Prelude to Foundation Chapter 13 Heatsink

AMARYL, YUGO-†¦ A mathematician who, next to Hari Seldon himself, may be considered most responsible for working out the details of psychohistory. It was he who†¦ †¦ Yet the conditions under which he began life are almost more dramatic than his mathematical accomplishments. Born into the hopeless poverty of the lower classes of Dahl, a sector of ancient Trantor, he might have passed his life in utter obscurity were it not for the fact that Seldon, quite by accident, encountered him in the course of†¦ Encyclopedia Galactica 61. The Emperor of all the Galaxy felt weary-physically weary. His lips ached from the gracious smile he had had to place on his face at careful intervals. His neck was stiff from having inclined his head this way and that in a feigned show of interest. His ears pained from having to listen. His whole body throbbed from having to rise and to sit and to turn and to hold out his hand and to nod. It was merely a state function where one had to meet Mayors and Viceroys and Ministers and their wives or husbands from here and there in Trantor and (worse) from here and there in the Galaxy. There were nearly a thousand present, all in costumes that varied from the ornate to the downright outlandish, and he had had to listen to a babble of different accents made the worse by an effort to speak the Emperor's Galactic as spoken at the Galactic University. Worst of all, the Emperor had had to remember to avoid making commitments of substance, while freely applying the lotion of words without substan ce. All had been recorded, sight and sound-very discreetly-and Eto Demerzel would go over it to see if Cleon, First of that Name, had behaved himself. That, of course, was only the way that the Emperor put it to himself. Demerzel would surely say that he was merely collecting data on any unintentional self-revelation on the pan of the guests. And perhaps he was. Fortunate Demerzel! The Emperor could not leave the Palace and its extensive grounds, while Demerzel could range the Galaxy if he wished. The Emperor was always on display, always accessible, always forced to deal with visitors, from the important to the merely intrusive. Demerzel remained anonymous and never allowed himself to be seen inside the Palace grounds. He remained merely a fearsome name and an invisible (and therefore the more frightening) presence. The Emperor was the Inside Man with all the trappings and emoluments of power. Demerzel was the Outside Man, with nothing evident, not even a formal title, but with his fingers and mind probing everywhere and asking for no reward for his tireless labors but one-the reality of power. It amused the Emperor-in a macabre sort of way-to consider that, at any moment, without warning, with a manufactured excuse or with none at all, he could have Demerzel arrested, imprisoned, exiled, tortured, or executed. After all, in these annoying centuries of constant unrest, the Emperor might have difficulty in exerting his will over the various planets of the Empire, even over the various sectors of Trantor-with their rabble of local executives and legislatures that he was forced to deal with in a maze of interlocking decrees, protocols, commitments, treaties, and general interstellar legalities-but at least his powers remained absolute over the Palace and its grounds. And yet Cleon knew that his dreams of power were useless. Demerzel had served his father and Cleon could not remember a time when he did not turn to Demerzel for everything. It was Demerzel who knew it all, devised it all, did it all. More than that, it was on Demerzel that anything that went wrong could be blamed . The Emperor himself remained above criticism and had nothing to fear-except, of course, palace coups and assassination by his nearest and dearest. It was to prevent this, above all, that he depended upon Demerzel. Emperor Cleon felt a tiny shudder at the thought of trying to do without Demerzel. There had been Emperors who had ruled personally, who had had a series of Chiefs of Staff of no talent, who had had incompetents serving in the post and had kept them-and somehow they had gotten along for a time and after a fashion. But Cleon could not. He needed Demerzel. In fact, now that the thought of assassination had come to him-and, in view of the modern history of the Empire, it was inevitable that it had come to him-he could see that getting rid of Demerzel was quite impossible. It couldn't be done. No matter how cleverly he, Cleon, would attempt to arrange it, Demerzel (he was sure) would anticipate the move somehow, would know it was on its way, and would arrange, with far superior cleverness, a palace coup. Cleon would be dead before Demerzel could possibly be taken away in chains and there would simply be another Emperor that Demerzel would serve-and dominate. Or would Demerzel tire of the game and make himself Emperor? Never! The habit of anonymity was too strong in him. If Demerzel exposed himself to the world, then his powers, his wisdom, his luck (whatever it was) would surely desert him. Cleon was convinced of that. He felt it to be beyond dispute. So while he behaved himself, Cleon was safe. With no ambitions of his own, Demerzel would serve him faithfully. And now here was Demerzel, dressed so severely and simply that it made Cleon uneasily conscious of the useless ornamentation of his robes of state, now thankfully removed with the aid of two valets. Naturally, it would not be until he was alone and in dishabille that Demerzel would glide into view. â€Å"Demerzel,† said the Emperor of all the Galaxy, â€Å"I am tired!† â€Å"State functions are tiring, Sire,† murmured Demerzel. â€Å"Then must I have them every evening?† â€Å"Not every evening, but they are essential. It gratifies others to see you and to be taken note of by you. It helps keep the Empire running smoothly.† â€Å"The Empire used to be kept running smoothly by power,† said the Emperor somberly. â€Å"Now it must be kept running by a smile, a wave of the hand, a murmured word, and a medal or a plaque.† â€Å"If all that keeps the peace, Sire, there is much to be said for it. And your reign proceeds well.† â€Å"You know why-because I have you at my side. My only real gift is that I am aware of your importance.† He looked at Demerzel slyly. â€Å"My son need not be my heir. He is not a talented boy. What if I make you my heir?† Demerzel said freezingly, â€Å"Sire, that is unthinkable. I would not usurp the throne. I would not steal it from your rightful heir. Besides, if I have displeased you, punish me justly. Surely, nothing I have done or could possibly do deserves the punishment of being made Emperor.† Cleon laughed. â€Å"For that true assessment of the value of the Imperial throne, Demerzel, I abandon any thought of punishing you. Come now, let us talk about something. I would sleep, but I am not yet ready for the ceremonies with which they put me to bed. Let us talk.† â€Å"About what, Sire?† â€Å"About anything.-About that mathematician and his psychohistory. I think about him every once in a while, you know. I thought of him at dinner tonight. I wondered: What if a psychohistorical analysis would predict a method for making it possible to be an Emperor without endless ceremony?† â€Å"I somehow think, Sire, that even the cleverest psychohistorian could not manage that.† â€Å"Well, tell me the latest. Is he still hiding among those peculiar baldheads of Mycogen? You promised you would winkle him out of there.† â€Å"So I did, Sire, and I moved in that direction, but I regret that I must say that I failed.† â€Å"Failed?† The Emperor allowed himself to frown. â€Å"I don't like that.† â€Å"Nor I, Sire. I planned to have the mathematician be encouraged to commit some blasphemous act-such acts are easy to commit in Mycogen, especially for an outsider-one that would call for severe punishment. The mathematician would then be forced to appeal to the Emperor and, as a result, we would get him. I planned it at the cost of insignificant concessions on our part-important to Mycogen, totally unimportant to us-and I meant to play no direct role in the arrangement. It was to be handled subtly.† â€Å"I dare say,† said Cleon, â€Å"but it failed. Did the Mayor of Mycogen â€Å"He is called the High Elder, Sire.† â€Å"Do not quibble over titles. Did this High Elder refuse?† â€Å"On the contrary, Sire, he agreed and the mathematician, Seldon, fell into the trap neatly.† â€Å"Well then?† â€Å"He was allowed to leave unharmed.† â€Å"Why?† said Cleon indignantly. â€Å"Of this I am not certain, Sire, but I suspect we were outbid.† â€Å"By whom? By the Mayor of Wye?† â€Å"Possibly, Sire, but I doubt that. I have Wye under constant surveillance. If they had gained the mathematician, I would know it by now.† The Emperor was not merely frowning. He was clearly enraged. â€Å"Demerzel, this is bad. I am greatly displeased. A failure like this makes me wonder if you are perhaps not the man you once were. What measures shall we take against Mycogen for this clear defiance of the Emperor's wishes?† Demerzel bowed low in recognition of the storm unleashed, but he said in steely tones, â€Å"It would be a mistake to move against Mycogen now, Sire. The disruption that would follow would play into the hands of Wye.† â€Å"But we must do something.† â€Å"Perhaps not, Sire. It is not as bad as it may seem.† â€Å"How can it be not as bad as it seems?† â€Å"You'll remember, Sire, that this mathematician was convinced that psychohistory was impractical.† â€Å"Of course I remember that, but that doesn't matter, does it? For our purposes?† â€Å"Perhaps not. But if it were to become practical, it would serve our purposes to an infinitely great extent, Sire. And from what I have been able to find out, the mathematician is now attempting to make psychohistory practical. His blasphemous attempt in Mycogen was, I understand, part of an attempt at solving the problem of psychohistory. In that case, it may pay us, Sire, to leave him to himself. It will serve us better to pick him up when he is closer to his goal or has reached it.† â€Å"Not if Wye gets him first.† â€Å"That, I shall see to it, will not happen.† â€Å"In the same way that you succeeded in winkling the mathematician out of Mycogen just now?† â€Å"I will not make a mistake the next time, Sire,† said Demerzel coldly. The Emperor said, â€Å"Demerzel, you had better not. I will not tolerate another mistake in this respect.† And then he added pettishly, â€Å"I think I shall not sleep tonight after all.† 62. Jirad Tisalver of the Dahl Sector was short. The top of his head came up only to Hari Seldon's nose. He did not seem to take that to heart, however. He had handsome, even features, was given to smiling, and sported a thick black mustache and crisply curling black hair. He lived, with his wife and a half-grown daughter, in an apartment of seven small rooms, kept meticulously clean, but almost bare of furnishings. Tisalver said, â€Å"I apologize, Master Seldon and Mistress Venabili, that I cannot give you the luxury to which you must be accustomed, but Dahl is a poor sector and I am not even among the better-off among our people.† â€Å"The more reason,† responded Seldon, â€Å"that we must apologize to you for placing the burden of our presence upon you.† â€Å"No burden, Master Seldon. Master Hummin has arranged to pay us generously for your use of our humble quarters and the credits would be welcome even if you were not-and you are.† Seldon remembered Hummin's parting words when they finally arrived in Dahl. â€Å"Seldon† he had said, â€Å"this is the third place I've arranged as sanctuary. The first two were notoriously beyond the reach of the Imperium, which might well have served to attract their attention; after all, they were logical places for you. This one is different. It is poor, unremarkable, and, as a matter of fact, unsafe in some ways. It is not a natural refuge for you, so that the Emperor and his Chief of Staff may not think to turn their eyes in this direction. Would you mind staying out of trouble this time, then?† â€Å"I will try, Hummin,† said Seldon, a little offended. â€Å"Please be aware that the trouble is not of my seeking. I am trying to learn what may well take me thirty lifetimes to learn if I am to have the slightest chance of organizing psychohistory.† â€Å"I understand,† said Hummin. â€Å"Your efforts at learning brought you to Upperside in Streeling and to the Elders' aerie in Mycogen and to who can guess where in Dahl. As for you, Dr. Venabili, I know you've been trying to take care of Seldon, but you must try harder. Get it fixed in your head that he is the most important person on Trantor-or in the Galaxy, for that matter-and that he must be kept secure at any cost.† â€Å"I will continue to do my best,† said Dors stiffly. â€Å"And as for your host family, they have their peculiarities, but they are essentially good people with whom I have dealt before. Try not to get them in trouble either.† But Tisalver, at least, did not seem to anticipate trouble of any kind from his new tenants and his expressed pleasure at the company he now had-quite apart from the rent credits he would be getting-seemed quite sincere. He had never been outside Dahl and his appetite for tales of distant places was enormous. His wife too, bowing and smiling, would listen and their daughter, with a finger in her mouth, would allow one eye to peep from behind the door. It was usually after dinner, when the entire family assembled, that Seldon and Dors were expected to talk of the outside world. The food was plentiful enough, but it was bland and often tough. So soon after the tangy food of Mycogen, it was all but inedible. The â€Å"table† was a long shelf against one wall and they ate standing up. Gentle questioning by Seldon elicited the fact that this was the usual situation among Dahlites as a whole and was not due to unusual poverty. Of course, Mistress Tisalver explained, there were those with high government jobs in Dahl who were prone to adopt all kinds of effete customs like chairs-she called them â€Å"body shelves†-but this was looked down upon by the solid middle class. Much as they disapproved of unnecessary luxury, though, the Tisalvers loved hearing about it, listening with a virtual storm of tongue-clicking when told of mattresses lifted on legs, of ornate chests and wardrobes, and of a superfluity of tableware. They listened also to a description of Mycogenian customs, while Jirad Tisalver stroked his own hair complacently and made it quite obvious that he would as soon think of emasculation as of depilation. Mistress Tisalver was furious at any mention of female subservience and flatly refused to believe that the Sisters accepted it tranquilly. They seized most, however, on Seldon's. casual reference to the Imperial grounds. When, upon questioning, it turned out that Seldon had actually seen and spoken to the Emperor, a blanket of awe enveloped the family. It took a while before they dared ask questions and Seldon found that he could not satisfy them. He had not, after all, seen much of the grounds and even less of the Palace interior. That disappointed the Tisalvers and they were unremitting in their attempts to elicit more. And, having heard of Seldon's Imperial adventure, they found it hard to believe Dors's assertion that, for her part, she had never been anywhere in the Imperial grounds. Most of all, they rejected Seldon's casual comment that the Emperor had talked and behaved very much as any ordinary human being would. That seemed utterly impossible to the Tisalvers. After three evenings of this, Seldon found himself tiring. He had, at first, welcomed the chance to do nothing for a while (during the day, at least) but view some of the history book-films that Dors recommended. The Tisalvers turned over their book-viewer to their guests during the day with good grace, though the little girl seemed unhappy and was sent over to a neighbor's apartment to use theirs for her homework. â€Å"It doesn't help,† Seldon said restlessly in the security of his room after he had piped in some music to discourage eavesdropping. â€Å"I can see your fascination with history, but it's all endless detail. It's a mountainous heap-no, a Galactic heap-of data in which I can't see the basic organization.† â€Å"I dare say,† said Dors, â€Å"that there must have been a time when human beings saw no organization in the stars in the sky, but eventually they discovered the Galactic structure.† â€Å"And I'm sure that took generations, not weeks. There must have been a time when physics seemed a mass of unrelated observations before the central natural laws were discovered and that took generations.-And what of the Tisalvers?† â€Å"What of them? I think they're being very nice.† â€Å"They're curious.† â€Å"Of course they are. Wouldn't you be if you were in their place?† â€Å"But is it just curiosity? They seem to be ferociously interested in my meeting with the Emperor.† Dors seemed impatient. â€Å"Again†¦ its only natural. Wouldn't you be-if the situation was reversed?† â€Å"It makes me nervous.† â€Å"Hummin brought us here.† â€Å"Yes, but he's not perfect. He brought me to the University and I was maneuvered Upperside. He brought us to Sunmaster Fourteen, who entrapped us. You know he did. Twice bitten, at least once shy. I'm tired of being questioned.† â€Å"Then turn the tables, Hari. Aren't you interested in Dahl?† â€Å"Of course. What do you know about it to begin with?† â€Å"Nothing. It's just one of more than eight hundred sectors and I've only been on Trantor a little over two years.† â€Å"Exactly. And there are twenty-five million other worlds and I've been on this problem only a little over two months.-I tell you. I want to go back to Helicon and take up a study of the mathematics of turbulence, which was my Ph.D. problem, and forget I ever saw-or thought I saw-that turbulence gave an insight into human society.† But that evening he said to Tisalver, â€Å"But you know, Master Tisalver, you've never told me what you do, the nature of your work.† â€Å"Me?† Tisalver placed his fingers on his chest, which was covered by the simple white T-shirt with nothing underneath, which seemed to be the standard male uniform in Dahl. â€Å"Nothing much. I work at the local holovision station in programming. It's very dull, but it's a living.† â€Å"And it's respectable,† said Mistress Tisalver. â€Å"It means he doesn't have to work in the heatsinks.† â€Å"The heatsinks?† said Dors, lifting her light eyebrows and managing to look fascinated. â€Å"Oh well,† said Tisalver, â€Å"that's what Dahl is best known for. It isn't much, but forty billion people on Trantor need energy and we supply a lot of it. We don't get appreciated, but I'd like to see some of the fancy sectors do without it.† Seldon looked confused. â€Å"Doesn't Trantor get its energy from solar power stations in orbit?† â€Å"Some,† said Tisalver, â€Å"and some from nuclear fusion stations out on the islands and some from microfusion motors and some from wind stations Upperside, but half†-he raised a finger in emphasis and his face looked unusually grave-â€Å"half comes from the heatsinks. There are heatsinks in lots of places, but none-none-as rich as those in Dahl. Are you serious that you don't know about the heatsinks? You sit there and stare at me.† Dors said quickly, â€Å"We are Outworlders, you know.† (She had almost said ‘tribespeople,' but had caught herself in time.) â€Å"Especially Dr. Seldon. He's only been on Trantor a couple of months.† â€Å"Really?† said Mistress Tisalver. She was a trifle shorter than her husband, was plump without quite being fat, had her dark hair drawn tightly back into a bun, and possessed rather beautiful dark eyes. Like her husband, she appeared to be in her thirties. (After a period in Mycogen, not actually long in duration but intense, it struck Dors as odd to have a woman enter the conversation at will. How quickly modes and manners establish themselves, she thought, and made a mental note to mention that to Seldon-one more item for his psychohistory.) â€Å"Oh yes,† she said. â€Å"Dr. Seldon is from Helicon.† Mistress Tisalver registered polite ignorance. â€Å"And where might that be?† Dors said, â€Å"Why, it's-† She turned to Seldon. â€Å"Where is it, Hari?† Seldon looked abashed. â€Å"To tell you the truth, I don't think I could locate it very easily on a Galactic model without looking up the coordinates. All I can say is that it's on the other side of the central black hole from Trantor and getting there by hypership is rather a chore.† Mistress Tisalver said, â€Å"I don't think Jirad and I will ever be on a hypership.† â€Å"Someday, Casilia,† said Tisalver cheerfully, â€Å"maybe we will. But tell us about Helicon, Master Seldon.† Seldon shook his head. â€Å"To me that would be dull. Its just a world, like any other. Only Trantor is different from all the rest. There are no heatsinks on Helicon-or probably anywhere else-except Trantor. Tell me about them.† (â€Å"Only Trantor is different from all the rest.† The sentence repeated itself in Seldon's mind and for a moment he grasped at it, and for some reason Dors's hand-on-thigh story suddenly recurred to him, but Tisalver was speaking and it passed out of Seldon's mind as quickly as it had entered.) Tisalver said, â€Å"If you really want to know about heatsinks, I can show you.† He turned to his wife. â€Å"Casilia, would you mind if tomorrow evening I take Master Seldon to the heatsinks.† â€Å"And me,† said Dors quickly. â€Å"And Mistress Venabili?† Mistress Tisalver frowned and said sharply, â€Å"I don't think it would be a good idea. Our visitors would find it dull.† â€Å"I don't think so, Mistress Tisalver,† said Seldon ingratiatingly. â€Å"We would very much like to see the heatsinks. We would be delighted if you would join us too†¦ and your little daughter-if she wants to come.† â€Å"To the heatsinks?† said Mistress Tisalver, stiffening. â€Å"It's no place at all for a decent woman.† Seldon felt embarrassed at his gaffe. â€Å"I meant no harm, Mistress Tisalver.† â€Å"No offense,† said Tisalver. â€Å"Casilia thinks it's beneath us and so it is, but as long as I don't work there, it's no distress merely to visit and show it to guests. But it is uncomfortable and I would never get Casilia to dress properly.† They got up from their crouching positions. Dahlite â€Å"chairs† were merely molded plastic seats on small wheels and they cramped Seldon's knees terribly and seemed to wiggle at his least body movement. The Tisalvers, however, had mastered the art of sitting firmly and rose without trouble and without needing to use their arms for help as Seldon had to. Dors also got up without trouble and Seldon once again marveled at her natural grace. Before they parted to their separate rooms for the night, Seldon said to Dors, â€Å"Are you sure you know nothing about heatsinks? Mistress Tisalver makes them seem unpleasant.† â€Å"They can't be that unpleasant or Tisalver wouldn't suggest taking us on tour. Let's be content to be surprised.† 63. Tisalver said, â€Å"You'll need proper clothing.† Mistress Tisalver sniffed markedly in the background. Cautiously, Seldon, thinking of kirtles with vague distress, said, â€Å"What do you mean by proper clothing?† â€Å"Something light, such as I wear. A T-shirt, very short sleeves, loose slacks, loose underpants, foot socks, open sandals. I have it all for you.† â€Å"Good. It doesn't sound bad.† â€Å"As for Mistress Venabili, I have the same. I hope it fits.† The clothes Tisalver supplied each of them (which were his own) fit fine-if a bit snugly. When they were ready, they bade Mistress Tisalver good-bye and she, with a resigned if still disapproving air, watched them from the doorway as they set off. It was early evening and there was an attractive twilight glow above. It was clear that Dahl's lights would soon be winking on. The temperature was mild and there were virtually no vehicles to be seen; everyone was walking. In the distance was the ever-present hum of an Expressway and the occasional glitter of its lights could be easily seen. The Dahlites, Seldon noted, did not seem to be walking toward any particular destination. Rather, there seemed to be a promenade going on, a walking for pleasure. Perhaps, if Dahl was an impoverished sector, as Tisalver had implied, inexpensive entertainment was at a premium and what was as pleasant-and as inexpensive-as an evening stroll? Seldon felt himself easing automatically into the gait of an aimless stroll himself and felt the warmth of friendliness all around him. People greeted each other as they passed and exchanged a few words. Black mustaches of different shape and thickness flashed everywhere and seemed a requisite for the Dahlite male, as ubiquitous as the bald heads of the Mycogenian Brothers. It was an evening rite, a way of making sure that another day had passed safely and that one's friends were still well and happy. And, it soon became apparent, Dors caught every eye. In the twilight glow, the ruddiness of her hair had deepened, but it stood out against the sea of black-haired heads (except for the occasional gray) like a gold coin winking its way across a pile of coal. â€Å"This is very pleasant,† said Seldon. â€Å"It is,† said Tisalver. â€Å"Ordinarily, I'd be walking with my wife and she'd be in her element. There is no one for a kilometer around whom she doesn't know by name, occupation, and interrelationships. I can't do that. Right now, half the people who greet me†¦ I couldn't tell you their names. But, in any case, we mustn't creep along too slowly. We must get to the elevator. It's a busy world on the lower levels.† They were on the elevator going down when Dors said, â€Å"I presume, Master Tisalver, that the heatsinks are places where the internal heat of Trantor is being used to produce steam that will turn turbines and produce electricity.† â€Å"Oh, no. Highly efficient large-scale thermopiles produce electricity directly. Don't ask me the details, please. I'm just a holovision programmer. In fact, don't ask anyone the details down there. The whole thing is one big black box. It works, but no one knows how.† â€Å"What if something goes wrong?† â€Å"It doesn't usually, but if it does, some expert comes over from somewhere. Someone who understands computers. The whole thing is highly computerized, of course.† The elevator came to a halt and they stepped out. A blast of heat struck them. â€Å"It's hot,† said Seldon quite unnecessarily. â€Å"Yes, it is,† said Tisalver. â€Å"That's what makes Dahl so valuable as an energy source. The magma layer is nearer the surface here than it is anywhere else in the world. So you have to work in the heat.† â€Å"How about air-conditioning?† said Dors. â€Å"There is air-conditioning, but it's a matter of expense. We ventilate and dehumidify and cool, but if we go too far, then we're using up too much energy and the whole process becomes too expensive.† Tisalver stopped at a door at which he signaled. It opened to a blast of cooler air and he muttered, â€Å"We ought to be able to get someone to help show us around and he'll control the remarks that Mistress Venabili will otherwise be the victim of†¦ at least from the men.† â€Å"Remarks won't embarrass me,† said Dors. â€Å"They will embarrass me,† said Tisalver. A young man walked out of the office and introduced himself as Hano Linder. He resembled Tisalver quite closely, but Seldon decided that until he got used to the almost universal shortness, swarthiness, black hair, and luxuriant mustaches, he would not be able to see individual differences easily. Lindor said, â€Å"I'll be glad to show you around for what there is to see. It's not one of your spectaculars, you know.† He addressed them all, but his eyes were fixed on Dors. He said, â€Å"It's not going to be comfortable. I suggest we remove our shirts.† â€Å"It's nice and cool in here,† said Seldon. â€Å"Of course, but that's because we're executives. Rank has its privileges. Out there we can't maintain air-conditioning at this level. That's why they get paid more than I do. In fact, those are the best-paying jobs in Dahl, which is the only reason we get people to work down here. Even so, it's getting harder to get heatsinkers all the time.† He took a deep breath. â€Å"Okay, out into the soup.† He removed his own shirt and tucked it into his waistband. Tisalver did the same and Seldon followed suit. Linder glanced at Dors and said, â€Å"For your own comfort, Mistress, but it's not compulsory.† â€Å"That's all right,† said Dors and removed her shirt. Her brassiere was white, unpadded, and showed considerable cleavage. â€Å"Mistress,† said Lindor, â€Å"That's not-† He thought a moment, then shrugged and said, â€Å"All right. We'll get by.† At first, Seldon was aware only of computers and machinery, huge pipes, flickering lights, and flashing screens. The overall light was comparatively dim, though individual sections of machinery were illuminated. Seldon looked up into the almost-darkness. He said, â€Å"Why isn't it better lit?† â€Å"It's lit well enough†¦ where it should be,† said Lindor. His voice was well modulated and he spoke quickly, but a little harshly. â€Å"Overall illumination is kept low for psychological reasons. Too bright is translated, in the mind, into heat. Complaints go up when we turn up the lights, even when the temperature is made to go down.† Dors said, â€Å"It seems to be well computerized. I should think the operations could be turned over to computers altogether. This sort of environment is made for artificial intelligence.† â€Å"Perfectly right,† said Lindor, â€Å"but neither can we take a chance on any failures. We need people on the spot if anything goes wrong. A malfunctioning computer can raise problems up to two thousand kilometers away.† â€Å"So can human error. Isn't that so?† said Seldon. â€Å"Oh. yes, but with both people and computers on the job, computer error can be more quickly tracked down and corrected by people and, conversely, human error can be more quickly corrected by computers. What it amounts to is that nothing serious can happen unless human error and computer error take place simultaneously. And that hardly ever happens.† â€Å"Hardly ever, but not never, eh?† said Seldon. â€Å"Almost never, but not never. Computers aren't what they used to be and neither are people.† â€Å"That's the way it always seems,† said Seldon, laughing slightly. â€Å"No, no. I'm not talking memory. I'm not talking good old days. I'm talking statistics.† At this, Seldon recalled Hummin talking of the degeneration of the times. â€Å"See what I mean?† said Lindor, his voice dropping. â€Å"There's a bunch of people, at the C-3 level from the looks of them, drinking. Not one of them is at his or her post.† â€Å"What are they drinking?† asked Dors. â€Å"Special fluids for replacing electrolyte loss. Fruit juice.† â€Å"You can't blame them, can you?† said Dors indignantly. â€Å"In this dry heat, you would have to drink.† â€Å"Do you know how long a skilled C-3 can spin out a drink? And there's nothing to be done about it either. If we give them five-minute breaks for drinks and stagger them so they don't all congregate in a group, you simply stir up a rebellion.† They were approaching the group now. There were men and women (Dahl seemed to be a more or less amphisexual society) and both sexes were shirtless. The women wore devices that might be called brassieres, but they were strictly functional. They served to lift the breasts in order to improve ventilation and limit perspiration, but covered nothing. Dors said in an aside to Seldon, â€Å"That makes sense, Hari. I'm soaking wet there.† â€Å"Take off your brassiere, then,† said Seldon. â€Å"I won't lift a finger to stop you.† â€Å"Somehow,† said Dors, â€Å"I guessed you wouldn't.† She left her brassiere where it was. They were approaching the congregation of people-about a dozen of them. Dors said, â€Å"If any of them make rude remarks, I shall survive.† â€Å"Thank you,† said Lindor. â€Å"I cannot promise they won't.-But I'll have to introduce you. If they get the idea that you two are inspectors and in my company, they'll become unruly. Inspectors are supposed to poke around on their own without anyone from management overseeing them.† He held up his arms. â€Å"Heatsinkers, I have two introductions to make. We have visitors from outside-two Outworlders, two scholars. They've got worlds running short on energy and they've come here to see how we do it here in Dahl. They think they may learn something.† â€Å"They'll learn how to sweat!† shouted a heatsinker and there was raucous laughter. â€Å"She's got a sweaty chest right now,† shouted a woman, â€Å"covering up like that.† Dors shouted back, â€Å"I'd take it off, but mine can't compete with yours.† The laughter turned good-natured. But one young man stepped forward, staring at Seldon with intense deep-set eyes, his face set into a humorless mask. He said, â€Å"I know you. You're the mathematician.† He ran forward, inspecting Seldon's face with eager solemnity. Automatically, Dors stepped in front of Seldon and Lindor stepped in front of her, shouting, â€Å"Back, heatsinker. Mind your manners.† Seldon said, â€Å"Wait! Let him talk to me. Why is everyone piling in front of me?† Lindor said in a low voice, â€Å"If any of them get close, you'll find they don't smell like hothouse flowers.† â€Å"I'll endure it,† said Seldon brusquely. â€Å"Young man, what is it you want?† â€Å"My name is Amaryl. Yugo Amaryl. I've seen you on holovision.† â€Å"You might have, but what about it?† â€Å"I don't remember your name.† â€Å"You don't have to.† â€Å"You talked about something called psychohistory.† â€Å"You don't know how I wish I hadn't.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Nothing. What is it you want?† â€Å"I want to talk to you. Just for a little while. Now.† Seldon looked at Lindor, who shook his head firmly. â€Å"Not while he's on his shift.† â€Å"When does your shift begin, Mr. Amaryl?† asked Seldon. â€Å"Sixteen hundred.† â€Å"Can you see me tomorrow at fourteen hundred?† â€Å"Sure. Where?† Seldon turned to Tisalver. Would you permit me to see him in your place?† Tisalver looked very unhappy. â€Å"Its not necessary. He's just a heatsinker.† Seldon said, â€Å"He recognized my face. He knows something about me. He can't be just an anything. I'll see him in my room.† And then, as Tisalver's face didn't soften, he added, â€Å"My room, for which rent is being paid. And you'll be at work, out of the apartment.† Tisalver said in a low voice, â€Å"It's not me, Master Seldon. It's my wife, Casilia. She won't stand for it.† â€Å"I'll talk to her,† said Seldon grimly. â€Å"She'll have to.† 64. Casilia Tisalver opened her eyes wide. â€Å"A heatsinker? Not in my apartment.† â€Å"Why not? Besides, he'll be coming to my room,† said Seldon. â€Å"At fourteen hundred.† â€Å"I won't have it,† said Mistress Tisalver. â€Å"This is what comes of going down to the heatsinks. Jirad was a fool.† â€Å"Not at all, Mistress Tisalver. We went at my request and I was fascinated. I must see this young man, since that is necessary to my scholarly work.† â€Å"I'm sorry if it is, but I won't have it.† Dors Venabili raised her hand. â€Å"Hari, let me take care of this. Mistress Tisalver, if Dr. Seldon must see someone in his room this afternoon, the additional person naturally means additional rent. We understand that. For today, then, the rent on Dr. Seldon's room will be doubled.† Mistress Tisalver thought about it. â€Å"Well, that's decent of you, but it's not only the credits. There's the neighbors to think of. A sweaty, smelly heatsinker-â€Å" â€Å"I doubt that he'll be sweaty and smelly at fourteen hundred, Mistress Tisalver, but let me go on. Since Dr. Seldon must see him, then if he can't see him here, he'll have to see him elsewhere, but we can't run here and there. That would be too inconvenient. Therefore, what we will have to do is to get a room elsewhere. It won't be easy and we don't want to do it, but we will have to. So we will pay the rent through today and leave and of course we will have to explain to Master Hummin why we have had to change the arrangements that he so kindly made for us.† â€Å"Wait.† Mistress Tisalver's face became a study of calculation. â€Å"We wouldn't like to disoblige Master Hummin†¦ or you two. How long would this creature have to stay?† â€Å"He's coming at fourteen hundred. He must be at work at sixteen hundred. He will be here for less than two hours, perhaps considerably less. We will meet him outside, the two of us, and bring him to Dr. Seldon's room. Any neighbors who see us will think he is an Outworlder friend of ours.† Mistress Tisalver nodded her head. â€Å"Then let it be as you say. Double rent for Master Seldon's room for today and the heatsinker will visit just this one time.† â€Å"Just this one time,† said Dors. But later, when Seldon and Dors were sitting in her room, Dors said, â€Å"Why do you have to see him, Hari? Is interviewing a heatsinker important to psychohistory too?† Seldon thought he detected a small edge of sarcasm in her voice and he said tartly, â€Å"I don't have to base everything on this huge project of mine, in which I have very little faith anyway. I am also a human being with human curiosities. We were down in the heatsinks for hours and you saw what the working people there were like. They were obviously uneducated. They were low-level individuals-no play on words intended-and yet here was one who recognized me. He must have seen me on holovision on the occasion of the Decennial Convention and he remembered the word ‘psychohistory.' He strikes me as unusual-as out of place somehow-and I would like to talk to him.† â€Å"Because it pleases your vanity to have become known even to heatsinkers in Dahl?† â€Å"Well†¦ perhaps. But it also piques my curiosity.† â€Å"And how do you know he hasn't been briefed and intends to lead you into trouble as has happened before.† Seldon winced. â€Å"I won't let him run his fingers through my hair. In any case, we're more nearly prepared now, aren't we? And I'm sure you'll be with me. I mean, you let me go Upperside alone, you let me go with Raindrop Forty-Three to the microfarms alone, and you're not going to do that again, are you?† â€Å"You can be absolutely sure I won't,† said Dors. â€Å"Well then, I'll talk to the young man and you can watch out for traps. I have every faith in you.† 65. Amaryl arrived a few minutes before 1400, looking warily about. His hair was neat and his thick mustache was combed and turned up slightly at the edges. His T-shirt was startlingly white. He did smell, but it was a fruity odor that undoubtedly came from the slightly overenthusiastic use of scent. He had a bag with him. Seldon, who had been waiting outside for him, seized one elbow lightly, while Dors seized the other, and they moved rapidly into the elevator. Having reached the correct level, they passed through the apartment into Seldon's room. Amaryl said in a low hangdog voice, â€Å"Nobody home, huh?† â€Å"Everyone's busy,† said Seldon neutrally. He indicated the only chair in the room, a pad directly on the floor. â€Å"No,† said Amaryl. â€Å"I don't need that. One of you two use it.† He squatted on the floor with a graceful downward motion. Dors imitated the movement, sitting on the edge of Seldon's floor-based mattress, but Seldon dropped down rather clumsily, having to make use of his hands and unable, quite, to find a comfortable position for his legs. Seldon said, â€Å"Well, young man, why do you want to see me?† â€Å"Because you're a mathematician. You're the first mathematician I ever saw-close up-so I could touch him, you know.† â€Å"Mathematicians feel like anyone else.† â€Å"Not to me, Dr†¦ Dr†¦ Seldon?† â€Å"That's my name.† Amaryl looked pleased. â€Å"I finally remembered.-You see, I want to be a mathematician too.† â€Å"Very good. What's stopping you?† Amaryl suddenly frowned. â€Å"Are you serious?† â€Å"I presume something is stopping you. Yes, I'm serious.† â€Å"What's stopping me is I'm a Dahlite, a heatsinker on Dahl. I don't have the money to get an education and I can't get the credits to get an education. A real education, I mean. All they taught me was to read and cipher and use a computer and then I knew enough to be a heatsinker. But I wanted more. So I taught myself.† â€Å"In some ways, that's the best kind of teaching. How did you do that?† â€Å"I knew a librarian. She was willing to help me. She was a very nice woman and she showed me how to use computers for learning mathematics. And she set up a software system that would connect me with other libraries. I'd come on my days off and on mornings after my shift. Sometimes she'd lock me in her private room so I wouldn't be bothered by people coming in or she would let me in when the library was closed. She didn't know mathematics herself, but she helped me all she could. She was oldish, a widow lady. Maybe she thought of me as a kind of son or something. She didn't have children of her own.† (Maybe, thought Seldon briefly, there was some other emotion involved too, but he put the thought away. None of his business.) â€Å"I liked number theory,† said Amaryl. â€Å"I worked some things out from what I learned from the computer and from the book-films it used to teach me mathematics. I came up with some new things that weren't in the book-films.† Seldon raised his eyebrows. â€Å"That's interesting. Like what?† â€Å"I've brought some of them to you. I've never showed them to anyone. The people around me-† He shrugged. â€Å"They'd either laugh or be annoyed. Once I tried to tell a girl I knew, but she just said I was weird and wouldn't see me anymore. Is it all right for me to show them to you?† â€Å"Quite all right. Believe me.† Seldon held out his hand and after a brief hesitation, Amaryl handed him the bag he was carrying. For a long time, Seldon looked over Amaryl's papers. The work was naive in the extreme, but he allowed no smile to cross his face. He followed the demonstrations, not one of which was new, of course-or even nearly new-or of any importance. But that didn't matter. Seldon looked up. â€Å"Did you do all of this yourself?† Amaryl, looking more than half-frightened, nodded his head. Seldon extracted several sheets. â€Å"What made you think of this?† His finger ran down a line of mathematical reasoning. Amaryl looked it over, frowned, and thought about it. Then he explained his line of thinking. Seldon listened and said, â€Å"Did you ever read a book by Anat Bigell?† â€Å"On number theory?† â€Å"The title was Mathematical Deduction. It wasn't about number theory, particularly.† Amaryl shook his head. â€Å"I never heard of him. I'm sorry.† â€Å"He worked out this theorem of yours three hundred years ago.' Amaryl looked stricken. â€Å"I didn't know that.† â€Å"I'm sure you didn't. You did it more cleverly, though. It's not rigorous, but-â€Å" â€Å"What do you mean, ‘rigorous'?† â€Å"It doesn't matter.† Seldon put the papers back together in a sheaf, restored it to the bag, and said, â€Å"Make several copies of all this. Take one copy, have it dated by an official computer, and place it under computerized seal. My friend here, Mistress Venabili, can get you into Streeling University without tuition on some sort of scholarship. You'll have to start at the beginning and take courses in other subjects than mathematics, but-â€Å" By now Amaryl had caught his breath. â€Å"Into Streeling University? They won't take me.† â€Å"Why not? Dors, you can arrange it, can't you?† â€Å"I'm sure I can.† â€Å"No, you can't,† said Amaryl hotly. â€Å"They won't take me. I'm from Dahl.† â€Å"Well?† â€Å"They won't take people from Dahl.† Seldon looked at Dors. â€Å"What's he talking about?† Dors shook her head. â€Å"I really don't know.† Amaryl said, â€Å"You're an Outworlder, Mistress. How long have you been at Streeling?† â€Å"A little over two years, Mr. Amaryl.† â€Å"Have you ever seen Dahlites there-short, curly black hair, big mustaches?† â€Å"There are students with all kinds of appearances.† â€Å"But no Dahlites. Look again the next time you're there.† â€Å"Why not?† said Seldon. â€Å"They don't like us. We look different. They don't like our mustaches.† â€Å"You can shave your-† but Seldon's voice died under the other's furious glance. â€Å"Never. Why should I? My mustache is my manhood.† â€Å"You shave your beard. That's your manhood too.† â€Å"To my people it is the mustache.† Seldon looked at Dors again and murmured, â€Å"Bald heads, mustaches†¦ madness.† â€Å"What?† said Amaryl angrily. â€Å"Nothing. Tell me what else they don't like about Dahlites.† â€Å"They make up things not to like. They say we smell. They say we're dirty. They say we steal. They say we're violent. They say we're dumb.† â€Å"Why do they say all this?† â€Å"Because its easy to say it and it makes them feel good. Sure, if we work in the heatsinks, we get dirty and smelly. If we're poor and held down, some of us steal and get violent. But that isn't the way it is with all of us. How about those tall yellow-hairs in the Imperial Sector who think they own the Galaxy-no, they do own the Galaxy. Don't they ever get violent? Don't they steal sometimes? If they did my job, they'd smell the way I do. If they had to live the way I have to, they'd get dirty too.† â€Å"Who denies that there are people of all kinds in all places?† said Seldon. â€Å"No one argues the matter! They just take it for granted. Master Seldon, I've got to get away from Trantor. I have no chance on Trantor, no way of earning credits, no way of getting an education, no way of becoming a mathematician, no way of becoming any thing but what they say I am†¦ a worthless nothing.† This last was said in frustration-and desperation. Seldon tried to be reasonable. â€Å"The person I'm renting this room from is a Dahlite. He has a clean job. He's educated.† â€Å"Oh sure,† said Amaryl passionately. â€Å"There are some. They let a few do it so that they can say it can be done. And those few can live nicely as long as they stay in Dahl. Let them go outside and they'll see how they're treated. And while they're in here they make themselves feel good by treating the rest of us like dirt. That makes them yellow-hairs in their own eyes. What did this nice person you're renting this room from say when you told him you were bringing in a heatsinker? What did he say I would be like? They're gone now†¦ wouldn't be in the same place with me.† Seldon moistened his lips. â€Å"I won't forget you. I'll see to it that you'll get off Trantor and into my own University in Helicon-once I'm back there myself.† â€Å"Do you promise that? Your word of honor? Even though I'm a Dahlite?† â€Å"The fact that you're a Dahlite is unimportant to me. The fact that you are already a mathematician is! But I still can't quite grasp what you're telling me. I find it impossible to believe that there would be such unreasoning feeling against harmless people.† Amaryl said bitterly, â€Å"That's because you've never had any occasion to interest yourself in such things. It can all pass right under your nose and you wouldn't smell a thing because it doesn't affect you. † Dors said, â€Å"Mr. Amaryl, Dr. Seldon is a mathematician like you and his head can sometimes be in the clouds. You must understand that. I am a historian, however. I know that it isn't unusual to have one group of people look down upon another group. There are peculiar and almost ritualistic hatreds that have no rational justification and that can have their serious historical influence. It's too bad.† Amaryl said, â€Å"Saying something is ‘too bad' is easy. You say you disapprove, which makes you a nice person, and then you can go about your own business and not be interested anymore. It's a lot worse than ‘too bad.' It's against everything decent and natural. We're all of us the same, yellow-hairs and black-hairs, tall and short, Easterners, Westerners, Southerners, and Outworlders. We're all of us, you and I and even the Emperor, descended from the people of Earth, aren't we?† â€Å"Descended from what?† asked Seldon. He turned to look at Dors, his eyes wide. â€Å"From the people of Earth!† shouted Amaryl. â€Å"The one planet on which human beings originated.† â€Å"One planet? Just one planet?† â€Å"The only planet. Sure. Earth.† â€Å"When you say Earth, you mean Aurora, don't you?† â€Å"Aurora? What's that?-I mean Earth. Have you never heard of Earth?† â€Å"No,† said Seldon. â€Å"Actually not.† â€Å"It's a mythical world,† began Dors, â€Å"that-â€Å" â€Å"It's not mythical. It was a real planet.† Seldon sighed. â€Å"I've heard this all before. Well, let's go through it again. Is there a Dahlite book that tells of Earth?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Some computer software, then?† â€Å"I don't know what you're talking about.† â€Å"Young man, where did you hear about Earth?† â€Å"My dad told me. Everyone knows about it.† â€Å"Is there anyone who knows about it especially? Did they teach you about it in school?† â€Å"They never said a word about it there.† â€Å"Then how do people know about it?† Amaryl shrugged his shoulders with an air of being uselessly badgered over nothing. â€Å"Everyone just does. If you want stories about it, there's Mother Rittah. I haven't heard that she's died yet.† â€Å"Your mother? Wouldn't you know-â€Å" â€Å"She's not my mother. That's just what they call her. Mother Rittah. She's an old woman. She lives in Billibotton. Or used to.† â€Å"Where's that?† â€Å"Down in that direction,† said Amaryl, gesturing vaguely. â€Å"How do I get there?† â€Å"Get there? You don't want to get there. You'd never come back.† â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"Believe me. You don't want to go there.† â€Å"But I'd like to see Mother Rittah.† Amaryl shook his head. â€Å"Can you use a knife?† â€Å"For what purpose? What kind of knife?† â€Å"A cutting knife. Like this.† Amaryl reached down to the belt that held his pants tight about his waist. A section of it came away and from one end there flashed out a knife blade, thin, gleaming, and deadly. Dors's hand immediately came down hard upon his right wrist. Amaryl laughed. â€Å"I wasn't planning to use it. I was just showing it to you.† He put the knife back in his belt. â€Å"You need one in self-defense and if you don't have one or if you have one but don't know how to use it, you'll never get out of Billibotton alive. Anyway†-he suddenly grew very grave and intent-â€Å"are you really serious, Master Seldon, about helping me get to Helicon?† â€Å"Entirely serious. That's a promise. Write down your name and where you can be reached by hypercomputer. You have a code, I suppose.† â€Å"My shift in the heatsinks has one. Will that do?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Well then,† said Amaryl, looking up earnestly at Seldon, â€Å"this means I have my whole future riding on you, Master Seldon, so please don't go to Billibotton. I can't afford to lose you now.† He turned beseeching eyes on Dors and said softly, â€Å"Mistress Venabili, if he'll listen to you, don't let him go. Please.†

Advertising has become a normal part of humanity Essay

Indeed, advertising has become a normal part of humanity lives in this era of globalization. Advertise clear plastered everywhere as newspapers, posters, giant billboards, and radio. This situation seems to show how strongly the influence of advertising in our lives. So the ads do bring positive influences and negative on human life in this world. Positive influence of advertising is advertising causes consumers have the option to purchase. Existence ads cause consumers to know how many similar products but different brands produced at this time. Users will use all available information in the ad to make their best choice. Advertise ensure that consumers purchase the best product based on their needs. See more: Foot Binding In China essay In addition, the ad could lead to a healthy competition between the producer of a product. If we look, producing a product that will try to produce the best ads according to their ability to attract buyers. This resulted in all parties are highlighting the advantages of their product over a competitor’s product. Clearly, the ad caused manufacturers ensure that their products meet quality as quoted in their ad’s. However, advertising also has its negative face. Advertisements often exploit women especially sexy women to promote sales of their products. In fact, there is a product that has nothing to do with women but uses a sexy female face for the ad. Use model handsome and well-built man who was exploited by advertising. This situation seems to give a false meaning of such use of this product will produce such faces or use of these products cause these women will be attracted to someone. Imagine the influence on our youth? Furthermore, the existence of the ad will cause prices to rise. The cost to produce an advertisement is very high because of the use of models, technology and experienced production crew. In fact, the advertisements in the mass media had to pay the cost of broadcasting time that is too expensive. This resulted in manufacturers will raise the prices of their products to make sure they can produce. Advertisements will also produce a group of users who are only concerned with the brand.consumers this type of advertising is obsessed with certain brands and only buy or use the product without thinking of the brand the pros and cons to them. Ads have resulted in a status-conscious consumer culture themselves in the eyes of society. Consumers want them highly regarded and respected when using a brand. In fact, the ad also led to consumers of goods they do not need. Their purchases solely on the basis of an interesting seeing ads. Ad serving has caused them to be interested and buy it even though it was not their need for a long period. This attitude is geared towards waste and purchases can cause users owe or financial difficulties. In conclusion, the ad has a dual role. One to tell and one to destroy. Perhaps consumers should be wise to make a rational assessment after seeing an advertisement. Users should not rush into buying after seeing the ad. Or maybe the ad should be banned.

Pricing Strategy Essay

Pricing refers to the process of setting a price for a product or service and more than any other element of your marketing mix, will have the biggest impact on the amount of profit you make. Developing an effective pricing strategy is a critical element of marketing because pricing is the only element of the marketing mix that creates sales revenue; the other elements create costs and sales volume. An effective pricing strategy will help you: meet your profit objectives meet or beat your competitors’ prices retain or increase your market share match the image or reputation of your business, product or service match your offer to market demand To arrive at a price for your product or service you’ll need to: Establish what it costs to offer and deliver your products. Without this knowledge, you’ll have no idea whether your prices are sufficient to not only cover all your costs, but to return a profit. Few businesses have failed because their prices are too high, however, many have folded because their prices weren’t high enough to cover costs or generate a profit. Conduct market research to establish what price your competitors are charging and what is the optimum price customers would be willing to pay for your product. Your price will inevitably fall somewhere between that which is too low to produce a profit and that which is too high to generate any demand. The pricing structure A pricing structure consists of a base (or list) price and a variety of price modifiers which depend on the type of product you are selling and the type of market in which you operate. The most common price modifiers are outlined below: Quantity discount – an incentive to buy more. Settlement discount – an incentive to pay quickly. Promotional discount – a discount for a specific period of time. Seasonal discount – an incentive to clear seasonally sensitive stock. Cash rebate – an after-sale incentive linked to a specified target. Ranging allowance – paid to a reseller in return for them stocking your product. Promotional allowance – for participation in a promotional campaign. Delivery fee – an amount you charge for delivering the product. Credit card fee – an amount you charge on credit card purchases. At the end of the day, your objective should be to achieve the best possible price for your products or services taking into account: The value they provide for your customers – ie: how they satisfy their needs and wants in terms of features, benefits, utility value and prestige. Your cost structure – what is your break-even point and how much profit do you want to make? Go to the Financial section for more information on calculating your break-even point and determining profit targets. The competitive environment – what do your competitors charge for similar products and services? Your competitive advantage – do the products or services provide advantages that warrant a price premium? The economic and market environment – what is the level of demand in your industry? A business can use a variety of pricing strategies when selling a product or service. The Price can be set to maximize profitability for each unit sold or from the market overall. It can be used to defend an existing market from new entrants, to increase market share within a market or to enter a new market. Businesses may benefit from lowering or raising prices, depending on the needs and behaviors of customers and clients in the particular market. Finding the right pricing strategy is an important element in running a successful business.[1] Method of pricing in which all costs are recovered.The price of the product includes the variable cost of each item plus a proportionate amount of the fixed costs. Contribution margin-based pricing[edit] Main article: Contribution margin-based pricing Contribution margin-based pricing maximizes the profit derived from an  individual product, based on the difference between the product’s price and variable costs (the product’s contribution margin per unit), and on one’s assumptions regarding the relationship between the product’s price and the number of units that can be sold at that price. The product’s contribution to total firm profit (i.e. to operating income) is maximized when a price is chosen that maximizes the following: (contribution margin per unit) X (number of units sold). In cost-plus pricing, a company first determines its break-even price for the product. This is done by calculating all the costs involved in the production, marketing and distribution of the product. Then a markup is set for each unit, based on the profit the company needs to make, its sales objectives and the price it believes customers will pay. For example, if the company needs a 15 percent profit margin and the break-even price is $2.59, the price will be set at $2.98 ($2.59 x 1.15).[2] Creaming or skimming[edit] In most skimming, goods are sold at higher prices so that fewer sales are needed to break even. Selling a product at a high price, sacrificing high sales to gain a high profit is therefore â€Å"skimming† the market. Skimming is usually employed to reimburse the cost of investment of the original research into the product: commonly used in electronic markets when a new range, such as DVD players, are firstly dispatched into the market at a high price. This strategy is often used to target â€Å"early adopters† of a product or service. Early adopters generally have a relatively lower price-sensitivity – this can be attributed to: their need for the product outweighing their need to economise; a greater understanding of the product’s value; or simply having a higher disposable income. It will maximize profits for the better of the company. This strategy is employed only for a limited duration to recover most of the investment made to build the product. To gain further market share, a seller must use other pricing tactics such as economy or penetration. This method can have some setbacks as it could leave the product at a high price against the competition.[3] Decoy pricing[edit] Method of pricing where the seller offers at least three products, and where two of them have a similar or equal price. The two products with the similar prices should be the most expensive ones, and one of the two should be less attractive than the other. This strategy will make people compare the options with similar prices, and as a result sales of the most attractive choice will increase.[4] Freemium[edit] Main article: Freemium Freemium is a business model that works by offering a product or service free of charge (typically digital offerings such as software, content, games, web services or other) while charging a premium for advanced features, functionality, or related products and services. The word â€Å"freemium† is a portmanteau combining the two aspects of the business model: â€Å"free† and â€Å"premium†. It has become a highly popular model, with notable success. High-low pricing[edit] Method of pricing for an organization where the goods or services offered by the organization are regularly priced higher than competitors, but through promotions, advertisements, and or coupons, lower prices are offered on key items. The lower promotional prices are designed to bring customers to the organization where the customer is offered the promotional product as well as the regular higher priced products.[5] Limit pricing[edit] Main article: Limit price A limit price is the price set by a monopolist to discourage economic entry into a market, and is illegal in many countries. The limit price is the price that the entrant would face upon entering as long as the incumbent firm did not decrease output. The limit price is often lower than the average cost of production or just low enough to make entering not profitable. The quantity produced by the incumbent firm to act as a deterrent to entry is usually larger than would be optimal for a monopolist,  but might still produce higher economic profits than would be earned under perfect competition. The problem with limit pricing as a strategy is that once the entrant has entered the market, the quantity used as a threat to deter entry is no longer the incumbent firm’s best response. This means that for limit pricing to be an effective deterrent to entry, the threat must in some way be made credible. A way to achieve this is for the incumbent firm to constrain itself to produce a certain quantity whether entry occurs or not. An example of this would be if the firm signed a union contract to employ a certain (high) level of labor for a long period of time. In this strategy price of the product becomes the limit according to budget. Loss leader[edit] Main article: Loss leader A loss leader or leader is a product sold at a low price (i.e. at cost or below cost) to stimulate other profitable sales. This would help the companies to expand its market share as a whole. Marginal-cost pricing[edit] In business, the practice of setting the price of a product to equal the extra cost of producing an extra unit of output. By this policy, a producer charges, for each product unit sold, only the addition to total cost resulting from materials and direct labor. Businesses often set prices close to marginal cost during periods of poor sales. If, for example, an item has a marginal cost of $1.00 and a normal selling price is $2.00, the firm selling the item might wish to lower the price to $1.10 if demand has waned. The business would choose this approach because the incremental profit of 10 cents from the transaction is better than no sale at all. Market-oriented pricing[edit] Setting a price based upon analysis and research compiled from the target market. This means that marketers will set prices depending on the results from the research. For instance if the competitors are pricing their products at a lower price, then it’s up to them to either price their goods  at an above price or below, depending on what the company wants to achieve. Odd pricing[edit] In this type of pricing, the seller tends to fix a price whose last digits are odd numbers. This is done so as to give the buyers/consumers no gap for bargaining as the prices seem to be less and yet in an actual sense are too high, and takes advantage of human psychology. A good example of this can be noticed in most supermarkets where instead of pricing at $10, it would be written as $9.99. This pricing policy is common in economies using the free market policy. Pay what you want[edit] Main article: Pay what you want Pay what you want is a pricing system where buyers pay any desired amount for a given commodity, sometimes including zero. In some cases, a minimum (floor) price may be set, and/or a suggested price may be indicated as guidance for the buyer. The buyer can also select an amount higher than the standard price for the commodity. Giving buyers the freedom to pay what they want may seem to not make much sense for a seller, but in some situations it can be very successful. While most uses of pay what you want have been at the margins of the economy, or for special promotions, there are emerging efforts to expand its utility to broader and more regular use. Penetration pricing[edit] Main article: Penetration pricing Penetration pricing includes setting the price low with the goals of attracting customers and gaining market share. The price will be raised later once this market share is gained.[6] Predatory pricing[edit] Main article: Predatory pricing Predatory pricing, also known as aggressive pricing (also known as â€Å"undercutting†), intended to drive out competitors from a market. It is  illegal in some countries. Premium decoy pricing[edit] Method of pricing where an organization artificially sets one product price high, in order to boost sales of a lower priced product. Premium pricing[edit] Main article: Premium pricing Premium pricing is the practice of keeping the price of a product or service artificially high in order to encourage favorable perceptions among buyers, based solely on the price. The practice is intended to exploit the (not necessarily justifiable) tendency for buyers to assume that expensive items enjoy an exceptional reputation, are more reliable or desirable, or represent exceptional quality and distinction. Price discrimination[edit] Main article: Price discrimination Price discrimination is the practice of setting a different price for the same product in different segments to the market. For example, this can be for different classes, such as ages, or for different opening times. Price leadership[edit] Main article: Price leadership An observation made of oligopolistic business behavior in which one company, usually the dominant competitor among several, leads the way in determining prices, the others soon following. The context is a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers. Psychological pricing[edit] Main article: Psychological pricing Pricing designed to have a positive psychological impact. For example, selling a product at $3.95 or $3.99, rather than $4.00. There are certain price points where people are willing to buy a product. If the price of a product is $100 and the company prices it as $99, then it is called  psychological pricing. In most of the consumers mind $99 is psychologically ‘less’ than $100. A minor distinction in pricing can make a big difference in sales. The company that succeeds in finding psychological price points can improve sales and maximize revenue. Target pricing business[edit] Pricing method whereby the selling price of a product is calculated to produce a particular rate of return on investment for a specific volume of production. The target pricing method is used most often by public utilities, like electric and gas companies, and companies whose capital investment is high, like automobile manufacturers. Target pricing is not useful for companies whose capital investment is low because, according to this formula, the selling price will be understated. Also the target pricing method is not keyed to the demand for the product, and if the entire volume is not sold, a company might sustain an overall budgetary loss on the product. Time-based pricing[edit] Main article: Time-based pricing A flexible pricing mechanism made possible by advances in information technology, and employed mostly by Internet based companies. By responding to market fluctuations or large amounts of data gathered from customers – ranging from where they live to what they buy to how much they have spent on past purchases – dynamic pricing allows online companies to adjust the prices of identical goods to correspond to a customer’s willingness to pay. The airline industry is often cited as a dynamic pricing success story. In fact, it employs the technique so artfully that most of the passengers on any given airplane have paid different ticket prices for the same flight.[7] Value-based pricing[edit] Main article: Value-based pricing Pricing a product based on the value the product has for the customer and not on its costs of production or any other factor. This pricing strategy is frequently used where the value to the customer is many times the cost of  producing the item or service. For instance, the cost of producing a software CD is about the same independent of the software on it, but the prices vary with the perceived value the customers are expected to have. The perceived value will depend on the alternatives open to the customer. In business these alternatives are using competitors software, using a manual work around, or not doing an activity. In order to employ value-based pricing you have to know your customer’s business, his business costs, and his perceived alternatives.It is also known as Perceived-value pricing. Other pricing approaches[edit] Other pricing strategies include Yield Management, Congestion pricing and Variable pricing. Nine laws of price sensitivity and consumer psychology[edit] In their book, The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing, Thomas Nagle and Reed Holden outline nine â€Å"laws† or factors that influence how a consumer perceives a given price and how price-sensitive they are likely to be with respect to different purchase decisions. [8][9] They are: Reference Price Effect – buyer’s price sensitivity for a given product increases the higher the product’s price relative to perceived alternatives. Perceived alternatives can vary by buyer segment, by occasion, and other factors. Difficult Comparison Effect – buyers are less sensitive to the price of a known or more reputable product when they have difficulty comparing it to potential alternatives. Switching Costs Effect – the higher the product-specific investment a buyer must make to switch suppliers, the less price sensitive that buyer is when choosing between alternatives. Price-Quality Effect – buyers are less sensitive to price the more that higher prices signal higher quality. Products for which this effect is particularly relevant include: image products, exclusive products, and products with minimal cues for quality. Expenditure Effect – buyers are more price-sensitive when the expense accounts for a large percentage of buyers ’ available income or budget. End-Benefit Effect – the effect refers to the  relationship a given purchase has to a larger overall benefit, and is divided into two parts: Derived demand: The more sensitive buyers are to the price of the end benefit, the more sensitive they will be to the prices of those products that contribute to that benefit. Price proportion cost: The price proportion cost refers to the percent of the total cost of the end benefit accounted for by a given component that helps to produce the end benefit (e.g., think CPU and PCs). The smaller the given components share of the total cost of the end benefit, the less sensitive buyers will be to the components’ price. Shared-cost Effect – the smaller the portion of the purchase price buyers must pay for themselves, the less price sensitive they will be. Fairness Effect – buyers are more sensitive to the price of a product when the price is outside the range they perceive as â€Å"fair† or â€Å"reasonable† given the purchase context. The Framing Effect – buyers are more price sensitive when they perceive the price as a loss rather than a forgone gain, and they have greater price sensitivity when the price is paid separately rather than as part of a bundle.

Environmental Regulation and Business Strategy in UK and Scotland Essay

Environmental Regulation and Business Strategy in UK and Scotland - Essay Example The plan also espouses the maximization of the remaining waste by utilizing its energy through waste-to-energy incineration plants. Electrical/and or heat energy can be produced by burning or incineration of wastes (Scottish Environment Protection Agency, 2011). This is an aspect of concern because the burning of solid and liquid material will produce mixtures of solid and gaseous emission like heavy metals, dioxins, particulates, ash residues, and acidic gases. An incineration plant refers to the technical unit and equipment that are dedicated for the purpose of burning or thermal treatment of waste material and in so doing, produce combustion heat (Council Directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the European Council ). The definition for the incineration plant includes the site, incineration lines, waste reception, waste storage, fuel and air supplies, post-treatment areas for exhaust gases, waste and wastewater, and all other facilities and devices for control and mo nitoring the operations in incineration. Incineration of waste is achieved by oxidation, pyrolysis, and gasification. Strictly speaking, the energy produced by the incineration of waste materials cannot be considered renewable energy, but it can replace and supplement the energy that is sourced from fossil fuels like oil and coil, natural gas, and other renewable sources. As stated by the Scottish Planning Policy 6 on renewable energy, the energy derived from waste can help Scotland meet its targets for increasing electricity derived from renewable energy sources (Scottish Development Executive Department, 1997). Energy from waste is therefore considered a part of the response to climate change towards sustainable development. The Renewables Obligation gives incentives to suppliers of electricity to obtain electrical energy from renewable sources (Renewables Obligation, 2007). In Scotland, the Renewables Obligation, and the Renewables Obligation Order were enforced on April 2002. Th e schemes were introduced by the Scottish Executive and the Department of Enterprise and Trade, and are administered by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority. The Renewable Orders set the amount of electricity from renewable sources to 5.5% and 6.7% in 2005-2006, and 2006-2007 respectively. In 2009, the Scottish government published the Renewables Action Plan, which committed the country to achieving 20% energy coming from renewable sources by 2020, which also meant that there must be a large increase in the energy derived from the heat (11% increase) and transport sectors (10% increase) (The Scottish Government, 2009). In the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Amendment Order of 2011 which was enforced in April 2011, waste materials were already included as renewable energy sources. According to SEPA, incineration can be considered compatible with high recycling rates, which is also highly dependent on the segregation of wastes. Energy can be recovered from residual waste that ca nnot be recycled due to economic and technical reasons. Despite the economic crisis, the practice of waste incineration has risen worldwide (ecoprog/Fraunhofer UMSICHT, 2010). In the last decade, the annual global capacity of the incineration plants increased from 180 to 350 million tonnes. This can further rise by 20% in the next five years. It is further expected that with landfill sites decreasing, new plants will be

The Law on Race Discrimination Has Undergone Transformation over the Essay

The Law on Race Discrimination Has Undergone Transformation over the Last 15 Years due to a Number of Significant Issues - Essay Example Thousands of people report cases of workplace discrimination by personal characteristics. Some of them are decisive enough to go to the court. Reasons why anti-discrimination laws appear to be ineffective are numerous and diverse. Basically, contemporary anti-discrimination laws are limited to negative torts against workplace discrimination; as such, they do not promote positive attitudinal changes in private business and do not provide conditions required to protect workers from unlawful discrimination. Discrimination: The current state of law Understanding why discrimination continues to persist is impossible without looking at the current state of anti-discrimination laws in Europe and America. For many years, the developed world had been concerned with the issue of workplace discrimination and possible ways to deal with it. As of today, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States run whole systems of anti-discrimination laws which, nevertheless, do not bring the desired effect. In the United States, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the central component of the country’s anti-discrimination legislation that applies widely across private and public organizations. The discussed law is followed and complemented by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The latter goes beyond the problem of racial discrimination and prohibits discrimination on grounds that are not recognized by the U.S. Constitution (Rutherglen 1995). In the United Kingdom, the Race Relations Act (1975), the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), as well as the Disability Discrimination Act (1975) create the basic trio of laws, followed by numerous amendments that currently govern the issues of workplace discrimination in the country. It should be noted, that the past decade witnessed an unprecedented rise in the number of anti-discrimination amendments passed by the British government (Fredman 2002). Nevertheless, the issue of workplace discrimination remai ns extremely relevant for Britain. Even in light of the Treaty of Rome and the Treaty establishing the European Union, Great Britain and other countries of Europe have been consistently unable to fight discrimination in the workplace. Given the growing extent of globalization and unification within the European Union, it comes as no surprise that the prevailing majority of EU anti-discrimination laws apply to the issue of free movement of migrant workers across EU member-states. According to the European Court of Justice, â€Å"a provision of national law must be regarded as indirectly discriminatory if it is intrinsically liable to affect migrant workers more than national workers and if there is a consequent risk that it will place the former at a particular disadvantage† (Commission v. Greece 1998). As such there is still no consistency in how the issue of discrimination is being managed. The situation in Australia is no better: as of today, Australia’s anti-discrim ination laws include Age Discrimination Act 2004, Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Disability Discrimination Act 1975, Racial Discrimination Act 1975, and Sex Discrimination Act 1984. It is no wonder that these laws and numerous amendments create a great deal of confusion and make it difficult for public and, especially, private enterprises to avoid legal complexities and protect their employees from abuse. Discrimination in the workplace: Still an issue? With so many laws governing the issue of work

Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Final - Essay Example For various American Tribes and other indigenous group, the key point is coping with changing environment conditions. The main objective of all various forms tribal American Indian leaders is â€Å"to encounter the contest head-on, probing for plans to manage rising seas, melting ice and unstable populations of plants, animals and fish. Another key fact associated with their adaptation process is tackling changing social and economic culture. The job patter and living style is changing constantly in the USA. The people of America, especially American Indian are facing challenges associated with â€Å"With better health and longevity, lower birth rates, and the ageing of baby boomers, the world is seeing a major change in demographic trends. The process of adaptation can be more elaborately discuss in light of Abbott (1999) article- Alcohol and the Anishinaabeg of Minnesota in the Early Twentieth Century. The article discuss about the changing pattern of the drinking style of the In dian American in the country from Nineteenth century till date. In the seventeenth century, well before the discovery of alcohol pathology, Indian American was passionately attached to drinking. In the Nineteenth century the pattern changed slightly as they get addicted to strong drinks rather than regular and large volume of drinking (Abbott, 1999, pp. 25-26).In the earlier stage the trade of Alcohol was carried out against food and other important staff which slowly started to change. Slowly the pattern started to change as the American Indian started to use this as a gift in occasion and often resemble the same with the mother milk. In the areas such as Anishinaabe, drinking was a major incident among the people but soon they forced the pattern that they used to follow. There was a distinct difference in the pattern of drinking of the people in that area, those who used to live near the border or trading

Creer devlpment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Creer devlpment - Research Paper Example Although, the major consideration remains unchanged that is the achievement of an ultimate high value objective set for professional growth. It is equally important that the selected career path should have potential to contribute towards the social well being of the masses to ensure that it imparts a sense of satisfaction for the individual. Keeping the aforesaid in mind, I have selected the â€Å"Social Support and Health Advocacy† as an area of career development program. The field of choice is closely related to the communication domain because it requires a close interaction with masses to know exactly their demands and needs as well as communicating the assessed requirements to the health officials and other public and non-public organizations. The field of the â€Å"Social Support and Health Advocacy† primarily cover two sub-domains i.e. the Social Support; the Health Advocacy. Social support is concerned with general public communications which may include one t o one interactions, corner meetings, conventions, large scale public gatherings to acquire input from the masses about the system, its short comings and the procedural and administrative recommendations to ratify these issues. Goldsmith (2012), who is an Associate Professor of Speech Communication at the University of Illinois has surfaced several aspects of communication that are commonly used and employed in social support, especially in health, anxieties and stress issues. He suggests that our frequent communication with our families, children, elderly persons of the securities and other interactions on these issues is the best kind of social support and if we can refine this communication issues can be addressed in a befitting manner. An expert communicator can devise ways and means to improve the quality of this communication by selecting good and effective observations. Moreover, an effective communicator can extend his social support by identifying various approaches that may help social interactions and communications more fruitful and result oriented in the elimination of daily stresses and major crises that may come across our lives. Social Support is an important area where communication can play a significant role to improve the quality of an individual’s life. However, it requires a well planned and targeted attainment of skills and expertise to ensure a career growth with significant achievements in the field of effective communications. Beyond the core communication skills like grammatical correction and purposefulness, an effective communication must have expertise in the prevailing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), a close look on the social setup and values while a comparative study of people and societies around the world to ensure the incorporation of a global perspective in your communications. These requirements can lead to a number of studies and courses in ICT, social science core expertise, philosophy and interpe rsonal as well as inter organizational communication skills. However, the selection of courses and expertise from these domains may have subjectivity because of personal trends, likings and approach. â€Å"Health Advocacy†, the other sub-domain of my professional career plan demands even more effective communication skills. Primarily, healthcare advocacy is directly concerned with people

Phase 5 Individual Project 5 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Phase 5 Individual Project 5 - Coursework Example The global spread is due to its superior quality brand that meets consumers’ tastes and preferences and high reputation in customer service delivery a critical factor that its competitors lack. Currently, the firm is the fourth largest retailers in world. Profitability being one of the main objectives that guarantee sustainability and growth of an organization, Home Depot is trading at a profit. This is  showed  by an  increase in the Net sales from $78.8Billion in the year 2013 to $83.2Billion in 2014. The net earnings scaled up from $4.5Billion in 2012 to $5.4Billion in 2013 and finally to $6.3Billion in 2014. Additionally, the store count also improved from 2256 in 2012 to 2263 in 2013 to 2269 in 2014. This result indeed shows that the firm will continue operating at a profit for unforeseen future pursuant to the basis of a going concern (The home depot, 2015). For the purposes of financing its internal activities and investments, the firm preferred long-term debt because of the tax shield that is tied up in the debt. The total amount of debt that is spent by the enterprise is $16.869Billion. The huge sum loan was due to the decrease in its assets by $572Million, decrease in shareholders equity by $572Million, an increase in accounts payable by approximately $10Million all from February 2014 to February 2015. However, this is not  an issue  to shareholders as Home Depot’s statement of cash flows clearly indicates that the cash and cash equivalents have been increasing. This is evidenced by an increase in cash from operation from 6975 in 2013 to 7628 in 2014 and 8242 in 2015. The cash from investing activities increased from 1432 to 1507 and 1271 from the year 2013 to 2015 respectively. The cash from financing activities scaled up from 50354 in 2013, to 6652 in 2014 and 7071 in 2015. This stipulates that the cash and cash equival ents have been increasing substantially and, therefore,

The Fourth Amendment, Search and Seizure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Fourth Amendment, Search and Seizure - Essay Example This paper discusses a case about the violation of the Fourth Amendment exposing the dynamics of its interpretation and application. The case between Brigham City and Stuart of 2006 is an exemplar of search and seizure cases. Brigham City police responded to a call that came in at around three o’clock in the morning. The call was a complaint about a loud party in a certain neighborhood in Brigham. On arrival to the house in question, the police confirmed that indeed there was shouting and drinking. The police observed some individuals fighting in the kitchen, and an officer entered the house and announced his presence. The officer arrested the adults present at the scene and pressed charges against them including encouraging delinquency. The trial court allowed the suppression of the prosecution’s evidence and Utah Court of Appeals affirmed this suppression (Schulhofer, 2012). The suppression of evidence was on the basis that the officer's entry into the house was warra ntless hence violating the Fourth Amendment. Utah State Supreme Court affirmed this decision suspending any claim on the emergency aid doctrine and exigency of the situation. The court cited the absence of an objectively reasonable belief that there was a missing, semiconscious or unconscious person on the premises. It was this notion that the court used to suspend any claim on the emergency aid doctrine. The emergency doctrine excuses individuals from acting reasonably in lieu of an urgent need to offer aid in an emergency situation. The court suspended the doctrine also because the officers acted in the capacity of law enforcers and not in assistance to the injured individual. The court refused the exigency of the situation as it lacked persuasion about the officers’ warrantless entry (Clancy, 2008). The Supreme Court reversed the case and referred it back to court for fresh proceedings varying from the initial judgment. The concept of reasonableness  that is central to the provisions of the Fourth Amendment allows s ome exceptions to the need for a warrant.  

Employee competence & reward strategys - Read the provided case study Essay

Employee competence & reward strategys - Read the provided case study on UtilityCo then answer the questions set out in the Project Outline document - Essay Example An individual can be said to be competent if he possesses the skills, knowledge and abilities that are necessary to perform a particular task that the individual is given the responsibility of. With such a combination of traits, a person can be able to competently perform a task in any given situation or a working environment. In the same respect, one may lose competency without losing the skills, abilities or knowledge if the requirements for executing a particular task changes or the working conditions changes (Dickmann, 2008). Competency is also used as a general term when the requirements of people in communities and organizations whereby there are requirements for the people to perform various tasks for the community or organization. These can be described by the various requirements that organizations have put in a particular language for the employees to be considered competent or what educational institutes have put in a specific language for the students to graduate from them. One of the most important aspects of this kind of competence is that it has to be an action competence and this means that the people must show their competence in action (Armstrong, 1999). As far as human resources are concerned, it is more significant to have competence development policies especially for some general competences that an organization is dependent on to run its business. The general competences can be classified into levels and they include the novice whereby a person who can be classified as a novice has the behavior based on the rules of the organization and is very inflexible as well as very limited. The next level is the experienced beginner whereby this employee has the ability to incorporate aspects from a given situation. The third level is the practitioner who is capable of acting consciously in relation to any long term plans and

Verbal Art Essay Example for Free

Verbal Art Essay â€Å"All literacy practices can be considered creative.† Discuss.(2000 words)Prior to any discussion on the topic, it is imperative that the definitions for the key terms are given so as to ensure complete clarity.Literacy practices refers to â€Å"people’s everyday practices of producing and interacting with texts.† (Papen and Tusting, p312) This can include basic and tedious practices such as filling in forms, to more interesting practices such as writing a newspaper article, or composing a song perhaps.Creativity refers to â€Å"making something which is new, which did not exist before the creative act,† or â€Å"making something which is original, which is unlike things that have been made before. † (ibid, p.315) While the term is particularly fluid and open to different interpretations, this definition will suffice here for the purpose of this assignment.Although there are various approaches to the study of creativity – Carter (2004, cited in Maybin, p. 414) coined the term inherency model for creativity relating to the â€Å"formal aspects of language as an abstract system of sounds, grammar and meaning† – for the purpose of this paper, Carter’s second identified approach to understanding creativity in language – the sociocultural model – will be utilised. In this model, creativity in language is seen as determined to a greater or lesser degree, by social, cultural and historical factors.Studying specified texts and drawing out elements of creativity, in for an example a poem, is a specific task with a specific purpose, and is generally something pupils may do in school, but the real creativity, as highlighted by Camitta (Papen and Tusting: Reading A), is the collaborated effort to create a poem, song or rap purely for personal reasons.In her case study over three years at a Philadelphia high school, Camitta studied varieties of literacy among students who believed that â€Å"writing is central to transacting social relationships,, to making meaning out of their lives, and that the act of writing signals that the truth is being told about them.† (Camitta, cited in Papen and Tusting, p332) For them writing was an active form of self-expression, much similar to music, dance, and drawing. The types of texts they produced were vernacular – unofficial and closely related to culture, and as such, collaboration and performance were central processes to producing the texts. The author, in his/her free time, would read out or perform their text – be it rap, song, poem, letter – to an audience, who  would then collaborate and suggest changes. This highlights the author’s creativity in the first instance, but also the creativity of the audience. As is evident, this is quite different to the classroom setting, as these are texts that the collaborators can make suggestions about for changes which will actually lead to amendments, as opposed to commenting on set-in-stone texts. Context is an important factor in creating creative literacy practices. Camitta’s study focused on pupils who were constrained to a degree by the need to be in certain places at certain times, and hence had to fit their writing around that, but there are people who are much more constrained, and in that sense, their creativity is much more astounding. Wilson’s research focused on prisoners’ use of creativity. While the Philadelphia high school students used language as a form of self-expression, and also for play and innate creativity, Wilson states that â€Å"the vast majority of innovation in the prison setting is used not for play, humour or dalliance, but in order to â€Å"keep your mind† †¦ â€Å"and to encourage a sense of mental agility in a world designed to reduce everything and everyone to conformity and orthodoxy.† (Wilson Papen and Tusting, Reading B, p.341)Wilson goes on to highlight an important factor, that creativity and language are situated and contextualised by the environments, spaces, times and cultures in which they are located. In the case of the prisoners, their creativity was evident in the spatial and material forms as well. Spatially the prisoners formed a â€Å"third space† for themselves, which was separate from the prison and the â€Å"outside,† in which to â€Å"live† out their sentence. (Wilson, 1999, p.20) In terms of material creativity, Wilson gives examples of pressing mugs against heating pipes, using the toilet bowl for communication, hiding notes inside tennis balls, and â€Å"swinging lines.† (Wilson, Reading B, in Papen and Tusting, p.344) In terms of creativity in literacy practices, prisoners write letters, poems and raps, in a sense similar to the high school pupils. The difference here is that their literacy practices are a result of the â€Å"third space,† i.e. to retain a sense of individual identity and a â€Å"desire and need to maintain a sense of self agent and not just as subject to other people’s desires and rules.† (Papen and Tusting, p.322).â€Å"The possibilities associated with a setting do not determine what is created within any given context; but they do shape what is possible.† (Papen and Tusting, p.320) With this in mind, the reader’s  attention is not turned to a different type of affordances and constraints â₠¬â€œ that relating to new technologies.Bodomo and Lee (2002, cited in Papen and Tusting, p.323) claim that new forms of language and literacy emerge from the introduction of new communicative tools and media,† which in turn give way to the introduction of techno jargon, literary jargon and new types of digital literacies. The literacy practices associated with new technologies can be categorised into two concepts of creativity as outlined by Kress (2003, p.36). The first is the concept of ‘transformation’, which is the way â€Å"the producer of a text can alter and adapt the forms of signs within a mode in relation to their needs and interests† (Kress, cited in Papen and Tusting, p.323). This can be found in modern literacy practices such as emailing or texting. The use of emoticons is an altering and adapting of signs to create a new meaning in a situation where the texter/emailer is constrained by the symbols available to him via the keyboard/keypad, for example, when a colon and a closed bracket are put together thus: : ) they produce: ï Å  a smiley face.Kress’ second concept is that of ‘transduction’ which â€Å"refers to the moving of ‘semiotic material’ across modes, where meaning that was originally configured in one (or several) modes is moved across to a different one† (Kress, cited in Papen and Tusting, p.323). Papen and Tusting cite the example of the students in Reading A, who â€Å"performed† the poems they wrote, changing from the written to the oral mode. Another very clear example is that of online chatting. Friends usually make plans to meet up in the evening at the local McDonalds for example, but now via internet chat rooms and other forms of internet relay chat (e.g. MSN, Skype), friends can virtually meet up with each other while individually remaining in their own homes. Speech becomes writing, and in many cases still has the feeling of verbal communication, for example with the use of certain greeting words, acronyms, code switching, etc. The author’ has her own experiences of transduction as three of her brothers live abroad and her main communication with them, although previously was via face-to-face or telephone conversations, is now via computer-mediated-conversations. It becomes immediately apparent to her if one of their spouses is pretending to be a brothe r and is chatting to her from their use of language and the individual creativity inherent in it. Although the examples above highlight literacy practices that are constrained through the medium (for  example, the limited number of symbols on a keyboard/keypad), new technology also offers many affordances for the user. In the practice of ‘blogging,’ â€Å"blogs can include visual and other material, producing a kind of virtual scrapbook† (Maybin, p.266), thus drawing on the affordances offered by the Internet. Maybin comments on the dialogic nature of blogging (page 269); in the blog ‘The Story of an Aspiring Romance Writer’, the author’s posts are answered by other ‘bloggers’, who discuss the points raised and provide support and feedback for the author. One act of creativity present in this type of feedback and response is â€Å"the dialogic construction of the self† (Maybin, p.269), which is â€Å"the shaping of self in the course of responding to others† (ibid). Collaboration – discussed previously in the paper plays an important role in this particular literacy practice. Creativity also exists in the chosen medium of a literacy practice; for instance, advertising in Katutura is written on whatever material is to hand, whether it is wood, cardboard or on the wall of a house. Papen notes â€Å"creativity here has a material aspect† (p.352); this is clearly evident in Colour Figure 10, which is an example of heteroglossic diversity; this sign contains not only a multitude of voices, but also a multitude of genres. The phrase â€Å"Just find me here anytime†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is deliberately informal, even friendly in nature. It implies that the owner is an easygoing person, ready to help whenever is most convenient for his customer. This contrasts with the final line, â€Å"Thank you so much for your cooperation†, which adopts a typically business-like ‘official’ voice. Papen sees this sign as containing â€Å"a bricolage of genres and registers† (p.352) that is the result of â€Å"some careful thinking and creative approp riation of a new language† (ibid). There may be some parts of speech, or literacy practices, which are seen as creative â€Å"in the moment†, but perhaps not deemed creative later on, because there is no knowledge of what went before or after or the context. (Maybin, p.415). A poignant example of this is the author’s mother who came to England from India in her teens with very little knowledge of English, verbal or written. A very clear memory remains of shopping lists on the fridge door. In terms of â€Å"material creativity,† as discussed previously, the shopping list is not at all Indian in nature, and most people in India probably do not write them, but having come to England, the author’s mother was creative in that she adopted this simple practice for herself.  Furthermore, bearing in mind her little knowledge of English, instead of writing in her mother-tongue Gujarati, she would write in English, in her Indian scroll, spelling items the way she heard them: shugr, bred, weetbiks, e tc. The statement at the heart of this paper was: â€Å"All literacy practices can be considered creative.† The approach taken to explore this was the sociocultural model which allowed certain aspects to have a bearing on literacy practices, such as collaboration, performance, context, transformation, and transduction, highlighting that cultural and social change have caused creativity within literacy practices, but it would be a gross misjudgement here to fail to acknowledge that writing and literacy are also causal factors in the process of social change.Crystal distinguished between amateur and ‘professional’ users and uses of playful language. Amateur creativity is in the form of everyday language in riddles, jokes, limericks, playful uses of accents and dialects, nonce words in popular songs and sayings, while ‘professional’ creativity refers to language play in the work of headline and advertising copy-writers, professional collectors of ludic langu age, comedians and writers of humorous texts. (Crystal, in Carter, R. p.72) Regardless of which of these a literacy practice fits in to, as Papen and Tusting highlight: â€Å"There is an argument that all meaning-making processes have a creative element† (p.315). Furthermore, if one thinks about â€Å"language as [†¦] a system that is constantly created and re-created, changed and adapted, then creativity even at this level turns into a normal event.† (Papen and Tusting, p.324)Hence, as a final note, one may state, that every literacy practice, whether for personal pleasure, or for needs, in open and also restricted contexts, to more or lesser degrees are indeed creative.. Bibliography †¢ Carter, R. (2004), Language and Creativity: The Art of Common Talk, London Routledge.†¢ Kress, G. (2003), Literacy in the New Media Age, London and New York Routledge,†¢ Maybin, J. (2006) â€Å"Locating Creativity in texts and practices† in Maybin, J Swann, J. (eds) The Art of English: Everyday Creativity, Palgrave Macmillan, The Open University. †¢ Maybin, J. (2006), â€Å"Writing the self† in Maybin, J Swann, J. (eds) The Art of English: Everyday Creativity, Palgrave Macmillan, The Open University. †¢ Maybin, J. Swann, J. (eds) (2006), The Art of English: Everyday Creativity, Palgrave Macmillan, The Open University.†¢ Wilson, A. (1999), â€Å"Researching in the  third space – locating, claiming and valuing the research domain,† in S. Goodman, T. Lillis, J. Maybin and N. Mercer (eds), Language, Literacy and Education: A Reader, London, Trentham.