this will became a trend setting pattern in Insurance to satisfy these less patient consumers. 85% consumers give preference to Priority relationship. Less Formality: Consumers prefer those insurers who are having a quick processing of documents and less formalities and practice approach. 72% give priority to fewer formalities. Agent relationship and Transparency: Insurance is an intangible product and it is sold on sole trust on the agent (Advisor) of the company. Also the total transparency in the transactions the trust of the customer and help in increasing the business. Among 75% surveyed said that that they have purchased this product because they believe in their advisor and they like the performance of the company and they feel safe with this company. Want improved ease of purchase and interaction: Easy availability and more convenient interactions help in increasing the business.75% of total surveyed give priority for this. Knows information about insurance products: With consumers becoming more and more interactive in using the technology they are well versed with the knowledge of completion in insurance indu stry. 57% were regularly evaluating their insurance with other products. Price sensitive: Quote of insurance premium is gaining a more importance in Insurance industry as people are more inclined towards more coverage at fewer premiums. As it is in initial stage about 46% were aware about this. 1.2.5. Primary Factors Influencing Purchase Decisions: Consumers of Insurance products are mainly influence by various social, psychological and demographical factors but here are some primary factors about the insurance purchasing decisions. Brand: The consumers give most preference to the popular brand who has achieved the highest safety in the insurance market. Consumers feel trust about the popular brands and more inclined towards them. Life Stage: Life Stage plays an important part in the purchasing decision of the customer as youngsters are more inclined towards short term policies while middle age people are inclined towards family safety. Service: General image about the Service of the insurance companies plays an important part in the decision making. Companies with higher customer satisfaction and hassle free claims get maximum market share. Advice: Mostly consumers dont believe in the advisors but believe in their close friends and wife. In fact wife plays an important part in decision making. Product: A fter evaluating all these criteria people evaluate product feature. The product having most customer needs satisfying features sells the more. Price: Price plays an important role in purchasing behavior of consumers. Insurer with competitive price and more coverage with fewer premiums take the maximum market share 1.2.6. Insurer switching behavior: In the very competitive market like India switching from the trusted one to the new one happens through the following reasons: Poor Claims Service / Experience: Most people switch their insurer because of the default in the Service. Customers need faster settlement of the claims and hassle free settlement of the claim. Agent: People get influenced by the behavior of the Agent; if the agent is not fully prepared about the products of the company and having lack of knowledge about insurance companies then consumers are not wiling to buy insurance from them. Agent who is not quick responsive is also a major reason for switching Competitive Product: Consumers are more inclined towards the trend setting products than the traditional products Price: After service customers are more inclined towards the competitive price and getting maximum coverage for minimum premium. 2. Company profile 2.1. About IDBI Federal: IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Co Ltd, is a joint venture between three leading financial conglomerates Indias premier development and commercial bank, IDBI, Indias leading private sector bank, Federal Bank and Europes premier Banc assurer, Fortis, each of which enjoys a significant status in their respective business segments. In this venture, IDBI owns 48% equity while Federal Bank and Fortis own 26% equity each. IDBI Fortis launched its first set of products across India in March 2008, after receiving the requisite approvals from the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA). Today, IDBI Fortis offers services through a vast nationwide network across the branches of IDBI Bank and Federal Bank in addition to a sizeable network of advisors and partners. IDBI Fortis endeavors to deliver products that provide value and convenience to the customer. Through a continuous process of innovation in product and service delivery IDBI Fortis intends to deliver world-class wealth m anagement, protection and retirement solutions to Indian customers. 2.2. Incomesurance: INCOMESURANCE is a combination of endowment and money back. Endowment means the insured person has maturity and death benefit and in case the insurer is safe and sound the money is given back to him with a ROI of 8% depending on the payout period. Money back gives returns every year after the premium period or after the maturity period customer will get lump sum amount. It gives a guaranteed annual payout which is the summation of minimum annual payout (MAP) and additional annual payout (AAP). GAP = MAP+ AAP MAP interest rate is declared earlier only AAP is based on G-Sec rate which is declared at the time of giving each premium. 2.3. Organization Charts: IDBI Life Insurance Organizational Chart: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mr.Nageshwara Rao COUNTRY HEAD Mr.Murali HUMAN RESOURCES HEAD Mrs. Radhika Venkatraman TRAINING HEAD Mrs. Vaishali Zonal -Wise Organizational Structure: COUNTRY HEAD Mr.Murali NORTH ZONAL HEAD EAST ZONAL HEAD SOUTH ZONAL HEAD Mr.Balaji WEST ZONAL HEAD COIMBATORE AREA HEAD Mr. Vijay Kumar m HYDERABAD AREA HEAD BENGALURU AREA HEAD MUMBAI LUCKNOW Area-Wise Organizational Structure: BRANCH HEAD COIMBATORE AREA HEAD Mr. Vijay Kumar BAND 3 BAND 2 BAND 3 BAND 2 BAND 1 CORPORATE CHANNELS BAND 1 BAND 3 BAND 2 BAND 1 DISTRIBUTION CENTER BANKS AGENCY MANAGEMENT TRAINEES T To be the leading provider of wealth management, protection and retirement solutions that meets the needs of our customers and adds value to their lives. Our Mission: To continually strive to enhance customer experience through innovative product offerings, dedicated relationship management and superior service delivery while striving to interact with our customers in the most convenient and cost effective manner. To be transparent in the way we deal with our customers and to act with integrity. To invest in and build quality human capital in order to achieve our mission. Our values: Transparency: Crystal Clear communication to our partners and stakeholders Value to Customers: A product and service offering in which customers  perceive value Rock Solid and Delivery on Promise: This translates into being financially strong, operationally robust and   having clarity in claims Customer-friendly: Advice and support in working with customers and partners Profit to Stakeholders: Balance the interests of customers, partners, employees, shareholders and the  community at large. IDBI Federal offers various products: Healthsurance Bondsurance Wealthsurance Retiresurance Loansurance Incomesurance Group microsurance Termsurance Homesurance COMPETITORS OF INCOMESURANCE: Aviva Dhanvridhhi plan of Aviva insurance Classic Endowment plan of birla sunlife 3. Project Overview This project can be bifurcated mainly into two streams one is market research and the other is the sales of insurance. Both these processes can be done simultaneously. In market research, I need to approach at least 4 customers per day and give them a clear idea of what are the various products offered by IDBI and how they give benefits than other companies products and recommend them for the best suitable product. Next comes the sales part, I need to sell Insurance policies to customer there are many possible ways of selling insurance like approaching the known members (relations, friends, etc.,) i.e., via natural market or through hard core marketing i.e., from various databases and so on. The market research was undertaken with the help of a questionnaire designed by me .The questionnaire consists of the personnel details of the consumer his opinion and idea about the use of insurance policies .Whether he is interested in buying insurance or not and is he/she aware of the var ious products offered by IDBI Fortis For the sake of clear understanding of the work done by me so far, I have written the progress in a weekly schedule and the database is available as My Time Credit which also consists of the list of customers I have interacted through calls or met personally. 3.1. SCHEDULE FOR 14 WEEKS OF SIP IN GANTT CHART 3.2. Sampling plan: Since it is not possible to study whole population, it is necessary to obtain representative samples from the population to understand its characteristics. Sampling units: The target population of the study includes the general population above the age of 25 years. The individual respondents for studying customer buying behavior selected randomly from different areas in Hyderabad, like various shopping malls and markets, and among working men, women and professionals and housewives of Hyderabad. Sampling technique: Random sampling Research instrument: structured questionnaire Sample size:150 respondents The procedure that we followed consisted of: Choosing the relevant questions to ask in the questionnaire Designing the questionnaire Deciding on an objective Developing survey instruments Getting the right mix of respondents to take the survey Analyzing the various data and their influencing factors 3.3. Data Interpretation: Out of 150 participants who take the survey,75 % were employed in the service sector,25% were businessmen, 20% were professionals,10 % were not employed and 20% did not disclose their occupation. With regarding to income of the participants,50% were earning less than Rs.150000 p.a. 42% were earning between Rs.200000 p.a. and Rs.500000 p.a. 25% were earning above Rs. 500000 p.a. 13% did not disclose their income.7% were earning very less income. Do you have a life insurance policy? If yes, Please mention the details of the policy below Response No. of Respondents Share % Yes 125 125 No 25 25 Total 150 150 Out of the 125 people who had insurance, 75 people had a policy with the Life Insurance Corporation of India while 20 people had a policy with a private insurer. Others did not enclose their option. Name of the policy: Response No. of Respondents Share % LIC 75 78 Private 20 21 Total 95 99 2. What are your main reasons for buying insurance or what would be the likely reason for buying an insurance policy? Response No. of Respondents Tax 65 Investment 20 Security 75 Disciplined saving 35 Retirement 15 Others 5 Security is the main reason why people buy insurance,75 out of 150 people have chosen security as one of their main reason for buying insurance .we can note that savings in tax is still an important factor in the consumers buying decision as 65% of participants in the survey have said that tax is one of their main reasons for buying insurance. Only 15% of people have chosen pension as the main reason for buying insurance. The reason for this could be due to the age group of the people who took the survey; a large number of people were in the age 25-35 age and this age group tends not to think that far in to the future. Insurance companies should target this age group with regards to pension plans as the sooner one starts saving for a pension, the better it is for the individual .Also ,people in the 25-35 age group have a higher disposable income and are in a position to afford such products . 3. What criteria do you apply for selecting an insurance company? Response No. of Respondents Service 74 Trust 80 Advertisements 60 Recommendations 20 Agent 12 Features of Products 30 Trust is the main criteria in selecting the company .Secondly service take the second place. Even advertisements also plays good role in selecting the company. 4. When asked to rate the importance for each factor the respondents were as follows Factor No impact Minor impact Moderate impact Major impact Only factors for buying service 4 10 80 3 Trust 4 10 90 0 Advertisements 20 0 20 80 0 Recommendations 6 18 40 25 2 From friend/family 60 20 6 20 0 Agent 23 28 18 14 0 Features of product 1 7 11 50 10 According to the survey trust, service and advertisements are the main criteria in selecting an insurance company, while agents, recommendations from friends and family had no or little impact in the buying decision. From this we can decide that trust can only be built by payment every time. With so many companies in the market, it is imperative that service will improve through out the industry due to increased competition. Brand name is a priority to me while buying insurance Strongly Disagree Mildly Disagree Neutral Mildly Agree Strongly Agree 0 8 10 18 90 I only buy insurance from well known organizations Strongly Disagree Mildly Disagree Neutral Mildly Agree Strongly Agree 2 5 0 20 95 Most of the people buy insurance only from well known organizations that too people prefer braded organizations. What type of Advertisements are influential in my knowledge of insurance products Response No. of Respondents Television 100 E-mails 10 Bill boards 5 Door to door 20 Company calls 9 Here we can see that most of the people prefer advertisement which is influencing them 8. Which type of insurance policy would you entertain with increase in return Response No. of Respondents Whole life policy (5 to 6% low risk) 48 Endowment (9% moderate) 75 ULIP (gt;15% high risk) 23 Equity (very high risk) 4 Total 150 9. Do you know about IDBI? Response No. of Respondents Yes 125 No 25 If yes in what mode Response No. of Respondents IDBI bank 77 IDBI Fortis life insurance 48 Here we can observe that most of the people know about IDBI but in the mode of bank .Only 48 out of 125 aware of IDBI Federal Life Insurance. This shows that more penetration should be done for the IDBI Life Insurance and its products. 10. Do you know about any of the following Insurance plans offered by IDBI Fortis? Response No. of Respondents Yes 48 No 102 If YES: Response No. of Respondents Incomesurance 45 Wealthsurance 3 Homesurance protection plan 0 Termsurance 0 Retiresurance 0 A major area of concern was providing more information to customers and improving the service of the agent. More specifically the customers gave the following suggestions; Free online software to compute premium payable and returns; and compare the same with policies/products offered by the insurance company. Reminding the customer to pay the premium in time Not phoning the customer when they do not disturbed? 4. Conclusions: The important factor, which has been recognized from the data that has been collected, is that 75% of the people who took part in the survey had a life insurance policy. This shows that insurance as a sector is picking up in this country. Another important point to note regarding the life insurance buying behavior of individuals is that people give most important to their security and that is their main reason for buying insurance. However, tax savings come a close second with 65 people choosing tax as a reason for buying life insurance. Other factors (savings and investment) increase the attractiveness of insurance among people People place a high amount of weight age to factors like trust and service while selecting an insurance company .it is important to note that factors like agent or recommendations do not place high among the people taking the survey .This shows that the consumer mindset is maturing, now people take insurance according to their needs and not due to their fear. They understand their needs. Due to this reason now people first concentrate on policy scheme and brand, when they are going to choose an insurance company and policy. Whole life policy is popular due to family need and can be used as a method of controlled savings, Endowment policy is popular due to life stage need and offers decent returns ULIP is popular amongst those consumers who want to combine investments with the benefit of insurance. Security is the number one reason why people buy insurance today. Insurance companies can help enhance the other factors in the eyes of consumers and tap those individuals who are interested in investment or disciplined savings. Advertisements also played a very good role in the buying decision of the consumer .It gives the insurers an opportunity to take a different approach when it comes to advertisements in the television as well as the news paper. Insurance policies give good returns but it cannot complete with other finan cial tools (i.e. equity).So there is basic need to increase the return on investment with regard to insurance products. In India people think that insurance is a tax saving and a protection tool ,not an investment tool .If insurance companies increase awareness among the public that insurance is a good alternative investment ,this will work as value added service which will increase penetration of the Indian market. A lot of people are not satisfied from the post service of insurance companies due to dependence on agents or lack of knowledge about the process, so there is a need to increase awareness about self service, product features and training of insurance agents and staff. Insurance is a long term contract and saving tool, and policy holders may feel less interested towards their policy or may surrender their policy. Insurance companies need to motivate their customers and educate them about the importance of their policy and ensure that they do not surrender or let the ir policy lapse. People are not aware of IDBI products, so this is an area where company need to increase awareness among the consumers. 5. Recommendations: IDBI Federal Life Insurance should look forward for more interactions with customers through arranging the annual meeting. Insurance policy gives good return but it cannot compete with other financial tools (i.e. equity). So this is basic need to increase return in the field of insurance sector. IDBI Federal Life Insurance should illustrate the most successful products through local news paper. Encouraging the young people for the insurance particularly the 3 yr premium Products will be more beneficial Policy scheme is main factor to choose insurance company. If insurance companies give more concentration on policy scheme then they can compete with another financial tool in better way (i.e. equity and mutual fund). In India people think that insurance is tax saving and protection tool, and not investment tool. If insurance company increase awareness among public, that insurance is good alternative saving and investment tool, this will do work as a value added service which will increase penetration in insurance sector Now only product knowledge is not sufficient for selling insurance, some thing should be added up in training program like human behavior, CRM, knowledge of other financial tools, communication program, and especially how to improve way of delivery. Mostly, people are not satisfied from the past service of insurance companies due to dependence on agents or no knowledge about process, so there should be need to increase awareness about self service and awareness among people by training and advertisement. Insurance is long term contract and saving tool, after a time people feel less interested towards it, so time to time motivation is important. 6. APPENDICES APPENDIX-I INSURANCE QUESTIONNAIRE This is a questionnaire intended to determine the factors which leads to buying of insurance products. Name: Age: Contact Number: Occupation: Annual income: Address: 1. Do you have a life insurance policy? If yes, Please mention the details of the policy below Yes company name†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Type of Product†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ No 2. What are your main reasons for buying insurance or what would be the likely reason for buying an insurance policy? Tax Investment Disciplined saving Retirement others 3. What criteria do you apply for selecting an insurance company? Service Trust Advertisements Recommendations Agent Features of Products 4. Rate the importance for each factor (Tick in the appropriate box) Factor No impact Minor impact Moderate impact Major impact Only factors for buying Service Trust Advertisements Recommendations From friend/family Agent Features of product Brand name is a priority to me while buying insurance Strongly Disagree Mildly Disagree Neutral Mildly Agree Strongly Agree I only buy insurance from well known organizations Strongly Disagree Mildly Disagree Neutral Mildly Agree Strongly Agree I expect good returns while investing in insurance Strongly Disagree Mildly Disagree Neutral Mildly Agree Strongly Agree Life cover is vital in an insurance policy Strongly Disagree Mildly Disagree Neutral Mildly Agree Strongly Agree My spouses choice influences my decision to buy insurance Strongly Disagree Mildly Disagree Neutral Mildly Agree Strongly Agree What type of Advertisements are influential in my knowledge of insurance products Television E-mails Bill boards Door to door Company calls Insurance agents have convinced me to buy products previously Strongly Disagree Mildly Disagree Neutral Mildly Agree Strongly Agree Amount of premium to be paid decides which insurance I would buy Strongly Disagree Mildly Disagree Neutral Mildly Agree Strongly Agree Are you married? i) If married to whom you will insure wife Child Parents Yourself ii) If you are single to whom you will insure Parents Brothers Sisters Yourself 14. What are the features you consider before taking an Insurance policy? Insurance Coverage High Returns Low premium amount Flexible withdrawals Risk Involved Others 15. Which type of insurance policy would you entertain with increase in return Whole life policy (5 to 6% low risk) Endowment (9% moderate) ULIP (gt;15% high risk) Equity (very high risk) 16. Do you know about IDBI? i) Yes ii) No If yes in what mode IDBI bank IDBI Fortis life insurance 17. Do you know about any of the following Insurance plans offered by IDBI Fortis? i) Yes ii) No If YES: Incomesurance Wealthsurance Homesurance protection plan Termsurance Retiresurance APPENDIX-III Sample of My Time Credit Database Customer name Age Mobile number email id Address Sravan.T 23 9676999797 [email  protected]/* */ Hyderabad Satish.M 42 9246181857 no Challapalli Sita Maha Lakshmi. 60 9701740350 no Mekavaripalem T.V.Laksmi 45 9391306066 [email  protected]/* */ Hyderabad Prassana.M 28 9247202968 [email  protected]/* */ Hyderabad Ramesh.M 45 9299052340 no Vijayawada Manasa.S 24 9951736393 [email  protected]/* */ Tirupathi Rajya Lakshmi.k 55 8008665052 [email  protected]/* */ Indore Masood Khan 34 9866975670 [email  protected]/* */ Hyderabad prasad.T 53 9490490738 no Khammam Sujatha.k 34 9493217915 no khammam Vimala.T 43 9703244154 no Khammam Bhadhram 38 9949475696 no Khammam Swatantra.J 29 7893482851 no Hyderabad Aruna Mandava 38 no no Hyderabad Nagaraju.B 28 9948263630 no Hyderabad Bhavani Meka 40 9247927490 no Challapalli Shalini.V 23 8019393207 [email  protected]/* */ Hyderabad Lakshmi 40 no Khammam Praful Laxman Fulzele 26 9505680508 [email  protected]/* */ Hyderabad Subbarao.M 42 9849236465 no Hyderabad Anand.M 24 9989606504 [email  protected]/* */ Hyderabad Ram chandra rao.M 29 9246873067 [email  protected]/* */ Hyderabad U.Veera Brahmam 27 9885796006 [email  protected]/* */ Rajmundry P.Naveen Sagar 22 9177706112 [email  protected]/* */ Hyderabad C.Madhav Bhaskar 23 9866874504 [email  protected]/* */ Chennai K.Kiran 23 9642125321 [email  protected]/* */ Vishakhapatnam Padavala Kiran 26 9160023089 no Rajmundry B.S.Vivekananda 52 7600038023 [email  protected]/* */ Ahmedabad

The For The Homeless Population - 1695 Words

Introduction The population I chose for this treatment group is the homeless population with a focus on life skills; more specifically with barriers to employment. The general population puts unrealistic expectations upon the homeless rather than meeting them with empathy and realistic support. Having a support group for the homeless population to talk to one another is beneficial in numerous ways. The group members can share tips and tricks, can validate one another, can build a sense of belonging and camaraderie, and the group could provide a safe outlet to learn, on their own terms, basic life skills to improve the populations day to day struggles. People often times believe the homeless are lazy and say â€Å"why don’t they just find a†¦show more content†¦Life skills as a treatment approach for the homeless population in a group setting has the possibility of having a large variety of levels of societal functioning. For example, we could have a group with a range of very low functioning adults that suffer from mental illness or developmental disabilities or very high functioning adults that may suffer from substance abuse or job loss. This range of members could prove to motivate or hinder progress depending on what type of members join and where they are in knowledge and skills pertaining to independetn living. Exclusions from the group would be active substance users, if under the age of eighteen, if miss more than two sessions with inadequate excuse. I also would address a late policy as to not miss too much of each session and as it would be a distraction to other members. Instructor preparation for this group would be securing a location to conduct the group, exploring the community to find resources and talk to agencies that can support the group or offer services available. The instructor would need to identify transportation opportunities and limitations and possibly partner with a local homeless shelter or food pantry to recruit participants. The ideal length of the treatment would be twelve weeks with weekly sessions lasting two to three hours depending on group size. Ideally the group would be coed with members that are 18 or older and at least sixShow MoreRelatedThe Homeless Population953 Words   |  4 PagesThere are many avenues one could choose when looking for a way to give back to the community. I decided to focus on giving back to the homeless population. For one week, a group of church members, and myself went to the state of California to serve the homeless population in Los Angeles, and San Francisco in more ways than one. We started the journey in downtown L.A.. That first morning we were given beaten-up clothing, and sent out the door of the hotel with no breakfast or money. In partners weRead MoreHomeless Population And The Homeless Families1421 Words   |  6 PagesThis paper will talk about the homeless population and the homeless families. It will explore the multiple causes of family homelessness and the struggle has on homeless family life. The three main reasons for homeless families within America are the following: 1) the lack of affordable housing, 2) low income 3) Inadequate federal subsidy. This paper will also give possible solutions to family homelessness and improvement plans for the future. Home is where the heart is. -Pliny the Elder We haveRead MoreHomelessness : The Homeless Population843 Words   |  4 Pages Seven billion people, that is the number of individuals that fill this vast world and 25 percent are homeless. Homelessness does not just transpire overnight, in poor countries, and to adults. This dire circumstance can develop anywhere: from poverty stricken countries to the wealthiest in the world and to people of any generation. Tragically, 30 percent of the homeless population is comprised of children (HomeAid.). Government and communities need to work together to develop more solutionsRead MoreThe Problem Of Homeless Population1401 Words   |  6 Pagesnumber of homeless people; this situation has been highly overlooked by media and political attention. Cities in many parts of the world may be known as centers for poverty whether if it s a developed or developing country. No city, state, or country is prone to homelessness. Los Angeles in particular is an entry point for many immigrants who come to look for jobs. The intentions are not to cause there to be a vulnerability to poverty but to try to make a living some how. â€Å"Skid Row homeless populationRead MoreHomelessness And The Homeless Population1570 Words   |  7 PagesThe United States spends over a billion dollars each year to assist homeless persons to find permanent supportive housing. Federal programs provide funding for specific sub-groups with the idea that providing housing for these groups will end the national problem. Without continued analysis of the social construction that hinders the homeless population, funding will not reach the target destination resulting in misplaced effort. This paper provides an informational and critical analysis of homelessnessRead MoreHomelessness : The Homeless Population Essay1703 Words   |  7 Pagesyear. Homelessness is an endless epidemic that continues to grow. There isn’t one specific causal factor to this every increasing population. Individuals experien cing homelessness come from various backgrounds and cultures physically, financially, and emotionally. They could be considered the melting pot for diversity. Often times individuals experiencing homeless are judged by their outer appearance with no regard for the contributing factors to the situation. According to the National AllianceRead MorePoverty And The Homeless Population Essay1704 Words   |  7 Pagespercent increase since the homeless count in 2013 (Halstead). These numbers are only expected to go up in the coming years, as long the problem of not enough room in shelters exist. In addition to the individual homeless population growing, the streets of Marin will see another consequence that the county faces due to this problem. The community will see a significant increase in the number of homeless families. Marin now more than before is seeing more families living on the streets. AccordingRead MoreVulnerable Population : The Homeless1212 Words   |  5 PagesVulnerable Population: The Homeless Having the privilege to work in one of the busiest emergency departments in Florida, I get to meet many different types of individuals, many of those being homeless. Homeless persons are high risk individuals requiring ED services due to their poor health status, high rates of morbidity, lack of health insurance, chronic use of alcohol and drug abuse, unintentional injuries and much more (Tang, Stein, Hsia, Maselli Gonzales, 2010). According to the NationalRead MoreA Research On The Homeless Population942 Words   |  4 Pages the author discusses his research on the homeless population. He refers to the many routes one can take to become homeless. Choose two populations from his list that you think might work in your career as a human service professional. Describe two possible interventions or tasks that you might be involved with in working with each population. What are some of the general skills a human services professional might need to work with these populations? There are many types of homelessness in ourRead MoreHomeless Population Essay991 Words   |  4 PagesHomeless Populations HN200 1. In your text on pages 206-207, the author discusses his research on the homeless population. He refers to the many routes one can take to become homeless. Choose two populations from his list that you might work with in your career as a human services professional. Describe two possible interventions or tasks that you might be involved with in working with each population. What are some of the general skills a human services professional might need to

Essential Component of Contemporary People †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Why Is Employee Engagement An Essential Component Of Contemporary People Management? Answer: Introducation: Employee engagement refers to the approach through which an organization motivates the employees to work harder. An engaged employee is fully involved and enthusiastic for his or her work. The engaged employees are attracted, inspired and committed towards their work. The engaged employees care for the future and the profits of the company. It refers to the attachment of the organization towards their place of work, job role and position within the company. The culture of the organization is correlated with the employee engagement and eventually productivity of the organization (Breevaart et al., 2006). The employee engagement involves the use of new measures and initiatives to increase the attachment of the employees with the organization and therefore increase the productivity and the business success. The employee engagement theories state that the employees who are engaged within the organization remain loyal and more productive in comparison to other employees. Moreover, employe e engagement works as a motivation during difficult economic and personal times. Therefore, the organizations adopt a large number of human resource practices to achieve employee engagement. It includes practices in recruitment, performance management, and human resource development and employee reward system (Albrecht et al., 2015). A business organization can adapt practices to increase the employee engagement towards the organization. An organization can adapt its recruitment and selection strategy to increase the employee engagement in the organization. Today, most of the companies understand that employee engagement is essential for the productivity of the business; however, a large number of people are not engaged in the business organizations. The disengaged employees are willing to jump to other companies and do not shy away in doing damage to the companies. The organization also needs to employ employee engagement methods as lower engagement is associated with decreased productivity, growth and quality of services. It also increases the employee turnover and employee dissatisfaction (Cook, 2008). In order to increase the employee engagement, the organization should implement new strategies at each stage of HR process. In the recruitment, the organization can engage the employees by keeping the job descriptions straightforward and realistic. The HR manager should also assure that the career goals and passion of the employees align with the position offered by the company. The HR manager should also scrutinize whether the behavior and personality of the employee fits with the culture of the organization. The employees are more likely to get engaged if they are clear about their job role and what is expected of them. Moreover, they are also more likely to get engaged if they know the career opportunities and advancements (McPhie, 2009). The HR manager should also manage the hiring process by making the applicants informed regarding the process and making them feel that they are an important part of the organization. The employees should be welcomed in the organization by providing welcoming email or sharing an interesting article about the company (McPhie, 2009). In a business organization, the employee engagement can also be encouraged by adopting different strategies in human resource development. The Human Resource Development is directly associated with the attaining organizations goals and competitive advantage. Training and development are crucial part of the human resource development of the organization. The employee training is a learning experience which can bring change in the behavior of the employees to increase the productivity (Shuck et al, 2014). Employee training is associated with the improvement of the employees skills which can improve their performance through employee engagement. Training is crucial for the employee engagement as when the employees are provided with the training to manage their stress at work or home, they become more productive and engaged towards their work. The training in the professional domain will reduce the employees error in their work which will reduce their stress with work and eventually incr ease their engagement with the company. The employees can also be trained in conflict management, stress management and ethical training to increase their engagement with the organization. If the employees are provided with the training and development in a transparent manner, they will become more engaged with the organization. Ethical training is also commonly used to increase cooperation between the employees and the teachers. The employees provided with the ethical training are more cooperative because ethics increases the feeling of caring and cooperation. The face to face and distance ethical training both have significant positive impact on the employee engagement (Azeem and Paracha, 2013). After the selection of the employees, the organization can motivate them by providing attractive remuneration. The employees can be engaged within the organization by aligning the performance of the employees with their compensation. The performance management has a positive impact on the employee engagement of the organization. If the performance management of the employees is done correctly, it can increase the performance of the employees. The performance management includes all the activities referring to the development, feedback and the professional growth of the employees (Balakrishnan, Masthan and Chandra, 2013). A business organization can increase the employee engagement by adopting several strategies such as providing high quality informal feedback, accurately evaluating the performance of the employees, creating clear and concise work plans and timetables. In the performance management, an organization can adopt several strategies to increase the performance management of the employees. It includes clarity, support, fit, feedback and development of the employees. The employee engagement can be drastically increased by providing clarity regarding what the expectations of the organization with the employees and providing them with challenging yet realistic goals. The organization should also adopt strategies to provide support to the employees. The support can be provided to the employees by providing them with the tools and training which are a part of the performance management process. The HR manager can identify the weakness areas of the employees in the performance management process. Feedback is also a part of the performance management which can increase the performance of the employees and increase their engagement of the organization. With feedback, the organization can extract the best potential of the candidates. The performance management is used to identify the highest potential candidates. The highest performing employees can be engaged with the organization by using effective reward strategies. It is important for any organization to provide an effective reward system which motivates and engage the employees with the organization. The business organizations can use effective reward strategies such as monetary or non-monetary rewards to compensate them for their productivity. It could be examined that several factor work together to engage the employees in the workplace. The contribution of these factors varies in strength and their appeal to the workers. The career growth opportunities, health benefits, job training and interaction with the co-workers contribute significantly to the success of the organization. Career development is one of the most significant factors in the employee training; therefore, the organization should invest in the employee training. The organization should iden tify the opportunities for upward mobility so that the employees can take up higher roles and use the obtained skills effectively. In addition to it, the organization should also encourage job rotation so that the employees can learn regarding different job roles and overall business operations of the organization. The remuneration is essential for retaining talented employees in the organization. The organizations should focus on retaining skilled talent with the organization by investing in policies and practices which foster engagement and commitment in the organization. After the recruitment of the candidate, the salary and the package of the employees is the best contributor to increase the employee engagement. The social exchange theory states that the interaction with the coworkers is significant in engaging the employees within the organization (Bal and De Lange, 2015). The employees feel happy and focus on their jobs if they are satisfied with their work environment. If the employees get the feeling that they have enough growth opportunity in the organization, they will get engaged towards their job (Kimutai and Sakatala, 2015). It can be concluded that the employee engagement is an essential component of the contemporary business management. Employee engagement is essential in the retention of the employees and obtaining maximum output from them. The employee engagement is essential for increasing the productivity of the organization and retains the talented employees within the organization. The companies implement a number of strategies for increasing the engagement of the employees within the organization. These strategies can be implemented at all the stages of human resource management. The organization should be clear and transparent in the job description, selection process of the employees and selects the candidates whose personality aligns with the goals of the organization. In the performance management, the organization should adopt an accurate performance evaluation system and provide periodic feedback to the employees. Reward system is also essential for the engagement of the employees within t he organization. References Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. and Saks, A.M., 2015. Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach.Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance,2(1), pp.7-35. Azeem, M.F., Paracha, A.T. (2013). Connecting Training and Development with Employee Engagement: How Does it Matter? World Applied Sciences Journal 28(5), 696-703. Bal, P.M. and De Lange, A.H., 2015. From flexibility human resource management to employee engagement and perceived job performance across the lifespan: A multisample study. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88(1), pp.126-154. Balakrishnan, C., Masthan, D. and Chandra, V., 2013. Employee retention through employee engagement-A study at an Indian international airport. International Journal of Business and Management Invention ISSN (Online), pp.2319-8028. Breevaart, K., Bakker, A., Hetland, J., Demerouti, E., Olsen, O.K. and Espevik, R., 2014. Daily transactional and transformational leadership and daily employee engagement.Journal of occupational and organizational psychology,87(1), pp.138-157. Cook, S. (2008). The Essential Guide to Employee Engagement: Better Business Performance Through Staff Satisfaction. Kogan Page Publishers. Kimutai, K.A. and Sakatala, W. (2015). Effect of reward on employee engagement and commitment at Rift Valley Bottlers Company. International Academic Journal of Human Resource and Business Administration, 1 (5), 36-54. McPhie, N.A.G. (2009). Power of Federal Employee Engagement. DIANE Publishing. Shuck, B., Twyford, D., Reio, T.G. and Shuck, A., 2014. Human resource development practices and employee engagement: Examining the connection with employee turnover intentions. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 25(2), pp.239-270.

Mencius And Hsun-tzu About Heaven Essays - Confucianism,

Mencius And Hsun-tzu About Heaven Mencius believes that it is our nature and mind that determine what we are. It is our fate that governs our fortunes and determines our lease on life. Fate was originally a patent to a fief-holder, given by the Son of Heaven as Heaven's deputy to a feudatory. In extended usage it became our lot in life - the fate ordained by heaven. While people guard their minds and determine their conduct, they cannot determine their fate, which is in Heaven's hands. So, Mencius believed that though all humans are innately good, the realization of that good comes with self-cultivation and self-knowledge. Hsun-tzu could not accept Mencius idealistic view of human nature, nor did he believe that Heaven was the sole arbiter of human behavior. He believed that the importance of humankind in the universe is equal to but different from the importance of Heaven and Earth: "Heaven has its seasons, Earth has its riches and man has his culture. This is what is meant by the Trinity." Humanity's function is to utilize the resources of Heaven and Earth to create its own culture. This can be done through the strength acquired from social organization. However, because the social organization needs to be regulated, lest it break down, and because "desires are many, but things are few", Hsun-tzu taught that people need to be restricted and guided by rules and morality. In my view of these two philosophers, I feel that Mencius' views are much more common in most religious traditions today. Mencius beliefs are a lot like Christianity, which is the religion that I am most familiar with. He believes that Heaven is a moral force whose mandate is to be respected and followed by human beings. We follow Heaven's mandate by knowing and nourishing our human nature. Our human nature is good. When you look at the Doctrine of four beginnings, Jen, Yi, Li, and Chih, when these are fully developed, you have a very wise and harmonious person. If you have nature you have Heaven. If no nature, no Heaven. This is self-cultivation. In my religious tradition if you do the will of God, you will receive eternal life (Heaven).

Gender Equality in Local Governance in Kerala Essays

Gender Equality in Local Governance in Kerala Essays Gender Equality in Local Governance in Kerala Essay Gender Equality in Local Governance in Kerala Essay Gender Equality in Local Governance in Kerala: This article entirely focuses on the minimum transportation of resources to adult females and gender based equal distribution in Kerala. A privilege for adult females in Kerala in the signifier of reserve was introduced during 1996. Patriarchal construction and entrenched civilization have constrained limitations on women’s mobility and less disposable clip for their place based duties. They are non allowed to exert authorization which is understood as inordinate normative behavior of adult females by society. But the fixed mainstream political relations have encouraged adult females, within constrained limitations, to take part. They have developed their normative feminine codifications to work within. : Reservation was introduced to further gender equality either by reforming attitudes of society or edifice capacities of adult females to plan and implement a programme efficaciously. Gradually, Gender Training has come into manner and has been institutionalised for freshly elected representatives. There is job in domestication of gender with the unknown issue of power: The â€Å"Gender† as a construct, is misunderstood by all. Gender is attributed to adult females which consequences into restricting contrivers in doing policies which is, in bend, non the instance. This has to see male childs and misss both with mention to the gender. Undertaking preparation by placing practical demands and strategic demands is done through the nature of demands but do non use position used to reassign identified demands. Gender is attributed to binary relation to the sex which consequences in to possible difference between work forces and adult females. This attack to the gender is confined within one construction. It is obvious that adult females will be in place to alter the state of affairs of adult females want. They are expected to be the representatives of their wards which they will guarantee the general demands of administration with the particular involvement of their ain. With the debut of 50 % reserve to the chairmen’s sit for the adult females has increased challenges and chances every bit good. Previously, the sit for presidents was ensured to be taken up by male members. The different image can be seen in Kerala with regard the support given by household members particularly by hubbies. In contrast to this position, the state of affairs in Maharashtra and Karnataka shows that their household members are utilizing adult females sarpancha’s to transport out their ain work. When adult females, attributed to party households, articulation parties, party and household becomes a joint support for them but it is less seen or experienced by the adult females themselves by restraining them to restrictive regulations or normative feminine. â€Å"We believe that this is because the majority of development and human rights work toward gender in-equality ignores the function of the establishments ( formal and informal ) that maintain adult females s unequal position.†( Bandyopadhyay, 2000 ) Institutions as the regulations for accomplishing societal or economic terminals determine who gets what, who does what, and who decides. The regulations that maintain adult females s place in societies may be stated or inexplicit. These regulations would include values that maintain the gendered division of labor ; prohibitions on adult females having land ; and limitations on adult females s mobility. Possibly the most cardinal is the devaluing of generative work.( Bandyopadhyay, 2000 ) â€Å"Gender mainstreaming is a look popularised by the United Nations bureau. It was originally conceived as a manner to convey about institutional trans-formation. It is seen as a agency to accomplish gender equality, in the just entree to society s resources, chances, instruction, and equal engagement in the defining of determinations, act uponing what is valued, and so on.†( Bandyopadhyay, 2000 ) â€Å"The path record of gender mainstreaming within development bureaus ( public and private ) has been hapless chiefly because it has been reluctantly adopted by mainstream development bureaus, whose top leader-ship has non adequately supported this agenda.†( Bandyopadhyay, 2000 ) The articles negotiations about the male representative’s answerability in party with mention to constrained construction. The Research Centre for Local Self Governance, Centre for Development Studies had organised the workshop in this respect during January 2011. The workshop gathered position of freshly elected male representatives on gender attitudes through structured format. They used, group treatments, questionnaire and gender appraisal as tool to arouse. During the two twenty-four hours workshop which happened for two yearss, dowery, force against adult females and deficiency of employment chances were the major issues that assorted representatives from all territories of Kerala, raised. Some of the representatives were of position that adult females have to be protected even if felt necessary to restrict their right as citizen particularly when there is fright of failure of work of dominant sexual morality. During assorted activities conducted with representatives, issues of adult females security were raised. Many of adult females emigrate abroad at the age of 30 even though they are choosing for. At last representatives took consentaneous determination of non directing adult females abroad until their security is ensured by the authorities. The treatment revolved around dowry whether it is accepted or non. Religion like Muslim, tend to non accept dowery but take into consideration early matrimony as a societal usage. The issues and chances every bit good, of male childs are misss are of import but misss should be overly disciplined with regard to celibacy and they should be thought to be good female parent and good married womans every bit good. Some of the challenges: Politicss as masculine infinite: it is appreciated that adult females face barriers to come in into political relations as work forces. The survey showed that most of households who had politicians in portion attempt to pull female member as campaigner in LSG. These adult females survives in household party than other adult females. Political sphere with deficiency of adult females critical mass: Womans are missing in corporate action. Thre are common jobs of some kind which can do them togather. But they are being unite as they are confined to one topographic point and they can non traverse which has flowed base called cognition. Womans with backing in political relations: The effectual adult females could easy be removed from the political relations through doing slander committedness of holding sexual relationship, against adult females. That is why, adult females demands to be disciplined without groking the fact. There has been leery attitude of hubbies whose married womans are in political relations. Those adult females have to fall back as they do non acquire backing from their ain households. To advance organizational alteration that will enable the administration to dispute gender inequality, alteration agents must understand and associate organizational alteration, institutional alteration and gender equality. Institutions vary within and across civilizations, and are invariably germinating and altering, they are embedded in relational hierarchies of gender, category, caste, and other critical mistake lines, which define individualities and distribute power both symbolically and materially Womans are prevented from disputing establishments by four inter-related factors: Lack of political entree: there is neither any system nor powerful politicians or civilians who will turn to the same issues and set away the tabular array. Lack of appropriate answerability systems: all resources of an administration steered towards peculiar subdivisions as mark which is indirectly made for institutional alteration for gender equality. Cultural systems: The division of house work is ever attributed to adult females and society has made of adult females in order to do them occupy in their work hence which will ensue into low engagement rate or no engagement at all. This article suggests two attacks for gender equality, one is Gender substructure and 2nd one is organizational alteration attack. Gender substructure attack: This attack involves alteration in the basic substructure of the society. It believes change through different policies. Policies that will chiefly concentrate on gender, technically skilled adult females for execution of programmes at bureau, gender preparation and gender analysis tools. Organizational alteration attack: This attack believes in the capacity edifice of administration which will dispute gender biased institutional regulations, doing adult females voices more power full to asseverate their rights, Democratizing their relationship among assorted people, doing establishments more accountable to the adult females Problems in Locating Women in Public Policy( Jain, 2007 ): This article talks about the gender public policy and identifies three basic issues in policy 1 ) We deem adult females as sole class which can be seen through experiences of feminine demands to the people is challenge. All adult females belong to some or the other class of the society. It could caste, category, civilization, tradition and so on but fact is non seen by existent spears. Thought these elements are spliting them on assorted footing they are meeting on the same avenues. Second job is with the flawed cognition of the society and adult females every bit good. The work of the adult females is all decided by patriarchal steps. What sort of work is evaluated, which work is good and has value these all decided by them. As a consequence of this adult females work is non counted, non valued and it is ever unseeable. â€Å"The non-monetised sector is either accorded a lower value or no value compared to the monetised† Therefore if a policy arises out of such familial â€Å"flawed† cognition, adult females advocators would non desire to take part in it.† ( Jain, 2007 ) Third job is that adult females are remaining in fluid which is confined in boundaries. These boundaries are required to invalid for them to enable. These are hindering engagement of adult females at the policy degree where they can recommend every construct and perceptual experience based on patriarchal society. â€Å"The â€Å"Women s tent† as perceptual experience perpetuates the adult females for adult females by adult females to adult females syndrome, a syndrome which is excepting adult females non merely from recasting and reordering development, but besides denying the class of development to reflect the lived experience of adult females. Policy issues are non merely about women’s issues. Women need a say in all issues as spouses in the development of society. Thus the topographic point of one’s ain can be a human dynamo or a ghetto, or both.† ( Jain, 2007 ) There are some utile waies which would further adult females engagement in societal alteration. The bonding of assorted individualities of adult females for strategising is indispensable to do free to take part in public domain. First of all we need knowledge which describes item border of adult females in respect to differences among family, households, sexes, function distribution and so on. These historical events will give us manner for their development of engagement and alteration in ongoing procedure. In order to derive the power for acquiring unit power as mass power of adult females they require to take part in leading, directing people on right way for adult females development We can construct up an equal cognition of the societal constructions of gender functions, and so step in in policy by analyzing the impact of gender insensitive preparations and placing countries where intercessions are possible. Work of adult females at place is unseeable and like the work is ever deemed to be in informal sector. Hence, favoritism at the topographic point or work, low rewards and unequal distribution of resources take topographic point. The survey on adult females initiated by the institute of societal survey trust to see the political orientation developed at international degree. The survey was done to enable every bit good as indentify new avenues of promoting adult females participant at local administration. Mentions: Bandyopadhyay, D. ( 2000 ) . Gender and Governance in India.Economic and Political Weekly, 2696-2699. Jain, D. ( 2007 ) . To Be or Not to Be.Economic and Political Weekly, 691-696. KODOTH, P. ( 2011 ) . Gender Equality in Local Governance in Kerala.Economic and Political Weekly, 36-43.

Second Analytical Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Second Analytical Paper - Essay Example It was easier for Gilbert to use his power over African settlers because of the superiority he felt for them. With the use of colonialism, and with the proper methods that he introduced to the settlers, he was able to gain the confidence of the native Africans, consequently building for him a place in the social strata in Africa and establishing a position of power and superiority. Gilbert is from a more developed country thus is educated with more advanced farming methods. England is a developed country with all the advantages of the United Kingdom and all the influence over its neighboring countries. England also keeps the education being given in schools and universities at par with global standards that makes the graduates of the country viable for any premier company. England sees to it that it produces citizens who not only are able to provide for him but is also able to work from different settings. Citizens coming from England like Gilbert are trained under rigorous circumstances to be able to adapt to the situation they are put against so that they will not face any difficulties. The presence of high tech resources and internationally acclaimed gadgets for demonstration purposes as well as for real world problems make them highly knowledgeable in terms of the recent innovations in technology. This Gilbert used in his colonialism strategy in Africa. While he was an average individual in England, he was a highly skilled person in the eyes of Africans, thus making him a man more than he really as. Coming from a country of wealth and power makes controlling poor countries easier. Gilbert was a man who was accustomed to the vestiges of success and competition. England is a highly revered country that is able to use its available resources for the betterment of its colonies. England is also a country that claims to take initiative to take under its wings countries that need support in terms of technical

Two high school teachers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Two high school teachers - Essay Example gh school teachers is the same that is guiding and educating the students; despite of this, their way of teaching, giving instructions and their relationship with the students is very different. Both the teachers are excellent at their job but their methodologies of teaching differ from each other. My Maths teacher places greater emphasis on class work and ensures that all students complete the work taught in class there and then. She does not burden the students with homework. Instead, her stress is more on regularly testing the students and she conducts class tests every week. This is a method used by her to make sure that the students study at home and practice for the tests. She does not overburden the students by giving them too much of homework and conducting tests at the same time. On the other hand, my English teacher tries to spend greater time in class to explain and teach the students and answer their queries. He does not provide much work in class. But he ensures that the students are given regular homework. He does not conduct regular class tests but rather he takes monthly tests. He follows this pattern so that the students gain the maximum in class and revise the subject while doing the homework. Both the teachers try that their students gain the maximal knowledge, but their instructional goals are different; such as the student’s grade, what they would like their students to learn, and what a successful future is for the students. It is the goal of every teacher to make their students learn new things and to enhance their knowledge but their approaches vary. My English teacher focuses on helping the students improve in their weak points rather than only focusing on their strengths. He wants us to improve ourselves not just in a particular sector but to be all-rounders. According to him, our successful future depends on not just being book-worms or getting high grades but also being intellectual and smart. He expects us to have clear concepts

Play Production In The Greek & Elizabethan Eras Essay Example for Free

Play Production In The Greek Elizabethan Eras Essay The contemporary Greek play was an amalgamation of several artistic tools like pictures for example the one shown below which conveyed strong message to the audience. There were numerous other scenic elements used in the Greek theater. When a crane was used (called machina in Greek), it gave an impression of an airborne actor. A wheeled wagon was also common in the Greek playhouses and it made it possible for the audience to view dead characters. Openings in the ground, for example trap doors, were vital as they were used to elevate people onto the stage. Pictures like the one above, pinakes, were used to demonstrate a scenes backdrop. Satyr plays were very common in the Greek playhouses just as were the tragedies. Phallic props were used in such plays to symbolize fertility in of the Roman and the Greek god of wine- Dionysus. Elizabethan acting was not any near ‘naturalistic.’ The repertory of the Elizabethan era was extremely divergent from that of the present as was the demands on Elizabethan actors compared to the present day’s actors. Elizabethan theaters in two weeks could frequently present â€Å"eleven shows of ten dissimilar plays†. Playhouses would not show again the same play two days in a row. The Elizabethan Era was moment that reflected the atmosphere and values of the 16th century through the application of fashion. It was a phase where a lot of uniqueness and originality was manifest and was used to produce fresh styles of dress. The style in Elizabethan England at this time replicated the worth and principles of the era. The physical theatre spaces, sets, Costumes, Lights, Who would be in the audience Much may not be available to talk about the performance space for the Greek plays. This because all that is available for consultation is basically the works of literature. However, the Greek performances took place in theaters which could be subdivided into three: Athenian, Graeco-Roman and Hellenistic. In the Elizabethan era the theater consisted of theater not only as a form of art but also as a form of institution as well. There was originality then as evidenced in dressing styles and the costumes. However, the Elizabethan playhouse never made use of prolific or lavish scenery, but as an alternative the stage was left largely exposed with a few key props, the chief visual appeal on stage was in the costumes. Costumes were habitually brilliant in color and visually enchanting. Costumes were expensive, nonetheless, so generally players wore fashionable clothing in spite of the time interlude of the play. Intermittently, a lead character would be dressed in a conventionalized edition of more historically accurate apparel, but secondary characters would nevertheless remain in fashionable attire- (Bracewell, N. 1999). The Greek theaters were filled with Athenians who formed a majority of the judges (audience). There was an extremely large audience who were won by the playwrights through distribution of small gifts and flattery as well. Dealing with rowdy (in the strict sense of being extremely loud) was a challenge the playwrights had learned to deal with through performance of some outrageous and interesting act to draw the attention of the spectators. What might be the topic of a play in theater?   What was not acceptable as a topic for a play? The Greek plays circulated around tragedies, comedies or satyrs. This was also the case with Elizabethan era whose plays got much support fro the queen. In the Greek era women were forbidden from acting thus all the actors then were men. In terms of the experience, in relation to the Elizabethan era, the religiosity of the community or the individual played a major role. However, most of those who went to the theaters enjoyed dancing and playing other games like cards. In the Greek era, it was quite a motivating factor that every day of performance there had to be at least totally different issue or subject matter of performance. It would therefore motivate audience who crowded the Athenian theaters to have their full experience. In this era too, the experience of an individual was wholly or jointly dependent on the social class of the community or individual. The higher caste would have their best when it comedy while the lower class individuals were little more violent- (Ruben F. 2006).

William Shakespeares The Winters Tale Essay -- William Shakespeare W

William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale In Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, the playwright introduces his audience to a world blending natural imagery with that of ancient religion. Appearing as nature’s child, Perdita fails to realize her own identity and does not recognize that the flowers she describes mimic her own image. Just as gillyvors are a result of crossbreeding, the shepherdess is essentially one of nature’s bastards since she eventually discovers Porrus has been an adoptive father for her, and Leontes is her biological father. Perdita not only shares her natural image with the goddess Proserpina, but also shares in the goddess’ fate as a lost daughter. Much like Proserpina who represents the springtime, Perdita exemplifies the natural growth and prosperity that accompanies the season. When Antigonus agrees to take up Perdita and leave her to chance, he understands that she is nature’s child since â€Å"Some powerful spirit instruct the kites and ravens / To be thy nurses. Wolves and bears, they say, / Casting their savageness aside, have done / Like offices of pity† (II.iii.185-8). Nature then raises the infant as her own when Perdita takes on natural attributes uncommon among humankind. Before Antigonus abandons the infant Perdita in accordance with Leontes’ orders, he addresses the babe, â€Å"Blossom, speed thee well† (III.iii.45), as though Perdita resembles a flower in full bloom. As Perdita grows older, the shepherdess imparts her â€Å"blossoming† image on others, particularly on the courtiers who greet her in the country. After asking Dorcas to â€Å"Give [her] those flowers there,† she distributes â€Å"rosemary and rue [which] keep / Seeming and savor all the winter long† (IV.iv.73-5). The flowers ... ...u might well enjoy her† (V.i.214-5). Perdita’s beauty surpasses her lowly stature to the point where she is not regarded as a shepherdess to Leontes, but rather as a higher power. Perdita ultimately takes on the natural image of Proserpina as well as her role as a lost daughter. Through the flowers Perdita mentions, she effectively manages to describe not only her own identity, but that of the goddess. Even though Antigones abandons the shepherdess at birth, Perdita’s missing person and questionable identity causes others to also lose the ones they love and opportunities they could have had. Because the loss of Perdita creates significant loss for others, it is as though the maiden has a hand in others’ lives, much like the gods. Thus her indirect intervention, image, and role as a lost daughter all play a key part in her representation of Proserpina.

Shadow Kiss Chapter 25

Twenty-five DEAD OR TAKEN AWAY. It wasn't enough that the Strigoi had come and attacked us, that they'd killed Moroi and dhampirs alike. They'd also carried some off. It was something Strigoi were known to do. Even they had limits on how much blood they could drink at once. So they'd often take prisoners to keep as snacks for later. Or sometimes a powerful Strigoi who didn't want to do the dirty work would send his or her minions off to bring back the prey. Every once in a while, they'd even purposely take back captives to turn into more Strigoi. Whatever the reason, it meant that some of our people might still be alive. Students, Moroi and dhampir, were gathered up once certain buildings had been declared Strigoi-free. Adult Moroi were herded inside with us, leaving the guardians to assess the damage. I wanted desperately to be with them, to help and do my part, but they made it clear my part was over. There was nothing I could do at that point except wait and worry with the others. It still seemed unreal. Strigoi attacking our school. How could it have happened? The Academy was safe. We'd always been taught that. It had to be safe. It was why our school years were so long and why Moroi families endured being separated for most of the year. It was worth it for children to have a safe place to go. That was no longer true. It took only a couple hours for them to get a casualty count, but waiting while those reports trickled in felt like days. And the numbers†¦the numbers were harsh. Fifteen Moroi had been killed. Twelve guardians had been killed. A group of thirteen, both Moroi and dhampirs, had been taken away. The guardians estimated that there had been close to fifty Strigoi, which was beyond mind-boggling. They'd found twenty-eight Strigoi bodies. The rest appeared to have escaped, many taking victims with them. For that size of a Strigoi party, our casualty count was still lower than one might have expected. A few things were credited for saving us. One was the early warning. The Strigoi had barely penetrated the school's inner grounds when I'd warned Stan. The school had gone into lockdown quickly, and the fact that most everyone was already inside for curfew had helped. Most of the Moroi victims – dead or taken – were those who had been out in the open when the Strigoi came. The Strigoi had never made it into the elementary dorms, which Dimitri said was largely thanks to me and Christian. They had managed to breach one of the Moroi dorms, however – the one that Lissa lived in. My stomach had dropped when I heard that. And even though I could feel that she was fine through the bond, all I could see was that smirking blond Strigoi, telling me he was going to finish the Dragomirs off. I didn't know what had happened to him; the attacking Strigoi group hadn't gotten far into her dorm, thankfully, but there had been casualties. One of them was Eddie. â€Å"What?† I exclaimed when Adrian told me. We were eating in the cafeteria. I wasn't sure which meal it was since the campus had reverted to a daylight schedule that threw my sense of timing off. The cafeteria was nearly silent, all conversations in low whispers. Meals were the only reason students could leave their dorms. There was going to be a guardian meeting later on that I was actually invited to, but for now, I was confined with the rest of my friends. â€Å"He was with you guys,† I said. I focused on Lissa, almost accusingly. â€Å"I saw him with you. Through your eyes.† She looked up at me over the tray of food she had no interest in eating, her face pale and full of grief. â€Å"When the Strigoi got in downstairs, he and some other novices went down to help.† â€Å"They didn't find his body,† said Adrian. There was no smirk on his face, no humor anywhere. â€Å"He was one of the ones they took.† Christian sighed and leaned back in his chair. â€Å"He's as good as dead, then.† The cafeteria disappeared. I stopped seeing any of them. All I could see in that moment was that room back in Spokane, that room where we'd been held. They'd tortured Eddie and nearly killed him. That experience had changed him forever, affecting the way he now conducted himself as a guardian. He'd grown extremely dedicated as a result, but it had cost him some of the light and laughter he used to have. And now it was happening again. Eddie captured. He'd worked so hard to protect Lissa and others, risking his own life in the attack. I'd been nowhere near the Moroi dorm when it had happened, but I felt responsible – like I should have watched over him. Surely I owed it to Mason. Mason. Mason who had died on my watch and whose ghost I hadn't seen since he'd warned me earlier. I hadn't been able to save him, and now I'd lost his best friend too. I shot up from my chair and shoved my tray away. That dark fury I'd been fighting blazed through me. If Strigoi had been around, I could have burned them up with it, without any need of Christian's magic. â€Å"What's wrong?† asked Lissa. I stared at her in disbelief. â€Å"What's wrong? What's wrong? Do you seriously have to ask that?† In the silent cafeteria, my voice rang out. People stared. â€Å"Rose, you know what she means,† said Adrian, voice unusually calm. â€Å"We're all upset. Sit back down. It's going to be okay.† For a moment, I almost listened to him. Then, I shook it off. He was trying to use compulsion to chill me out. I glared at him. â€Å"It is not going to be okay – not unless we do something about this.† â€Å"There's nothing to be done,† said Christian. Beside him, Lissa was silent, still hurt from when I'd snapped at her. â€Å"We'll see about that,† I said. â€Å"Rose, wait,† she called. She was worried about me – and scared, too. It was tiny and selfish, but she didn't want me to leave her. She was used to me being there for her. I made her feel safe. But I couldn't stay, not right now. I stormed out of the commons and into the bright light outside. The guardians' meeting wasn't for another couple hours, but that didn't matter. I needed to talk to someone now. I sprinted to the guardians' building. Someone else was walking into it as I was, and I bumped her in my haste. â€Å"Rose?† My fury turned to surprise. â€Å"Mom?† My famous guardian mother, Janine Hathaway, stood there by the door. She looked the same as she had when I'd seen her at New Year's, her curly red hair still worn short and her face weathered from the sun. Her brown eyes seemed grimmer than last time, however, which was saying something. â€Å"What are you doing here?† I asked. As I'd told Deirdre, my mother and I had had a troubled relationship for most of my life, largely because of the distance that inevitably came with having a parent who was a guardian. I'd resented her for years and we still weren't super close, but she'd been there for me after Mason's death, and I think we both tentatively hoped things might improve in coming years. She'd left after New Year's, and last I'd heard, she'd gone back to Europe with the Szelsky she guarded. She opened the door, and I followed her through. Her manner was brusque and businesslike, as always. â€Å"Replenishing the numbers. They've called in extras to reinforce campus.† Replenishing the numbers. Replacing the guardians who had been killed. All the bodies had been cleared away – Strigoi, Moroi, and dhampir alike – but the hole left behind by those who were gone was apparent to all. I could still see them when I closed my eyes. But with her here, I realized I had an opportunity. I grabbed hold of her arm, which startled her. â€Å"We have to go after them,† I said. â€Å"Rescue the ones who were taken.† She regarded me carefully, a small frown the only sign of her feelings. â€Å"We don't do that kind of thing. You know that. We have to protect those who are here.† â€Å"What about those thirteen? Shouldn't we protect them? And you went on a rescue mission once.† She shook her head. â€Å"That was different. We had a trail. We wouldn't know where to find this group if we wanted to.† I knew she was right. The Strigoi wouldn't have left an easy path to follow. And yet†¦ suddenly, I had an idea. â€Å"They put the wards back up, right?† I asked. â€Å"Yes, almost immediately. We're still not sure how they were broken. There were no stakes used to pierce them.† I started to tell her my theory about that, but she wasn't up to speed with my ghostly shenanigans. â€Å"Do you know where Dimitri is?† She gestured toward groups of guardians hurrying all around. â€Å"I'm sure he's busy here somewhere. Everyone is. And now I need to go check in. I know you were invited to the meeting, but that's not for a while yet – you should stay out of the way.† â€Å"I will†¦ but I need to see Dimitri first. It's important – it might play a role in what happens at the meeting.† â€Å"What is it?† she asked suspiciously. â€Å"I can't explain yet†¦It's complicated. It'd take too much time. Help me find him, and we'll tell you later.† My mother didn't seem happy about this. After all, Janine Hathaway wasn't someone people usually said no to. But she nonetheless helped me find Dimitri. After the events over winter break, I think she'd come to regard me as more than a hapless teenager. We found Dimitri with some other guardians, studying a map of campus and planning how to distribute the newly arrived guardians. There were enough people gathered around the map that he was able to slip away. â€Å"What's going on?† he asked as he and I stood off to the side of the room. Even in the midst of this crisis, in the midst of worrying so much about others, I could tell that there was part of him that worried just about me. â€Å"Are you okay?† â€Å"I think we should launch a rescue mission,† I said. â€Å"You know we – â€Å" † – don't usually do that. Yeah, yeah. And I know we don't know where they are †¦ except, I might.† He frowned. â€Å"How?† I told him how it had been Mason who'd warned us last night. Dimitri and I had had no time to talk alone since then, so we'd never really debriefed on the events of the attack. We also hadn't really had a chance to talk about what had happened in the cabin. It made me feel weird because really, that was all I wanted to think about, but I couldn't. Not with so much else going on. So I kept trying to shove those memories of sex away, only to have them keep popping up and entangle my emotions further. Hoping I seemed cool and competent, I continued explaining my ideas. â€Å"Mason's locked out now because the wards are back up, but somehow †¦ I think he knows where the Strigoi are. I think he could show us where they are.† Dimitri's face told me he had his doubts about this. â€Å"Come on! You have to believe me after what happened.† â€Å"I'm still having a hard time with that,† he admitted. â€Å"But okay. Suppose this is true. You think he can just lead us? You can ask him and he'll do it?† â€Å"Yeah,† I said. â€Å"I think I can. I've been fighting him all this time, but I think if I actually try to work with him, he'll help. I think that's what he's always wanted. He knew the wards were weak and that the Strigoi had been lying in wait. The Strigoi can't be too far away from us †¦ they had to have stopped for daylight and hidden out somewhere. We might be able to get to them before the captives die. And once we get close enough, I can actually find them.† I then explained the nauseous feeling I'd gotten when Strigoi were around. Dimitri didn't challenge this. I think too many weird things were going on for him to even question it. â€Å"But Mason isn't here. You said he can't get through the wards. How will you get him to help us?† he asked. I'd been thinking about this. â€Å"Take me to the front gates.† After a quick word to Alberta about â€Å"investigating something,† Dimitri led me outside, and we walked the long way to the entrance to the school. Neither of us said anything as we walked. Even in the midst of all this, I still kept thinking of the cabin, of being in his arms. In some ways, it was part of what helped me cope with all the rest of this horror. I had a feeling it was on his mind too. The entrance to the school consisted of a long stretch of iron fence that lay right on top of the wards. A road that wound from the main highway twenty miles away came up to the gate, which was almost always kept closed. Guardians had a small booth here, and the area was monitored at all times of the day. They were surprised by our request, but Dimitri insisted it would just be for a moment. They slid the heavy gate open, revealing a space only big enough for one person to get through at a time. Dimitri and I stepped outside. A headache almost immediately built up behind my eyes, and I started to see faces and shapes. It was just like at the airport. When I was outside of wards, I could see all sorts of spirits. But I understood it now and no longer feared it. I needed to control it. â€Å"Go away,† I said to the gray, looming forms around me. â€Å"I don't have time for you. Go.† I put as much force as I could into my will and my voice, and to my astonishment, the ghosts faded. A faint hum remained with me, reminding me they were still out there, and I knew if I let down my guard even a moment, it would all hit me again. Dimitri was eyeing me with concern. â€Å"You're okay?† I nodded and peered around. There was one ghost I wanted to see. â€Å"Mason,† I said. â€Å"I need you.† Nothing. I summoned back up the command I'd used on the other ghosts just a moment ago. â€Å"Mason. Please. Come here.† I saw nothing except the road in front of us winding off into the winter-dead hills. Dimitri was giving me that look from last night, the one that said he was deeply concerned for my mental health. And actually, I was worried at that moment too. Last night's warning had been the final proof for me that Mason was real. But now †¦ A minute later, his shape materialized before me, looking a little paler than before. For the first time since all this had begun, I was happy to see him. He, of course, looked sad. Same old same old. â€Å"Finally. You were making me look bad.† He simply stared, and I immediately felt bad for joking. â€Å"I'm sorry. I need your help again. We have to find them. We have to save Eddie.† He nodded. â€Å"Can you show me where they are?† He nodded again and turned, pointing off in a direction that was almost directly behind me. â€Å"They came in through the back of campus?† He nodded yet again, and like that, I knew what had happened. I knew how the Strigoi had gotten in, but there was no time to dwell on that just now. I turned to Dimitri. â€Å"We need a map,† I said. He walked back through the gate and spoke a few words to one of the guardians on duty. A moment later, he returned with a map and unfolded it. It showed the layout of campus, as well as the surrounding roads and terrain. I took it from him and held it out to Mason, trying to keep it flat in the whipping wind. The only true road out from the school was right in front of us. The rest of the campus was surrounded by forests and steep cliffs. I pointed to a spot at the back of the school's grounds. â€Å"This is where they came in, isn't it? Where the wards first broke?† Mason nodded. He held out his finger and without touching the map, traced a route through the woods that flanked the edge of a small mountain. Following it long enough eventually led to a small dirt road that joined an interstate many miles away. I followed where he pointed and suddenly had my doubts about using him as a guide. â€Å"No, that's not right,† I said. â€Å"It can't be. This stretch of woods by the mountain has no roads. They'd have to go on foot, and it'd take too long to walk from the school to this other road. They wouldn't have had enough time. They'd be caught in daylight.† Mason shook his head – to disagree with me, apparently – and again traced the route back and forth. In particular, he kept pointing to a spot not far beyond the Academy's grounds. At least, it wasn't far away on the map. The map wasn't particularly detailed, and I guessed the spot was probably a few miles away. He held his finger there, looked at me, and then looked back down. â€Å"They can't be there now,† I argued. â€Å"It's outside. They might have come in through the back, but they had to have left through the front – gotten in some kind of vehicle and took off.† Mason shook his head. I looked up at Dimitri, frustrated. I felt like the clock was ticking on us, and Mason's weird assertion that the Strigoi were a few miles away, outdoors in the daytime, was stirring up my irritable nature. I sincerely doubted they'd gotten out tents and were camping. â€Å"Is there any building or anything out there?† I demanded, pointing at the spot Mason had indicated. â€Å"He says they were going out to that road. But they couldn't have walked there before the sun came up, and he claims they're there.† Dimitri's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. â€Å"Not that I know of.† He took the map from me and brought it to the other guardians to check with them. While they talked, I glanced back at Mason. â€Å"You better be right about this,† I warned him. He nodded. â€Å"Have you†¦have you seen them? The Strigoi and their captives?† He nodded. â€Å"Is Eddie still alive?† He nodded, and Dimitri walked over. â€Å"Rose†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There was a strange sound to Dimitri's voice as he brought the map back, like he couldn't entirely believe what he was saying. â€Å"Stephen says there are caves right at the base of the mountain here.† I met Dimitri's eyes, no doubt looking just as astonished as he did. â€Å"Are they big enough – â€Å" â€Å"Big enough for the Strigoi to hide out in until nighttime?† Dimitri nodded. â€Å"They are. And they're only five miles away.†