Is Proof of the existence of God Neccessary

Or Are Science And Religion In Conflict? Introduction Mankind is created in the image of God does not actually refers to the biological or the bodily forms as God Is a spoilt. The manly body does not belong to the image since God has no body as described earlier. One of the ideologists suggests that Adam resembled Christ more than Christ would have resembled his own half brothers. The main aspect of the image in God deals with the fact that God endues some of his divine characteristics to the man.This, therefore, demarcates man from the beasts and other creatures of the earth (Gardener, 2002). There are different opinions regarding this notion amongst the Christians as to what exactly image in God means. As man was made in the image of God so whoever sheds man's blood, his blood will also be shed. As every single Individual Is made in the Image of God, everyone should be treated equally. Moreover, man should be treated with honor and dignity because they reflect God. We know that man y people on this course of the earth are full of evil and hatred, and we should try our best to treat all of them equally.The term â€Å"image in God† has been mentioned In Bible thrice. In genesis, it has been Illustrated that man was created In the Image of God. In Cord.. A phrase proved that Jesus was actually the â€Å"Image of God†. These two verses can mean that God's character and attributes are reflected directly in man. This cannot be related with a physical appearance surely as Jesus remarks in John that God is a spirit and spirits are not made up of bones and flesh. Thus, one can say that Image of God totally deals with God's reflection in man (Lewis C. 2005) Discussion and Analysis A vocation can be defined as a call or summon. It can be regarded as an occupation for which a man is perfectly suitable. The meanings of this term first emerged from The general idea of vocation is centrally based over the Christian belief that God has created every single perso n with a specific cause. God has bestowed man with gifts and talents that are specifically oriented towards ways and purposes of life. In the Catholic Churches, the whole idea behind the vocation is the divine call associated to the Church and humanity.More specifically, we can say that Christian vocation mainly deals with the use of one's gifts in their professional life, family and church in order to achieve the greater source of good (Kelly, 2002). Thus, God in His creative purpose has created man by His own image. God's grand design of a man narrates His uniqueness. All of humanity is made in the image of God. Genesis tells that God created man from His own image and His own likeness. This can be regarded as an important scripture. Man in God's image or Imago Die should be primarily related to man's relation to God. It suggests moreover that man should strive to be relational (Fry D. 200). Many people in this world are enduring with poverty, terrorism, and mutinously suffering f rom diseases of all kinds. These calamities depict evil at their intense, nonetheless evil is far more extreme than these. Evil is somewhat factually spread in the whole world. However, eventually evil does not triumph. Human beings are not evils. Because of the fact, that we withdraw ourselves from Hitler and POI Pot. We admire Mother Theresa and Ghanaian. Yet, people are committing wrong deeds such as, put own wants ahead of the others welfare, and even ahead the welfare of the planet.Evil is the most mystifying feature of the human beings life (Kelly, 2002). There is one way to protect human beings from evil and nefarious deeds, which is accepting the concept of existence of God. According to Christian point of view, God is the concept of sovereign being. God is the originator, aristocrat, and owner of our lives. He created everything. He is supreme; he knows everything, every emotion and situation of the entire living organism. Nothing can be hidden from Him. We should worship t owards Him for all His blessings. He is our rescuer, dissolving all our sinful deeds so that we can reunite with Him again.Nevertheless, we cannot proof concept of God in scientific terms. All living organisms are â€Å"finite† creatures; we are yet, after so many centuries this globe has created, striving to comprehend what should be â€Å"an infinite† creature if perhaps He exists. Human beings, as finite creatures gaze for an opening and an ending. It is even mentioned in the â€Å"Bible† that God is the â€Å"Alpha† and â€Å"Omega. † Nonetheless, if for suppose, humans are gods, they would merely survive in the 4th dimensional state. Humans Just cannot comprehend this philosophy. It is mention in the â€Å"Bible†, â€Å"God is love. The supremacy to create and demolish life requires the cultivating of love (Matthews, 2008). The notion that man is created in the image of God emphasizes and promotes the meaning of life. It means that hum an life is to be respected and reverenced as it promotes sacredness and preciousness. Sanctity of life is grounded in the fact that acts like abortion is considered a serious sin against God (Anthony A, 1986). There are many Christian Coalition's that warn that anyone who wants to enjoy a happy afterlife needs to believe in the teachings of God.However, we see that a large majority of Americans never attend church, and some have even adopted atheist philosophies. Yet, these individuals behave responsibly and serve the country way better than many religious priests. Throughout history, we can find exceptional examples of American heroes observing ethical standards. These include Mark Twain, Margaret Ganger and Tom Paine. The Humanistic approach to ethics has deep roots in the development of Greece to the Renaissance period which later led to the democratic societies we have in the western civilization.Similarly, there are many philosophers in history we rejected the traditional appro ach to theistic morality and developed their own code of ethics by observing the principles of logic and rational thinking. These include the lights of Emmanuel Kant, Stuart Mill and Sidney Hook. All of these philosophers maintained that for a person to be moral, he needs to have a strong control over his desires and temperament. Image Die also deals with dignity and worth of each individual as a whole. This has a huge and profound impact on how we treat and deal with others.The image of god thus eradicates this discrimination and biasness among people. It condemns any kind of exploitation in terms of color, gender, economic status, ethnicity or age. Dignity should be maintained under this concept of Image Die equally for everyone (Nancy P, 2004). The belief and concept behind the existence of God can be understood by this case. A man is lying on the hospital bed, and undergoing cancer treatment and surgery. His thoughts are racing from one concern to another. Everything, which was most important to him, is of no importance.He is only thinking about the people he loved and the relationships, he had with them. God has made everyone in this world full of love and affectionate. If love disappears from every living organism, then this world will remain no more. He always asks from his God, â€Å"Why me? † However, after a day, he also thought, â€Å"Why not me? † This was the mime that made very little sense to him. He thought about himself, â€Å"he is a good person, a God fearing individual who had lived a righteous life and shared a healthy lifestyle than others who lived alongside him. Still, He was in the hospital, fighting with a serious disease, which would take him to the door of death. He was full of fear and anxiety, and in the evil hour of 3:00 – 4:00 am he was awakened by nightmares, telling him about the Judgment day. His enemy cancer had consumed his flesh and mind, as well. After some time, he started to suffer with depression. Everyone was dealing with his sickness, not him (Dealer's, 2012). Conclusion The fact that we are made in God's image has something to learn from general living. People often strive to understand their identity.Genesis teaches u s that all these questions can only be answered in relation to God. For this, the scriptural truth should be shared globally by all the Christians. Moreover, as remarked above theology of the business leads us to more Christian values and propel us to establish the Kingdom of God in accordance with the teachings as portrayed in holy books. Conclusively, a robust view of Imago Die is an essential overview of bible. It informs us with the understanding of all purposes in relation with God. Christians should embrace the biblical account on the values of man.

Important Events in the European History That Changed the European Society Essay

The changes are an integral part of progress and development. It is a well-known fact that in order to gain a new level the society should go through the series of different transformation. These transformations are not always pleasant and peaceful but, in general, they are useful for the society and help it to become a better one. In this work I am going to explain how, the European world changed dramatically as a result of a series of stresses in the late 13th to the mid 15th centuries and how such events as Black Plague, the One Hundred Year’s War and the collapse of Papal Power influenced the Medieval European society. The transformation of the Medieval society was long and painful process, which lasted approximately 150 years. The development in the years 1000-1300 brought the positive changes in agriculture, finance and trade. Growing food supply, the creation of guilds, the development of urban life, commercial revolution, the new life of learning – all these changes influenced positively on the society (Beck et al. 387-392). This is the first reason why the later changes were so dramatic for the society. They were so much unexpected that the people were simply not ready for them. The Black Plague, which is also known as the â€Å"Black Death† was probably among the most dramatic events, which constantly changed the face of the Medieval World into the new one. When the historians talk about â€Å"The Black Death,† they mean the specific outbreak of plague that took place in Europe in the mid-14th century. The Black Death came to Europe in October of 1347, spread swiftly through most of Europe by the end of 1349 and on to Scandinavia and Russia in the 1350s† (Shell, â€Å"The Black Death†). This epidemic also came back several times during the rest of the century. These events were followed by mass fear and hysteria. The main changes in social life brought by the plague were the rise of marriage and birth rate, the increase of violence and the upward mobility. The economic effects also were quite dramatic. First of all, â€Å"surplus of goods resulted in overspending; it was swiftly followed by a shortage of goods and inflation† (Shell, â€Å"The Black Death†). The second effect was lack of laborers. The level of trust to the Church also decreased. The One Hundred Years’ War was another historical even, which influenced on the society in the Middle Ages. It â€Å"was a long struggle between England and France over succession to the French throne. It lasted from 1337 to 1453, so it might more accurately be called the â€Å"116 Years’ War† (Wheeler, â€Å"The Hundred Years’ War†). Actually, it was the series of smaller wars and included several battles. The war involved two countries, England and France, which were among the leading ones in Europe during the Middle Ages. Nothing special, that such a massive struggle, which involved a large amount of people during the extremely long period of time, resulted into the drastic demographic, economical and political changes. England lost most of its continental territories and the insanity of the King brought it into the series of internal conflicts. On the contrary, France was able to strengthen its positions. The third important point, which initiated the changes in the European society and brought it to the new era of development, was the collapse of Papal Power. In the Middle Ages the belief that there is one Pope, who rules the church, was extremely strong. That is why the division of the Papacy into the two ruling points, one in Avignon, France and one in Rome was a great tragedy for many people as everything that they believed in, was destroyed. Despite the fact that finally the power was re-united in Rome, â€Å"it never recovered entirely from its stay at Avignon, and from the Great Schism. The power of the popes was never again as great as it had been before the quarrel between Boniface VIII. and the King of France† (Harding, â€Å"The Story of the Middle Ages†). The respect to the Church, which was among the most important factors, which influenced the Middle Ages, was destroyed. That is why these events are so important for the formation of the new society. To sum up, the European society went through the series of dramatic changes from the late 13th century to the mid 15th century. One of the most important factors, which influenced the changes, was the high speed of it. Such events as the Black Death, The Hundred Years’ War and the collapse of Papal Power were the events, which were â€Å"the beginning of end† for the Middle Ages. After them, the society required changes in order to adapt to the new conditions of life.

Chalice Chapter 9

He was introduced to her with a tremendous flourish, although no reason was given for his presence; which, with the air and the flourish, was explanation enough, and her heart plummeted. By the time the Grand Seneschal informed her, stiffly, that this was the Overlord’s choice for the next Master’s Heir, she didn’t need to be told, and in her anger and frustration she said, â€Å"That is hasty,† before she remembered to whom she spoke, and she bit her lip, waiting for the rebuke. But none came. She was so surprised she looked into his face. He scowled at her at once, the familiar contemptuous, disapproving scowl, but when she ducked her head and then glanced back again a moment later, his face had relaxed into what looked a lot like sadness. The new man’s name was Horuld. She paid little attention to his breeding, that several of his forebears’ lines ran directly from Willowlands, and several more had crossed in the ensuing generations, and which Deager was very eager to tell out, over and over and over, even to such unworthies as the demesne’s shabby and erratic new Chalice, who was herself one of the indications (Deager didn’t say this but he didn’t have to) that the demesne was still in trouble, over a year after she had taken her place in the Circle. So far as she knew no Chalice had ever been deposed. But she had never seen any record of a Chalice chosen when there was no Master to hold the land steady while the Circle did its work either. It had very occasionally happened that an apprentice died with or before her Chalice; but then too there had always been an experienced Master. And there were stories of Chalices who had not been able to bear the work they were called on to do – even those who had had their proper apprenticeships – and broken under it. There were only a few of these stories, but one was too many, and there was more than one. She believed that one such Chalice was the Chalice she herself followed. She was surprised – even more surprised than she had been at the Grand Seneschal missing a chance to reprimand her – when Horuld seemed disposed to talk to her. There were other, more prepossessing and conversationally skilful members of the Circle he could address himself to; demesne hierarchy declared that Chalice was Second of the Circle, but that had to be remembered only when there was work to be done. Her Circle recollected it only when they had to, as did the Overlord’s agent – or they always had done previously. She was, as Chalice, compelled to be present for the agent’s visit, and – as Chalice – she would serve whatever Master fate set over Willowlands. That was enough. Perhaps the training she hadn’t had would have included how to hold superfluous discourse with people she would rather avoid. When she was standing Chalice or performing a ritual she did not have to chat; but Horuld’s first visit was informal. In other circumstances this would have seemed friendly and considerate; as it was it seemed ominous and coercive. Deager, having proved to his own satisfaction, if not all of his audience’s, that Horuld’s bloodlines were an excellent choice, wished to make it clear – he said – that the Overlord was merely anxious that an unambiguous Heir should be in place, after the recent disaster. If such an accident should happen again, the demesne might fall apart entirely. It had been without a Master for seven months; it could not survive this a second time. She tried to tell herself that a declared Heir was a sensible precaution; their present Master was the end of his family. The previous Master should have declared an Heir when he sent his only brother to Fire. She wondered why the Overlord had not obliged him to do so; she had only been a small woodskeeper then, and small woodskeepers heard little about Overlords’ decisions. The demesne gossip said merely that the Master was a young man, and hale, and he would produce Heirs – had probably produced a few already, the uneasy joke went. But they would be bastards, and prohibited. By the time the ordinary folk of the demesne had begun to realise that their young Master seemed to have no intention of marrying and producing a proper Heir, especially in combination with his increasingly alarming general behaviour, the fear of what this meant also meant that no one wanted to talk about it. And then the worst had happened. Perhaps she should try to believe that the Overlord was merely doing the responsible thing – the responsible thing he had failed to do before – but again she wondered. It was too soon to tie an Heir to the present Circle; Willowlands was still too precarious. However necessary an Heir was, forcing him upon them now would unbalance it further. Would the next thing be that she was obliged to take an apprentice? She had no energy for the binding that would entail. Leaving aside that she had nothing to teach one. Perhaps it was only her dislike of both Deager and Horuld that made her feel the agent was making it clear that Horuld was being introduced to Willowlands as the Heir only after he had made something else even more clear, if not in so many words: that the Overlord would like to see Horuld taking up this inheritance soon. She was too quick to feel she needed to defend the Master, she told herself. But what she had taken from the agent’s description of Horuld’s bloodlines was that if he was the best that could be done for her poor demesne, the Overlord should be straining every muscle to support the present Master. Did the Overlord want to break Willowlands entirely? Surely not. The disruption would damage the Overlord’s grip too†¦no. He would be counting on riding it out; might he, more, be betting on the huge increase of his own power the successful changeover would produce? She knew almost nothing of the politics among Overlords. Demesne folk did not travel to the crown city nor visit the court of the king; and as practising Chalice she was furthermore indissolubly tied to her land. But whatever else she knew or thought of the Grand Seneschal, he would not have kept such a piece of news as a visit from the Heir from the rest of the Circle; and Deager glossed, or slithered, over the question of why Willowlands had not known who was coming with him, which made it plain that there had been no message that had gone awry. She had mixed the cup she would offer to the company before she came. She had mixed it for the visit from the Overlord’s agent, and that was all. That was how it was done; that was why it was important that a Chalice know in advance who would drink from her cup, and for what reasons. Last-minute changes were destabilising, which was why battlefield cups, which were perforce rare, were also notoriously volatile. It should not have been a good omen, that a Master’s Heir should be left out of the first cup he received from the Chalice. Perhaps the Overlord, or some other of his plotters, had decided that being left out was better than a Chalice throwing her weight against him, which a loyal Chalice might be suspected of doing upon the presentation of any outblood Heir. Chalices were parochial by definition; of all the Circle, only the Chalice could not set foot across her demesne’s boundaries. Some of the oldest records called the Chalice the Landtied – and because of this literal overidentification, the Chalice’s response to outbloodedness in any member of the Circle was considered crucial. This perhaps explained why Horuld was interested – indeed eager – to talk to her. Perhaps she could be disposed to include him kindly in her mixture for his next visit, after he had been careful to make a good first impression. She would not need to be disloyal. An y Master’s Heir was an important part in the demesne structure; most accepted Heirs attended at least some Circle gatherings; and under the present circumstances the only possible Heir was an outblood. A Chalice must at least punctiliously include her Master’s Heir in any cup he was present for; of course it would be better if she felt at least benign toward him, or even generous. But she did not feel benign or generous. She listened, smooth-faced, when the agent pronounced some blather about how the surprise of presenting Horuld unannounced would create â€Å"clarity† in an awkward situation; that he would be more able to see where he would best fit into difficult circumstances if no one was trying to soften the truth. She knew that a properly schooled Chalice would have some matching blather to offer in return, but she was not a properly schooled Chalice, and it gave her a little meagre pleasure that her silence discomfited the agent, and by his discomfiture he exposed that he knew his action had been dishonourable. Did she loathe Horuld because Deager was a toad? No. Sunbrightener was a toad, and his antics merely made her feel tired and sad. Or because the Chalice was repelled by outbloodedness? She looked at Horuld and every particle of her recoiled. No. She bore the Chalice, she was not engulfed by it. Mirasol had arrived a little late at the House for the meeting with Deager. Just as she was leaving her cottage a young mother had burst into the meadow carrying a wildly weeping child. Mirasol knew them, Kenti and her daughter Tis; they were neighbours. Tis had pulled a kettle of boiling water over. Fortunately it had only been half full, but the child still had a badly burned arm; and the local herbswoman, Catu, was gone to a lying-in, Kenti did not know where. Mirasol hadn’t spoken to Kenti or her husband Danel properly since she had become Chalice, in spite of the fact that Danel and she had grown up together; she had been jealous when he had been apprenticed to a ploughman, for the horses. Kenti said breathlessly, â€Å"Can you do anything? Can you help?† Her eyes went to the back of Mirasol’s right hand, which was holding the edges of her cloak together over the cup of congruence in her left hand, and then hastily rose to Mirasol’s face. But she couldn’t meet the Chalice’s eyes the way she had many times met Mirasol’s, and they dropped away again. Poor Tis was weeping in a miserable, exhausted way that was painful to hear. Mirasol brought them into the cottage and took down a small pot of the honey especially good for burns and smeared it carefully over Tis’ arm. The little girl cried out at the first touch but by the time Mirasol had finished she had fallen silent, and leant back against her mother’s body staring at Mirasol with huge still-wet eyes. Even as Mirasol looked back at her the eyelids drooped, and Tis was asleep. And then Kenti burst into tears. Mirasol led her to the big soft chair by the fireplace where Mirasol did much of her reading and let her collapse. â€Å"It was my own carelessness – I know what she’s like – I let myself be distracted – it was only a moment – and then I heard her scream – and I knew Catu was away – I didn’t know what to do – it was awful† and then she couldn’t say anything for a while. Mirasol made a tisane – a spoonful of her soothing honey with a spoonful of the calming herbs she’d had from Catu herself; in the early months of her Chalicehood she’d drunk it by the bucketful. When she brought a cup to Kenti, Kenti laid Tis tenderly down beside her on the chair, sticky arm uppermost, and took it. She breathed in the steam and gave a little half laugh: she recognised Catu’s mixture. â€Å"I’ve used honey for littler wounds – your mother taught me that when I wasn’t much older than Tis – but this one was so dreadful. And then I remembered – I remembered your hand. I thought, if your – if the Chalice’s honey can cure what a Fire-priest can do, then perhaps it can cure Tis’ arm.† Mirasol said gently, â€Å"The Master cured my hand.† â€Å"He – ?† said Kenti unbelievingly, and Mirasol saw the fear in her face, the same fear she saw in the Housemen’s faces before they bent nearer their Master to slide the chair under him as he sat down; the fear she saw in the faces of most of the others of the Circle when their part in a rite brought them too close to him – the fear of him that made the Master leave the burnt grove before any of his people saw him there. â€Å"Yes. He.† She wanted to say, Tell Danel. Tell your mother. Tell all your friends. But she watched Kenti’s face and knew that she would tell the story – if she believed it. Kenti’s face said that she wanted to believe it – she wanted that hope, not only for herself, but for her demesne. Kenti sat looking at her daughter for a long moment and then said wonderingly, â€Å"Look – the mark is already fading. Your mother’s honey could not have done so much so quickly. It is the Chalice in you, I know, but perhaps – perhaps – perhaps it is also that we have a Fire-priest for Master†¦.† Her voice had sunk to a whisper. Mirasol was still thinking about the hope in Kenti’s face when she walked up to the House. She knew she was late, but it was only Deager, the agent, coming for a – snoop, she thought uncharitably. Overlords’ agents were supposed to visit their Overlords’ demesnes, but she didn’t like the way Deager’s nose twitched, the way his eyes darted around, as if he were hoping to smell something rotten, to see someone doing something illicit or disgraceful. And then she arrived, and there was a surprising number of people churning around in the big hall behind the front doors, and a youngish, weaselly-faced man she had never seen before standing a little too close to Deager’s elbow. The situation was uncomfortable enough to begin with, when it was only Deager and Horuld, herself and the Grand Seneschal and the Seneschal’s apprentice Bringad, and four of the minor Circle (the others were hastily sent for when Horuld was revealed as the Heir) plus the attendants the visitors brought and their own Housefolk. As the word spread about Horuld, more and more people streamed in, and both the noise and the tension level, it seemed to Mirasol, rose, and the ever-worried Bringad looked more worried than she had ever seen him. But when the Master arrived†¦she did not know how to understand it, explain it, even to herself. It was as if the level ground tipped a little in one direction and the high curving sky changed its arc just a little in some other direction. A Master was not expected to greet a mere agent on his arrival; the Grand Seneschal did that. But as the representative of his Overlord, a Master would be churlish as well as foolish not to see him at some point during his visit. She assumed the Grand Seneschal had despatched a message to the Master about Deager’s unexpected companion; it was impossible to read any trace of surprise or disquiet on the Master’s shadowy black and strangely mutable face when he made his entrance. Mirasol heard with what was beginning to be a familiar sinking of the heart the conversation falter and then stop as he was noticed, before the head Houseman announced him. Perhaps all Masters are greeted with a respectful hush, but she doubted that most demesne folk drew together as if for protection when their Master appeared. When Deager (his voice positively quavering as he addressed the Master) described Horuld as the Overlord’s candidate for Heir, the Master merely bowed his head. There was a disagreeable pause, and then the agent rushed to begin telling Horuld’s bloodlines over again, speaking too loudly and too quickly, and at first forgetting his flourishes. But when a Master has no son nor other suitable close relative, the meeting between the Master and the Master’s newly declared Heir was as laboriously and ponderously formal as centuries of tradition could make it, including, in this case, the tradition that an unexpected situation should be treated even more formally than the same situation when everyone knew what was happening. The Grand Seneschal managed to insert an orotund phrase or two (rather like a pole through the spokes of a wheel, Mirasol thought) into the agent’s barrage of genealogy, which had a steadying effect. When Deager finally fell silent, his concl uding bow was as elaborate as if he were being presented to the king. But Mirasol found herself thinking that the Master had bowed his head so very ceremoniously indeed that perhaps he had somehow known of Horuld’s coming before the message from the Grand Seneschal. Most of the initial gestures among any group that required the presence of the Chalice were stylised, just as her offering of the cup was, but during Horuld’s first visit to Willowlands they all seemed to move as if they were puppets in a puppet show, their limbs made of wood, the pulling of their strings performed by a puppeteer. If there had been an audience Mirasol felt they would not have found the performance convincing. Although Deager had insisted in a manner that was obviously meant to be magnificent but came over as merely presumptuous, that this first informal meeting with the Heir should proceed as it would have if Horuld had not been there, this was not possible, as Deager would have known it was not possible. Furthermore any meeting involving the Circle to which the Chalice stood should be precise about the number of people present, the number of people who would be offered the Chalice’s cup – which Deager would also know. And the Willowlands folk were doubtless awkward with surprise. They had known an Heir would be chosen, and Mirasol had held Chalice during the gathering when the Master had acceded to the Overlord’s wish, as presented by Deager, that the Overlord do the choosing. But that had only been a few weeks ago, and they had heard nothing of the progress of the search. She had begun reading about the meeting of a Master with an unknown Heir, so she knew that if it had been a proper meeting she should offer her cup first to the Master and second to the Heir. After a moment’s invisible dithering behind the face she tried hard to keep in an expressionless Chalice mask she did so anyway: let Deager assume this was a manifestation of magnanimity and support; she considered it buying time. The contrast between the Master and an ordinary human had never been so marked, she thought, as between the Master and his Heir when she took the cup from one and offered it to the other. She had directed them to stand on either side of her – which would also have been the correct form for a planned first meeting between the two of them: she could see Deager smiling with satisfaction, but she ignored him. The Master seemed to tower over her, and his natural heat, as she stood close enough to him to hold a cup to his lips, wrapped itself around her as if claiming her – and briefly and disconcertingly she remembered riding home with him after the fire in the Onora Grove. Horuld, who was no more than average size, seemed puny and frail in comparison; and the fact that he was obviously struggling not to flinch away from the Master added to this impression of weakness. She might have helped him, as she often helped the Circle members who were still reluctant to approach the Master, by stepping toward him, by allowing him to maintain a greater distance; but she did not. She offered the cup to the Master with a bent arm, and then turned and offered the cup to Horuld, again with a bent arm, and waited, forcing him to step close, not only to her, but to the Master. He did not try to take the cup from her, but he did raise a hand to grasp it, and she could feel him trembling. There were beads of sweat on his upper lip which she doubted were only from the heat. Before she took the cup on to Deager and the rest of the Circle, she bowed, to the Master, and then to Horuld. The Master must receive the deeper bow, of course, but the Heir might have had one nearly as deep; her bow to the Heir was only enough more than perfunctory not to be offensive. She let her gaze pass as if carelessly over Deager, and saw that he had stopped smiling. She could feel, before she had got halfway round the Circle, that it was not a good binding. When she made her final bow it was almost difficult to stand upright again, and she was exhausted. She had to make a great effort to meet the eyes of Horuld and Deager; the Grand Seneschal’s eyes looked glassy and unfocused, and the Master’s were as unfathomable as they had been the first day, when his hand had slipped and burnt her, and his face was only blurred shadows. She tried to remember the sudden surprising joy of his healing of her hand, of talking to him about what he saw, about her bees being tiny golden sparks in his strange vision – of the night that she had helped him put out the fire in Onora Grove, and the ride home after. But she remembered these things as she might remember something out of a book, a story told of someone else. Even if, by some extraordinary accident, the Chalice had not known beforehand all those who would drink, a well-mixed cup should have had a more positive effect than this. Perhaps she had mixed it injudiciously; that was likeliest. Even without his bringing an unannounced Heir, her dislike of Deager made it onerous for her to mix a cup that she would have to offer to him. But even if a more experienced Chalice might have done better, it was still true that introducing an Heir without proper advance warning was like throwing a boulder on one side of a delicate scales and expecting them still to balance. But perhaps the lack of binding and balance in this gathering was because Horuld was wrong†¦wrong for the demesne, wrong as Heir, wrong even to be here. It had been known in the past that an outblood Heir was rejected by the demesne, however carefully the humans had tried to make the best choice. Perhaps the Overlord had overplayed his game by giving the Master and his Chalice no forewarning that the Overlord’s choice was coming to be introduced to his hoped-for inheritance. By the end of the day, when she could leave the House and make her way back to her cottage, she was shaking and sick. She pulled her hood over her head and held it bunched round her throat with her hands, feeling that what she really wanted to do was disappear: if she wrapped the ends of her cloak around her tightly enough and then tighter still, eventually there would be no one left inside†¦. Usually the gentle thumping of the empty Chalice cup against her hip was comforting: another ritual got through. Today it was not; she felt that she – they – Willowlands had indeed not got through the ritual of the introduction of the Heir. She concentrated on the thought of sitting in the last of the daylight in the clearing by the cottage, listening to her bees. She was still ten minutes’ walk from the cottage when some of her bees came to meet her. She stretched out her arms to them and they landed on her hands and forearms, stroking her skin as if the tiny hairs were sepals they expected to secrete nectar for them. She shook her hood back, and several landed on her face and neck; out of the corners of her eyes she could see more landing on her shoulders. As she walked the last few minutes to the cottage she found herself thinking that her head felt strangely heavy, and that the hum of the bees was unusually loud; and then when she came out of the tree-shadowed path into the sunny clearing around the cottage she saw a great cloud of bees lifting away from her and dispersing, and she realised that she had been wearing a hood and cloak of bees. She watched them scatter about their proper bee business, and wondered. Horuld came twice more in the next few weeks with Deager, and then a third time he came alone. When he came with Deager their visits were announced in advance; but now as the acknowledged Heir, he might come as he pleased – and stay as he pleased. She was in the House library when he came that third time, and the first warning she had was a shadow falling across the open door; she was deep into her research and would not have noticed, except that a half-familiar voice said, â€Å"Chalice,† and her body had recoiled before her mind had recognised who it was. She turned the recoil, she hoped, into a mere startle, and stood up at once to make a ceremonial sign of greeting, saying, â€Å"Forgive me, my mind was lost in what I was doing.† He said smoothly, â€Å"And I have interrupted you; forgive me.† She bowed her head and waited, hoping his appearance was a formal signal only and that he had no business with her. The demesne’s folk were growing used to their new Chalice, and they were now coming to her more and more; this was a relief in some ways, and she knew she must be grateful for the good this was doing Willowlands, but she often had to put aside what other work she had planned on doing. She had fled to the House library today and was hastily reading up on the behaviour toward and reception of outblood Heirs. Part of her problem, she thought, as she had thought many times since the Chalice had come to her, was that she was not by nature a formal sort of person; she found that side of the duties of the Chalice so difficult as sometimes to feel incompatible with her private self. She wondered if this was anything like trying to live in the human world when you were a priest of Fire. Chalice Chapter 9 He was introduced to her with a tremendous flourish, although no reason was given for his presence; which, with the air and the flourish, was explanation enough, and her heart plummeted. By the time the Grand Seneschal informed her, stiffly, that this was the Overlord’s choice for the next Master’s Heir, she didn’t need to be told, and in her anger and frustration she said, â€Å"That is hasty,† before she remembered to whom she spoke, and she bit her lip, waiting for the rebuke. But none came. She was so surprised she looked into his face. He scowled at her at once, the familiar contemptuous, disapproving scowl, but when she ducked her head and then glanced back again a moment later, his face had relaxed into what looked a lot like sadness. The new man’s name was Horuld. She paid little attention to his breeding, that several of his forebears’ lines ran directly from Willowlands, and several more had crossed in the ensuing generations, and which Deager was very eager to tell out, over and over and over, even to such unworthies as the demesne’s shabby and erratic new Chalice, who was herself one of the indications (Deager didn’t say this but he didn’t have to) that the demesne was still in trouble, over a year after she had taken her place in the Circle. So far as she knew no Chalice had ever been deposed. But she had never seen any record of a Chalice chosen when there was no Master to hold the land steady while the Circle did its work either. It had very occasionally happened that an apprentice died with or before her Chalice; but then too there had always been an experienced Master. And there were stories of Chalices who had not been able to bear the work they were called on to do – even those who had had their proper apprenticeships – and broken under it. There were only a few of these stories, but one was too many, and there was more than one. She believed that one such Chalice was the Chalice she herself followed. She was surprised – even more surprised than she had been at the Grand Seneschal missing a chance to reprimand her – when Horuld seemed disposed to talk to her. There were other, more prepossessing and conversationally skilful members of the Circle he could address himself to; demesne hierarchy declared that Chalice was Second of the Circle, but that had to be remembered only when there was work to be done. Her Circle recollected it only when they had to, as did the Overlord’s agent – or they always had done previously. She was, as Chalice, compelled to be present for the agent’s visit, and – as Chalice – she would serve whatever Master fate set over Willowlands. That was enough. Perhaps the training she hadn’t had would have included how to hold superfluous discourse with people she would rather avoid. When she was standing Chalice or performing a ritual she did not have to chat; but Horuld’s first visit was informal. In other circumstances this would have seemed friendly and considerate; as it was it seemed ominous and coercive. Deager, having proved to his own satisfaction, if not all of his audience’s, that Horuld’s bloodlines were an excellent choice, wished to make it clear – he said – that the Overlord was merely anxious that an unambiguous Heir should be in place, after the recent disaster. If such an accident should happen again, the demesne might fall apart entirely. It had been without a Master for seven months; it could not survive this a second time. She tried to tell herself that a declared Heir was a sensible precaution; their present Master was the end of his family. The previous Master should have declared an Heir when he sent his only brother to Fire. She wondered why the Overlord had not obliged him to do so; she had only been a small woodskeeper then, and small woodskeepers heard little about Overlords’ decisions. The demesne gossip said merely that the Master was a young man, and hale, and he would produce Heirs – had probably produced a few already, the uneasy joke went. But they would be bastards, and prohibited. By the time the ordinary folk of the demesne had begun to realise that their young Master seemed to have no intention of marrying and producing a proper Heir, especially in combination with his increasingly alarming general behaviour, the fear of what this meant also meant that no one wanted to talk about it. And then the worst had happened. Perhaps she should try to believe that the Overlord was merely doing the responsible thing – the responsible thing he had failed to do before – but again she wondered. It was too soon to tie an Heir to the present Circle; Willowlands was still too precarious. However necessary an Heir was, forcing him upon them now would unbalance it further. Would the next thing be that she was obliged to take an apprentice? She had no energy for the binding that would entail. Leaving aside that she had nothing to teach one. Perhaps it was only her dislike of both Deager and Horuld that made her feel the agent was making it clear that Horuld was being introduced to Willowlands as the Heir only after he had made something else even more clear, if not in so many words: that the Overlord would like to see Horuld taking up this inheritance soon. She was too quick to feel she needed to defend the Master, she told herself. But what she had taken from the agent’s description of Horuld’s bloodlines was that if he was the best that could be done for her poor demesne, the Overlord should be straining every muscle to support the present Master. Did the Overlord want to break Willowlands entirely? Surely not. The disruption would damage the Overlord’s grip too†¦no. He would be counting on riding it out; might he, more, be betting on the huge increase of his own power the successful changeover would produce? She knew almost nothing of the politics among Overlords. Demesne folk did not travel to the crown city nor visit the court of the king; and as practising Chalice she was furthermore indissolubly tied to her land. But whatever else she knew or thought of the Grand Seneschal, he would not have kept such a piece of news as a visit from the Heir from the rest of the Circle; and Deager glossed, or slithered, over the question of why Willowlands had not known who was coming with him, which made it plain that there had been no message that had gone awry. She had mixed the cup she would offer to the company before she came. She had mixed it for the visit from the Overlord’s agent, and that was all. That was how it was done; that was why it was important that a Chalice know in advance who would drink from her cup, and for what reasons. Last-minute changes were destabilising, which was why battlefield cups, which were perforce rare, were also notoriously volatile. It should not have been a good omen, that a Master’s Heir should be left out of the first cup he received from the Chalice. Perhaps the Overlord, or some other of his plotters, had decided that being left out was better than a Chalice throwing her weight against him, which a loyal Chalice might be suspected of doing upon the presentation of any outblood Heir. Chalices were parochial by definition; of all the Circle, only the Chalice could not set foot across her demesne’s boundaries. Some of the oldest records called the Chalice the Landtied – and because of this literal overidentification, the Chalice’s response to outbloodedness in any member of the Circle was considered crucial. This perhaps explained why Horuld was interested – indeed eager – to talk to her. Perhaps she could be disposed to include him kindly in her mixture for his next visit, after he had been careful to make a good first impression. She would not need to be disloyal. An y Master’s Heir was an important part in the demesne structure; most accepted Heirs attended at least some Circle gatherings; and under the present circumstances the only possible Heir was an outblood. A Chalice must at least punctiliously include her Master’s Heir in any cup he was present for; of course it would be better if she felt at least benign toward him, or even generous. But she did not feel benign or generous. She listened, smooth-faced, when the agent pronounced some blather about how the surprise of presenting Horuld unannounced would create â€Å"clarity† in an awkward situation; that he would be more able to see where he would best fit into difficult circumstances if no one was trying to soften the truth. She knew that a properly schooled Chalice would have some matching blather to offer in return, but she was not a properly schooled Chalice, and it gave her a little meagre pleasure that her silence discomfited the agent, and by his discomfiture he exposed that he knew his action had been dishonourable. Did she loathe Horuld because Deager was a toad? No. Sunbrightener was a toad, and his antics merely made her feel tired and sad. Or because the Chalice was repelled by outbloodedness? She looked at Horuld and every particle of her recoiled. No. She bore the Chalice, she was not engulfed by it. Mirasol had arrived a little late at the House for the meeting with Deager. Just as she was leaving her cottage a young mother had burst into the meadow carrying a wildly weeping child. Mirasol knew them, Kenti and her daughter Tis; they were neighbours. Tis had pulled a kettle of boiling water over. Fortunately it had only been half full, but the child still had a badly burned arm; and the local herbswoman, Catu, was gone to a lying-in, Kenti did not know where. Mirasol hadn’t spoken to Kenti or her husband Danel properly since she had become Chalice, in spite of the fact that Danel and she had grown up together; she had been jealous when he had been apprenticed to a ploughman, for the horses. Kenti said breathlessly, â€Å"Can you do anything? Can you help?† Her eyes went to the back of Mirasol’s right hand, which was holding the edges of her cloak together over the cup of congruence in her left hand, and then hastily rose to Mirasol’s face. But she couldn’t meet the Chalice’s eyes the way she had many times met Mirasol’s, and they dropped away again. Poor Tis was weeping in a miserable, exhausted way that was painful to hear. Mirasol brought them into the cottage and took down a small pot of the honey especially good for burns and smeared it carefully over Tis’ arm. The little girl cried out at the first touch but by the time Mirasol had finished she had fallen silent, and leant back against her mother’s body staring at Mirasol with huge still-wet eyes. Even as Mirasol looked back at her the eyelids drooped, and Tis was asleep. And then Kenti burst into tears. Mirasol led her to the big soft chair by the fireplace where Mirasol did much of her reading and let her collapse. â€Å"It was my own carelessness – I know what she’s like – I let myself be distracted – it was only a moment – and then I heard her scream – and I knew Catu was away – I didn’t know what to do – it was awful† and then she couldn’t say anything for a while. Mirasol made a tisane – a spoonful of her soothing honey with a spoonful of the calming herbs she’d had from Catu herself; in the early months of her Chalicehood she’d drunk it by the bucketful. When she brought a cup to Kenti, Kenti laid Tis tenderly down beside her on the chair, sticky arm uppermost, and took it. She breathed in the steam and gave a little half laugh: she recognised Catu’s mixture. â€Å"I’ve used honey for littler wounds – your mother taught me that when I wasn’t much older than Tis – but this one was so dreadful. And then I remembered – I remembered your hand. I thought, if your – if the Chalice’s honey can cure what a Fire-priest can do, then perhaps it can cure Tis’ arm.† Mirasol said gently, â€Å"The Master cured my hand.† â€Å"He – ?† said Kenti unbelievingly, and Mirasol saw the fear in her face, the same fear she saw in the Housemen’s faces before they bent nearer their Master to slide the chair under him as he sat down; the fear she saw in the faces of most of the others of the Circle when their part in a rite brought them too close to him – the fear of him that made the Master leave the burnt grove before any of his people saw him there. â€Å"Yes. He.† She wanted to say, Tell Danel. Tell your mother. Tell all your friends. But she watched Kenti’s face and knew that she would tell the story – if she believed it. Kenti’s face said that she wanted to believe it – she wanted that hope, not only for herself, but for her demesne. Kenti sat looking at her daughter for a long moment and then said wonderingly, â€Å"Look – the mark is already fading. Your mother’s honey could not have done so much so quickly. It is the Chalice in you, I know, but perhaps – perhaps – perhaps it is also that we have a Fire-priest for Master†¦.† Her voice had sunk to a whisper. Mirasol was still thinking about the hope in Kenti’s face when she walked up to the House. She knew she was late, but it was only Deager, the agent, coming for a – snoop, she thought uncharitably. Overlords’ agents were supposed to visit their Overlords’ demesnes, but she didn’t like the way Deager’s nose twitched, the way his eyes darted around, as if he were hoping to smell something rotten, to see someone doing something illicit or disgraceful. And then she arrived, and there was a surprising number of people churning around in the big hall behind the front doors, and a youngish, weaselly-faced man she had never seen before standing a little too close to Deager’s elbow. The situation was uncomfortable enough to begin with, when it was only Deager and Horuld, herself and the Grand Seneschal and the Seneschal’s apprentice Bringad, and four of the minor Circle (the others were hastily sent for when Horuld was revealed as the Heir) plus the attendants the visitors brought and their own Housefolk. As the word spread about Horuld, more and more people streamed in, and both the noise and the tension level, it seemed to Mirasol, rose, and the ever-worried Bringad looked more worried than she had ever seen him. But when the Master arrived†¦she did not know how to understand it, explain it, even to herself. It was as if the level ground tipped a little in one direction and the high curving sky changed its arc just a little in some other direction. A Master was not expected to greet a mere agent on his arrival; the Grand Seneschal did that. But as the representative of his Overlord, a Master would be churlish as well as foolish not to see him at some point during his visit. She assumed the Grand Seneschal had despatched a message to the Master about Deager’s unexpected companion; it was impossible to read any trace of surprise or disquiet on the Master’s shadowy black and strangely mutable face when he made his entrance. Mirasol heard with what was beginning to be a familiar sinking of the heart the conversation falter and then stop as he was noticed, before the head Houseman announced him. Perhaps all Masters are greeted with a respectful hush, but she doubted that most demesne folk drew together as if for protection when their Master appeared. When Deager (his voice positively quavering as he addressed the Master) described Horuld as the Overlord’s candidate for Heir, the Master merely bowed his head. There was a disagreeable pause, and then the agent rushed to begin telling Horuld’s bloodlines over again, speaking too loudly and too quickly, and at first forgetting his flourishes. But when a Master has no son nor other suitable close relative, the meeting between the Master and the Master’s newly declared Heir was as laboriously and ponderously formal as centuries of tradition could make it, including, in this case, the tradition that an unexpected situation should be treated even more formally than the same situation when everyone knew what was happening. The Grand Seneschal managed to insert an orotund phrase or two (rather like a pole through the spokes of a wheel, Mirasol thought) into the agent’s barrage of genealogy, which had a steadying effect. When Deager finally fell silent, his concl uding bow was as elaborate as if he were being presented to the king. But Mirasol found herself thinking that the Master had bowed his head so very ceremoniously indeed that perhaps he had somehow known of Horuld’s coming before the message from the Grand Seneschal. Most of the initial gestures among any group that required the presence of the Chalice were stylised, just as her offering of the cup was, but during Horuld’s first visit to Willowlands they all seemed to move as if they were puppets in a puppet show, their limbs made of wood, the pulling of their strings performed by a puppeteer. If there had been an audience Mirasol felt they would not have found the performance convincing. Although Deager had insisted in a manner that was obviously meant to be magnificent but came over as merely presumptuous, that this first informal meeting with the Heir should proceed as it would have if Horuld had not been there, this was not possible, as Deager would have known it was not possible. Furthermore any meeting involving the Circle to which the Chalice stood should be precise about the number of people present, the number of people who would be offered the Chalice’s cup – which Deager would also know. And the Willowlands folk were doubtless awkward with surprise. They had known an Heir would be chosen, and Mirasol had held Chalice during the gathering when the Master had acceded to the Overlord’s wish, as presented by Deager, that the Overlord do the choosing. But that had only been a few weeks ago, and they had heard nothing of the progress of the search. She had begun reading about the meeting of a Master with an unknown Heir, so she knew that if it had been a proper meeting she should offer her cup first to the Master and second to the Heir. After a moment’s invisible dithering behind the face she tried hard to keep in an expressionless Chalice mask she did so anyway: let Deager assume this was a manifestation of magnanimity and support; she considered it buying time. The contrast between the Master and an ordinary human had never been so marked, she thought, as between the Master and his Heir when she took the cup from one and offered it to the other. She had directed them to stand on either side of her – which would also have been the correct form for a planned first meeting between the two of them: she could see Deager smiling with satisfaction, but she ignored him. The Master seemed to tower over her, and his natural heat, as she stood close enough to him to hold a cup to his lips, wrapped itself around her as if claiming her – and briefly and disconcertingly she remembered riding home with him after the fire in the Onora Grove. Horuld, who was no more than average size, seemed puny and frail in comparison; and the fact that he was obviously struggling not to flinch away from the Master added to this impression of weakness. She might have helped him, as she often helped the Circle members who were still reluctant to approach the Master, by stepping toward him, by allowing him to maintain a greater distance; but she did not. She offered the cup to the Master with a bent arm, and then turned and offered the cup to Horuld, again with a bent arm, and waited, forcing him to step close, not only to her, but to the Master. He did not try to take the cup from her, but he did raise a hand to grasp it, and she could feel him trembling. There were beads of sweat on his upper lip which she doubted were only from the heat. Before she took the cup on to Deager and the rest of the Circle, she bowed, to the Master, and then to Horuld. The Master must receive the deeper bow, of course, but the Heir might have had one nearly as deep; her bow to the Heir was only enough more than perfunctory not to be offensive. She let her gaze pass as if carelessly over Deager, and saw that he had stopped smiling. She could feel, before she had got halfway round the Circle, that it was not a good binding. When she made her final bow it was almost difficult to stand upright again, and she was exhausted. She had to make a great effort to meet the eyes of Horuld and Deager; the Grand Seneschal’s eyes looked glassy and unfocused, and the Master’s were as unfathomable as they had been the first day, when his hand had slipped and burnt her, and his face was only blurred shadows. She tried to remember the sudden surprising joy of his healing of her hand, of talking to him about what he saw, about her bees being tiny golden sparks in his strange vision – of the night that she had helped him put out the fire in Onora Grove, and the ride home after. But she remembered these things as she might remember something out of a book, a story told of someone else. Even if, by some extraordinary accident, the Chalice had not known beforehand all those who would drink, a well-mixed cup should have had a more positive effect than this. Perhaps she had mixed it injudiciously; that was likeliest. Even without his bringing an unannounced Heir, her dislike of Deager made it onerous for her to mix a cup that she would have to offer to him. But even if a more experienced Chalice might have done better, it was still true that introducing an Heir without proper advance warning was like throwing a boulder on one side of a delicate scales and expecting them still to balance. But perhaps the lack of binding and balance in this gathering was because Horuld was wrong†¦wrong for the demesne, wrong as Heir, wrong even to be here. It had been known in the past that an outblood Heir was rejected by the demesne, however carefully the humans had tried to make the best choice. Perhaps the Overlord had overplayed his game by giving the Master and his Chalice no forewarning that the Overlord’s choice was coming to be introduced to his hoped-for inheritance. By the end of the day, when she could leave the House and make her way back to her cottage, she was shaking and sick. She pulled her hood over her head and held it bunched round her throat with her hands, feeling that what she really wanted to do was disappear: if she wrapped the ends of her cloak around her tightly enough and then tighter still, eventually there would be no one left inside†¦. Usually the gentle thumping of the empty Chalice cup against her hip was comforting: another ritual got through. Today it was not; she felt that she – they – Willowlands had indeed not got through the ritual of the introduction of the Heir. She concentrated on the thought of sitting in the last of the daylight in the clearing by the cottage, listening to her bees. She was still ten minutes’ walk from the cottage when some of her bees came to meet her. She stretched out her arms to them and they landed on her hands and forearms, stroking her skin as if the tiny hairs were sepals they expected to secrete nectar for them. She shook her hood back, and several landed on her face and neck; out of the corners of her eyes she could see more landing on her shoulders. As she walked the last few minutes to the cottage she found herself thinking that her head felt strangely heavy, and that the hum of the bees was unusually loud; and then when she came out of the tree-shadowed path into the sunny clearing around the cottage she saw a great cloud of bees lifting away from her and dispersing, and she realised that she had been wearing a hood and cloak of bees. She watched them scatter about their proper bee business, and wondered. Horuld came twice more in the next few weeks with Deager, and then a third time he came alone. When he came with Deager their visits were announced in advance; but now as the acknowledged Heir, he might come as he pleased – and stay as he pleased. She was in the House library when he came that third time, and the first warning she had was a shadow falling across the open door; she was deep into her research and would not have noticed, except that a half-familiar voice said, â€Å"Chalice,† and her body had recoiled before her mind had recognised who it was. She turned the recoil, she hoped, into a mere startle, and stood up at once to make a ceremonial sign of greeting, saying, â€Å"Forgive me, my mind was lost in what I was doing.† He said smoothly, â€Å"And I have interrupted you; forgive me.† She bowed her head and waited, hoping his appearance was a formal signal only and that he had no business with her. The demesne’s folk were growing used to their new Chalice, and they were now coming to her more and more; this was a relief in some ways, and she knew she must be grateful for the good this was doing Willowlands, but she often had to put aside what other work she had planned on doing. She had fled to the House library today and was hastily reading up on the behaviour toward and reception of outblood Heirs. Part of her problem, she thought, as she had thought many times since the Chalice had come to her, was that she was not by nature a formal sort of person; she found that side of the duties of the Chalice so difficult as sometimes to feel incompatible with her private self. She wondered if this was anything like trying to live in the human world when you were a priest of Fire.

Global Context Of Modern Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Global Context Of Modern Business - Essay Example Globalization is increasing the interdependence among the economies. However, the developing countries are enjoying increasing access to markets of developed economy that facilitates easy transfer of technology and capital movements but it is increasing the inequality among the global economies. The negative aspect of globalization is that instability or downturn in any major economies of the world results in the downturn of the global economy as a whole. This is because the domestic economic developments of countries determined not only by the domestic policies but also by international policies and economic situations. Thus in order to implement any developmental policies not only the domestic impact but also the global impact of that policy has to be considered (Balakrishnan, 2004). Moreover globalization may create more unemployment problems because of increasing firm closure and lower wages of the employed. This is because increasing competition often wipes out the small firms t hat are incapable to compete and secondly more use of modern and advanced technology in production adversely affects some companies manufacturing unimproved machineries (Moffatt, 2011). There is coexistence of both positive and negative impacts in every aspects and globalization is no exception. Thus to study modern business in the global context the most important issue that need to be considered is the impact of the global financial crisis which triggered the global economy during 2007. Globalization has increased the financial movement across countries because of lucid monetary controls and regulations and thus financial globalization is associated with the financial crisis of 2007. The paper discusses the nature and impact of the crisis on the countries’ business environment. The Financial crisis – nature and impact The people of topical times are still living with the recollections of the Great Depression of the 30s. There has been no record of economic avalanche of same scale and duration till this date, but the recent global financial crisis is not less important. The economic recession of 2007 has already found its position in the records of American politics. It is less brutal than the great depression of 1929 but has thrown its shadows on worldwide politics and economy. The crisis of 2007 will be considered as a short follow-up to the 1929 depression. The government policies and concern have been held responsible once again for the financial crisis – â€Å"Americans have lost faith not only in the [Bush] administration, but in its economic philosophy: a new corporate welfarism masquerading behind free-market ideology; another version of trickle-down economics, where the hundreds of billions to Wall Street that caused the problem were supposed to somehow trickle down to help ordinary Americans. Trickle-down hasn’t been working well in America over the past eight years.† (Stiglitz, October 2008) The social, political and economic perils of the global financial crisis of 2007 will continue to persist for another few months. The American government and European Union have thrived for a united effort to counter the recession. It seems like a group action on the part of the national leaders will be more valuable in restoring the backbone. The world has altered a lot since the Second World War. The harmony among different nations and their joint effort to expand the world as a whole had come

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Why cant Canadians compete with lower labour cost countries such as India and China - Term Paper Example It is very difficult for Canada to be a manufacturing powerhouse like India and China. As of 2012, the 486.6-million Indian labor force makes it the globes second largest. Besides, the telecommunication industry in India is the world’s fastest growing. After the quarter of 2013, India became the third largest market for smartphones globally after China and the United States of America (Drà ¨ze & Amartya (2013). In terms of the gross domestic produxt, by 2013 China had become the globe’s second largest economy. On the other hand, China has been the globe’s manufacturing hub, leveraging its cheap labor in order to dominate global trade, especially the nation’s exports (Sang, 2013). In order to compete in the international manufacturing stage, Canada needs to differentiate itself from its competitors by making maximum use of its strengths. This will build ensure that it gains some steps in becoming a manufacturing powerhouse. China and India do not view Canada as a competitor because they have the capability to respond rapidly to the ever changing business environment and offer customers with what they need (Sexton, 2007). Chinese and Indian manufacturers have a vital strength in providing work that is customized together with services in order to meet the market requirements more flexibly than manufacturers in other nations like Canada. To attain this crucial strength (Scianna, 2014) argues that Canadian manufacturers need to invest in innovative technologies. Compared to low-cost nations like China, India, Malaysia and Brazil, the manufacturing sector in Canada is nowhere as big as other nations. In order for the Canadian manufacturers to stay in business competitively, the machine shops not only need to have the right equipment, but also make products for cost effective unit prices. Scianna (2014) noted that the most outstanding difference between Canada and its

What Would The World Be Like If Water Were Denser As A Solid Than As A Essay

What Would The World Be Like If Water Were Denser As A Solid Than As A Liquid - Essay Example Water exists in three states: liquid, solid, and invisible vapour. Water posses' unusual and exceptional physical properties. These unique properties are vital for survival of all living things and one of utmost importance is the density of water and ice. Most substances are denser in the solid state than the liquid state. Unlike most materials that shrink on solidifies water expands as it freezes and become less dense in its solid state than in its liquid state, so that ice floats instead of sinking. This property permits life to develop in polar and sub Polar Regions where ice floats and allows life to continue living below the surface. Thus arises an interesting question: If ice were heavier than water, it would sink, and more ice would form on top of it. As a result, all life in the waters would be trapped in the ice in the many areas of the world where it gets cold enough to freeze water Earth's waters are filled with life. The coexistence of the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of water is vital to existence of life on Earth. If ice were denser than liquid water, it would sink. Most of the water on the planet is in the form of ice, would freeze solid from top to bottom including oceans, lakes and rivers and would immediately sink. Sun's rays could not penetrate into the depths of ocean bed and therefore unable to melt the frozen ice. The warm surface layer would be less dense than the solid frozen layer below; there would be no significant convection to mix the oceans. The coldest water would remain near the surface, and the necessary warming phenomenon could not occur in summer. About 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water. Oceans and seas act as heat reservoirs helps to moderate our global climate. It wouldn't take long until most of the earth's water was frozen with only a thin layer of melt water on top that would mean a drastically different climate on earth. The temperature of the entire earth would decrease; the animal and plant life would reduce. The density of ice is less than the density of water due to the characteristics of hydrogen bonding in liquid and solid water. The water molecule forms an angle, with hydrogen atoms at the tips and oxygen at the vertex. Since oxygen has higher electro negativity than hydrogen, the side of the molecule with the oxygen atom has a partial Page 3 Negative charge. The water molecules are attracted to each other due to opposite attraction. This attraction is known as hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen bonding also gives water an unusual behavior when freezing. Water expands as it freezes and molecules are more distant from one another in ice than they are in the liquid water. Therefore, ice is not as dense as liquid water at standard conditions Fresh water has its greatest density under normal atmospheric pressure at 4 C, then becoming less dense as it freezes or heats up. As a stable, polar molecule prevalent in the atmosphere, it plays an important role as a greenhouse gas absorbing infrared radiation, without which, Earth's average surface temperature would be -18 C. Water is the most resourceful of our natural resources. It uniquely structured to provide the heat source for the global weather engine,

Philosophy--Freedom, Responsibility, and Human Action (please see the Essay

Philosophy--Freedom, Responsibility, and Human Action (please see the attachment for detail) - Essay Example Eventually, the researcher will discuss whether or not the recent empirical evidences related to the major causes of human action or the variable status of certain moral intuitions undermines the role of intuition in philosophical discourse on human freedom and responsibility. Regardless of whether the researcher agrees or disagree with the claims that these recent empirical evidences weakens the role of intuition in philosophical point-of-view on human freedom and responsibility, the researcher will provide examples or possible alternatives as a way of defending the researcher’s answer to the question. Even though most of the human actions are controlled by environmental and genetic factors, intuition also has a role in controlling some of our actions. Basically, intuition serves as our inner higher guidance. Even before we perform an action, intuition tells us to whether or not to proceed with our intended action. Based on a person’s final judgment or decision, his or her moral responsibility as a human being will be greatly affected by his own actions. For example: A man who needs a large sum of money for his child’s heath care needs and surgery bill may end up thinking about robbing a bank or stealing something that costs a large sum of money from a stranger. Even before the man decides on whether to push through with his plan, the man will have to undergo a mental balancing between the benefit and consequences as well as the moral issues behind his intended action. At this point, intuition would normally hold the man from doing something that is morally unacceptable. Another example will be a student who is in danger of failing a subject at the end of the semester. In order to avoid failing the subject, the student may end up either choosing between copying his or her seatmate’s paper or simply put in extra

Hotel Rwanda Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hotel Rwanda - Essay Example How a variety of relations turned out between the needy Rwandans and the Whites or the western people in control also possesses a significant level of accuracy as assessed with respect to history which traditionally depicted racial discrimination, whether or not subtle, with an occasional mode of compassion or empathy and recognition for the black people. The apparently accurate emotions portrayed by the actors behind the characters of the oppressed Tutsis channel an amount of distinction apart from any fictitious attempt since the audience can readily engage as measured by the equivalent horrified reactions that manifest anxious imaginings with distressful feeling of helplessness. The director, T. George, might have felt the necessity to not disclose or point out the motivations behind the hostilities of the Hutu extremists for perhaps being such a complex portion able to divert the main objective of building up a one-man hero into the core. By clearly not revealing the truth that t here were only two foreign journalists in Rwanda on stating â€Å"lots of foreign press are arriving for the peace signing,† the film warrants as such that it gives viewers an impression of witnesses and interested parties at supporting the cause of P.

Soda Ban NYC Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Soda Ban NYC - Research Paper Example It is in the wake of this situation that the Mayor of New York decided to undertake yet another step to help the citizenry cut back on its damaging lifestyle, reduce soda intake. This move comes at a time when three crucial issues loom over the city. The first one is that previous methods to address obesity yield minimal positive outcomes. In the past, the mayor has implemented a few notable policies. Restaurants indicate on the menu the amount of calories in each meal, but people still order big Mac’s. A ghastly depiction of the dangers of smoking did nothing to reduce the smoking rates (Hu). Stores started stocking low fat milk and replaced white bread with whole meal bread, but there is little to report in regard to positive results. As such, new more aggressive methods beckon, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg is taking the bull by its horns. Secondly, the health of the population is at its worst compared to a decade ago. The connection between the high rates of weight gain and the lifestyle of the people is not questionable. Shockingly one of the lifestyles people choose is the high calorie giant sodas! It is shocking because people have alternative, healthy beverages, but they still prefer unhealthy soda. Doctors claim that there is an increase in diabetes, hypertension, and cardio vascular complications related to unhealthy lifestyles and weight gain (Hu). These complications are responsible for a significant portion of mortality among Americans. Sadly, even young children are catching on with the new trend of diseases previously thought to affect only adults. Doctor Dr. Steven M. Safyer is clear on the fact that consuming too many calories in the absence of exercise is a sure way of adding not just weight but excess weight. Thirdly, the cost of health care is spiking, and the amount of money spent on these health complications is crippling. Currently, over 20% of national medical spending is for addressing obesity and related

ETHICS (Response to a Case Study Dilemma in an Information & Essay

ETHICS (Response to a Case Study Dilemma in an Information & Technology Organisation) - Essay Example And as, organizations requires order, and as, every organization faces its own ethical problems, having a well-defined code of ethics is more than important to safeguard the organization against unethical practices detrimental to the organization’s reputation and services (Heermance 1). This is so because code of ethics set the tone for the expected company’s behavior as, â€Å"it outlines uniform policies, standards and punishments for violations† (Pride, Hughes, & Kapoor 45), thereby guiding organizations in dealing with and judging â€Å"situations not specifically covered in written instructions† (Canton 13). These make code of ethics more than important to the organization as it ensures order in and secures the organization. In business, not all gifts are pleasant and safe to receive as, these can be sources of ethical issues, specifically conflict of interest – â€Å"occurs when a person’s or organization’s obligation to act in the interest of another is interested with by a competing interest that may obstruct the fulfillment of that obligation† (Crane & Matten 366) as illustrated in the case under review. Here, the stakeholders – the owner of a small printing business unexpectedly received a parcel containing 12 bottles of expensive scotch whisky in the mail from the manager of the business’s biggest contract delivery company, two weeks before New Year, yet a few weeks before the expiration of their contract. First, although gift giving is generally an act of goodwill, it is also a bribe. In this case, factors drawing the line between goodwill and bribe such as the relationship of the giver to the receiver, the timing, the costs, and the manner of delivery, i ndicate that the gift is meant to gain (Roa 106) the owner’s choice of Delivery Company in favor of the gift-giver as against other applicants. In this light, acceptance of this gift

Economics History Essay Example for Free

Economics History Essay During the 1980s Mexico experienced what Latin American social scientists call a change in its development model. Gone is the import-substitution industrialization model that characterized Mexico since the 1930s. Instead, Mexico has become an open economy in which the states intervention is limited by a new legal and institutional framework. Under the new model, the tendency is for the market to replace regulation, private ownership to replace public ownership, and competition, including that from foreign goods and investors, to replace protection. Nothing illustrates the change in strategy more vividly than the pursuit of a free trade agreement with the United States, first mentioned by Salinas in June 1990, and the constitutional reform of land distribution and the ejido system adopted at the end of 1991 (Watling, 1992). What prompted this change in development strategy? Mexico had taken a risk in the 1970s by borrowing heavily in world capital markets and indulging in over-expansive policies, and then paid dearly when oil prices fell and world interest rates rose. Adjustment to the new circumstances required a policy that would increase net exports, generating foreign exchange to service the external debt. Because the government, not the private sector, owed most of the external debt, fiscal policy also had to change in order to increase revenues and cut noninterest expenditures. The restoration of growth required changes that would build confidence and encourage private capital inflows by means other than commercial bank loans, which were no longer available. Finally, to make the economy more flexible and competitive in a global context, the rules that governed the flow of goods and investment had to change. In mid- 1982Mexico was in a deep economic crisis. The international environment was adverse to a Mexico saddled with foreign debt. World interest rates were high, the price of oil, Mexicos main export, was falling, and commercial banks had stopped lending. This unfavorable international environment exacerbated the consequences of domestic imbalances and contributed to rampant inflation, capital flight, and chaos in the financial and foreign exchange markets. To confront the internal imbalances and accommodate the adverse external conditions, Mexico was compelled to adjust its expenditures, reorient its output, and find new ways to foster growth. In the early 1990s Mexico gained recognition as a country successfully managing economic adjustment and reform. Inflation slowed, flight capital was returning, domestic and foreign investment was rising, and per capita output began to grow. The path to recovery, however, had been far from smooth. Well into the late 1980s, analysts wondered why Mexicos recovery was so slow despite the sound macroeconomic policies and structural reforms it had instituted. The slow recovery imposed high social costs on the Mexican population, as per capita real disposable income fell on average by 5 percent a year between 1983 and 1988. For some six years the Mexican government focused economic policy on restoring stability, particularly on lowering the rate of inflation and keeping the loss of international reserves in check. It finally succeeded in 1988, when inflation decreased from monthly averages close to 10 percent at the beginning of the year to about 1 percent by years end. However, growth did not follow. Only a combination of more decisive external support and a shift in Mexicos development strategy managed to produce a turnaround. The changes regarding the role of the state in economic matters and the countrys economic interaction with the rest of the world are particularly striking. Reforms sought to reduce state intervention and regulation so as to open new investment opportunities, build business confidence, and create a more flexible and efficient incentive structure. These reforms have called for substantial modifications in the legal and institutional frameworks of the economy that will shape the country for decades to come. In the late 1970s, on the mistaken assumption that the rise in world oil prices and the availability of cheap external credit would continue, the Mexican government engaged in a spending spree. The resulting fiscal deficit increased inflation rates and the trade deficit. The fiscal and external gaps were filled with external borrowing. In 1981, when the price of oil began to fall and external credit became more expensive and of a shorter maturity, the Mexican government failed to implement fiscal and relative price adjustments to adapt to the new, less favorable conditions. Fear of an imminent devaluation of the peso fueled capital flight, and a large nominal devaluation followed in early 1982 (Banco de Mexico, 1983). As inconsistent policies were pursued, the macroeconomic environment became increasingly chaotic. Capital flight continued, and as reserves were depleted and no more credit was available to service debt payments, in August 1982 the Mexican government had to declare an involuntary moratorium on its debt, triggering a debt crisis that soon acquired global proportions. Tensions between the private sector and the government peaked in September 1982, when the government announced the nationalization of the banking system (Banco de Mexico, 1983). When Miguel de la Madrids government came to power in December 1982, it confronted the unenviable task of restoring economic stability in the face of a hostile domestic private sector and reluctant external creditors. In other Latin American countries the political resistance of different social groups expressed in massive strikes or threats of coups added to the climate of economic instability and made the necessary adjustment more difficult. However, Mexicos difficulties cannot be blamed on the political resistance of wage earners or other social groups to absorbing the costs of adjustment. In Mexico, policymakers enjoyed remarkable freedom to act during six years of economic hardship. There were no serious wage conflicts, threats from the military, peasant uprisings, or active guerrilla movements.

Napoleon’s Fatal March Essay Example for Free

Napoleon’s Fatal March Essay While immeasurable literature on Napoleonic Wars exists, there are still some mysteries yet to be unveiled on the comprehension of both wars and the circumstances in which they came to. Perhaps the major mystery concerns the role of Russia in international relations in the Napoleonic era, misunderstood both in Russia and in other parts of the world. One of these literatures, Moscow 1812: Napoleons Fatal March analyses the state of affairs during the French Invasion of Russia and subsequent proceedings during Napoleon’s reign, that eventually marked an end to Napoleonic empire whose troop, while trying to access Moscow, were defeated. This history would not have been realized were it not for some influential military leaders at the time. Their leadership strategies influenced the 1812 campaign. One of the leaders was Alexander perhaps meeting him was one thing Napoleon regretted, being one of the most exciting Tsars because he was very contradictory. He was the ruler of Russia during the Napoleonic Wars and was victorious in many military campaigns. His contradictions were evident when, during his tenure, he introduced liberal reforms, after which he revoked them again in the second half of his tenure. The second leader was Bagration. In the wars of 1805 Bagrations achievements were noted at the Battle of Hollabrunn where he resisted and emerged victorious with only a small army, the continuous attacks of forces that were way bigger than his own in numbers. The eventual surrender of the forces helped him secure the major army that was being let by Kutuzov. This army was important in the war against the French and it had to be guarded. Kutuzov, a cunning leader, who was hated by many but adored by his soldiers, commanded the Russian corps in 1805 which did not agree with Napoleon’s encroachment on Vienna. He tried to stop allied generals from going to war on the Austerlitz eve, but the Tsar did not heed to his command, he thus did not take part in the planning arrangements so that he would not be blamed in case they lost. Kutuzov served as governor-general of Lithuania and Kiev from 1806 to 1811. He is honored for the victory the French. The Russian campaign’s outcome was very obvious but in every war they went to, both parties claimed to have won; by the end of 1812, however, it was clear the French had been defeated. Unfortunately for the Russians, they still could not be declared winners. This invasion marked a turning point in the history of Europe and the world as a whole. Approximately 450,000 soldiers were annihilated, reducing the French and its allied military to a very small figure of their original power and this caused a grand change in the politics of Europeans, since the earlier principal position of the French on the continent had been significantly reduced. It is noted that the French invasion failed because of the ambitions of Napoleon who did not consider what Alexander, his Russian ally, thought of him invading Moscow. In his book, Zamoyski has made possible the provision of accounts of the events that took place in Russia at the time. Personal accounts of the characters and in illustrating the attitudes, craftiness and alertness of the soldiers from both sides in the 1812 campaign, he depicts the plans of Alexander as a scheming leader, Napoleon as an ambitious and arrogant one, Kutuzov and Bagration as those leaders who brought liberation to Russia from the French. He also looks into their lives as they endured suffering during that period in futility. Reference: Zamosky A. (2005). Moscow 1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March. New York. HarperCollins

Price waterhouse Coopers (PwC) Assurance Operating Functions

Price waterhouse Coopers (PwC) Assurance Operating Functions The assurance line of service in PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) deals fundamentally with the audit of financial statements for both statutory and regulatory purposes, as well as, accountants reports for legal purposes. It encompasses of five operating units. The Operating Unit One and Two focus on insurance, real estate, pharmaceutical and life sciences. Operating Unit Three focuses on transportation, logistics, Government, Energy, Utilities and Mining. Operating Unit Four focuses on technology, and specialised fields such as financial services Practice, whereas the fifth operating unit (OU5), in which I was attached to, deals mainly with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore, 2010). Structure and manpower of the Department The structure of the department was designed in a way that the staff from the lower ranks report to their seniors or managers of the next rank. With the increase in portfolios from the previous year, the company has been expanding their intake of high calibre candidates to join the profession. As of Dec 2010, the strength of the department was 132, being assisted by 5 administrative staff. The organisation chart of the department is laid out in Appendix A. Systems software used in carrying out the department functions The applications used in the department were both general and specialised for its functions. For example, the email application used for communication is Lotus Notes. In our department, the manager would select the team members for their engagements via an online booking system. Upon confirmation of the bookings, the administrator would proceed to update the scheduler Retain application and it will be used by the staff to keep track of their engagements. In addition, PwC uses Aura and MyClient to document the audit work done for every engagement. MyClient was the precedent of Aura which was introduced around two years ago. The implementation of Aura improves the documentation of the clients profile, work done, controls, risks assessments simultaneously as well as allowing the easy coaching and feedback from the engagement leader and manager to the team members. During the engagement, the team members carry out fieldwork at the clients place. These team members will then document the work done and their respective findings in Aura. Once they are done, they can mark the work as prepared and replicate with the server, so that the engagement manager can carry out review of the work and attach any coaching notes if needed. Lastly, the claims for expenses such as taxi fares and charging of hours worked would be done using the iPower application. iPower allows the staff to submit their claims and get approval from the manager in a standard format as the forms were generated electronically. Performance Indicator of the Department The department ended the calendar year 2010 with a blast. The performance exceeded its expectations as set previously. In 2010, the department has achieved the following performance: Diagram 1: Assurance OU5 Financial Report (Year ended June 30) Performance Indicators July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 Monthly Actual Revenue ($000) 1,083 949 847 839 988 960 Billable hours per month 12,158 9,868 9,198 10,246 9,456 10,977 Key challenges facing the industry Ability to maintain a consistent professional image globally One key challenge facing the assurance industry would be the ability to maintain a consistent professional image globally. Because of globalisation, it enables information to be transmitted at a faster rate, and the resulting impact will be multiplied. The discoveries about fraud in Lehman Brothers, as well as in the organisations locally, namely Singapore Land Authority, Singapore Red Cross Society, and M1 Limited, have casted doubts on the auditors credibility in signing the true and fair of these accounts The rising cases of these scandals, in light of ever-changing business conditions, high turnover rate and pressures to improve profitability and operations, have caused worries in stakeholders and many expect that the accounting and assurance personnel to be the watchdog to ensure the true and fair of the accounts. Similarly, organisations look to them to establish sound internal controls with proper organisation structures, so as to boost stakeholders confidence in them and to m aximise shareholders wealth. A common misconception would be that auditors are responsible for the discovery of fraud, which is incorrect. The management, as explained in the auditors report, is the responsible party. Furthermore, auditors do not perform audit on the 100 percent of the population as it would be cost-ineffective and time-consuming, they select samples that they considered as higher risks. Therefore, the auditors would only be able to provide a reasonable assurance based on the work done that the financial statements provide a true and fair view of the affairs of the company. If the auditors do not manage the risks well, the public would scrutinise the auditors and this would result in reputation loss. To remain ethical and independence at all times Another key challenge facing the industry would be to remain ethical and independence at all times. Professional services practitioners such as lawyers, accountants, auditors and doctors, are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the code of Professional Conduct Ethics of their respective boards. Unlike doctors and lawyers, an unique principle guiding the auditors would be independence, where they are expected to act with integrity and adopt an objective approach to professional work. This is because the client would pay the firm to audit their accounts, in which, the resulting opinion would be used by the other stakeholders, such as shareholders, investors and banks for decision-making. However, in my opinion, it is challenging to maintain independence and ethical. The managers bonuses are partially tied to the recoverability of their portfolio. As a result, they would succumb to raising the audit fees and controlling the time charged to the engagements. When faced with tight deadlines, the engagement teams would decide to reduce their coverage and sample sizes, increasing risk of exposure of detecting misstatements and control deficiencies. Recent developments in the sector No internal controls system in this world is perfect. Furthermore, it would be difficult to implement a sound system as each organisation operates in an environment that taps heavily on technology, and has different reporting structure and policies. To attain efficiency and cost-effectiveness, the agencies employed the use of information technology, wide span of control and have resulted in the concentration of duties in the hands of a few highly qualified technical personnel. As a result, segregation of duties, an essential element in internal controls, might be ignored. In June 2010, a fraud involving Singapore Land Authority (SLA)s experienced staff has been uncovered. Senior staff with SLA, Mr Koh Seah Wee was faced with 249 charges for a S$12 million fraud case. It was found that Mr Koh awarded and approved the payments for the contracts through the GeBiz system to fictitious firms. Fake invoices and fictitious services were said to be provided. As reported, each of the contract amounting from $2,600 to as much as $60,000. With these gains, Mr Koh purchased luxurious cars as well as private properties and investments in unit trusts. If fraud cases could occur in government agencies which the public held in high regards, there will be higher expectation on auditors to be alert during their fieldwork. Although our department do not deal with government agencies, there are still implications and learning points for us. The agencies and the SME firms have a lean organisation structure and very often, the staff strength is just sufficient for its operations. As such, one of our key concerns would be the controls over segregation of duties. During the engagements, we paid attention to the approval of the authorised personnel especially expenses incurred by top management, and vouched to ensure that these controls were actually carried out. Secondly, for one of the engagements, I vouched to the supporting documents for proof of authorisation, and found out that that the logistics manager did not sign on the delivery documents to indicate that she has matched the details in purchase order, delivery order and invoice. The reason given was that she was on maternity leave and there was no other available staff that was trained to cover her duties during that period. She was even asked to shorten her maternity leave to resume her work earlier. Furthermore, I observed that that logistics assistant actually signed for the manager, with the signature similar to her superior. From these, I have learnt that there if the client has the intention to hide information from the auditors, it becomes harder for us to detect any misstatem ents. In such situation, we must perform alternative testing, observe and make logical deductions in order to uncover the truth. Hence, we conduct a stock-take observation, which was required by their internal auditors. True enough, there was $20,000 worth of stock discrepancies because the differences were not rectified immediately when there were errors on the delivery documents. Recommendations For the recommendations for PwC, I suggested that the vocation trainees to be involved in the training sessions. During the internship, the trainees would follow the scheduled engagements and assist their seniors at work. However, the trainees do not receive any updates or attend any lessons, which were compulsory for their seniors. Without the updates such as incentives introduced the latest budget, the knowledge that we have would be restricted to what we have learnt in school. Hence, this might result in improper application of concepts. Furthermore, regular trainings would provide more opportunities for the trainees to familiarise themselves with the various templates, audit methodology, testing methods etc. Hence, it would also reduce the time spent for the seniors to explain the procedures during engagements. The company may have thought that it might not be cost-effective to spend time coaching the trainees as the internship would only be 6 months. However, I felt that if we a ttend the same events as our seniors, such as trainings and workshops, it would allow us to have a better view of the work environment in the company and appreciate the emphasis and efforts to promote continuous learning. After all, to achieve competitive advantage, trainings would be instrumental to develop and bring out individuals abilities. To have competitive advantage in the professional services industry, the professionals, which are the most valuable assets, must be able to increase their knowledge and develop skills at a faster rate than the competitors. As discussed with my senior, she agreed with my suggestion as she experienced difficulties and delays due to time taken to explain the concepts to her juniors. Secondly, the company should consider streamlining its expense claims process. Currently, for all staff, they would submit the expense claims on the portal iexpense. The expense claims would be processed via GIRO to the claimants accounts two weeks later. However, for vacation trainees and temporary staff, their expense claims can be converted to cash and be claimed upon approval from the manager. Because of this, we were approached by managers to claim the expenses under our names, so that they could receive the cash earlier. We were caught in an ethical dilemma and the expense claims for each of us were exceptionally high. In addition, I noticed that there is lack of segregation of duties, where there are cases that the managers incur expenses because they took taxis to the clients place for field review and they are also the one who approved their own taxi claims. Since they are also the approver, they could approve the taxi claims which were not used for business purposes. To de ter this happening in the future, I am proposing that the expense claims for vacation trainees and temporary staff to be processed via GIRO too. This move will reduce the cases where the trainees be asked to claim on behalf of the permanent staff, as we would also require the two weeks processing period. Furthermore, it would be cost and time-saving as the trainees do not need to proceed to finance department personally when we are always out on engagements and the GIRO application is swift and easy. For the expense claims incurred by the managers, they must be approved by the directors and partners of the engagement. While I understand that the lack of segregation of duties could easily be override by managers, by simply passing the receipts to their support and asking them to claim under their names. Random checks could be conducted with the knowledge that the managers would proceed to the clients place for field review at least once for each engagement, hence, logically, we would expect at least one claim relating to the particular client. There could be also a whistleblower avenue for the claimant to report to the finance department where their identity would be kept confidential. As discussed with my senior, she agreed with my suggestion and encouraged me to propose this to the finance management as she was also asked to do when she was a junior. As for the school, I would suggest that we remove elluminate chat session. The purpose of the chat session, in my opinion, was to provide a platform for the students to share their experiences and reflection with their liaison officers online. However, I felt that it was not as effective as the internet connection may lag or some students were working over-time and could not rush back in time. Also, when the liaison officers post a question, we did not have much time to think through. The chat session was in a hurry and we could not catch what our friends were saying before commenting. I would suggest that we adopt the use of online collaboration tools such as Stixy. It is a personal online notice board where each of us could input reflection, add photos, links and even share with other peers (Stixy, 2010). Please refer to Appendix C for screenshots of its functions.The assessment could be set in a way where the deadline could be stretched over a period of time rather than a 30-minut es chat session. Each student will be asked to decorate and update their notice board, with certain minimum requirements such as not more than 3 pictures allowed and reflection should have a minimum word requirement. After the deadline, the notice board will be shared to the rest of the students who are on the same internship to comment on. This collaboration tool is free, hence it reduces the cost of implementation. Secondly, it gives students the flexibility to carry out this assessment over a period of time. Furthermore, it encourages students to be creative in their presentation, ability to express themselves other than in words, which we usually do in discussion board. Secondly, I would like that the internship programme be much more structured in terms of preparing students, the activities, expectations and goal setting, so as to achieve an enriching experience for the interns. During the internship, I noticed that some of the interns felt lost, or even felt unjustified because they were asked to do administrative work. It is therefore important to put in place an integrated internship programme where in the companys perspective, the conversion of these interns to permanent staff and to in the students perspective, to eliminate the mentality of just an intern. To prepare them mentally and emotionally, I believe that these have been subsequently enhanced from the previous semesters, by the Dress to Impress! Workshop organised by BA Plus (Ngee Ann Polytechnic, 2010) and the compulsory year 1 module, CQ at Work conducted by the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (Ngee Ann Polytechnic, 2010). The school could discuss with the Human Resources Departme nt to come out with a list of activities that balances the on-the-job trainings with networking opportunities and community services. I also felt that the internship would be fruitful if the learning goals set at the commencement were achieved or if not achieved, be valuable learning experiences for all. The briefing given was not sufficient because it was a one-way communication from the module leader to the students. At the beginning, the interns should be asked to fill up a form on their expectations for this internship to allow the LOs and supervisors to better understand what they were expecting to achieve during this period. During the internship, the supervisors would spend time following up with the interns with their expectations set previously and keep track of their learning process. I understood that this form of goal-setting has been implemented in PwC. A sample of expectations questionnaire is attached in Appendix D. These expectations would then be followed up with the competencies chart, as attached in Appendix E, to allow the liaison officers and students to keep track of their learning process on a regular basis. I understand these additional processes would take up time and may not be well-received by students. However, going back to the objectives of the internship, it would be to provide practical experience for students and to effectively measure their learning process, it would be useful to guide them through their goal and expectation setting, so that they enter the work force with a fresh attitude and direction, rather than just learning from what they have been tasked. For example, if they are interested in financial services audit, even though they have not been given a chance to be involved in one, they should note down what are the different resources that they have seek from. The companies have rich databases sources and definitely, seniors would be willing to share their experiences with them. Key takeaway personal achievement As I reflect, I felt that the key takeaway for me is to maintain a positive attitude and zest in the tasks I do. Positive attitude that I am referring to, are the eagerness to learn, initiative to ask, taking ownership, the courage to make mistakes, the perseverance in getting the right solutions, the flexibility to try other suggestions, along with the energy and support to complete the engagement. These may sound a mouthful, but it does stem from having a positive outlook to things in life. Attitude is especially significant to me because I have seen how I was shaped from the start to the end of this internship. At the beginning, I was disappointed with myself as I was slow in understanding the concepts and in carrying out vouching. Moreover, my team in-charge told me on a personal note that I was not suitable for auditing. From then on, I was afraid to clarify my doubts and tried to avoid all troubles if possible. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to speak to my engagements manager during a casual chat. She told me that the evaluation that I got was reasonable and encouraged me to continue with my internship. I thought to myself that maybe this could be an isolated incident. I should not allow other peoples opinions to affect my aspirations. I should have been more sensitive with my seniors workloads by researching in the databases before approaching them with questions. For the next few engagements, I proceeded with a changed attitude. With enthusiasm, I approached my team in-charges to ask if there was anything that I could help with. Normally, they would ask me to map the trial balance and read last years documentation. When there are any documentation that I am unsure of, I will read the audit programme and find out the rationale for the testing methods. Sometimes, I am unable to complete the mapping of the trial balance, I will discuss with my senior and update them on what I have done and which are the areas that they need to clarify with the previous audit teams. I took my seniors feedback seriously and in order to expedite my work, I would read up the walkthrough documentation and familiarise myself with the key management personnel and the filling system. During the weekends, I would also read up the audit guide, and would check with my seniors if they are available before I clarify my doubts. The brand new attitude was like the key that opens the doors of opportunities. If I did not walk out from the setbacks, I would have resigned myself to merely vouching and not be able to be in-charge of sections. There are bound to be challenges ahead, but I believe that the attitude will see me through. Conclusion As interns, the challenges that I have mentioned above may not be affect us directly as we do not sign the accounts. However, this does not necessary mean that we play a small part in the audit of the financial statements. From assisting with planning, fieldwork and all the way to its completion as mentioned in my interim report, these six months was never easy. As I reflect, I was once affected by the seniors feedback and was even demoralised for not being appreciated for the efforts that I have put in. I was surprised that I have the perseverance and commitment that go through thick stacks of documents, worked till midnight and on weekends too. It was then a chance to discover my interests and strengths. The internship programme has definitely given me a broad view of the rigorous corporate world which demands a lot of efforts from one self. It has allowed me to apply what I have learnt in school as I felt that we learn continuously in life and witness what I have sow, is not so much about the results, but to see that these skills have been put to proper use in the future. Speaking of which, I have utilised these skills and learnt some, especially soft skills like communication skills, the courage to speak, people-management skills that will stay with me for life. This internship was especially significant because the information that I obtained from the clients and source documents went under my hands, something lifeless and raw were eventually translated into audit documentation to test the reasonableness and to achieve the audit objectives. It was even more satisfying when the whole team saw the work that worked so hard during many late nights were eventually drafted into the financial statements. While skills are important, I felt that the people that have came into my life weighs more. The bonds that I have formed with my colleagues and clients were priceless. They were the ones that you could pull a chair and chat with them for an hour, took initiative to ask if they could help you. I felt the support and comfort from them as work was particularly enjoyable. To sum it up, this internship programme has given the exposure that I needed and created the environment that I could explore and learn. Appendices Appendix A Organisation Structure of Department OU5 (As of Dec 2010) Reporting to 132 Appendix B Newspaper Article It could have started earlier than thought ; Ex-SLA executives alleged involvement in fraud may have begun in 2005 Leong Wee Keat Leong Wee Keat 20 November 2010 TODAY (Singapore) (c) 2010. MediaCorp Press Ltd. SINGAPORE In a further twist to the largest suspected fraud in the civil service, investigators now believe that one of the accused began cheating the State years before he joined the Singapore Land Authority, where his alleged crimes were first discovered. On Friday, former SLA deputy director Koh Seah Wee (picture) was charged with cheating the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos) when he was assistant director of its Information Technology Department from July 2004 to March 2007. Koh, 40, purportedly conspired with Chartered Systems Services to enable the business to win IT contracts from Ipos. The company would submit payment invoices for fictitious goods and services, which Koh would certify even though nothing was delivered. Eight fraudulent transactions, amounting to about $286,000, are thought to have occurred between December 2005 and March 2007. Investigations against Kohs activities in Ipos are continuing, according to a joint statement from Ipos and the Law Ministry. While a previous cheating scam involving former Trade Development Board chief executive officer Yeo Seng Teck had gone on for a longer period for five years, between June 1988 and July 1993 -investigations into Koh have turned to his time at the Supreme Court, where he was deployed before July 2004. Koh now faces a total of 302 charges, while former SLA manager Christopher Lim Chai Meng, 37, faces 309. Both men bought luxury cars from the alleged $12.1 million they siphoned from SLA between November 2007 and March this year. Ipos conducted its internal investigation after the purported SLA fraud came to light in June. An independent review panel was convened and it recommended improvements to Ipos internal controls, systems and processes, which have since been implemented. These included strengthening internal audit structures and processes, centralising the procurement process and ensuring the purchasing officer and the receiving officer are different individuals, read the joint statement. Ipos said its financial statements and accounts were audited externally, not by the Auditor-Generals Office, during the time the alleged offences took place. This was done in accordance with the Auditor- Generals requirements. The audits conducted were statutory audits of financial statements and compliance audits designed to ensure compliance with finance procedures and processes. These types of audit may not always be able to pick up such fraudulent activities, Ipos said. Disciplinary investigations of officers whose lapses in supervision may have contributed to the fraud going undetected are in progress. Action will be taken, if found appropriate, said Ipos. Kohs case will be mentioned again on Dec 3. Appendix C Stixy Appendix D Setting of expectations Internship Programme Expectations Company: ______________________ Supervisors name: ______________ Liaison Officers name: ___________ Student Name: __________________ What are some of expectations that you have for this internship programme? What are some of the activities that you hope to attend during the internship programme? What are some of the learning goals that you hope to achieve by the end of the internship programme? How do you think the company can help to enrich your internship experience and your career aspirations? Appendix E Competency Chart