Oroonoko or the Royal Slave

Oroonoko or the Royal Slave Oroonoko: or the Royal Slave is a conceptual narrative about a royal slave. Aphra Behn, the author of this narrative is considered to be a fine novelist who wrote both poetry and story writing. Born in 1640 and she died at the age of forty eight, she decidedly wrote the factual account of Oroonoko as a royal slave, as one of her novels, during her writing career (Whisler.) The paper carries on to discuss the fact whether the story is fictitious, real or does it really matter whether it really is true or fictitious? The paper aims to emphasize on the idea whether the story was really a part of a life experience of the author. This can only be explicated at the end of the paper whether any of these facts matter for the reader to build interest in the book. Oroonoko Oroonoko: or the Royal Slave is a short novel, penned by Aphra Behn, the first ever written by a female author in the history of literature. The novels concept is about an African slave, placed in Surinam, in the era of 1660’s, along with the experiences of the author in the colonies of the South America. The account is of a slave who was treated very inhumanly in those times. The background of the story aims to actually emphasize on this theme and poses a lesson for people. The idea of the story, as Behn put it was actually to expedite the fact that slaves in those times were not considered as human as the people who owned those slaves. The story or the true account of the slave encompasses the main character which is Oroonoko himself as well other characters in the narrative (Behn) The account of the novel is about an African prince that falls in love with a slave called Imoinda. This story goes on to say that the prince had fallen in love with the girl but then the king, which was his grand father, had also had eyes for her. The paper is aimed at emphasizing each and every aspect of this novel and explains whether in the eyes of the critics, this novel is considered a fictitious story, or a true account of a royal slave (Behn) The falling in love of the grandfather was a tragedy for Oroonoko and then another tragedy that he had to face was that he heard that Imoinda was sold and sent to a place which was under the British rule. The prince’s tribe then set sail to a destination. His tribe was actually a supplier of slaves for trade purposes (Behn) â€Å"One day an English ship arrives and the captain invites prince Oroonoko to come aboard for a meal and drinks. After dinner, the captain takes advantage of Oroonokos trust and takes Oroonoko and his men prisoners. The ship then sets sail.† (Behn) Oroonoko: or the Royal Slave – True account or fiction? When we read Oroonoko: or the Royal Slave and then read accounts of critics evaluating this novel, we can come to a certain conclusion that the novel might be actually real life experiences of the author herself rather than fictitious accounts. However, it can be stated quite aptly that the author would be only presenting real life accounts if she had visited the places herself. Donald, a critic identifies that Behn has positioned at a number of times that she was an eye witness to a number of events as outlined in the book. And then she has at times stated that whatever accounts that were not her own, they were of the hero of the story. In this way, Donald emphasizes on the fact that some life accounts in the book were those which had never been recorded for the history of Behn and thus there might be an element of fiction in the narrative. (Donald) In the whole account, Donald emphasizes the fact that the narration is not of silent observation in case of the novel and its writing Behn in some cases, as Donald states, emphasized this fact that she was had in some way or the other, been an active participant and had an active role in the entire series of events. This enables us to actually reach a mindset that the novel’s narrative might actually be true rather than be a simple fictitious narrative based on some creative ideas of Behn (Donald) One of the things upon which ti should be concentrated is the fact whether or not she did go to Suriname which was the place where Imoinda had gone after she was sold. According to the author, she had gone there and thus had been inspired by the place. Donald in this regard states that Behn might really have been visiting Surinam during the years of the 1666s. Along with that, she states that she might have indeed encountered a slave who might have been an African prince. She says: Whilst the setting of the novel, the detailed descriptions of the Carib Indians and mention of contemporary figures, such as Trefry and Byam, involved in the colony suggests a certain familiarity with Surinam, the plot of the novel was not entirely original. (Donald) This gives us an idea that the narrative might indeed have been true. However, according to critics, this might be considered a baffling contradiction that there could be a possibility that the author could be lying about her life and about all her experiences that she has been inspired by, for the novels and for the stories that she has written. The researchers have decided that there is an extremely high probability that the author never really visited Surinam and that she has been lying about it all her life and about her inspiration (Donald; Donaldson) Donaldson on the other hand, does not aim to emphasize on a particular stand whether the narrative is true or a fictional account. On the contrary, she states that the entire account of Oroonoko is full of contradictions. The traveling accounts, the accounts of people, the different situations and scenarios present in the narrative are actually such that it is actually hard to believe that the entire account be true. However, there are certain elements in the book that make it seem real as well (Donaldson) One of the critics puts it aptly as It is of particular interest to literary history that such contradictions as these are situated at the beginning of modern novelistic discourse, and that they find their expression in such a seminal work as Behns Oroonoko. (Nestvold) However, it must be stated that there could be a possibility that the entire recollection or narrative true but it cannot be completely stated for sure, until there are facts and figures from dependable sources, who can claim to put up a stand to augment or contradict the entire argument. Even though the entire paper has provided quotations and research findings about how the author may have actually lied about her experiences and her inspirations for the novel or the factual account, I would still conclude that there is no requirement to know whether the story is false or true. There is just the need to understand that the narrative is a source of learning and knowledge about how the slaves were treated at those times. The reader need not understand or try to prove whether the author is guilty for lying. As a researcher says, The places and characters changed and the happy interlude was not present for most, but the basic story line was a common plot and hundreds of thousands of would-be princes suffered a fate similar to Prince Oroonoko. It is because of these others that we must stop spending time on the truthfulness of a single account and instead concentrate on the actuality of the accounts of the hordes of African men and women who suffered through the effects o f slavery. (Whisler) This is a sample Literature essay written from scratch by one of our academic writers. If you want to order a custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis/dissertation feel free to contact us now.

Angels Demons Chapter 3235

â€Å"Sorry for the slow flight,† the pilot apologized, emerging from the cockpit. â€Å"Had to trim her back. Noise regulations over populated areas.† Langdon checked his watch. They had been airborne thirty-seven minutes. The pilot popped the outer door. â€Å"Anybody want to tell me what’s going on?† Neither Vittoria nor Langdon responded. â€Å"Fine,† he said, stretching. â€Å"I’ll be in the cockpit with the air-conditioning and my music. Just me and Garth.† The late-afternoon sun blazed outside the hangar. Langdon carried his tweed jacket over his shoulder. Vittoria turned her face skyward and inhaled deeply, as if the sun’s rays somehow transferred to her some mystical replenishing energy. Mediterraneans, Langdon mused, already sweating. â€Å"Little old for cartoons, aren’t you?† Vittoria asked, without opening her eyes. â€Å"I’m sorry?† â€Å"Your wristwatch. I saw it on the plane.† Langdon flushed slightly. He was accustomed to having to defend his timepiece. The collector’s edition Mickey Mouse watch had been a childhood gift from his parents. Despite the contorted foolishness of Mickey’s outstretched arms designating the hour, it was the only watch Langdon had ever worn. Waterproof and glow-in-the-dark, it was perfect for swimming laps or walking unlit college paths at night. When Langdon’s students questioned his fashion sense, he told them he wore Mickey as a daily reminder to stay young at heart. â€Å"It’s six o’clock,† he said. Vittoria nodded, eyes still closed. â€Å"I think our ride’s here.† Langdon heard the distant whine, looked up, and felt a sinking feeling. Approaching from the north was a helicopter, slicing low across the runway. Langdon had been on a helicopter once in the Andean Palpa Valley looking at the Nazca sand drawings and had not enjoyed it one bit. A flying shoebox. After a morning of space plane rides, Langdon had hoped the Vatican would send a car. Apparently not. The chopper slowed overhead, hovered a moment, and dropped toward the runway in front of them. The craft was white and carried a coat of arms emblazoned on the side – two skeleton keys crossing a shield and papal crown. He knew the symbol well. It was the traditional seal of the Vatican – the sacred symbol of the Holy See or â€Å"holy seat† of government, the seat being literally the ancient throne of St. Peter. The Holy Chopper, Langdon groaned, watching the craft land. He’d forgotten the Vatican owned one of these things, used for transporting the Pope to the airport, to meetings, or to his summer palace in Gandolfo. Langdon definitely would have preferred a car. The pilot jumped from the cockpit and strode toward them across the tarmac. Now it was Vittoria who looked uneasy. â€Å"That’s our pilot?† Langdon shared her concern. â€Å"To fly, or not to fly. That is the question.† The pilot looked like he was festooned for a Shakespearean melodrama. His puffy tunic was vertically striped in brilliant blue and gold. He wore matching pantaloons and spats. On his feet were black flats that looked like slippers. On top of it all, he wore a black felt beret. â€Å"Traditional Swiss Guard uniforms,† Langdon explained. â€Å"Designed by Michelangelo himself.† As the man drew closer, Langdon winced. â€Å"I admit, not one of Michelangelo’s better efforts.† Despite the man’s garish attire, Langdon could tell the pilot meant business. He moved toward them with all the rigidity and dignity of a U.S. Marine. Langdon had read many times about the rigorous requirements for becoming one of the elite Swiss Guard. Recruited from one of Switzerland’s four Catholic cantons, applicants had to be Swiss males between nineteen and thirty years old, at least 5 feet 6 inches, trained by the Swiss Army, and unmarried. This imperial corps was envied by world governments as the most allegiant and deadly security force in the world. â€Å"You are from CERN?† the guard asked, arriving before them. His voice was steely. â€Å"Yes, sir,† Langdon replied. â€Å"You made remarkable time,† he said, giving the X-33 a mystified stare. He turned to Vittoria. â€Å"Ma’am, do you have any other clothing?† â€Å"I beg your pardon?† He motioned to her legs. â€Å"Short pants are not permitted inside Vatican City.† Langdon glanced down at Vittoria’s legs and frowned. He had forgotten. Vatican City had a strict ban on visible legs above the knee – both male and female. The regulation was a way of showing respect for the sanctity of God’s city. â€Å"This is all I have,† she said. â€Å"We came in a hurry.† The guard nodded, clearly displeased. He turned next to Langdon. â€Å"Are you carrying any weapons?† Weapons? Langdon thought. I’m not even carrying a change of underwear! He shook his head. The officer crouched at Langdon’s feet and began patting him down, starting at his socks. Trusting guy, Langdon thought. The guard’s strong hands moved up Langdon’s legs, coming uncomfortably close to his groin. Finally they moved up to his chest and shoulders. Apparently content Langdon was clean, the guard turned to Vittoria. He ran his eyes up her legs and torso. Vittoria glared. â€Å"Don’t even think about it.† The guard fixed Vittoria with a gaze clearly intended to intimidate. Vittoria did not flinch. â€Å"What’s that?† the guard said, pointing to a faint square bulge in the front pocket of her shorts. Vittoria removed an ultrathin cell phone. The guard took it, clicked it on, waited for a dial tone, and then, apparently satisfied that it was indeed nothing more than a phone, returned it to her. Vittoria slid it back into her pocket. â€Å"Turn around, please,† the guard said. Vittoria obliged, holding her arms out and rotating a full 360 degrees. The guard carefully studied her. Langdon had already decided that Vittoria’s form-fitting shorts and blouse were not bulging anywhere they shouldn’t have been. Apparently the guard came to the same conclusion. â€Å"Thank you. This way please.† The Swiss Guard chopper churned in neutral as Langdon and Vittoria approached. Vittoria boarded first, like a seasoned pro, barely even stooping as she passed beneath the whirling rotors. Langdon held back a moment. â€Å"No chance of a car?† he yelled, half-joking to the Swiss Guard, who was climbing in the pilot’s seat. The man did not answer. Langdon knew that with Rome’s maniacal drivers, flying was probably safer anyway. He took a deep breath and boarded, stooping cautiously as he passed beneath the spinning rotors. As the guard fired up the engines, Vittoria called out, â€Å"Have you located the canister?† The guard glanced over his shoulder, looking confused. â€Å"The what?† â€Å"The canister. You called CERN about a canister?† The man shrugged. â€Å"No idea what you’re talking about. We’ve been very busy today. My commander told me to pick you up. That’s all I know.† Vittoria gave Langdon an unsettled look. â€Å"Buckle up, please,† the pilot said as the engine revved. Langdon reached for his seat belt and strapped himself in. The tiny fuselage seemed to shrink around him. Then with a roar, the craft shot up and banked sharply north toward Rome. Rome†¦ the caput mundi, where Caesar once ruled, where St. Peter was crucified. The cradle of modern civilization. And at its core†¦ a ticking bomb. 33 Rome from the air is a labyrinth – an indecipherable maze of ancient roadways winding around buildings, fountains, and crumbling ruins. The Vatican chopper stayed low in the sky as it sliced northwest through the permanent smog layer coughed up by the congestion below. Langdon gazed down at the mopeds, sight-seeing buses, and armies of miniature Fiat sedans buzzing around rotaries in all directions. Koyaanisqatsi, he thought, recalling the Hopi term for â€Å"life out of balance.† Vittoria sat in silent determination in the seat beside him. The chopper banked hard. His stomach dropping, Langdon gazed farther into the distance. His eyes found the crumbling ruins of the Roman Coliseum. The Coliseum, Langdon had always thought, was one of history’s greatest ironies. Now a dignified symbol for the rise of human culture and civilization, the stadium had been built to host centuries of barbaric events – hungry lions shredding prisoners, armies of slaves battling to the death, gang rapes of exotic women captured from far-off lands, as well as public beheadings and castrations. It was ironic, Langdon thought, or perhaps fitting, that the Coliseum had served as the architectural blueprint for Harvard’s Soldier Field – the football stadium where the ancient traditions of savagery were reenacted every fall†¦ crazed fans screaming for bloodshed as Harvard battled Yale. As the chopper headed north, Langdon spied the Roman Forum – the heart of pre-Christian Rome. The decaying columns looked like toppled gravestones in a cemetery that had somehow avoided being swallowed by the metropolis surrounding it. To the west the wide basin of the Tiber River wound enormous arcs across the city. Even from the air Langdon could tell the water was deep. The churning currents were brown, filled with silt and foam from heavy rains. â€Å"Straight ahead,† the pilot said, climbing higher. Langdon and Vittoria looked out and saw it. Like a mountain parting the morning fog, the colossal dome rose out of the haze before them: St. Peter’s Basilica. â€Å"Now that,† Langdon said to Vittoria, â€Å"is something Michelangelo got right.† Langdon had never seen St. Peter’s from the air. The marble faà §ade blazed like fire in the afternoon sun. Adorned with 140 statues of saints, martyrs, and angels, the Herculean edifice stretched two football fields wide and a staggering six long. The cavernous interior of the basilica had room for over 60,000 worshipers†¦ over one hundred times the population of Vatican City, the smallest country in the world. Incredibly, though, not even a citadel of this magnitude could dwarf the piazza before it. A sprawling expanse of granite, St. Peter’s Square was a staggering open space in the congestion of Rome, like a classical Central Park. In front of the basilica, bordering the vast oval common, 284 columns swept outward in four concentric arcs of diminishing size†¦ an architectural trompe de l’oiel used to heighten the piazza’s sense of grandeur. As he stared at the magnificent shrine before him, Langdon wondered what St. Peter would think if he were here now. The Saint had died a gruesome death, crucified upside down on this very spot. Now he rested in the most sacred of tombs, buried five stories down, directly beneath the central cupola of the basilica. â€Å"Vatican City,† the pilot said, sounding anything but welcoming. Langdon looked out at the towering stone bastions that loomed ahead – impenetrable fortifications surrounding the complex†¦ a strangely earthly defense for a spiritual world of secrets, power, and mystery. â€Å"Look!† Vittoria said suddenly, grabbing Langdon’s arm. She motioned frantically downward toward St. Peter’s Square directly beneath them. Langdon put his face to the window and looked. â€Å"Over there,† she said, pointing. Langdon looked. The rear of the piazza looked like a parking lot crowded with a dozen or so trailer trucks. Huge satellite dishes pointed skyward from the roof of every truck. The dishes were emblazoned with familiar names: Televisor Europea Video Italia BBC United Press International Langdon felt suddenly confused, wondering if the news of the antimatter had already leaked out. Vittoria seemed suddenly tense. â€Å"Why is the press here? What’s going on?† The pilot turned and gave her an odd look over his shoulder. â€Å"What’s going on? You don’t know?† â€Å"No,† she fired back, her accent husky and strong. â€Å"Il Conclavo,† he said. â€Å"It is to be sealed in about an hour. The whole world is watching.† Il Conclavo. The word rang a long moment in Langdon’s ears before dropping like a brick to the pit of his stomach. Il Conclavo. The Vatican Conclave. How could he have forgotten? It had been in the news recently. Fifteen days ago, the Pope, after a tremendously popular twelve-year reign, had passed away. Every paper in the world had carried the story about the Pope’s fatal stroke while sleeping – a sudden and unexpected death many whispered was suspicious. But now, in keeping with the sacred tradition, fifteen days after the death of a Pope, the Vatican was holding Il Conclavo – the sacred ceremony in which the 165 cardinals of the world – the most powerful men in Christendom – gathered in Vatican City to elect the new Pope. Every cardinal on the planet is here today, Langdon thought as the chopper passed over St. Peter’s Basilica. The expansive inner world of Vatican City spread out beneath him. The entire power structure of the Roman Catholic Church is sitting on a time bomb. 34 Cardinal Mortati gazed up at the lavish ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and tried to find a moment of quiet reflection. The frescoed walls echoed with the voices of cardinals from nations around the globe. The men jostled in the candlelit tabernacle, whispering excitedly and consulting with one another in numerous languages, the universal tongues being English, Italian, and Spanish. The light in the chapel was usually sublime – long rays of tinted sun slicing through the darkness like rays from heaven – but not today. As was the custom, all of the chapel’s windows had been covered in black velvet in the name of secrecy. This ensured that no one on the inside could send signals or communicate in any way with the outside world. The result was a profound darkness lit only by candles†¦ a shimmering radiance that seemed to purify everyone it touched, making them all ghostly†¦ like saints. What privilege, Mortati thought, that I am to oversee this sanctified event. Cardinals over eighty years of age were too old to be eligible for election and did not attend conclave, but at seventy-nine years old, Mortati was the most senior cardinal here and had been appointed to oversee the proceedings. Following tradition, the cardinals gathered here two hours before conclave to catch up with friends and engage in last-minute discussion. At 7 P.M., the late Pope’s chamberlain would arrive, give opening prayer, and then leave. Then the Swiss Guard would seal the doors and lock all the cardinals inside. It was then that the oldest and most secretive political ritual in the world would begin. The cardinals would not be released until they decided who among them would be the next Pope. Conclave. Even the name was secretive. â€Å"Con clave† literally meant â€Å"locked with a key.† The cardinals were permitted no contact whatsoever with the outside world. No phone calls. No messages. No whispers through doorways. Conclave was a vacuum, not to be influenced by anything in the outside world. This would ensure that the cardinals kept Solum Dum prae oculis†¦ only God before their eyes. Outside the walls of the chapel, of course, the media watched and waited, speculating as to which of the cardinals would become the ruler of one billion Catholics worldwide. Conclaves created an intense, politically charged atmosphere, and over the centuries they had turned deadly: poisonings, fist fights, and even murder had erupted within the sacred walls. Ancient history, Mortati thought. Tonight’s conclave will be unified, blissful, and above all†¦ brief. Or at least that had been his speculation. Now, however, an unexpected development had emerged. Mystifyingly, four cardinals were absent from the chapel. Mortati knew that all the exits to Vatican City were guarded, and the missing cardinals could not have gone far, but still, with less than an hour before opening prayer, he was feeling disconcerted. After all, the four missing men were no ordinary cardinals. They were the cardinals. The chosen four. As overseer of the conclave, Mortati had already sent word through the proper channels to the Swiss Guard alerting them to the cardinals’ absence. He had yet to hear back. Other cardinals had now noticed the puzzling absence. The anxious whispers had begun. Of all cardinals, these four should be on time! Cardinal Mortati was starting to fear it might be a long evening after all. He had no idea. 35 The Vatican’s helipad, for reasons of safety and noise control, is located in the northwest tip of Vatican City, as far from St. Peter’s Basilica as possible. â€Å"Terra firma,† the pilot announced as they touched down. He exited and opened the sliding door for Langdon and Vittoria. Langdon descended from the craft and turned to help Vittoria, but she had already dropped effortlessly to the ground. Every muscle in her body seemed tuned to one objective – finding the antimatter before it left a horrific legacy. After stretching a reflective sun tarp across the cockpit window, the pilot ushered them to an oversized electric golf cart waiting near the helipad. The cart whisked them silently alongside the country’s western border – a fifty-foot-tall cement bulwark thick enough to ward off attacks even by tanks. Lining the interior of the wall, posted at fifty-meter intervals, Swiss Guards stood at attention, surveying the interior of the grounds. The cart turned sharply right onto Via della Osservatorio. Signs pointed in all directions: Palazzio Governatorio Collegio Ethiopiana Basilica San Pietro Capella Sistina They accelerated up the manicured road past a squat building marked Radio Vaticana. This, Langdon realized to his amazement, was the hub of the world’s most listened-to radio programming – Radio Vaticana – spreading the word of God to millions of listeners around the globe. â€Å"Attenzione,† the pilot said, turning sharply into a rotary. As the cart wound round, Langdon could barely believe the sight now coming into view. Giardini Vaticani, he thought. The heart of Vatican City. Directly ahead rose the rear of St. Peter’s Basilica, a view, Langdon realized, most people never saw. To the right loomed the Palace of the Tribunal, the lush papal residence rivaled only by Versailles in its baroque embellishment. The severe-looking Governatorato building was now behind them, housing Vatican City’s administration. And up ahead on the left, the massive rectangular edifice of the Vatican Museum. Langdon knew there would be no time for a museum visit this trip. â€Å"Where is everyone?† Vittoria asked, surveying the deserted lawns and walkways. The guard checked his black, military-style chronograph – an odd anachronism beneath his puffy sleeve. â€Å"The cardinals are convened in the Sistine Chapel. Conclave begins in a little under an hour.† Langdon nodded, vaguely recalling that before conclave the cardinals spent two hours inside the Sistine Chapel in quiet reflection and visitations with their fellow cardinals from around the globe. The time was meant to renew old friendships among the cardinals and facilitate a less heated election process. â€Å"And the rest of the residents and staff?† â€Å"Banned from the city for secrecy and security until the conclave concludes.† â€Å"And when does it conclude?† The guard shrugged. â€Å"God only knows.† The words sounded oddly literal. After parking the cart on the wide lawn directly behind St. Peter’s Basilica, the guard escorted Langdon and Vittoria up a stone escarpment to a marble plaza off the back of the basilica. Crossing the plaza, they approached the rear wall of the basilica and followed it through a triangular courtyard, across Via Belvedere, and into a series of buildings closely huddled together. Langdon’s art history had taught him enough Italian to pick out signs for the Vatican Printing Office, the Tapestry Restoration Lab, Post Office Management, and the Church of St. Ann. They crossed another small square and arrived at their destination. The Office of the Swiss Guard is housed adjacent to Il Corpo di Vigilanza, directly northeast of St. Peter’s Basilica. The office is a squat, stone building. On either side of the entrance, like two stone statues, stood a pair of guards. Langdon had to admit, these guards did not look quite so comical. Although they also wore the blue and gold uniform, each wielded the traditional â€Å"Vatican long sword† – an eight-foot spear with a razor-sharp scythe – rumored to have decapitated countless Muslims while defending the Christian crusaders in the fifteenth century. As Langdon and Vittoria approached, the two guards stepped forward, crossing their long swords, blocking the entrance. One looked up at the pilot in confusion. â€Å"I pantaloni,† he said, motioning to Vittoria’s shorts. The pilot waved them off. â€Å"Il comandante vuole vederli subito.† The guards frowned. Reluctantly they stepped aside. Inside, the air was cool. It looked nothing like the administrative security offices Langdon would have imagined. Ornate and impeccably furnished, the hallways contained paintings Langdon was certain any museum worldwide would gladly have featured in its main gallery. The pilot pointed down a steep set of stairs. â€Å"Down, please.† Langdon and Vittoria followed the white marble treads as they descended between a gauntlet of nude male sculptures. Each statue wore a fig leaf that was lighter in color than the rest of the body. The Great Castration, Langdon thought. It was one of the most horrific tragedies in Renaissance art. In 1857, Pope Pius IX decided that the accurate representation of the male form might incite lust inside the Vatican. So he got a chisel and mallet and hacked off the genitalia of every single male statue inside Vatican City. He defaced works by Michelangelo, Bramante, and Bernini. Plaster fig leaves were used to patch the damage. Hundreds of sculptures had been emasculated. Langdon had often wondered if there was a huge crate of stone penises someplace. â€Å"Here,† the guard announced. They reached the bottom of the stairs and dead-ended at a heavy, steel door. The guard typed an entry code, and the door slid open. Langdon and Vittoria entered. Beyond the threshold was absolute mayhem. Angels Demons Chapter 3235 â€Å"Sorry for the slow flight,† the pilot apologized, emerging from the cockpit. â€Å"Had to trim her back. Noise regulations over populated areas.† Langdon checked his watch. They had been airborne thirty-seven minutes. The pilot popped the outer door. â€Å"Anybody want to tell me what’s going on?† Neither Vittoria nor Langdon responded. â€Å"Fine,† he said, stretching. â€Å"I’ll be in the cockpit with the air-conditioning and my music. Just me and Garth.† The late-afternoon sun blazed outside the hangar. Langdon carried his tweed jacket over his shoulder. Vittoria turned her face skyward and inhaled deeply, as if the sun’s rays somehow transferred to her some mystical replenishing energy. Mediterraneans, Langdon mused, already sweating. â€Å"Little old for cartoons, aren’t you?† Vittoria asked, without opening her eyes. â€Å"I’m sorry?† â€Å"Your wristwatch. I saw it on the plane.† Langdon flushed slightly. He was accustomed to having to defend his timepiece. The collector’s edition Mickey Mouse watch had been a childhood gift from his parents. Despite the contorted foolishness of Mickey’s outstretched arms designating the hour, it was the only watch Langdon had ever worn. Waterproof and glow-in-the-dark, it was perfect for swimming laps or walking unlit college paths at night. When Langdon’s students questioned his fashion sense, he told them he wore Mickey as a daily reminder to stay young at heart. â€Å"It’s six o’clock,† he said. Vittoria nodded, eyes still closed. â€Å"I think our ride’s here.† Langdon heard the distant whine, looked up, and felt a sinking feeling. Approaching from the north was a helicopter, slicing low across the runway. Langdon had been on a helicopter once in the Andean Palpa Valley looking at the Nazca sand drawings and had not enjoyed it one bit. A flying shoebox. After a morning of space plane rides, Langdon had hoped the Vatican would send a car. Apparently not. The chopper slowed overhead, hovered a moment, and dropped toward the runway in front of them. The craft was white and carried a coat of arms emblazoned on the side – two skeleton keys crossing a shield and papal crown. He knew the symbol well. It was the traditional seal of the Vatican – the sacred symbol of the Holy See or â€Å"holy seat† of government, the seat being literally the ancient throne of St. Peter. The Holy Chopper, Langdon groaned, watching the craft land. He’d forgotten the Vatican owned one of these things, used for transporting the Pope to the airport, to meetings, or to his summer palace in Gandolfo. Langdon definitely would have preferred a car. The pilot jumped from the cockpit and strode toward them across the tarmac. Now it was Vittoria who looked uneasy. â€Å"That’s our pilot?† Langdon shared her concern. â€Å"To fly, or not to fly. That is the question.† The pilot looked like he was festooned for a Shakespearean melodrama. His puffy tunic was vertically striped in brilliant blue and gold. He wore matching pantaloons and spats. On his feet were black flats that looked like slippers. On top of it all, he wore a black felt beret. â€Å"Traditional Swiss Guard uniforms,† Langdon explained. â€Å"Designed by Michelangelo himself.† As the man drew closer, Langdon winced. â€Å"I admit, not one of Michelangelo’s better efforts.† Despite the man’s garish attire, Langdon could tell the pilot meant business. He moved toward them with all the rigidity and dignity of a U.S. Marine. Langdon had read many times about the rigorous requirements for becoming one of the elite Swiss Guard. Recruited from one of Switzerland’s four Catholic cantons, applicants had to be Swiss males between nineteen and thirty years old, at least 5 feet 6 inches, trained by the Swiss Army, and unmarried. This imperial corps was envied by world governments as the most allegiant and deadly security force in the world. â€Å"You are from CERN?† the guard asked, arriving before them. His voice was steely. â€Å"Yes, sir,† Langdon replied. â€Å"You made remarkable time,† he said, giving the X-33 a mystified stare. He turned to Vittoria. â€Å"Ma’am, do you have any other clothing?† â€Å"I beg your pardon?† He motioned to her legs. â€Å"Short pants are not permitted inside Vatican City.† Langdon glanced down at Vittoria’s legs and frowned. He had forgotten. Vatican City had a strict ban on visible legs above the knee – both male and female. The regulation was a way of showing respect for the sanctity of God’s city. â€Å"This is all I have,† she said. â€Å"We came in a hurry.† The guard nodded, clearly displeased. He turned next to Langdon. â€Å"Are you carrying any weapons?† Weapons? Langdon thought. I’m not even carrying a change of underwear! He shook his head. The officer crouched at Langdon’s feet and began patting him down, starting at his socks. Trusting guy, Langdon thought. The guard’s strong hands moved up Langdon’s legs, coming uncomfortably close to his groin. Finally they moved up to his chest and shoulders. Apparently content Langdon was clean, the guard turned to Vittoria. He ran his eyes up her legs and torso. Vittoria glared. â€Å"Don’t even think about it.† The guard fixed Vittoria with a gaze clearly intended to intimidate. Vittoria did not flinch. â€Å"What’s that?† the guard said, pointing to a faint square bulge in the front pocket of her shorts. Vittoria removed an ultrathin cell phone. The guard took it, clicked it on, waited for a dial tone, and then, apparently satisfied that it was indeed nothing more than a phone, returned it to her. Vittoria slid it back into her pocket. â€Å"Turn around, please,† the guard said. Vittoria obliged, holding her arms out and rotating a full 360 degrees. The guard carefully studied her. Langdon had already decided that Vittoria’s form-fitting shorts and blouse were not bulging anywhere they shouldn’t have been. Apparently the guard came to the same conclusion. â€Å"Thank you. This way please.† The Swiss Guard chopper churned in neutral as Langdon and Vittoria approached. Vittoria boarded first, like a seasoned pro, barely even stooping as she passed beneath the whirling rotors. Langdon held back a moment. â€Å"No chance of a car?† he yelled, half-joking to the Swiss Guard, who was climbing in the pilot’s seat. The man did not answer. Langdon knew that with Rome’s maniacal drivers, flying was probably safer anyway. He took a deep breath and boarded, stooping cautiously as he passed beneath the spinning rotors. As the guard fired up the engines, Vittoria called out, â€Å"Have you located the canister?† The guard glanced over his shoulder, looking confused. â€Å"The what?† â€Å"The canister. You called CERN about a canister?† The man shrugged. â€Å"No idea what you’re talking about. We’ve been very busy today. My commander told me to pick you up. That’s all I know.† Vittoria gave Langdon an unsettled look. â€Å"Buckle up, please,† the pilot said as the engine revved. Langdon reached for his seat belt and strapped himself in. The tiny fuselage seemed to shrink around him. Then with a roar, the craft shot up and banked sharply north toward Rome. Rome†¦ the caput mundi, where Caesar once ruled, where St. Peter was crucified. The cradle of modern civilization. And at its core†¦ a ticking bomb. 33 Rome from the air is a labyrinth – an indecipherable maze of ancient roadways winding around buildings, fountains, and crumbling ruins. The Vatican chopper stayed low in the sky as it sliced northwest through the permanent smog layer coughed up by the congestion below. Langdon gazed down at the mopeds, sight-seeing buses, and armies of miniature Fiat sedans buzzing around rotaries in all directions. Koyaanisqatsi, he thought, recalling the Hopi term for â€Å"life out of balance.† Vittoria sat in silent determination in the seat beside him. The chopper banked hard. His stomach dropping, Langdon gazed farther into the distance. His eyes found the crumbling ruins of the Roman Coliseum. The Coliseum, Langdon had always thought, was one of history’s greatest ironies. Now a dignified symbol for the rise of human culture and civilization, the stadium had been built to host centuries of barbaric events – hungry lions shredding prisoners, armies of slaves battling to the death, gang rapes of exotic women captured from far-off lands, as well as public beheadings and castrations. It was ironic, Langdon thought, or perhaps fitting, that the Coliseum had served as the architectural blueprint for Harvard’s Soldier Field – the football stadium where the ancient traditions of savagery were reenacted every fall†¦ crazed fans screaming for bloodshed as Harvard battled Yale. As the chopper headed north, Langdon spied the Roman Forum – the heart of pre-Christian Rome. The decaying columns looked like toppled gravestones in a cemetery that had somehow avoided being swallowed by the metropolis surrounding it. To the west the wide basin of the Tiber River wound enormous arcs across the city. Even from the air Langdon could tell the water was deep. The churning currents were brown, filled with silt and foam from heavy rains. â€Å"Straight ahead,† the pilot said, climbing higher. Langdon and Vittoria looked out and saw it. Like a mountain parting the morning fog, the colossal dome rose out of the haze before them: St. Peter’s Basilica. â€Å"Now that,† Langdon said to Vittoria, â€Å"is something Michelangelo got right.† Langdon had never seen St. Peter’s from the air. The marble faà §ade blazed like fire in the afternoon sun. Adorned with 140 statues of saints, martyrs, and angels, the Herculean edifice stretched two football fields wide and a staggering six long. The cavernous interior of the basilica had room for over 60,000 worshipers†¦ over one hundred times the population of Vatican City, the smallest country in the world. Incredibly, though, not even a citadel of this magnitude could dwarf the piazza before it. A sprawling expanse of granite, St. Peter’s Square was a staggering open space in the congestion of Rome, like a classical Central Park. In front of the basilica, bordering the vast oval common, 284 columns swept outward in four concentric arcs of diminishing size†¦ an architectural trompe de l’oiel used to heighten the piazza’s sense of grandeur. As he stared at the magnificent shrine before him, Langdon wondered what St. Peter would think if he were here now. The Saint had died a gruesome death, crucified upside down on this very spot. Now he rested in the most sacred of tombs, buried five stories down, directly beneath the central cupola of the basilica. â€Å"Vatican City,† the pilot said, sounding anything but welcoming. Langdon looked out at the towering stone bastions that loomed ahead – impenetrable fortifications surrounding the complex†¦ a strangely earthly defense for a spiritual world of secrets, power, and mystery. â€Å"Look!† Vittoria said suddenly, grabbing Langdon’s arm. She motioned frantically downward toward St. Peter’s Square directly beneath them. Langdon put his face to the window and looked. â€Å"Over there,† she said, pointing. Langdon looked. The rear of the piazza looked like a parking lot crowded with a dozen or so trailer trucks. Huge satellite dishes pointed skyward from the roof of every truck. The dishes were emblazoned with familiar names: Televisor Europea Video Italia BBC United Press International Langdon felt suddenly confused, wondering if the news of the antimatter had already leaked out. Vittoria seemed suddenly tense. â€Å"Why is the press here? What’s going on?† The pilot turned and gave her an odd look over his shoulder. â€Å"What’s going on? You don’t know?† â€Å"No,† she fired back, her accent husky and strong. â€Å"Il Conclavo,† he said. â€Å"It is to be sealed in about an hour. The whole world is watching.† Il Conclavo. The word rang a long moment in Langdon’s ears before dropping like a brick to the pit of his stomach. Il Conclavo. The Vatican Conclave. How could he have forgotten? It had been in the news recently. Fifteen days ago, the Pope, after a tremendously popular twelve-year reign, had passed away. Every paper in the world had carried the story about the Pope’s fatal stroke while sleeping – a sudden and unexpected death many whispered was suspicious. But now, in keeping with the sacred tradition, fifteen days after the death of a Pope, the Vatican was holding Il Conclavo – the sacred ceremony in which the 165 cardinals of the world – the most powerful men in Christendom – gathered in Vatican City to elect the new Pope. Every cardinal on the planet is here today, Langdon thought as the chopper passed over St. Peter’s Basilica. The expansive inner world of Vatican City spread out beneath him. The entire power structure of the Roman Catholic Church is sitting on a time bomb. 34 Cardinal Mortati gazed up at the lavish ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and tried to find a moment of quiet reflection. The frescoed walls echoed with the voices of cardinals from nations around the globe. The men jostled in the candlelit tabernacle, whispering excitedly and consulting with one another in numerous languages, the universal tongues being English, Italian, and Spanish. The light in the chapel was usually sublime – long rays of tinted sun slicing through the darkness like rays from heaven – but not today. As was the custom, all of the chapel’s windows had been covered in black velvet in the name of secrecy. This ensured that no one on the inside could send signals or communicate in any way with the outside world. The result was a profound darkness lit only by candles†¦ a shimmering radiance that seemed to purify everyone it touched, making them all ghostly†¦ like saints. What privilege, Mortati thought, that I am to oversee this sanctified event. Cardinals over eighty years of age were too old to be eligible for election and did not attend conclave, but at seventy-nine years old, Mortati was the most senior cardinal here and had been appointed to oversee the proceedings. Following tradition, the cardinals gathered here two hours before conclave to catch up with friends and engage in last-minute discussion. At 7 P.M., the late Pope’s chamberlain would arrive, give opening prayer, and then leave. Then the Swiss Guard would seal the doors and lock all the cardinals inside. It was then that the oldest and most secretive political ritual in the world would begin. The cardinals would not be released until they decided who among them would be the next Pope. Conclave. Even the name was secretive. â€Å"Con clave† literally meant â€Å"locked with a key.† The cardinals were permitted no contact whatsoever with the outside world. No phone calls. No messages. No whispers through doorways. Conclave was a vacuum, not to be influenced by anything in the outside world. This would ensure that the cardinals kept Solum Dum prae oculis†¦ only God before their eyes. Outside the walls of the chapel, of course, the media watched and waited, speculating as to which of the cardinals would become the ruler of one billion Catholics worldwide. Conclaves created an intense, politically charged atmosphere, and over the centuries they had turned deadly: poisonings, fist fights, and even murder had erupted within the sacred walls. Ancient history, Mortati thought. Tonight’s conclave will be unified, blissful, and above all†¦ brief. Or at least that had been his speculation. Now, however, an unexpected development had emerged. Mystifyingly, four cardinals were absent from the chapel. Mortati knew that all the exits to Vatican City were guarded, and the missing cardinals could not have gone far, but still, with less than an hour before opening prayer, he was feeling disconcerted. After all, the four missing men were no ordinary cardinals. They were the cardinals. The chosen four. As overseer of the conclave, Mortati had already sent word through the proper channels to the Swiss Guard alerting them to the cardinals’ absence. He had yet to hear back. Other cardinals had now noticed the puzzling absence. The anxious whispers had begun. Of all cardinals, these four should be on time! Cardinal Mortati was starting to fear it might be a long evening after all. He had no idea. 35 The Vatican’s helipad, for reasons of safety and noise control, is located in the northwest tip of Vatican City, as far from St. Peter’s Basilica as possible. â€Å"Terra firma,† the pilot announced as they touched down. He exited and opened the sliding door for Langdon and Vittoria. Langdon descended from the craft and turned to help Vittoria, but she had already dropped effortlessly to the ground. Every muscle in her body seemed tuned to one objective – finding the antimatter before it left a horrific legacy. After stretching a reflective sun tarp across the cockpit window, the pilot ushered them to an oversized electric golf cart waiting near the helipad. The cart whisked them silently alongside the country’s western border – a fifty-foot-tall cement bulwark thick enough to ward off attacks even by tanks. Lining the interior of the wall, posted at fifty-meter intervals, Swiss Guards stood at attention, surveying the interior of the grounds. The cart turned sharply right onto Via della Osservatorio. Signs pointed in all directions: Palazzio Governatorio Collegio Ethiopiana Basilica San Pietro Capella Sistina They accelerated up the manicured road past a squat building marked Radio Vaticana. This, Langdon realized to his amazement, was the hub of the world’s most listened-to radio programming – Radio Vaticana – spreading the word of God to millions of listeners around the globe. â€Å"Attenzione,† the pilot said, turning sharply into a rotary. As the cart wound round, Langdon could barely believe the sight now coming into view. Giardini Vaticani, he thought. The heart of Vatican City. Directly ahead rose the rear of St. Peter’s Basilica, a view, Langdon realized, most people never saw. To the right loomed the Palace of the Tribunal, the lush papal residence rivaled only by Versailles in its baroque embellishment. The severe-looking Governatorato building was now behind them, housing Vatican City’s administration. And up ahead on the left, the massive rectangular edifice of the Vatican Museum. Langdon knew there would be no time for a museum visit this trip. â€Å"Where is everyone?† Vittoria asked, surveying the deserted lawns and walkways. The guard checked his black, military-style chronograph – an odd anachronism beneath his puffy sleeve. â€Å"The cardinals are convened in the Sistine Chapel. Conclave begins in a little under an hour.† Langdon nodded, vaguely recalling that before conclave the cardinals spent two hours inside the Sistine Chapel in quiet reflection and visitations with their fellow cardinals from around the globe. The time was meant to renew old friendships among the cardinals and facilitate a less heated election process. â€Å"And the rest of the residents and staff?† â€Å"Banned from the city for secrecy and security until the conclave concludes.† â€Å"And when does it conclude?† The guard shrugged. â€Å"God only knows.† The words sounded oddly literal. After parking the cart on the wide lawn directly behind St. Peter’s Basilica, the guard escorted Langdon and Vittoria up a stone escarpment to a marble plaza off the back of the basilica. Crossing the plaza, they approached the rear wall of the basilica and followed it through a triangular courtyard, across Via Belvedere, and into a series of buildings closely huddled together. Langdon’s art history had taught him enough Italian to pick out signs for the Vatican Printing Office, the Tapestry Restoration Lab, Post Office Management, and the Church of St. Ann. They crossed another small square and arrived at their destination. The Office of the Swiss Guard is housed adjacent to Il Corpo di Vigilanza, directly northeast of St. Peter’s Basilica. The office is a squat, stone building. On either side of the entrance, like two stone statues, stood a pair of guards. Langdon had to admit, these guards did not look quite so comical. Although they also wore the blue and gold uniform, each wielded the traditional â€Å"Vatican long sword† – an eight-foot spear with a razor-sharp scythe – rumored to have decapitated countless Muslims while defending the Christian crusaders in the fifteenth century. As Langdon and Vittoria approached, the two guards stepped forward, crossing their long swords, blocking the entrance. One looked up at the pilot in confusion. â€Å"I pantaloni,† he said, motioning to Vittoria’s shorts. The pilot waved them off. â€Å"Il comandante vuole vederli subito.† The guards frowned. Reluctantly they stepped aside. Inside, the air was cool. It looked nothing like the administrative security offices Langdon would have imagined. Ornate and impeccably furnished, the hallways contained paintings Langdon was certain any museum worldwide would gladly have featured in its main gallery. The pilot pointed down a steep set of stairs. â€Å"Down, please.† Langdon and Vittoria followed the white marble treads as they descended between a gauntlet of nude male sculptures. Each statue wore a fig leaf that was lighter in color than the rest of the body. The Great Castration, Langdon thought. It was one of the most horrific tragedies in Renaissance art. In 1857, Pope Pius IX decided that the accurate representation of the male form might incite lust inside the Vatican. So he got a chisel and mallet and hacked off the genitalia of every single male statue inside Vatican City. He defaced works by Michelangelo, Bramante, and Bernini. Plaster fig leaves were used to patch the damage. Hundreds of sculptures had been emasculated. Langdon had often wondered if there was a huge crate of stone penises someplace. â€Å"Here,† the guard announced. They reached the bottom of the stairs and dead-ended at a heavy, steel door. The guard typed an entry code, and the door slid open. Langdon and Vittoria entered. Beyond the threshold was absolute mayhem.

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Dell Strategies of Innovation and Research

Dell Strategies of Innovation and Research JASMANJOT SINGH Q) 1 List the ways that dell conduct researches on its customers to continually improve products and services? What are the features of Dells research? Dell gets knowledge about their on their customers and products service through one special team named as Customer research team (CRT) Days are a case of how Dell can constantly gain from-our clients. When we chatted with clients amid the Day sessions, some were troubled; others were excited. All appeared to be pleased that we welcomed them to Dell for an open talk around their IT issues. Dell will hear specifically from clients about the sorts of things they utilize their frameworks for, what they like about it and see the arrangement they use to complete things. Different activities in progress incorporate a pilot of a day in and day out visit benefit in the U.S. whats more, different nations where talk appear wheeze mainstream over conventional telephone benefit, overhauling support.dell.com, redoing of service contracts, and an update of the Dell.com online setup experience to give some examples. The degree and bearing of these activities and others are formed by what we get n otification from clients. Dell anticipates sharing advancement on them in up and coming discussions. Q) 2 What is Dells unique selling point? Dell is a itself very unique brand and thats why Dell has large number of customers and although their services are very unique like they offer direct sale to customer through stores and online shopping site , secondly , the design of dell computers is very attractive and fair in price . they offer direct delivery to customer and customer can track that also . after all , they are number one PC providers in world. Q)3 What Three strategies Dell use to generate revenue? Essential products : These products are any non-physical merchandise or administrations that can be purchased on the web, for example, questions in amusements, advanced endowments and administration additional items. Asia advanced this model and it remains the prevailing district related with virtual merchandise. As per statistical surveying firm In-Stat, of the $7 billion in virtual great income produced in 2010, 70% originated from Asia. Mobile operators: Unlike the U.S. and Europe, mobile operators in Asia are absolutely crucial in being able to monetize services since smart phone and credit card penetration are relatively low. The most pervasive and easy way to do micro billing and transactions is via operators prepaid billing systems which have vast consumer reach. This is also a big source of growth for mobile operators, so there is a win-win in working with them. An August 2011 Amdocs survey found that mobile operator executives in Asia Pacific expect revenue from value-added services (VAS) to grow from an average of 14% to 24% within three years Marketing : The rate of income spends dispensed towards online networking publicizing advancement is tiny in Asia. Consequently, many organizations are attempting to reproduce the achievement of a promoting supported model in versatile and online networking in the additionally developing markets of this area, as they have in the West. Notwithstanding, in the more created nations and propelled versatile markets, for example, Japan and Korea, promoting models have demonstrated almost as fruitful as those embraced in the West. In those nations, the virtual products model keeps on beating the publicizing financed models. Then again, as advanced mobile phones infiltrate whatever is left of Asias market, advertisement based models are turning out to be progressively practical. Q)4 What does return on investment mean in relation to Dells marketing campaign and how is it measure? Rate of profitability is one of a few productivity proportions, one of the four essential classes of monetary proportions the others being liquidity proportions, movement proportions and obligation proportions. This, the Return on Investment, regularly called an organizations arrival on aggregate resources, measures the general benefit made on a venture communicated as a rate of the sum contributed. Like profit for resources, or return disparity, Return on Investment measures an organizations productivity and its administrations capacity to create benefits from the assets financial specialists have set available to its. It is regularly said that if goes with operations cant create net benefit as a rate of the sum contributed more prominent than the loan cost on money related markets, its future is horrid. Q)5 Identify three external threats and two internal weaknesses that Dell could face? Dangers Increasingly mainstream mark names in the opposition.- Strong connections that are held amongst rivalry and the retailers. Rivalry can fundamentally make similar PCs since Dell manufactures PCs, not plans them. Shortcomings Dealing with a lot of provisions from a wide range of nations can bring about an extensive issue when items are reviewed.- They fabricate PCs, not create them. Q) 6What types of information can a business gather from its internal systems about its customers to assist in the planning process? Customer general information- Customer feedbacks Customer general information Many businesses will want to keep track of their customers. They might want to store email addresses, phone numbers and mailing addresses because, for example, they want to tell customers about a new product or send them the annual catalog. A business may want to keep track of how much the customer has spent with the company or how many orders the customer has placed. Some companies may just work on an order-by-order basis, or have such few clients that a customer database is unnecessary. Customer feedbacks: Customer feedback is a great way to get ideas on how to improve your business. When seeking feedback, its best to: make it as easy as possible for your customers to give their suggestions or ideas for improvement ensure you take the time to action feedback thank customers for taking the time to provide their feedback Q)7 List four ways environmental scanning can be conducted to look for information? Environmental scanning is one of the basic segments of the worldwide natural investigation. Ecological observing, natural determining and natural appraisal finish the worldwide ecological investigation. The worldwide condition alludes to the full scale condition which includes ventures, markets, organizations, customers and contenders. Subsequently, there exist relating examinations on the small scale level. Providers, clients and contenders speaking to the miniaturized scale condition of an organization are broke down inside the business examination Undirected viewing Undirected viewing, a term first used by Aguilar (1967), takes place when environment to understand it. Information needs are ill-defined and fuzzy, and much of the information obtained is no routine or informal, usually gained through chance encounters. Since the environment is assumed to be unanalysable, the organization is satisfied with limited, soft information and does not seek comprehensive, hard data. Information seeking is thus casual and opportunistic, relying more on irregular contacts and casual information from external, people sources. Information use is concerned primarily with reducing the high levels of environmental equivocality. Conditioned viewing Conditioned viewing, again from Aguilar (1967), occurs when the organization perceives the environment to be analyzable but is passive about gathering information and influencing the environment. Information needs focus on a small number of relatively well-defined issues or areas of concern. These are often based on widely-accepted industry assumptions and norms. Information seeking makes use of standard procedures, typically employing internal, non-people sources, with a significant amount of data coming from external reports, databases, and sources that are highly respected and widely used in the industry. Enacting Enacting takes place when the organization perceives the environment to be unanalysable but then proceeds to intrude actively into the environment in order to influence events and outcomes. Information needs are those required for experimentation and testing the environment. This could involve identifying areas for fruitful intervention. Information seeking is from external sources and channels that the organization has created through its intervention and this may include feedback about the actions that the organization has taken. Searching Searching (labelled as Discovery in the original Daft and Wick paper) takes place when the organization perceives the environment to be analysable and it actively intrudes into the environment to collect an accurate set of facts about the environment. Information needs are based on well-defined search goals that are broad, detailed, and open-ended. The organization is prepared to be surprised by unexpected findings that reveal new information needs. Information seeking is for hard, formal, often quantitative data, typically from surveys, market research activities that are rigorous, objective. Q)8 Describe qualitative and quantative research and provide three ways research could conducted? Quantitative research Quantitative research is a more consistent and information drove approach which gives a measure of what individuals think from a factual and numerical perspective. For instance, on the off chance that you needed to know what number of your clients bolster a proposed change in your items or administration and how emphatically they bolster it. Qualitative Research Unlike quantitative research which relies on numbers and data, qualitative research is more focused on how people feel, what they think and why they make certain choices. Three ways research could be conducted: Research philosophy Research design Research approach Q)9 How could the Australian bureau of statistics assist with the research process? The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is Australians official measurable association. It helps and energizes educated basic leadership, research and exchange inside governments and the group, by giving a top notch, objective and responsive national factual administration. In the event that you cant discover the data you require from the ABS site, or require advance factual data you can get in touch with them by means of the ABS National Information and Referral Service (NIRS) which is a telephone data and referral administration, or Client Services. ABS prepared specialists can work with you to fulfill your measurable data needs. The ABS has workplaces in each State and Territory and contact subtle elements for these workplaces can be situated on the ABS site. Q)10 What is a business opportunity? Provide two examples listed below? A business opportunity (or religious administrator) includes deal or rent of any item, benefit, hardware, etc.that will empower the buyer licensee to start a business. The licensor or vender of a business opportunity more often than not pronounces that it will secure or help the purchaser in finding an appropriate area or give the item to the buyer licensee. This is not the same as the offer of an autonomous business, in which there is no proceeded with relationship required by the vender. Examples-Franchise Opportunities-Direct Sales Business Opportunities. Q)11 What is a business threat? Provide one example? Business dangers are quality benchmarks or determinations for your employment, items or administrations evolving? Is changing innovation undermining your position? Do you have terrible obligation or income issues? Could any of your shortcomings genuinely debilitate your business? A typical illustration: If you import merchandise for resale, then a negative move in return rates will drive up your expenses, in the event that you cant pass these expenses on to your clients, your edges will decrease. In this way, swapping scale instability could be a three. Q)12 What does the Pareto Principle mean? How could your business use the Perato Principle to grow market share of a product? The Pareto rule (otherwise called the 80-20 lead, the law of the indispensable few, and the guideline of component scantily) states that, for some occasions, about 80% of the impacts originate from 20%of the causes. Business-administration advisor Joseph M. Juan recommended the guideline and named it after Italian market analyst Vilfredo Pareto, who saw in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was possessed by 20% of the populace; he built up the standard by watching that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas. It is a typical general guideline in business; e.g., 80% of your business originate from 20% of your customers. Numerically, where something is shared among an adequately expansive arrangement of members, there must be a number k in the vicinity of 50 and 100 with the end goal that k% is taken by (100 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ k) % of the members. The number k may change from 50 (on account of equivalent appropriation, i.e. 100% of the populace have rise to shares) t o about 100 (when a small number of members record for the majority of the asset). There is nothing uncommon about the number 80% scientifically, yet numerous genuine frameworks have k some place around this area of halfway lopsidedness in dissemination. The Pareto standard is just extraneously identified with Pareto effectiveness, which was likewise presented by a similar financial expert. Pareto created both ideas with regards to the dissemination of salary and riches among the populace. Q)13 True or False? As a result of increased competition, the lifespan of business opportunities in the marketplace is increasing-False The success of a new opportunity is always measured in terms of profit-False It is important that any new product or service is assessed at each stage of development process and should not proceed to the next stage until it has met the specified requirement-True if a number of new product or service ideas are developed, the ideas should be ranked against criteria to determine the best idea.-True Marketing information is available as software package-True Q)14 Describe how Ansoffs Matrix is used to develop new opportunities with range system of strategies? Diversification is the name given to the growth strategy where a business markets new products in new markets. This is an inherently more risk strategy because the business is moving into markets in which it has little or no experience. For a business to adopt a diversification strategy, therefore, it must have a clear idea about what it expects to gain from the strategy and an honest assessment of the risks. However, for the right balance between risk and reward, a marketing strategy of diversification can be highly rewarding. Q)15 Break-even Analysis: Calculate the break-even point for ice cream sales. Ice cream are bought for $2.00 each and sold for $2.50. The business has fixed costs of $400 per week? How many ice creams must be sold each week and therefore each day to break even Break even point= fixed cost/(selling price-variable cost) =400/(2.50-2.00) =400/0.50 =800 ice creams per week =114 per day.

The Impact of the Fast Food Industry on America Essay -- health, diet,

â€Å"In twentieth-century Old Earth, a fast food chain took dead cow meat, fried it in grease, added carcinogens, wrapped it in petroleum-based foam, and sold nine hundred billion units. Human beings. Go figure.† ― Dan Simmons, Hyperion Fast food is the source of obesity in America and causes health and environmental problems throughout the world. Global influences of the fast food industry are shown in the health problems in society today. The cheap production of meat and grains for the fast food industry cause harm to the environment, humans, and animals. The fast food that is consumed is not only bad for the health of people but also for the environment. The fast food industry’s extensive advertising through television, radio, newspapers, billboards, and sponsoring reach all people in a strategy to convince consumers that their food is healthy and available to everyone. Fast food menu’s are based on meat which comes from slaughtered animals that are bred solely for the fast food industry. These animals provide unhealthy, calorie filled, and chemically conditioned contents. Meat is the majority of all food poisoning incidents due to the cheap production methods to get the food to the food to the pub lic at low prices and large portions. The fast food industry causes people to consume large portions of unhealthy food that effects all aspects of life including health and environmental issues that arise from the availability of fast food. Eating unhealthy is something that is known to contribute to weight gain. Knowing what to eat and what not to eat is something most people do not take into consideration when stopping by a fast food restaurant for a convenient meal packed full of calories. Children, teens, and adults are all p... ...ollution from animal breeding and feces. The fast food industry advertises in hope to reach all people and gaining their loyalty. People use food as means to stay full, spend little money, and make themselves happy. Children and adults are all targeted with low prices, catchy songs, and kids meals. Fast food menu’s are based on meat from animals that are bred solely for fast food industries. Fast food is unhealthy, overly portioned, and not worth a life of health problems. Most consumers purchase meat that is the majority of all food poisoning incidents. Eating fast food is cheap methods to get at low prices and large portions. The fast food industry causes people to over eat unhealthy food that effects life of each other as well as animals and the environment. Health and environmental issues arise from the availability, advertisement, and production of fast food.