Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Two

â€Å"Are you kidding? I barely got off suspension in time to be allowed to come tonight.† Of course, at the moment Gabe was wishing the timing hadn't been so helpful. â€Å"I'm lucky I didn't get expelled.† â€Å"Mr. Reese had it coming. Everyone knows that.† â€Å"Yeah, he did,† Gabe said, a sudden edge sharpening his tone. Everyone at school was wary of Mr. Reese, but there wasn't much they could do until the math teacher crossed a line he shouldn't have. All the upperclassmen knew about Mr. Reese, too, but Gabe wasn't about to stand by while he stalked that clueless freshman kid†¦ Still, knocking out a teacher was a bit extreme. There was probably some better way to have handled the situation. His parents had been supportive, though, as usual. Logan interrupted his thoughts. â€Å"Maybe we should take off,† Logan said. â€Å"I'd feel bad-if Celeste needs a way home†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"That girl is not your type, Gabe.† She's pure evil-and a full-on whore, Logan could have added, but those just weren't the kinds of things you wanted to say about any girl while Gabe was in hearing range. â€Å"Let her get a ride with the guy sticking his tongue down her throat.† Gabe sighed and shook his head. â€Å"I'll wait to make sure she's okay.† Logan groaned. â€Å"I can't believe you asked her. Well, can we ditch out long enough to pick up a few decent CDs at least? Then we could hijack that pile of crap the DJ's playing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I like the way you think. I wonder if the limo driver would mind a side trip†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Logan and Gabe ended up in a mock argument over the best CDs to retrieve-the top five were obvious, but from there down the list was a little more subjective-both of them having a better time than they'd had all evening. It was funny, but as they joked around, Gabe had a sense that they were the only ones having a good time. Everyone in the room seemed to be frowning about something. And over in the corner by the stale cookies, it looked like a girl was crying. Wasn't that Evie Hess? And another girl, Ursula Tatum, also had red eyes and smeared mascara. Maybe the music and the punch weren't the only things about this prom that sucked. Clara and Bryan looked happy, but aside from those two, Gabe and Logan-both recently humiliated and rejected-seemed to be enjoying themselves more than everyone else. Less perceptive than Gabe, Logan didn't register the negative atmosphere until Libby and Dylan started arguing; abruptly, Libby stalked off the dance floor. That caught his attention at once. Logan shifted his weight, his eyes glued to Libby's departing figure. â€Å"Hey, Gabe, do you mind if I ditch you?† â€Å"Not at all. Go for it.† Logan nearly sprinted after her. Gabe wasn't sure what to do with himself now. Should he find Celeste and ask whether she minded if he bailed? He wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of prying her loose from someone else in order to ask, though. He decided to get another bottle of water and find the quietest corner possible to wait for the evening to drag to an end. And then, as he went searching for that quiet corner, Gabe felt the strange pull again, stronger than he'd ever felt it in his life; it was like someone was drowning in black waters and screaming to him for help. He glanced around frantically, wondering where the urgent call was coming from. He couldn't understand the vital, jagged edge of this distress. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before. For just a moment, his eyes locked on one girl-on her back, as she was walking away from him. The girl's hair was black and glossy, with a mirrorlike sheen. She wore a spectacular floor-length dress the color of flames. As Gabe watched, her earrings flashed once, like little red sparklers. Gabe began walking after her in an almost unconscious movement, drawn by the wrenching need that surrounded her. She turned slightly, and he got a glimpse of an unfamiliar pale, aquiline profile-full ivory lips and black slanting brows-before she ducked through the ladies' room door. Gabe was breathing hard with the effort of not following the girl into no-man's-land. He could feel her need sucking at him like quicksand. He leaned against the wall across from the bathroom, folded his arms tight across his chest, and tried to talk himself out of waiting for the girl. This lunatic instinct he had was way off base. Wasn't Celeste proof of that? It was all just imagination. Maybe he should leave now. But Gabe couldn't force his feet to move one step away. Though the girl barely reached five foot three inches in her stiletto heels, something about her figure-whip-slender and rod-straight as a fencing foil-made her appear tall. She was a walking contradiction in more ways than height-both dark and light with her inky hair and chalky skin, both delicate and hard with her tiny, sharp features, and both inviting and repellent with the mesmerizing undulations of her body under the hostile expression on her face. Only one thing about her was not ambiguous-her dress was, without question, a work of art: Bright red tongues of leather flame bared her pale shoulders and licked down her willowy curves until they kissed the floor. As she crossed the dance floor, female eyes followed the pathway of the dress with envy and male eyes followed it with lust. There was another phenomenon that followed her; as the girl in the fiery dress passed through the dancers, little gasps of horror and pain and embarrassment rippled out from around her in strange eddies that could only be coincidence. A high heel cracked, twisting the ankle inside it. A satin dress split along a seam from thigh to waist. A contact lens popped out and was lost on the dirty floor. A vital bra strap snapped in two. A wallet slipped from a pocket. An unexpected cramp announced an early period. A borrowed necklace scattered in a shower of pearls to the floor. And on and on-little disasters spinning small circles of misery. The pale dark girl smiled to herself as if she could somehow sense that misery in the air and enjoy it-taste it, perhaps, considering the way she licked her lips in appreciation. And then she frowned, furrowing her brow in fierce concentration. The one boy who was watching her face saw a strange red glitter near her earlobes, like shooting red sparks. Everyone else turned just then to stare at Brody Farrow, who clutched his arm and shouted in pain; the slight movement of the slow dancing had dislocated his shoulder. The girl in the red dress smirked. With her heels ringing sharply against the tile floor, she strode down the hall to the ladies' room. Faint moans of pain and chagrin trailed after her. A crowd of girls hovered in front of the wall-length mirrors inside the bathroom. They only had a moment to gape at the stunning dress, to notice how the slight girl inside it shivered briefly in the stuffy, too-warm room, before the chaos distracted them. It started with Emma Roland stabbing herself in the eye with a mascara wand. She flailed in dismay, striking the full glass of punch in Bethany Crandall's hand, which then drenched Bethany and stained three other dresses in the most inconvenient places. The atmosphere in the restroom was suddenly hotter than the temperature as one girl-sporting a hideous green smear across her chest-accused Bethany of throwing the punch on her purposely. The pale dark girl only smiled slightly at the brewing fight, and then strode to the farthest stall in the long room and locked the door behind her. She did not make use of the privacy the way one might expect. Instead-showing no fear of the less-than-sterile environment-the girl leaned her forehead against the metal wall and squeezed her eyes shut. Her hands, balled into sharp little fists, also rested against the metal as if for support. If any of the girls in the ladies' room had been paying attention, they might have wondered what was causing the red glow that shone dully through the crack between the door and the wall. But no one was paying attention. The girl in the red dress clenched her teeth tightly together. From between them, a hot spurt of bright flame shot out and singed black patterns into the thin layer of tan paint on the metal wall. She started to pant, struggling with an invisible weight, and the fire burned hotter, thick fingers of red crackling against the cold metal. The fire reached up to her hair, but did not scorch the smooth, inky locks. Traces of smoke began to seep from her nose and ears. A shower of sparks popped from her ears as she whispered one word through her teeth. â€Å"Melissa.† Back out on the crowded dance floor, Melissa Harris looked up, distracted. Had someone just called her name? There didn't seem to be anyone close enough to be responsible for the low sound. Just her imagination, then. Melissa looked back at her date and tried to concentrate on what he was saying. Melissa wondered why she had agreed to go to the prom with Cooper Silverdale. He wasn't her type. A small boy, consumed with his own importance, with too much to prove. He'd been oddly hyper all night, bragging about his family and his possessions nonstop, and Melissa was tired of it. Another faint whisper caught Melissa's attention, and she turned. There, too far across the crowd to be the source behind the sound, Tyson Bell was staring straight at Melissa over the head of the girl he danced with. Melissa looked down at once, shuddering, trying not to care who he was with, forcing herself not to look. She moved closer to Cooper. Boring and shallow, maybe, but better than Tyson. Anyone was better than Tyson. Really? Is Cooper really the better option? The questions popped into Melissa's thoughts as if they came from someone else entirely. Involuntarily, she glanced up into Tyson's heavily lashed dark eyes. He was still staring. Of course Cooper was better than Tyson, no matter how beautiful Tyson was. That beauty was just part of the trap. Cooper babbled on, stumbling over his words as he tried to capture Melissa's interest. You're out of Cooper's league, the thought whispered. Melissa shook her head, embarrassed for thinking that way. It was vain. Cooper was just as good as she was, as good as any other boy. Not as good as Tyson. Remember how it was†¦ Melissa tried to keep the images out of her mind: Tyson's warm eyes, full of longing†¦ his hands, rough and soft against her skin†¦ his rich voice that made even the most common words sound like poetry†¦ the way just the lightest pressure of his lips against her fingers could send her pulse sprinting in her veins†¦ Her heart thumped, aching. Deliberately, Melissa dredged up a new memory to combat the rebel images. Tyson's iron fist smashing into the side of her face without warning-the black spots blossoming in front of her eyes-her hands bracing against the floor-vomit choking in her throat-raw pain shaking her whole body- He was sorry. So sorry. He promised. Never again. Unwanted, the image of Tyson's coffee eyes swimming with tears clouded her vision. Reflexively, Melissa's eyes sought Tyson. He was still staring. His forehead creased, his eyebrows pulled together, grief-stricken†¦ Melissa shuddered again. â€Å"Are you cold? Do you want my-?† Cooper half-shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket and then stopped himself, his face flushing. â€Å"You can't be cold. It's so hot in here,† he said lamely as he withdrew the offer, buttoning the jacket back into place. â€Å"I'm fine,† Melissa assured him. She forced herself to look only at his sallow, boyish face. â€Å"This place kinda sucks,† Cooper said, and Melissa nodded, happy to agree with him. â€Å"We could go to my father's country club. There's an incredible restaurant, if you're in the mood for dessert. We won't have to wait for a table. As soon as I mention my name†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Melissa's attention wandered again. Why am I here with this little snob? asked the thought that was so strangely unfamiliar in her head, though it came in her own voice. He's a weakling. So what if he couldn't hurt a kitten? Isn't there more to love than safety? I don't feel the same need in my stomach when I look at Cooper-when I look at anyone besides Tyson†¦ I can't lie to myself. I still want him. So much. Isn't that love, that wanting? Melissa wished she hadn't drunk so much of that vile, burning punch. It was impossible to think clearly. She watched as Tyson left his partner stranded and crossed the floor until he stood right in front of her-the perfect broad-shouldered football hero cliche. It was as if Cooper didn't exist there between them. â€Å"Melissa?† he asked in his melting voice, sorrow twisting his features. â€Å"Melissa, please!† He held his hand out toward her, ignoring Cooper's wordless spluttering. Yes yes yes yes yes chanted in her head. A thousand memories of desire rocked through her. Her clouded mind buckled. Hesitantly, Melissa nodded. Tyson smiled in relief, in joy, and pulled her around Cooper and into his arms. It was just so easy to go with him. Melissa's blood ran through her veins like fire. Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Two The mist of nothing slipped slowly from me in a painful series of prickles and the sound of two people arguing. I felt sick, not from my entire back tingling so painfully I could hardly stand to breathe, but from the feeling of helpless fear that the hushed, back-and-forth voices pulled from my past. I could almost smell the moldy fluff of my stuffed rabbit as I had curled into a ball and listened to the two people who were my entire world frighten me beyond belief. That they had both told me it hadn't been my fault hadn't lessened my grief at all. Grief I had to hold inside until it became a part of me. Pain that adhered to my bones. To cry in my mother's arms would say I loved her more. To cry into my dad's shoulder would say I loved him best. It was a crappy way to grow up. But this†¦ this wasn't my parents arguing. It sounded like two kids. I took a breath to find it came easier. The last of the haze started to fade with the tingles, and my lungs moved, aching as if someone were sitting on them. Realizing my eyes were shut, I opened them to find a blurry black just before my nose. There was a heavy, plasticky smell. â€Å"She was sixteen when she got in that car. It's your fault,† a young but masculine voice said hotly, oddly muffled. I was getting the distinct impression that the argument had been going on for some time, but I only remembered snatches of it amid uneasy thoughts of nothing. â€Å"You are not going to put this on me,† a girl said, her voice just as hushed and determined. â€Å"She was seventeen when he flipped her coin. This is your screwup, not mine. God save you, she was right in front of you! How could you miss it?† â€Å"I missed it because she wasn't seventeen!† he shot back. â€Å"She was sixteen when he picked her up. How was I supposed to know he was after her? How come you weren't there? You slipped up big time.† The girl gasped in affront. I was cold. Taking a deeper breath, I felt a surge of strength. Fewer tingles, more aches. It was stuffy, my breath coming back warm to me. It wasn't dark; I was in something. â€Å"You little piss-ant!† the girl snapped. â€Å"Don't tell me I slipped up. She died at seventeen. That's why I wasn't there. I was never notified.† â€Å"But I don't do sixteen,† he said, his voice going nasty. â€Å"I thought he was flipping the boy.† I suddenly realized the black blur throwing back my breath was a sheet of plastic. My hands came up, and my nails pushed through it in a stab of fear. Almost panicking, I sat up. I'm on a table? It sure felt hard enough for one. I shoved the plastic off me. Two kids were standing by a set of dirty white swinging doors, and they spun in surprise. The girl's pale face went red, and the guy backed up as if embarrassed to have been caught arguing with her. â€Å"Oh!† the girl said, tossing her long dark braid behind her. â€Å"You're up. Uh, hi. I'm Lucy, and this is Barnabas.† The guy dropped his eyes and waved sheepishly. â€Å"Hey,† he said. â€Å"How you doing?† â€Å"You were with Josh,† I said, my finger shaking as I pointed, and he nodded, still not looking at me. His costume looked odd next to her shorts and tank top. Both of them wore a black stone pendant around their necks. They were dull and insignificant, but my eye went to them because they were the only thing the two shared. Other than their anger at each other and their surprise at me. â€Å"Where am I?† I said, and Barnabas winced, a tall form scuffing his feet against the tile. â€Å"Where's Josh?† I hesitated, realizing I was in a hospital, but†¦ Wait a minute. I was in a freaking body bag? â€Å"I'm in the morgue?† I blurted. â€Å"What am I doing in the morgue?† Moving wildly, I got my legs out of the plastic bag and slid to the floor, heels clicking in some weird counterpoint as I caught my balance. There was a tag on a rubber band around my wrist, and I yanked it off, taking some hair along with it. I had a long rip in my skirt, and heavy grease marked it. Dirt and grass were plastered to me, and I stank of field and antiseptic. So much for getting my deposit back. â€Å"Someone made a mistake,† I said as I shoved the tag in a pocket, and Lucy snorted. â€Å"Barnabas,† she said, and he stiffened. â€Å"This is not my fault!† he exclaimed, rounding on her. â€Å"She was sixteen when she got in that car. I don't do sixteen! How was I supposed to know it was her birthday?† â€Å"Yeah? Well, she was seventeen when she died, so it is your problem!† Dead? Were they blind? â€Å"You know what?† I said, feeling more steady the longer I stood here. â€Å"You two can argue till the sun goes nova, but I have to find someone and tell them I'm okay.† Heels clicking, I headed for the dirty white twin doors. â€Å"Madison, wait,† the guy said. â€Å"You can't.† â€Å"Watch me,† I said. â€Å"My dad is going to be so-o-o-o ticked.† I strode past them, getting twenty feet before a feeling of disconnection hit me. Dizzy, I put a hand to an empty table as the odd sensation roared from nowhere. My hand cramped where it rested, and I pulled it away as if burned when it seemed the coldness of metal had touched my bone. I felt†¦ spongy. Thin. The soft hum of the ventilation grew muffled. Even the pounding of my heart became distant. I turned, hand to my chest to try and make it feel normal again. â€Å"What†¦Ã¢â‚¬  From across the room, Barnabas shrugged his thin shoulders. â€Å"You're dead, Madison. Sorry. You get too far from our amulets, and you start to lose substance.† He gestured to the gurney, and I looked. My breath slammed out of me. Knees buckling, I half fell against the empty table. I was still there. I mean, I was still on the gurney. I was lying on the cart in a torn body bag, looking far too small and pale, my elaborate dress bunched up around me in an elegant display of forgotten grace out of time. I was dead? But I could feel my heart beat. Limbs going weak, I started to crumple. â€Å"Swell. She's a fainter,† the girl said dryly. Barnabas lurched forward to catch me. His arms slid around me and my head lolled. At his touch, everything rushed back: sounds, smells, and even my pulse. My lids fluttered. Inches from me, Barnabas's lips pressed tight. He was so close, and I thought I could smell sunflowers. â€Å"Why don't you shut up?† he said to Lucy as he eased me to the floor. â€Å"Show a little compassion? That's your job, you know.† The cold from the tile soaked into me, seeming to clear the gray about my sight. How could I be dead? Did the dead pass out? â€Å"I'm not dead,† I said unsteadily, and Barnabas helped me sit up and put my back to a table leg. â€Å"Yes, you are.† He crouched beside me, his brown eyes wide and concerned. Sincere. â€Å"I'm really sorry. I thought he was going to flip Josh. They usually don't leave evidence like a car behind like that. You must really be a broken feather in their wing.† My thoughts flashed to the crash, and I put a hand to my stomach. Josh had been there. I remember that. â€Å"He thinks I'm dead. Josh, I mean.† From across the room came Lucy's caustic â€Å"You are dead.† I sent my gaze to the gurney, and Barnabas shifted to block my view. â€Å"Who are you?† I asked as the dizziness slipped away. Barnabas stood. â€Å"We, ah, are Reconnaissance Error Acquisitions Personnel. Evaluation and Recovery.† I thought about that. Reconnaissance Error Acquisitions†¦ R.E.A.P.E.R.? Holy crap! A surge of adrenaline shot through me. I scrambled up, eyes fixed on me on the gurney. I was here. I was alive! That might be me, but I was standing here, too. â€Å"You're grim reapers!† I exclaimed, feeling my way around the table and putting it between us. My toes started to go numb, and I stopped, my gaze darting to the amulet around Barnabas's neck. â€Å"Oh my God, I'm dead,† I whispered. â€Å"I can't be dead. I'm not ready to be dead. I'm not done yet! I'm only seventeen!† â€Å"We're not grim reapers.† Lucy had her arms crossed defensively as if it were a sore spot. â€Å"We're white reapers. Black reapers kill people before their coin should be flipped, white reapers try to save them, and grim reapers are treacherous betrayers who brag too much and won't survive to see the sun turn back to dust.† Barnabas looked embarrassed as he shuffled his feet. â€Å"Grim reapers are white reapers who were tricked into working for†¦ the other side. They don't do much culling since black reapers don't let them, but if there is a sudden, massive death toll, you know they'll show to pull a few souls early, in as dramatic a way as possible. They're hacks. No class at all.† This last was said with a bitter voice, and I wondered at the rivalry, backing up until I started going spongy again. Eyeing their amulets, I edged forward until the feeling went away. â€Å"You kill people. That's what Seth said. He said something about culling my soul! You do kill people!† Barnabas ran a hand across the back of his neck. â€Å"Ah, we don't. Most of the time.† He glanced at Lucy. â€Å"Seth is a black reaper, a dark reaper. We only show up when they target someone out of time, or there's been a mistake.† â€Å"Mistake?† My head swung up in hope. Did that mean they could put me back? Lucy came forward. â€Å"You weren't supposed to die, see. A dark reaper took you out before your coin should have been flipped. It's our job to stop them, but we can't sometimes. We're here to make a formal apology and get you where you're going.† Frowning, she looked at Barnabas. â€Å"And as soon as he admits it was his fault, I can get out of here.† I stiffened, refusing to look at me on the gurney. â€Å"I'm not going anywhere. If you made a mistake, fine. Just put me back! I'm right there.† I took a step forward, scared out of my mind. â€Å"You can, right?† Barnabas winced. â€Å"It's kinda too late. Everyone knows you're dead.† â€Å"I don't care!† I shouted. Then my face went cold in a sudden thought. Dad. He thought I was†¦ â€Å"Dad†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I whispered, panicking. Taking a breath, I turned to the swinging doors and broke into a run. â€Å"Wait! Madison!† Barnabas shouted, but I hit the doors hard, stumbling through them even though they only swung three inches. But I was in the next room. I had sort of passed through them. As if I weren't even there. There was a fat guy at a desk, and he looked up at the tiny squeak the doors made shifting. His little piggy eyes widened, and he took a huge breath. Mouth open, he pointed. â€Å"There's been a mistake,† I blurted, heading to the open archway and the dimly lit hall. â€Å"I'm not dead.† But I was feeling really weird again. Misty and thin. Stretched. Nothing sounded right, either, and the gray was edging my sight to make a tunnel-like vision. Behind me, Barnabas pushed through the doors. Immediately the world shifted to normal. It was the amulet he wore that kept me solid. I had to get me one of those. â€Å"Yes, she is,† he said, never slowing down until he grabbed my wrist. â€Å"You're hallucinating. She's not really here. Neither am I.† â€Å"Where did you come from?† the guy managed, staring. â€Å"How did you get in there?† Lucy shoved in, the swinging door banging against the wall to make me and Desk Guy jump. â€Å"Madison, quit being a stiff. You gotta go.† This was too much for the technician, and he reached for the phone. I twisted my wrist, but Barnabas wouldn't release me. â€Å"I have to talk to my dad!† I exclaimed, and he yanked me off balance. â€Å"We're leaving,† he said, a new threat in his eyes. â€Å"Right now.† Frantic, I stomped on his foot. Barnabas howled, his gangly form bending double as he let go. Lucy laughed at him, and I darted for the hallway. Try to stop me, I thought, then ran right into something big, warm, and smelling of silk. I backed up, becoming scared when I saw it was Seth. He had killed me with a sword that left no mark when driving me off a cliff failed to do it. He was a dark reaper. He was my death. â€Å"Why are there two of you?† he asked as he looked at Barnabas and Lucy. The cadence of his voice was familiar, but the sound of it hit my ears wrong. And the scent of sea now smelled like rot. â€Å"That's right,† he added, pulling his gaze back to me, and I shuddered. â€Å"You died on the anniversary of your birth. Two reapers. My, my, my. Such the drama queen, Madison. I'm glad you're up. It's time to go.† Hunched and afraid, I retreated. â€Å"Don't touch me.† â€Å"Madison!† Barnabas shouted. â€Å"Run!† But there was only the morgue to run to. Lucy got in front of me, hands spread wide as if she could stop Seth with her will alone. â€Å"What are you doing here?† she said, voice shaking. â€Å"She's already dead. You can't flip her twice.† Seth scuffed his shoes confidently. â€Å"As you said, I flipped her coin. She's mine if I want her.† Barnabas paled. â€Å"You never come back for them. You're†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His eyes darted to the stone about Seth's neck. â€Å"You're not a black reaper, are you?† Seth grinned as if it was a big joke. â€Å"No. I'm not. I'm a little bit more. More than you can handle. Leave, Barnabas. Just walk away. It won't hurt if you do.† I stared at Barnabas, helpless. His brown eyes met mine, saw my fear. I watched him visibly gather his courage. â€Å"Barnabas!† Lucy shouted, terrified. â€Å"Don't!† But Barnabas launched himself at the dark figure in black silk. In a motion so casual it was frightening, Seth turned to smack him with the back of his hand. Arms and legs flailing, Barnabas flew backward, hitting the wall and slumping to the floor, out cold. â€Å"Run!† Lucy shouted, pushing me toward the morgue. â€Å"Stay in the sun. Don't let the black wings touch you. We'll get help. Someone will find you. Get out of here!† â€Å"How?† I exclaimed. â€Å"He's in front of the only door.† Seth moved again, this time backhanding Lucy. She crumpled where she stood, leaving only me since the technician had either passed out or was hiding under the desk. Jaw trembling, I stood to my full height-such as it was-and tugged my dress straight. Deeper in it yet, apparently. â€Å"She meant,† Seth said, his voice both familiar and strange, â€Å"to run through the walls. You had a better chance against the black wings in the sun than with me under the ground.† â€Å"But I can't†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I started, then looked at the swinging doors. I went through them, having shifted them open only a few inches. What the heck was I? A ghost? Seth smiled, chilling me. â€Å"Nice to see you, Madison, now that I can really†¦ see you.† He took off his mask and let it drop. His face was beautiful, like chiseled stone made soft. I licked my lips and went cold to the bone when I remembered him kissing me. Holding one arm to myself, I backed away, trying to get out of Barnabas's and Lucy's influence so I could run through the walls. Hey, if Mr. Creepy thought I could do it, then maybe I could. Seth followed, step for step. â€Å"We leave together. No one will believe I culled you unless I throw you at their feet.† Heels clicking, I kept moving. My gaze darted to Barnabas and Lucy, both still sprawled on the tile. â€Å"I'd rather stay, thanks.† My heart pounded, and my back hit the wall. A little yelp slipped from me. I was far enough away from them that I should be misty, but I wasn't. I stared at Seth, then at that black stone about his neck. It was the same. Damn it! â€Å"You don't have a choice,† he said. â€Å"I'm the one that killed you. You're mine.† He reached out, grabbing my wrist. Adrenaline surged, and I twisted. â€Å"The hell I am,† I said, then kicked him in the shins. He clearly felt it, grunting as he bent in pain, but didn't let go. He had put his face in my reach, though, and grabbing his hair, I slammed his nose against my rising knee. I felt cartilage snap, and my stomach turned. Cursing in a language that hurt my head, he let go and fell back. I had to get out of here. I had to be solid or I'd never make it. Heart pounding, I grabbed the stone about his neck, pulling the necklace over his ears and off him. It tingled in my hand like fire, and I clenched my fingers around it, willing to suffer if it meant I would be whole. Seth hit the floor, gaping up at me with red blood covering his face. He looked as surprised as if he had run into a glass wall. â€Å"Madison†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Barnabas rasped from the floor. I turned, seeing him stare at me with pain-laced, unfocused eyes. â€Å"Run,† he gasped. Seth's amulet in my hand, I turned to the open hallway†¦ and I ran. Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Two EIGHT HOURS EARLIER†¦ â€Å"Foxy girls know that silence may be golden-but only for four seconds. Anything longer and you re heading for Awkward Avenue,† Miranda read, then frowned at the book. â€Å"If you feel the countdown creeping, make him an offer! A simple ‘Would you like some nuts? said with a smile can break the silence stagnation in a snap. Remember, foxy is as foxy does.† Miranda was starting to deeply distrust How to Get-And Kiss! – Your Guy. Leaning against the side of the black Town Car parked in the loading zone at the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport that June evening, she thought of how totally thrilled she'd been when she'd found it at the bookstore. It looked like an and-they-all-lived-happily-ever-after dream come true in book form-who wouldn't want to learn â€Å"The Five Facial Expressions That Will Change Your Life† or â€Å"The Secrets of the Tongue Tantra Only Da Pros Know†? – but having done all the exercises, she wasn't convinced of the transformative powers of the Winsome Smile or spending half an hour a day sucking on a grape. It wasn't the first time a self-help book had let her down-Procrastinate No More and Make Friends with YOU had both been total disasters-but it was depressing because she'd had such high hopes this time. And because, as her best friend, Kenzi, recently pointed out, any senior in high school who acted like Miranda did around her crush really, really needed help. She tried another passage. â€Å"Rephrase one of his questions back to him, adding that hint of suggestion with a raised eyebrow. Or pick up the conversation with a pickup line! You: Are we in the china section? Him: No, why? You: Because you are fine. If china isn't your thing, this one never fails to launch-You: Are you wearing space pants? Him: No, why? You: Because your butt is-â€Å" â€Å"Hello, Miss Kiss.† Miranda looked up and found herself staring up at the cleft chin and tanned face of Deputy Sergeant Caleb Reynolds. She must have been really distracted to not even have heard his heartbeat when he approached. It was distinctive, with a little echo at the end, kind of like a one-two-three cha-cha beat (she'd learned about the cha-cha beat from You Can Dance! another massively unfortunate self-help experience). He'd probably have trouble with that when he got old, but at twenty-two it didn't seem to be stopping him from going to the gym, at least from the looks of his pecs, biceps, shoulders, forearms, wrists- Stop staring. Since she had an attack of Crazy Mouth whenever she tried to talk to a cute guy-let alone Santa Barbara's youngest sheriff's deputy, who was only four years older than she and who surfed every morning before work and who was cool enough to get away with wearing sunglasses even though it was almost 8:00 p.m.-she said, â€Å"Hi, deputy. Come here often?† Causing him to frown. â€Å"No.† â€Å"No, you wouldn't, why would you? Me either. Well, not that often. Maybe once a week. Not often enough to know where the bathrooms are. Ha-ha!† Thinking, not for the first time, that life should come with a trapdoor. Just a little exit hatch you could disappear through when you'd utterly and completely mortified yourself. Or when you had spontaneous zit eruptions. â€Å"Good book?† he asked, taking it from her and reading the subtitle, â€Å"A Guide for Good Girls Who (Sometimes) Want to Be Bad† out loud. But life did not come with a trapdoor. â€Å"It's for a school project. Homework. On, um, mating rituals.† â€Å"Thought crime was more your thing.† He hit her with one of his half smiles, too cool to pull out a big grin. â€Å"You planning on foiling any more convenience store heists any time soon?† That had been a mistake. Not stopping the guys who'd held up Ron's 24-Hour Open Market #3, but sticking around long enough to let the police see her. For some reason they'd found it hard to believe that she'd just been leaning against the lamppost when it fell across the front of the robbers' car as it sped through the intersection. It was sad how suspicious people were, especially people in law enforcement. And school administration. But she'd learned a lot since then. â€Å"I'm trying to keep it to one heist a month,† she said, hoping for a light, ha-ha-I'm-just-kidding-foxy-is-as-foxy-does tone. â€Å"Today it's just my regular job, VIP airport pickup.† Miranda heard his cha-cha heartbeat speed up slightly. Maybe he thought VIPs were cool. â€Å"That boarding school you go to, Chatsworth Academy? They let you off campus any time you want or only certain days?† â€Å"Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, if you're a senior. We don't have classes then,† she said and heard his heartbeat pick up more. â€Å"Wednesday and Saturday afternoons free. What do you do for fun?† Was he asking her out? No. Way. NOWAYNOWAYNOWAY! Flirt! she ordered herself. Winsome Smile! Say something! Anything! Be foxy! Now! â€Å"What do you do for fun?† she repeated his question back to him, raising one eyebrow for that hint of suggestion. He seemed taken aback for a second, then said very formally, â€Å"I work, Miss Kiss.† Please give a warm welcome to Miranda Kiss, our new Miss Idiot Girl of the year, she thought. Said: â€Å"Of course. Me too. I mean, I'm either driving clients or at team practice. I'm one of Tony Bosun's Bee Girls? The Roller Derby team? That's why I do this,† meaning to point to the Town Car but bashing it with her hand instead. â€Å"You have to be a driver for Tony's company, 5Bs Luxury Transport, to be on the team. We usually only have games on the weekends, but we practice on Wednesdays, sometimes on other days†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Crazy Mouth trailed off. â€Å"I've seen the Bees play. That's a professional team, isn't it? They let a high school student play?† Miranda swallowed. â€Å"Oh, sure. Of course.† He looked at her over the top of his sunglasses. â€Å"Okay, I had to lie to get on the team. Tony thinks I'm twenty. You won't tell him, will you?† â€Å"He believed you were twenty?† â€Å"He needed a new jammer.† Deputy Reynolds chuckled. â€Å"So you're the jammer? You're good. I can see why he might have made an exception.† Eyeing her some more. â€Å"I never would have recognized you.† â€Å"Well, you know, we wear those wigs and the gold masks over our eyes so we all look the same.† It was one of the things she liked about Roller Derby, the anonymity, the fact that no one knew who you were, what your skills were. It made her feel invulnerable, safe. No one could single you out for†¦ anything. Deputy Reynolds took his sunglasses all the way off now to look at her. â€Å"So you put on one of those red, white, and blue satin outfits? The ones with the short skirts and that cute cape? I'd like to see that sometime.† He smiled at her, right into her eyes, and her knees went weak and her mind started playing out a scenario involving him without his shirt but with a pitcher of maple syrup and a big- â€Å"Well, there's my lady,† he said. â€Å"Catch you.† And then walked away. – stack of pancakes. Miranda watched him go up to a woman in her early twenties-thick blond hair, thin but muscular-put his arm around her, and kiss her neck. The kind of woman whose bras had tags that said, SIZE 36c, not MADE BY SANRIO in them. Heard him saying excitedly, â€Å"Wait until we get to the house. I've got some amazing new toys, something special just for you,† his voice husky, heart racing. As he passed Miranda, he lifted his chin in her direction and said, â€Å"You stay out of trouble.† â€Å"Yeah, you too,† Crazy Mouth told him. Miranda wanted to bang her head against the top of the car at how idiotic she was. She tried to give a Lite Laff (expression number four from the book) but ended up making herself choke instead. When they were across the parking lot, she heard the woman asking who she was and heard Deputy Reynolds say, â€Å"The local Town Car driver.† â€Å"She's the driver?† the woman said. â€Å"Looks like one of those girls from Hawaiian Airlines you used to date, but younger. And cuter. You know how your judgment gets around cute young girls. You're sure I don't need to be concerned?† Miranda heard him laugh, the genuine amusement in his voice as he said, â€Å"Her? Baby, she's just a high school student who has a crush on me. Trust me, you've got nothing to worry about.† And thought: Trap. Door. Now. Please. Sometimes having superhearing supersucked. Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Two And he wants me to know that he's coming. He's playing with me now†¦ just like his father played with Mom, before he†¦ well, did what he did to her. Then I hear a strange sound-a sort of whoosh-followed by another â€Å"Dammit!† What is happening? â€Å"Sebastian.† Lila's voice sounds bemused. â€Å"Someone is shooting ketchup at you!† What? Did she just say†¦ ketchup?. And then, as I carefully turn to try to get a look past the pillar to see what Lila is talking about, I see him. Not Sebastian. His shooter. And I can hardly believe my eyes. What's he doing here? Adam It's all Ted's fault. He's the one who said we should follow them on their date. I was like, â€Å"Why?† † ‘Cause the dude's trouble, man,† Ted said. Except there's no way Ted could have known that. Drake had basically turned up from out of nowhere outside Lila's Park Avenue apartment building just the night before. Ted had never even met him. How could he know anything about the guy? Anything at all? But when I mentioned this, Ted said, â€Å"Dude, have you looked at him?† I have to admit, the T Man has a point. I mean, the guy looks like he walked straight out of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog or something. You can't trust a guy who's that, well, perfect. Still, I'm not down with following other guys around. It's not cool. Even if, like Ted said, it was just to make sure Lila didn't get into trouble. I know Lila is Ted's lady-ex-lady now, thanks to Drake. And okay, she's never been the shiniest fork in the drawer. But following her on this date with the dude she's hooked up with? That just seemed like a bigger waste of time than-well, that two thousand-word, double-spaced essay I've got due in Mrs. Gregory's U.S. History class on Monday. Then Ted had to go and suggest I bring the Beretta 9mm. The thing is, even though it's just a water pistol, toy guns that look as real as that are illegal in Manhattan. So I haven't really had an opportunity to use mine much. Which Ted knows. And is probably why he kept going on about how freaking hilarious it would be if we soaked the guy. Because he knew I wouldn't be able to resist. The ketchup was my idea. And, yeah, it is pretty juvenile. But what the hell else am I going to do on a Friday night? It beats a U.S. History paper. Anyway, I told the T Man I guessed I'd be down with his plan. So long as I was the one who got to do the shooting. Which was fine with Ted. â€Å"I just gotta know, man,† he'd said, shaking his head. â€Å"Know what?† â€Å"What this Sebastian dude's got,† he said, â€Å"that I don't.† I could've told him, of course. I mean, it's pretty obvious to anyone who freaking looks at Drake what he's got that Ted doesn't. Ted's a decent-looking guy and all, but Abercrombie material he is not. Still, I didn't say anything. Because the T Man was really hurtin' over this one. And I could sort of understand why. Lila's just one of those girls, you know? All big brown eyes and big, well, other parts, too. But I won't go there on account of my sister, Veronica, who says I need to stop thinking of women as sex objects and start thinking of them as future partners in the inevitable struggle to survive in postapocalyptic America (which Veronica's writing her senior thesis on because she feels the apocalypse is going to occur sometime in the next decade, due to the country's current state of religious fanaticism and environmental recklessness, both of which were present at the fall of Rome and various other societies that no longer exist). So that's how me and the T Man ended up at Swig-fortunately, Ted's uncle Vinnie is their liquor distributor, which is how we got in, and without having to go through the metal detector like everybody else-shooting ketchup at Sebastian Drake with my Beretta 9mm water pistol. I know I was supposed to be home doing that paper for Mrs. Gregory, but a guy's got to have some fun, right? And it was fun to see those red stains spurting all over the guy's chest. The T Man was actually laughing for the first time since Lila sent him that text message during lunch, telling him that he was on his own for the prom, because she was going with Drake. Everything was going great†¦ until I saw Drake staring at that pillar over to one side of the dance floor. Which didn't make any sense. You'd have thought he'd have been looking over at us, in our VIP booth (thanks, Uncle Vinnie), considering that's the direction the ketchup assault was coming from. That's when I noticed there was somebody hiding behind it. The pillar, I mean. Not just any somebody, either, but Mary, that new girl from my U.S. History class, the one who never talks to anybody but Lila. And she was holding a crossbow. A crossbow. How the hell did she get a crossbow through the metal detector? No way does she know Ted's uncle Vinnie. Not that it matters. All that matters is that Drake's staring at the pillar Mary's crouched behind like he can see straight through it. There's something about the way he's looking over at her that makes me†¦ well, all I know is that is not where I want that guy looking. â€Å"Moron,† I mutter. Mostly about Drake. But also about myself, a little. And then I aim and shoot once more. â€Å"Oh, snap,† Ted yells happily. â€Å"Did you see that? Right in the ass!† That gets Drake's attention, all right. He turns†¦ †¦ and suddenly, I get what they mean about blazing eyes. You know, in Stephen King books, or whatever? I never thought I'd actually see a pair. But that's exactly what Drake's got, as he stares at us. Eyes that are most definitely blazing. Come on, I find myself thinking in Drake's direction. That's right. Come on over here, Drake. You wanna fight? I've got a lot more than just ketchup, dude. Which isn't exactly true. But it doesn't end up mattering, because Drake doesn't come over anyway. Instead, he disappears. I don't mean that he turns around and leaves the club. I mean that one minute he's standing there, and the next he's†¦ well, he's just gone. For a second the fog from the dry ice seems to get thicker-and when it clears, Lila is dancing by herself. â€Å"Here,† I say, thrusting the Beretta into Ted's hand. â€Å"What the-† Ted scans the dance floor. â€Å"Where'd he go?† But I've already taken off. â€Å"Grab Lila,† I yell back at Ted. â€Å"And meet me out front.† Ted utters some pretty choice expletives after that, but no one even notices. The music's too loud, and everyone's having too good a time. I mean, if they didn't notice us shooting at some dude with a ketchup-filled water gun-or a few seconds later, that dude literally vanishing into thin air-they're hardly likely to notice Ted shouting the F word. I reach the pillar and look down. She's there, panting as if she's just run a marathon or something. She's got the crossbow clutched to her chest like a kid's security blanket. Her face is as white as notebook paper. â€Å"Hey,† I say to her, gently. I don't want to startle her. But I do anyway. She practically jumps out of her skin at the sound of my voice and turns wide, frightened eyes up at me. â€Å"Hey, take it easy,† I say. â€Å"He's gone. Okay?† â€Å"He's gone?† Her eyes-green as the Great Lawn in Central Park in May-stare up at me. And there's no missing the terror in them. â€Å"How-what?† â€Å"He just vanished,† I say with a shrug. â€Å"I saw him looking at you. So I shot him.† â€Å"You what?† Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Two Gee, thanks, Madame Z, I thought. Could we dig a little deeper here? Give me something to work with? â€Å"But is he-I mean, the person-going to act on his passion?† I was brazen, despite my knotted stomach. â€Å"To act or not to act†¦ that is the question?† Madame Z said. â€Å"Yes, that is the question.† â€Å"Ahhh. That is always the question. And what one must always ask oneself-† She broke off. Her eyes flew to Will, and she paled. â€Å"What?† I demanded. â€Å"Nothing,† she said. â€Å"Something,† I said. Her message-from-the-spirits performance wasn't fooling me. She wanted us to think she'd been suddenly possessed? That she'd had a stark and powerful vision? Fine! Just get to the bloody answer! Madame Z made a show of pulling herself together, complete with a long, shaky draw on her cigarette. Looking dead at me, she said, â€Å"If a tree falls in a forest, and no one's there to hear it, does it still make a sound?† â€Å"Huh?† I said. â€Å"That's all I've got. Take it or leave it.† She seemed agitated, so I took it. Although I made cuckoo eyes at Yun Sun when Madame Z wasn't watching. Will claimed not to have a specific question, but Madame Z was oddly insistent on relaying a message to him anyhow. She waved her hands over his aura and warned him sternly of heights, which was curiously appropriate as Will was an avid rock climber. What was more curious was Will's reaction. First his eyebrows shot up, and then a different emotion took over, like some secret anticipatory pleasure. He glanced at me and blushed. â€Å"What's going on?† I asked. â€Å"You have your sneaky face on.† â€Å"Exsqueeze me?† he said. â€Å"What are you not telling us, Will Goodman?† â€Å"Nothing, I swear!† â€Å"Don't be stupid, boy!† Madame Z harped. â€Å"Listen to what I'm saying.† â€Å"Oh, you don't have to worry about him,† I said. â€Å"He's a total Mr. Safety.† I turned back to Will. â€Å"For real. Do you have a fabulous new climbing spot? A brand-new shiny carabiner?† â€Å"It's Yun Sun's turn,† Will said. â€Å"Yun Sun, go.† â€Å"Can you read palms?† Yun Sun asked Madame Z. Madame Z exhaled, and she was barely engaged as she traced her finger over the plump pad below Yun Sun's thumb. â€Å"You will be as beautiful as you allow yourself to be,† she told her. That was it. Those were her pearls of wisdom. Yun Sun seemed as underwhelmed as I was, and I felt like protesting on all our behalves. I mean, seriously! A tree in the forest? Be careful of heights? You will be as beautiful as you allow yourself to be? Even with her somewhat convincing touches of atmospheric creepiness, the three of us were getting cheated. Me in particular. But before I could say anything, a cell phone on the desk rang. Madame Z picked it up and used a long orange nail to punch the talk button. â€Å"Madame Zanzibar, at your service,† she said. Her expression changed as she listened to whoever was on the other end. She grew brisk and annoyed. â€Å"No, Silas. It's called a†¦ yes, you can say it, a yeast infection. Yeast infection.† Yun Sun and I shared a glance of horror, although-I couldn't help it-I was also delighted. Not that Madame Z had a yeast infection. I mean, ick. But that she was discussing it with Silas, whoever he was, while all of us listened in. Now we were getting our money's worth. â€Å"Tell the pharmacist it's the second time this month,† Madame Z groused. â€Å"I need something stronger. What? For the itching, you idiot! Unless he wants to scratch it for me!† She twisted on her swivel chair, pumping one Juicy Coutured leg over the other. Will looked up at me, his brown eyes wide with alarm. â€Å"I will not be scratching it for her,† he stage-whispered. â€Å"I refuse!† I laughed, thinking it a good sign that he was showing off for me. The Madame Z experience hadn't gone as intended, but who knew? Maybe it would end up having the desired effect after all. Madame Z pointed at me with the lit end of her cigarette, and I ducked my chin contritely, like Sorry, sorry. To distract myself, I focused on the strange and varied clutter on her shelves. A book called Magic of the Ordinary and another titled What to Do When the Dead Speak-But You Don't Want to Listen. I nudged Will with my knee and pointed. He mimed choking the poor deceased bastard, and I snortled. Above the books I saw: a bottle of rat poison, an old-fashioned monocle, a jar of what looked like fingernail clippings, a stained Starbucks cup, and a rabbit's foot, claws attached. And on the shelf above that was†¦ oh, lovely. â€Å"Is that a skull?† I asked Will. Will whistled. â€Å"Holy cannoli.† â€Å"Okey-doke,† Yun Sun said, averting her eyes. â€Å"If there really is a skull, I don't want to know about it. Can we leave now?† I took her head in my hands and pointed her in the right direction. â€Å"Look. It still has hair!† Madame Z snapped her cell phone shut. â€Å"Fools, every one of them,† she said. Her pallor was gone; apparently talking to Silas had shaken her out of her funk. â€Å"Ahh! I see you found Fernando!† â€Å"Is that whose skull that is?† I asked. â€Å"Fernando's?† â€Å"Oh God,† Yun Sun moaned. â€Å"Wormed his way to the surface after a gully washer, out in Chapel Hill Cemetery,† Madame Z told us. â€Å"His coffin, that is. Crappy wooden thing, must'a been from the early nineteen hundreds. No one left to care for him, so I took pity on him and brought him here.† â€Å"You opened the coffin?† I said. â€Å"Yep.† She seemed proud. I wondered if she'd worn her Juicy Couture during the grave robbing. â€Å"That's gross that it still has hair,† I said. â€Å"He still has hair,† Madame Z said. â€Å"Show some respect.† â€Å"I didn't know dead bodies had hair, that's all.† â€Å"Skin, no,† Madame Z said. â€Å"Skin starts to rot right away, and believe me, you don't want to smell it when it goes. But hair? Sometimes it keeps growing for weeks after the deceased has made his crossing.† â€Å"Wowzers.† I reached down and tousled Will's honey-colored curls. â€Å"Hear that, Will? Sometimes the hair keeps growing.† â€Å"Amazing,† he said. â€Å"What about that?† Yun Sun asked, pointing to a clear Tupperware container in which something reddish and organlike floated in clear liquid. â€Å"Please tell me it didn't come from Fernando, too. Please.† Madame Z waved her hand, like Don't be ridiculous. â€Å"That's my uterus. Had the doc give it to me after my hysterectomy.† â€Å"Your uterus?† Yun Sun looked ill. â€Å"I'm going to let 'em toss it in the incinerator?† Madame Z said. â€Å"Fat chance!† â€Å"And that?† I pointed to a clump of dried-up something on the highest shelf. This show-and-tell was proving far more enjoyable than our actual readings. Madame Z followed my gaze. She opened her mouth, then closed it. â€Å"That's nothing,† she said firmly, although I noticed she had a hard time tearing her eyes from it. â€Å"Now. Are we done here?† â€Å"Come on.† I made praying hands. â€Å"Tell us what it is.† â€Å"You don't want to know,† she said. â€Å"I do,† I said. â€Å"I don't,† Yun Sun said. â€Å"Yes, she does,† I said. â€Å"And so does Will. Right, Will?† â€Å"It can't be worse than the uterus,† he said. Madame Z pressed her lips together. â€Å"Please?† I begged. She muttered something under her breath about idiot teenagers and how she refused to take the blame, whatever came of it. Then she stood up, pawing the top shelf. Her bosom didn't jiggle, but stayed firm and rigid beneath her top. She retrieved the clump and placed it in front of us. â€Å"Oh,† I breathed. â€Å"A corsage.† Brittle rosebuds, their edges brown and papery. Sprigs of graying baby's breath, so desiccated that puffs of fiber dusted the table. A limp red ribbon holding it all together. â€Å"A peasant woman in France put a spell on it,† Madame Z said in a tone that was hard to decipher. It was as if she were compelled to speak the words, even though she didn't want to. Or, no. More like she did want to but was struggling to resist. â€Å"She wanted to show that true love is guided by fate, and that anyone who tries to interfere does so at her own peril.† She moved to return the corsage.

Reflection on my experience in the OB team Essay

Organizational behavior is concern with the study of the behavior of the people with in an organizational setting. It helps to understand predict and to control human behavior. In a working environment, we meet people with different ideas and characters. Therefore it is essential to understand how to cooperate with individual personalities to develop team working skills in different environments. Organizational behavior analyzes how people behave as individuals and as members of a group. With regard to the module Organizational Behavior, our module tutor divided our entire class into various groups of five and I found myself entitled with four other tremendously enthusiastic classmates of mine, namely Gayani, Jayan, Tharuka and Maheshi who I was very eager to work with. Our challenge was to imagine ourselves as external consultants and analyze the issues about a large planning consultancy named as Alpha Planning. The requirements were to relate the issues to specific organizational behavioral theories that we have discussed in class and as a group, we had to recommend solutions for the relevant issues as to how they could improve further in order to succeed. This reflective essay analyzes the individual basis theoretical areas covered by the module and integrates with my experience on team working with regard to the group course work. I have chosen to elaborate on the way Motivation interacts with Team Working. Team work is the key to a successful organization or a project. The notion of united we stand and divided we fall applies very well. Today there are many organizations employing hundreds of thousands of people all working together to build and keep the brand of companies. Having a team may be one issue and building cohesion within a team is another. It is not always easy to achieve unity but can be diligently sought through various levels of motivation. Motivation is stimulation or triggering of behavior and directing to achieve certain end goals. Many sociologists and psychologists have studied  motivation and developed certain theories to explain the concept of motivation. F. Herzberg was famous for his two factor theory while Abraham Maslow developed the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Different people are stimulated differently and will need a different trigger for action. In other words, there is no dearth of opportunities to learn on how to motivate a team. Individual differences and perceptions are common in team work as there will be people from all walks of life. Each of them comes from different backgrounds so they will have various characters, personalities, abilities, attitudes, perceptions and experiences. Therefore as a team, it is the responsibility of the team members to make sure that these personalities do not clash, but push other team members to forget about their differences and achieve their goal. The first and foremost question that appeared in my mind when I was asked to participate on a team to complete the course work was that, ‘why should I be a part of a team?’ Immediately the decision-making process began as follows. What is the purpose of the team? Is it a topic that interests me? Who will be on the team with me? What kind of authority will I have? What is the reward for participating? and What is the risk for not participating? These were the typical questions which related to my motivation to participate in the team. There are times when individuals are not given the opportunity to refuse participation on a team. For example, as in this scenario when it is a group course work for the partial fulfillment of a particular module, by default, I was a part of the team. The purpose of this team was the successfully completion of the module course work. The question, ‘who will be on the team with me’ didn’t create much of a concern as I had the opportunity to work with all of my team members a few times earlier. As soon as we were divided into group, we decided to appoint Maheshi as the Group Leader as we felt she was the best person to be in-charge of the team and decided to work under her guidance. We all realized that the reward for participating in the team is the successfully completion of the module course work and risk for not participating is the failure of the module course work. Therefore, I determined to contribute to the course work at my level best and assist my fellow team members in every way I can. Team motivation can rise or fall depending on a myriad of factors. For long-term motivation, there must be a purpose or mission that the team members find aligns with their personal wants and needs. Our purpose was to complete the course work successfully and all of us had one single motive in our mind with regard to the course work. That was to achieve an overall good grade for the Organizational Behavior module. A team member can be asked to participate on a temporary task force. If the mission is clear, he or she might be able to sustain motivation for the duration if he or she feels it is important. However, if it is a topic that is not in line with their needs, their motivation may to continue diminish. This didn’t create much of a concern as all of had the chance to clarify our doubts about our mission from the first group meeting. Throughout my life, I have heard many people say that their most rewarding team experiences resulted from some sort of challenge. When presented with a challenge, our defenses are alerted to move us to action or to run away from danger or address it directly. The challenge itself was the motivator. An additional criterion for a challenge is the level of difficulty. If a challenge is too difficult, perhaps perceived as impossible, then team members may give up before they start. However, the same result may occur if the members perceive the challenge as too easy. Little energy is required to accomplish something so easily obtained. Our course work was indeed a challenge, but it is safer to state that it was achievable as we were provided the theoretical knowledge throughout the whole semester during the module lectures. Yet it wasn’t a bed of roses as we had to do quite a lot of research to apply our theoretical knowledge on a practical working environment. We had to face some difficulties as not only we were informed to identify the organizational issues of the case study, but also to suggest recommendations and methods of implementations. Accordingly for our team, periodic stimulation in the form of a worthy challenge was another factor to maintain the team motivation. In general, people and teams are stimulated by being given responsibility. Having ownership of an identifiable block of work is a long-held principle of motivation in groups. However, responsibility can be tricky. It is important to understand that the responsibility comes along with authority to make the necessary changes. Teams that have both the responsibility and authority tend to maintain motivation over longer periods of time. Responsibility can be demotivating if the consequences of error or failure  are too great. The short-term performance may be good, but long-term motivation will suffer. It is difficult to sustain high performance when energy is being sapped by fear. We initialized the course work by reading the case study as a group. The discussion was informal and friendly and everyone had an idea to contribute and did not hold back thoughts as plenty of suggestions were being thrown. At the end of the discussion we came up with a list of possible issues and each of us were given two Organizational Behavior topics to research on, where we had to focus on finding theories, recommendations and implementations that we could relate to the issues. Therefore according to the task allocation which was conducted by our team leader, the responsibility was divided among the team fairly and each and every one of us was responsible for the total outcome of the course work. Another factor that motivates successful teams is camaraderie, meaning comradeship, fellowship, and loyalty. It’s a lot easier to perform as a team when the team members have a good relationship with each other. The outcome of this kind of relationship building is open and direct communication, frequent praising of each others’ contributions, and mutual support. Much of the time we like or dislike someone, it relates more towards how well we understand them. And since our formal training has not addressed this, most of us enter adulthood ill-equipped to deal with the myriad of personalities, temperaments, cultures, values, beliefs, ideologies, religions, and eccentric behaviors of those we meet. One way to break down these barriers is to expand our understanding on our own species. During the course work, the most important fact which I was able to realize was that the team members in our team as individuals had different talents and capabilities. Some of us were good in understanding the theoretical aspects when the others had a hard time understanding the theory and some of us had a wider knowledge in dealing with practical situations and were able to help others. Therefore we were able to use these various capabilities for different types of tasks. Each of us completed separate parts of the course work and this assisted us a great deal to finish the entire course work before the deadline. During the brainstorming session, I was able to help my team mates who were unable to grasp the organizational theories by explaining the case study thoroughly in much simpler terms. This act led  towards building camaraderie within the team. At the beginning, there were issues with regard to the fact that our team leader tended to take the entire burden and some of the team members weren’t aware of the work that has been done. However, after the submission of the Report Plan we were able to solve that issue by communicating directly with the Team Leader and expressing our ideas to her. Thereafter, there were no conflicts with regard to dissatisfaction in members’ work and there was no depression or tension even at the last minute. Therefore we all were motivated to work as a team and were able to finish the relevant tasks much easily. Personal and team growth can provide another basis for sustained team motivation. When people feel they are moving forward, learning new concepts, adding to their skill base, and stretching their minds, motivation tends to remain high. Personal growth adds value to the individual, enhancing self-esteem and self-worth. Accordingly, team members and team leaders should look for opportunities that help add knowledge and skills. Enrolling in the module, Organizational Behavior has enabled me to understand and analyze the way people interact within the organizations both now and in the future. As a second year student, I will be able to gain the exposure of a real working environment during my placement year. Therefore acquiring some of the career management and higher education skills through team working is essential for my career development. This was indeed a motivational factor for me to engage in this course work and provide my level best contribution to the team. As my team mates had the same motive, it was a motivational factor for the entire team. Being a part of this team made me realize that there are both the visible and invisible benefits of a highly motivated team. Highly motivated team members look forward in completing the tasks successfully, actively and consciously contribute to the team, get more done and have more ideas, focus their energy on the positives rather than the negatives and reinforce the team culture. Creating and sustaining motivation requires open communication, honesty and respect. Essentially, motivation is about bonding with the fellow team mates. If we make an effort to know them, listening to them and valuing them for their particular contributions and potential, they are more likely to work with us in meeting the challenges. In conclusion, I would like to state that in a team, whose members are  aligned with its purpose, feel a challenge in their task, have a strong sense of camaraderie, feel responsibility for the outcome, and experience growth as a team and in their personal lives, will tend to sustain motivation over the long haul. This is not to say that the team will not have difficulties at times, or the members’ needs won’t change over time. In these cases, sometimes changes will have to be made. But, as much as it is possible to sustain motivation indefinitely the factors which I mentioned above will tend to create the best possible environment for it. In fact I would like to state that those factors helped us as a team to be motivated in reaching our goal and as well as to develop our team working skills. The knowledge gained and skills that I have enhanced through successful interaction among team members will undoubtedly be useful in future. It has built up my confidence and ability to voice my concerns and opinions within a group as required. In addition this would enhance my leadership skills in terms of the ability to understand individual experiences and factors influencing motivation which could be effectively made use of in project management.

Scope Statement

This being said we ill find the best locally produced ingredients and buy in bulk in such a way that the ingredients will still be reasonably priced. The sausages and meats will be made in house by our own chefs. We will have our own homemade fresh mozzarella. We will start off as a small bakery that brings authentic Danish baked goods right to the doorstep of Kent, Washington. The SÃ'‘render Bakery will provide items like delicate pastries, cakes for every occasion, homemade bread, and smà ¶rgà ¥sbord sandwiches at a fraction of the cost of other bakeries.We also will create specialty cakes made to look like other teems not traditionally associated with cake like purse cakes shoe cakes etc. We want to develop a relationship with both our suppliers and our customers this way allowing us to sell high quality goods at a reasonable price. We will market our product in the surrounding community and we will have a website so that orders that need time can be placed on line and can be picked up in store.We will host different events like sandwich eating contest that will bring in a customer base. We will host an internet give away that influence customers into the bakery buy offering the first 50 people to place an order a ere gift. Project Deliverables Warm and welcoming environment Great food Dinning area will be built and designed with recycled products Healthy food choices Cakes, P Purchase of equipment Packaging will be environmentally friendly and food safe.Fast and affordable delivery Competitive prices Breakfast and lunch sandwiches Business reoccurring order discounts Project Objectives What are the cost, schedule, and quality objectives of this project? Project Sass motions What are the assumptions on which the project is based? Project Constraints What are the major limiting factors that affect the project? Exclusions What are the boundaries of the project? What is to be included and what is to be excluded from the project?

How do religion and culture intersect in the realm of ethics Essay

How do religion and culture intersect in the realm of ethics - Essay Example Religion is more stern and inflexible than culture in the realm of ethics. Religious teachings are established and not prone to change over the passage of time. Most religions are based on the philosophy that their teachings are everlasting and cater for the needs of all societies till the end of the world. The difference between religious beliefs and ethics based on religion is that the former describes the beliefs of an individual whereas the latter proposes a framework of ethics based on the religious rationale (Huntington). Culture, on the other hand, is a more flexible and modifiable factor with the passage of time under the influence of different internal and external factors affecting a nation. Since ethical policies are based on the interplay of religion and culture in a nation, practices that might be condemned by religion find their way into a society from time to time because of the flexibility carried by the culture. While a modernistic society considers many religious te achings and principles outdated and inapplicable, culture is modified to cater for the needs of the advanced society. The role of both religion and culture in the development is prominent in history (Hill). Religion and culture intersect in the realm of ethics in a complicated manner. â€Å"[T]here are three spaces that provide the arenas of performance†¦we identify first a space where power and politics are performed, a second space where ethics are performed, and a third space where aesthetics are performed creatively and in response to the first two† (Hecht and Biondo xvi). A common element between all three of these spaces is that each is a social space that provides room for performance. The pattern of intersection of religion and culture cannot be generalized for all nations as there are a host of factors that make this intersection different from one nation to another. â€Å"Virtually everybody who writes about the topic portrays religion as

Characters on the road Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Characters on the road - Assignment Example In my opinion, the director of the film brought about the disbandment and related it to success to show that in most instances, the crowd is bound to fail as compared to the minority. At the beginning of the search, Martin is hopeful the search will bear fruits, but as their progress, hope starts diminishing an analogy of human behavior in relation to the challenges they face. Edwards is portrayed as unsympathetic character, and this portrayed by the songs during his act. Martha has a featureless silhouette, which brings contrast between her interior behavior and what people her to be, and color is used to highlight this attribute. Interior shots are used to give the audience the preferred Ethan’s appearance considering human have varying faces. At the beginning, Ethan character of being a racist is shown; however, with time, the character of being seductive and even interacting with children is highlighted. These alterations in Ethan, show people have the ability to change their characters and behaviors. The director of the film, searches highlights a society, whose movements are conservative, and there are traces of disharmony. The film captures different angles such as geographical and temporally angles. Ethan and Martin show how some individuals are unable to stick at one locate, considering that life without progress is unsatisfying. Later in the film, Ethan is shown as a knowledgeable and with an attractive

Changing the Surname of Children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Changing the Surname of Children - Essay Example Families believed that changing a child's surname is important to obtain proper financial support for the child from the father and as a confirmation to the child that he or she is genuinely and securely part of a family therefore can demand vested rights from his or her parents. Relevantly important is that in knowing the father of the child, it can help provide medical information which can help answer questions about the health of the child and his or her characteristics as he or she grows up. Proper medical information about a child is important so that she will be given the proper medical treatment in a hospital in cases she got sick or suffered a disease, or a clear explanation about the traits he or she possesses. An example of a disease or trait where medical information about the child is important is the sickle cell disease and the sickle cell trait. Under the British laws, changing the surname of a child should be in consonance with the provisions of the Children Act 1989 and the Family Law Reform Act 1987. These laws, particularly the Children Act, provide that in order to win this case, the Court should be persuaded that the change of surname is in the "best interest of the child", that is, for the welfare of the subject. Any person who may seek the change of a child's surname should seek a leave of Court is so doing. The persons who can seek the change of a child's surname are those having parental responsibility including the biological father. "Parental responsibility" shall mean all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child have in relation to the child and his property (Children Act 1989, sec. 3, par. 1). In this case, since Mr. Smith was granted parental responsibility over his children, he has the right to ask the Court to change the surname of his children to his surna me. When confronted with a petition to change a child's surname, the Court is reminded that any delay in determining the questions is likely to prejudice the welfare of the child (Children Act 1989, sec. 1, par.2). In determining whether to grant the said petition, the Court should consider the following: a) the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned (considered in the light of his age and understanding); b) his physical, emotional, and educational needs; c) the likely effect on him of any change in his circumstances; d) his age, sex, background, and any characteristics of which the court considers relevant; e) any harm which he has suffered or is at risk of suffering; f) how capable each of his parents and any other person in relation to whom the court considers the question to be relevant is of meeting his needs; g) the range of powers available to the court under this Act in the proceedings in question. The Court should also consider the welfare report or contact reports of the parent involved. In the case of Mr. Smith's, considering the requirements set by law and of the evidences at hand of the petitioner, the petition of Mr. Smith to change the surname of his children should be granted by the court for the following reasons: 1) The result of the paternity test revealed that Mr. Smith is the father of the children. 2) Mr. Smith is in the better position to take care of the children. He can best provide for the needs of the children. Contact

Impact of World War II on the United States Essay

Impact of World War II on the United States - Essay Example Prior to the war, the New Deal was not able to overcome the stagnant state of the US economy despite the concerted efforts of the Roosevelt government. The unemployment rate remained steadily above 14 percent despite having considerably fallen since the darkest years of the depression. A consideration of a more penetrative government fiscal intervention gave way to speculations about real economic recovery in which it was posited that the recovery would become elusive if given to the care of the private sector (Vatter 1985, p. 7). Such recovery required much more Keynesian doses for the New Deal to finally affect full employment (Vatter 1985, p.11). Political impacts include several pursuits that aimed to repair a damaged economy during the New Deal era and the war itself. A political, psychological, and economic shift was a product of the New Deal and World War II in the United States. These concerns troubled the American government during the war years and immediately afterward: big government, the economy, and communism at home and abroad. It was inferred that the bourgeoning bureaucracy that ensued in the United States during the WWII was one characterized by the mounting of commissions, agencies, and administrations, aiming to serve the legal and political necessities of the period. Examples of these are the Foreign Economic Administration, Maritime Commissions and the War Shipping Administration, Selective Service System, US Employment Service, War Manpower Commission, War Labor Board, and War Food Administration (Vatter 1985, p. 87). Each of these had their on designated purposes in which central is the organizing and carrying out of American war-time economic production and output. All of these bureaucratic organizations formed a government front aiming to push through all forms of opposition in the interest of allied victory. The War Production Board (WPB) was established in order to distribute strategic materials as well as suspend the production of consumer products. The WMC attempted to balance the appropriat e distribution of men and women in military, industry, and agriculture during the war (Maddox 1992, p. 193). There was no questioning that the United States placed itself in a hegemonic position as a world power after the war, which may be referred to as one of its political impacts. Likewise, America's preoccupation with the promotion of democracy is essentially an idealist stance that emerged from the moralism and exceptionalism of the America political tradition (Ikenberry 2000, p. 103). This tradition is manifested through actual foreign policy, often carried out at the expense of more sober American international interests (Ikenberry 2000, p. 103). It is for the pursuit of making foreign policy commitments more acceptable to American public that the American democratic stance becomes a minor distraction. The American promotion of democracy after World War II reflects a pragmatic and evolving understanding of creating a stable political order in the international arena, which was later called "an American liberal grand strategy"

Immigration Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Immigration - Assignment Example Firstly, it is untrue that Asian-Americans are new immigrants in United States. Just like the whites and black Americans, this community moved to U.S many years ago following the discovery of this new continent. The economic and political chances of America continent made the Asian community into this new land. In fact, by 1790 population counting the Asian-American community was part of the races known as one of the main races that had occupied the U.S soil since its beginning (Hoffel & shahid 2010p.7). It was this first racial census that brought into the light the racial equation in the socioeconomic and political domains. It is, therefore, misleading to point out that this community entered U.S recently1. Since the start of the racial census in 1790, there has been more evidence that point out that Asian-American, community is part of the primary citizens with similar population distribution with other communities (Hoefel & Shahid p. 18). The point that this community is rich and new immigrants is not true because the poverty index report of 2010 census portrayed Asian-American population as a community with rich and poor members. Just like Indians, Blacks, whites and any other community in the U.S they struggle in a competitive economic reality in commerce, energy and manufacturing enterprises. There is no community having rich members. The U.S socio-economic reality provides for equal opportunity for all. In addition, there are no known special incentives or subsidies given to this community that confers an advantage to them over the other members of the United States. The argument that this community has a similar origin is both untrue and misleading. While the Asian-American population may appear to share a lot in terms of social and religious beliefs, it is a fact that they origin is different. Firstly, it is important to understand what Asian population comprises of, first in 1860;

Pharmacology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Pharmacology - Essay Example reaches the targeted site, while the remaining fraction of the drug interacts with other sites, with consequences of inefficient drug delivery and undesirable side effects. Insufficient aqueous solubility and protein binding characteristics of that inhibit crossing blood brain barriers are two examples of the manner in which the relevance of some drugs in clinical therapeutics gets limited. It is against this background that pro-drugs and their utility in overcoming the limitations of bioavailability and pharmacokinetics profiles has become a significant subject of study in pharmacology (Shek, 1994). A look at the history of pro-drugs shows that understanding of pro-drugs and their pharmaco-kinetics in the human body came more as a result of after the introduction of the drugs for therapeutic purposes. The introduction of phenacetin as a therapeutic agent dates back to 1887, but it took till 1949 for the realization that paracetamol was the active metabolite of phenacetin, which resulted in the gradual erosion of phenacetin as a therapeutic agent to be replaced by paracetamol, demonstrating that many of the pro-drugs result from metabolism in the human body. (Pleuvry, 2006). This understanding of the possibility of enzymatic action to create active therapeutic agents has now become the basis of overcoming the problems of potential drug candidates demonstrating poor therapeutic effects, because of poor bioavailability and pharmacokinetic profiles. Kratz et al, 2008, define pro-drugs as â€Å"derivatives of a drug that are metabolized or activated in the body to release or generate the active drug – if possible at the site of action†. Thus pro-drugs are chemically modified versions of the pharmaceutical agent that needs to undergo a transformation in vivo for the release of the active drug. This feature of pro-drugs is employed to enhance the bioavailability and pharmacokinetic properties of pharmacologically potent compounds. In a majority of the cases

The Essential Tools and Techniques Used By Organizations to Manage the Essay

The Essential Tools and Techniques Used By Organizations to Manage the Human Resources - Essay Example Rights and privileges of workers are put in place taking into account such limitations only. Maintaining good employee relations depends on how the rights and privileges of workers are treated by the organization. Finding good people often proves to be difficult for the organization, it is, therefore, essential to find ways to retain them as well. Good industrial relations or employee relations form part of such efforts. This study is an effort to analyze the essential tools and techniques used by organizations to manage the human resources in an organization and how the HRM has adapted itself to the changing economic scenario. In particular, the objectives of this study are to have an assessment of; To get the optimum from a satisfied and participative individual is considered to be the ultimate objective of HRM policies. The global economy has made it almost mandatory for international corporations that an effective strategy is adopted for managing the human resources and the diversity. It is through their behaviour that employees give expression to their commitment to work, level of motivation and their attitudes. Behaviour includes all actions overt or covert, and verbal or non-verbal. This affects the overall efficiency of the person and the performance of the organization. Some of the organizations encourage Unions and Associations to represent the employees’ issues and such organizations have a mechanism which encourages cordial relations between such unions and management as it helps in smooth functioning of the organization. But there are some other organizations which prefer to engage with individual employees for grievance redressal. Such a mechanism generally f unctions well in smaller organizations having lesser number of employees. The ultimate aim is to have a functioning relationship with employees so that the company’s functioning is not adversely affected. As a student of human resources management, it is very crucial for me that I am fully aware of such a mechanism, the legal positions and how the system has evolved over the years.     

Managerial Economics Chapter 5 and 6 Homework Essay Example for Free

Managerial Economics Chapter 5 and 6 Homework Essay

Boston Beer Company Case Essay Example for Free

Boston Beer Company Case Essay Background Information_: The Boston Beer Company, which was founded in 1984, had a very diversified thriving product line which entailed about twenty different kinds of beers. Their product was available in over nineteen various countries and used a network of around four hundred distributors. Revenues grew from 21 million dollars to 210 million dollars from inception to 1997. _Problem and Opportunity Identification_: As a result of the companys product line and its variety, the company encountered issues sustaining and upholding of their products such as Lightship which has been withering in recent years and which doesnt have the volume like other products to sustain distribution. Since the light beer business that Lightship belonged to was one that was rapidly growing, the Boston Beer Company felt the need to investigate its products disappointment. The research to do so took place in different forms such as competition, market, and financial analyses, customer surveys, and finally deep emotional analysis using the ZMET technique. _Alternatives_: One option the research team is considering is introducing a new light beer into their product line. It is understandable that since the high-priced light beer industry is one of the biggest and rapidly growing field in the beer industry, the Boston Beer Company wants to occupy and take advantage of this field to further enhance its name and maintain its market share and its standing. However, there are issues in terms of positioning and marketing of this product. The product needs to be communicated as a light, rich, fun beer and targeted at a different audience that entails women. In addition to the fact that this option might cause conflict in terms of the brand image being a macho rough beer brewer, using it doesnt solve the problem for Lightship if Lightship is going to be kept in the market offerings. Another option the research team considered was repositioning Lightship and throwing in more effort and investment into the marketing of the product. It was obvious that, compared to one of their biggest competitors Heineken, the Boston Beer Company has had trouble and sort-of failed to build a unique brand identity for this product. The product was not successfully differentiated and positioned in the market in order for it to build market share and improve standings. This failure could make it difficult for the company to reposition itself and change consumer perceptions to gain their interests and so it might be a waste of time and efforts. Finally, the last option is the dreaded one of not competing in this realm of the industry. This is a very extreme option since this realm is a huge and growing segment of the market and they would be missing out on a lot if they decide to pull out it. The failure to fit into this field, however, might have proved that the Boston Beer Company is not competent enough and ready to compete in this segment. _Critical Issues_: There are two main critical issues that the company should consider when making the decision about their situation in the light beer industry. One critical issue concerns the brand image the company has an umbrella brand image of being a premium masculine macho craft beer brewer and shaking that could be seen to influence consumer perceptions. The second critical issue relates to the field study and the results it yielded do they answer our questions about how to position the light beer product or on whether we should even introduce/keep products in this segment of the market. _Conclusion and Recommendation_: After reviewing the results of the various research techniques, the recommended option would be to introduce a new high-end light beer into the market (while probably retiring Lightship). Making use of the ZMET research results, this new product should be positioned in a manner that represents an active, refreshing, and healthy lifestyle. Having a new product instead of improving Lightship is best in order to avoid the difficult efforts of having to change stubborn consumer perceptions. Also, in terms of the umbrella brand image of BBC being a macho tough image, having a separate offering targeted at other audiences will probably add to the image of having two instead of eroding the existing image.

Cross Cultural Communication: Case Study of IKEA

Cross Cultural Communication: Case Study of IKEA 1: Introduction Management Communication is considered as the critical element in the overall performance of an organization internally, externally and in the corporate world of stock market and public image as argued by Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes (2003)[1]. This is naturally because of the fact that the elements associated with the communication not only strive to communicate the management intentions to the audience but also to win their support in order to effectively improve the organization’s performance thus gaining competitive advantage in the target market. The management communication is also treated as the overall element that comprises of the marketing communication, shareholder communication, supplier relationship management and above all establishing corporate identity in the real world as argued by Richard Lynch (2003)[2]. In this report a critical analysis on the cross-cultural communication and the role played by management in terms of effectively achieving the cross-cult ural communication strategy to increase performance is presented to the reader. Examples from the success of IKEA – the leading furniture and household retailer from Sweden in China are presented to the reader. The analysis strives to provide evidence to justify the importance of management communication in the cross-cultural scenario to the reader. The research first presents an overview on the cross-cultural communication describing the critical elements that influence and contribute for successful cross-cultural communication. Then an analysis on the cross-cultural communication in the light of the Chinese market is presented to the reader. This section presents the application and nuances specific to the Chinese markets. This is followed by an insight on the application of the concepts discussed in the light of the IKEA and its performance in China as the research focus is on the cross-cultural communication in china. Finally the research will conclude with a brief summary on the overall importance of cross-cultural communication and its role in the chosen geography and company. 2: Cross-Cultural Communication Geng Cui et al (1998)[3] argue that in a cross-cultural communication situation, the management not only faces the challenge of effectively communicating to the audience but also to ensure that the audience’ reciprocation is supportive to the organization. In order to ensure that the cross-cultural communication by the management achieves the goals of the organization, Geng Cui et al (1998) identify the following as the key ingredients for the communication. Social Interaction is one of the major elements that can influence the overall performance of an organization in the given target geography as argued by Geng Cui et al (1998). This is not only because of the fact that the increase in the visibility of organization to the target audience will create the familiarity but also increase the overall acceptance of the organization by the people in the target geography. Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003)[4] further argue that the communication element is the critical factor that influences the overall effectiveness of the organization in the target market. In the light of the aforementioned, the social interaction effectiveness of the management will increase the visibility to the target audience thus communicating a positive image on the organization’s position towards the society in which it is intending to perform business. Another interesting element with the social interaction is the fact that an organization trying to gain market share in a new geography requires the efforts of the senior management to push the presence of the organization as a positive element in the overall business of the economy in the target geography as argued by Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes (2003). Hence from a strategic perspective, it is essential for the social interaction to create a positive image about the organization to increase its presence in the market as a potential competitor. Another interesting element with the social interaction and the management communication is the fact that it involves the people associated with the communication and the social interaction demands face-to-face conversation thus making it clear, a positive approach from the organization to present itself as potential new entrant in the market will strengthen its corporate identity. The social interaction also provides the opportunity for the organization to appreciate the self-esteem and other subtle elements of the people in the target market that will help forge better stakeholder relationship as argued by A.M.M. Rad and M. Yarmohammadian (2006)[5]. Cultural Empathy is described as one of the major critical success factors for an organization to gain visibility in a new target market as argued by Miranda Y.P. Lee and Daniel W.C. So (2007)[6]. The apparent reason for this is the fact that an understanding of the culture of the target market’s culture and the big-picture of the target geography itself, the new-entrant organization can efficiently identify the potential customers in the target market. This process is further justified as the key to successfully forging the stakeholder relationship in case of managing projects involving the change and development of an organization in new target demography. Whilst social interaction is considered as a corporate identity element, cultural empathy is considered as both a critical success factor to devising the product lines for the target market as well as communicating to the customers in the target market as argued by Miranda Y.P. Lee and Daniel W.C. So (2007). Another interesting element associated with the cultural empathy and the cross-cultural communication is the fact that the parent organization being a new entrant to the target market, it is critical to appeal to the target audience’ (customer, suppliers and stakeholders alike) cultural background to justify their contribution to the development of the society in terms of the business development strategies of the organization itself. This is argued as one of the succ essful as well as complex strategies as argued by Richard Lynch (2003) since the entering organization faces the challenge of winning the customers to their organization’s benefit. Alongside, it is also essential for the understanding of the cultural factors associated with the target market for a new entrant in the market because of the natural tendency of the customer to rely on the seller who can understand the needs of the customer (Richard Lynch, 2003). In order to accomplish this strategy, it is thus essential to understand the customer requirements from a customer perspective, which apparently demands the understanding of the cultural factors associated with the target market. Ethnic Communication is a term that has gained popularity with the increasing success of the deployment of appealing to the ethnic factors associated with the target geography as argued by Guilherme Pires and John Stanton (2000)[7]. The subtle difference between the cultural empathy and the ethnic communication is the fact that the cultural empathy provides information and educates the organization to address the target market whilst the ethnic communication is the actual strategy put in action to reach the customers in the target market. In addition, the increasing competition due to globalisation and the threat of new entrants from competing organizations entering the chosen target market justifies the need to create a long-lasting impression among the customers about the products and services of the organization. The ethnic communication strategy is considered as the successful element to increase the visibility of the organization in the chosen target demography and the target ma rket. Alongside, Geng Cui et al (1998) argue ethnic communication as an acceptable strategy for an organization’s effectiveness in designing its communication plan in order to reach its audience in the new geography. The audience mentioned include, the customers, shareholders, supplier and the general public to whom the management communicates on a day-to-day basis. This makes it clear that the ethnic communication element is a critical success factor for the overall effectiveness of the organization. Also, it is important to understand that the cross-cultural communication is not a unidirectional process and must involve the overall interaction of the target audience and the organization that is establishing itself in the target new geography as argued by Geng Cui et al (1998). This makes it clear that the interaction is one of the critical elements that is achieved through the ethnic communication that helps create a positive image for the organization among the target audience. Local Knowledge Local knowledge is commended as a critical success factor for an organization that is trading in different geographical locations across the world as argued by Thomas Brenner (2007)[8]. Thomas Brenner (2007) further argues that the local knowledge is predominantly gained through the continuous social interaction with the target audience mainly because of the fact that the tangible knowledge value is not gained from a mere understanding of the culture behind the target audience. In the case researched in this report, the tangible knowledge on the target geography (i.e.) China is a critical element and understanding of the culture through public resources is not ample for efficient trading in China as argued by Peter Williamson and Ming Zeng (2004)[9]. They further argue that multinational organizations entering China for trading face four fundamental handicaps in building competitive advantage in the chosen target market of China. These are Poor supporting infrastructure that often prevents an organization from utilizing its advantage in the new target market in terms of management effectiveness, technological advances, etc., Supply chain management also faces a critical issue in the Chinese market mainly because of the poor infrastructure and managerial effectiveness along with the inherent disadvantage of communication gap due to lack of local knowledge. The inability to reap the economies of scale and lack of flexibility to spread the higher fixed costs imposed through the need to integrate operations in China. Finally the organizations face the early development stages in most of the Chinese markets thus making market penetration with high-end goods unsuccessful. From the above mentioned constraints it is clear that the cross-cultural communication can not only provide advantage through local knowledge but also bridge the communication gap thus allowing the organization to strategically position itself in the target markets and identify the market development stage to introduce innovative product lines as argued by Peter Williamson and Ming Zeng (2004). Communication Competence Peter Williamson and Ming Zeng (2004) argue that the communication competence is a critical element in the overall success of the organization in a new target market because of the fact that the cross-cultural communication factors like social interaction, ethnic communication, cultural empathy and local knowledge are demonstrated in the communication competence of the organization. This makes it clear that the senior management representing the organization in a new geography must be able to communicate effectively in the local language embracing the aforementioned in order to gain competitive advantage. This also makes it clear that the communication competence in the cross- cultural communication strategy of a management is the final element that represents the overall strategy in action. Hence it is essential for the organization to ensure that their management staffs facing key audience in the new target market are competent in the local language thus ensuring strong relationshi p with the customers, suppliers, stakeholders and the general public. Peter Williamson and Ming Zeng (2004) further argue that the major disadvantage for an organization entering China is the lack of the knowledge on the local language that is necessary for competence in communication for negotiation and sales. Thus it is clear the communication competence is the primary element that supports the overall strength of the strategy thus leveraging competitive advantage for the organization. Finally, it is interesting to note that the Chinese market for the furniture market is not only developing but also increasing in demand with the increasing awareness among the customers in the target market on the fashion and trends in the west as argued by Ann Priest (2005)[10]. The company that is under analysis (i.e.) IKEA – is one of the leading conglomerates in the retail of flat packed furniture and house wares (Company Profile, 2006[11]). A detailed analysis on the company’s performance in China and the role of cross – cultural communication is presented in section of the report. 3: Measures of Success Management communication is argued as the critical strategic element for the effective performance of an organization in the chosen area of business (Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes, 2003). The role of cross – cultural communication in an organization’s success are focused on three critical segments of audience in the target market as argued by Miranda Y.P. Lee and Daniel W.C. So (2007). They are customers, supplier and stakeholders of the senior management. The application of cross- cultural communication for the abovementioned three audience groups in the Chinese markets is presented to the reader. 3.1: Customers The customer is the ultimate audience to an organization due to the obvious reason that the purchasing from the customers is the driving element for the overall business as argued by Richard Lynch (2003). In the Chinese market, the demand from the customers depend mainly on the costs (i.e.) the pricing strategy of the organization and the ability of a seller to produce innovative products reflecting the Chinese culture as argued by Miranda Y.P. Lee and Daniel W.C. So (2007). This is apparently because of the fact that the Chinese markets are still in the development phase and hence the sales of high-end products in the retail shop floor is not a successful strategy as argued by Xueming Luo et al (2004)[12]. Hence effective marketing communication is a critical element in the successful promotion of the product lines of a new entrant in the target market. From a strategic perspective, the marketing communication is the key for the effective promotion and strong positioning of the product lines in the target market as argued by Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (2005)[13]. The marketing mix which is argued, as the critical element in the overall promotion of the products and services to an organization is the key area where cross – cultural communication approach must be applied to reach the customer effectively as argued by Xueming Luo et al (2004). Xueming Luo et al (2004) further justify that the efficient application of the 4Ps of marketing along with the application of the cross – cultural communication strategy to ensure that the marketing communication appeals to the target market’s culture as well as reflects upon the product innovation to meet the demands of the customers is the key for devising a successful marketing promotion plan for a product line. From the above-mentioned it is clear that the traditional marketing strategies are applicable to a given target market but the ingredient of the cross – cultural communication that bridges the communication gap between the customers and the new entrant seller in the market is the key for increasing sales and productivity in the target market. Alongside, it is also interesting to note that the effectiveness of the marketing communication is only through the understanding of the cultural factors and the local knowledge of the target demography as argued by Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (2005). Alongside, the marketing communication takes different forms right from the face-to-face interaction with the customer at the shop floor up to advertisement through media as argued by Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003). This makes it clear that the cross –cultural communication effectives is the critical element for the overall success of the marketing strategy itself in an organization. Besides, the marketing communication targeted towards developing markets where the market development is in its early stages in most areas, the success of a new entrant is dependant upon the communication factor as argued by Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes (2003). 3.2: Suppliers Suppliers in the Chinese market are not only an essential element for continued production and promotion of products but also essential for the effective cost reduction and production profit management strategies as argued by Xueming Luo et al (2004). This is because of the fact that the increasing competition in the Chinese retail markets both from the domestic competitors as well as the new entrants from the west, has increased the need for cost efficient supply chain strategies to ensure that there is better profit margin for the organization. Alongside, the increasing demand for innovative product lines and the continuous requirement to procure new raw materials as well as reduce the lead time associated with the procurement, production and supply; it is thus essential to maintain effective supplier relationship. The bargaining power of the supplier which is one of the five forces that affect the business growth in a given target market (Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes, 2003) is evident in the aforementioned case where the need to forge strong supplier relationship with domestic suppliers in China is a critical element for continuous growth of an organization. The cross – cultural communication in terms of the fluency in host language (i.e.) Chinese and the ability to understand the business process methods of the suppliers to ensure strong relationship are critical success factors for the overall success of the organization itself. Alongside, Malcolm J. Sanders (1997)[14] argues that the reduction in the supply chain delays and ensuring strong supplier relationship is the key for effective management of the production in an organization. Thus through exercising effective control over the supply chain, an organization can quickly respond to a change in the market demands. This will eventually increase the productivity and sales for the organization. In the light of the aforementioned, it is clear that the conversation skills of the management as well as the key supply chain staff is essential for the effective management of supply chain in the Chinese retail markets as argued by Xueming Luo et al (2004). 3.3: Stakeholder management Xueming Luo et al (2004) say that the strategic positioning of an organization in the Chinese markets requires the continuous support of the stakeholders in the local geography. This is because of the fact that partnership or partial acquisition is deemed as one of the successful strategies in the market development strategy of an organization entering a new market as argued by Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes (2003). Hence the efficient communication with the stakeholders through fluency in the local language and understanding of the cultural demands are the critical elements to ensure their continuous support. In the light of the aforementioned it is thus clear the cross – cultural communication is a critical element to win the audience’ support for the continuous business development and sustainable competitive advantage in the Chinese retail markets. 3.4: Human Resource Management   The management of the workforce and strong working relationship with the staff members and management are argued as critical success factors by Derek Torrington and Laura Hall (2003)[15]. In the light of the aforementioned, addressing the Chinese retail market, it is clear that local workforce is one of the critical elements to reduce the cost overhead associated with staffing for a new entrant. Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes (2003) further argue that the streamlined communication between the management and the staff is the critical element for increasing the productivity of the organization. This makes it clear that the cross – cultural communication is necessary in the form of fluency in local knowledge and understanding of the working culture of the Chinese labour market in order to increase the sales and gain sustainable competitive advantage. Alongside, the labourers being part of the overall general public, the strong human resource relationship demonstrated by the mana gement will forge a positive corporate identity for the new entrant in the Chinese markets. 4: IKEA and China Briefly, IKEA entered the furniture retail market of China in 2003 by establishing the first store at Shangai, China (Company Profile, 2006). This was followed by further development of the business into other popular geographies of China including Beijing and Hong Kong. In this section the use of the cross – cultural communication discussed in sections 2 and 3 by IKEA is presented to the reader. 4.1: Customer Relationship The company’s strategy in utilising the services of one of the leading Chinese advertising agencies Saatchi Saatchi Beijing as well as other advertising agencies in the local geographies of china has increased its ability to reach the customers in the target market effectively (Media Asia, 2006[16]). Alongside, the company’s adherence to the understanding of the host culture through providing innovative product lines that appeal to the customer demands as well as the culture of the target demography is one of the critical success factors in establishing strong customer relationship. Another interesting element is the focus on the wider geography as well as specifically targeting the Western residents in the target markets (Company Profile, 2006) demonstrates the effective use of the cross-cultural communication strategy in marketing to forge strong customer relationship. The success of IKEA as the top loyalty brand in Hong Kong (Media Asia, 2006[17]) justifies the role played by the cross-cultural communication by the management to increase sales. 4.2: Supplier Relationship The procurement strategy of IKEA in the Chinese market is mainly through encouraging the local channels and small scale industries that produce specific product lines and made to order product lines (Company Profile, 2006). This demonstrates the effective cross-cultural communication by IKEA and its ability to maintain effective supplier relationship to increase productivity. 4.3: Human Resource Management The company utilises the local workforce in all levels of the organization, which is evident from the store manger positions held by the Chinese national in Shangai. The concept of cross-cultural communication and appealing to the staff culture apart from the traditional methods of human resource management is evident from the aforementioned. Alongside, the effective management of the human resource is also evident from the company’s rewarding strategy that is not only intended to motivate the staff but also introduce the overall organizational culture among the staff members in the Chinese branches. This approach motivates the staff members and is successful because of the local knowledge exercised by the organization. Alongside, the key measures in terms of management and staff relationship were queried with IKEA’s sales team in the UK. The results prove that the sales staff shop floor have the following key skills irrespective of the geography they are deployed. Understanding host culture Participate to resolve the host social issues Have friendly relationship with the host In the Chinese retail market, the aforementioned are demonstrated as follows The advertising and promotion strategy of the organization using the services of the local advertising agencies to appeal to the cultural factors of the demography justifies the understanding of the host culture by IKEA, China The organization’s innovation strategies like its contribution to the space problems in the Hong Kong target market (Lee Michele, 2002[18]) are a classical example for the organization’s ability to participate and resolve the host social issues. The company’s top score in the brand loyalty and customer loyalty in the Hong Kong and Beijing markets justifies its ability to forge friendly relationship with the host. 5: Conclusion Thus to conclude the research it is clear that the cross – cultural communication effectiveness is a mandatory element in the success of an organization in a new geographical location. The increase in the globalisation and the need for business development have increased the need to reach Far Eastern nations for potential markets which justifies the need for efficient cross – cultural communication. The analysis on IKEA further justifies that only through the effective cross – cultural communication it is justifiable for an organization to develop business and sustain growth in the target market. References A.M.M. Rad and M. Yarmohammadian (2006), A study of relationship between managers’ leadership style and employees’ job satisfaction, Leadership in Health Services Vol. 19 No. 2, 2006 Ann Priest (2005), Uniformity and differentiation in fashion, International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology Vol. 17 No. 3/4, 2005 Company Profile, (2006), IKEA Group, Datamonitor Derek Torrington and Laura Hall (2003), Personnel Management – HRM in Action, FT: Prentice Hall Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003), Principles of Marketing, FT: Prentice Hall Geng Cui et al (1998), Cross – Cultural Adaptation and Ethnic Communication: Two Structural Equation Models, Howard Journal of Communication, 9:1, 69-85 Gerry Johnson and Kevan Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes (2003) (2003), Exploring Corporate Strategy – Texts and Cases, Prentice Hall Guilherme Pires and John Stanton (2000), Marketing services to ethnic consumers in culturally diverse markets: issues and implications, Journal of Services Marketing, 2000, Vol. 14 Issue 6/7 Lee Michele (2002), Ikea plays up space solutions in HK burst, Media Asia, 10/4/2002, p4 Malcolm J. Saunders (1997), Strategic Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, Financial Times – Prentice Hall Miranda Y.P. Lee and Daniel W.C. So (2007), Corporate-slogans of corporations operating in Greater China, Corporate Communications: An International Journal Vol. 12 No. 1, 2007 News Article (2006), IKEA plays up more in mega stores opening, Media Asia, 15621138, 4/7/2006: Business Source Premier News Article, IKEA tops loyalty brand survey in Hong Kong, Media Asia; 10/6/2006, p11-11 Peter Williamson and Ming Zeng (2004), Strategies for Competing in a Changed China, MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer2004, Vol. 45 Issue 4 Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (2005), Marketing Management – 12th Edition, Prentice Hall Richard Lynch (2003), Corporate Strategy, FT: Prentice Hall Thomas Brenner (2007), Local Knowledge Resources and Knowledge Flows, Industry Innovation, Jun2007, Vol. 14 Issue 2 Xueming Luo et al (2004), The Effects of Customer Relationships and Social Capital on Firm Performance: A Chinese Business Illustration, Journal of International Marketing, 2004, Vol.12 Issue 4 Footnotes [1] Gerry Johnson and Kevan Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes (2003) (2003), Exploring Corporate Strategy – Texts and Cases, Prentice Hall [2] Richard Lynch (2003), Corporate Strategy, FT: Prentice Hall [3] Geng Cui et al (1998), Cross – Cultural Adaptation and Ethnic Communication: Two Structural Equation Models, Howard Journal of Communication, 9:1, 69-85 [4] Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003), Principles of Marketing, FT: Prentice Hall [5] A.M.M. Rad and M. Yarmohammadian (2006), A study of relationship between managers’ leadership style and employees’ job satisfaction, Leadership in Health Services Vol. 19 No. 2, 2006 [6] Miranda Y.P. Lee and Daniel W.C. So (2007), Corporate-slogans of corporations operating in Greater China, Corporate Communications: An International Journal Vol. 12 No. 1, 2007 [7] Guilherme Pires and John Stanton (2000), Marketing services to ethnic consumers in culturally diverse markets: issues and implications, Journal of Services Marketing, 2000, Vol. 14 Issue 6/7 [8] Thomas Brenner (2007), Local Knowledge Resources and Knowledge Flows, Industry Innovation, Jun2007, Vol. 14 Issue 2 [9] Peter Williamson and Ming Zeng (2004), Strategies for Competing in a Changed China, MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer2004, Vol. 45 Issue 4 [10] Ann Priest (2005), Uniformity and differentiation in fashion, International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology Vol. 17 No. 3/4, 2005 [11] Company Profile, (2006), IKEA Group, Datamonitor [12] Xueming Luo et al (2004), The Effects of Customer Relationships and Social Capital on Firm Performance: A Chinese Business Illustration, Journal of International Marketing, 2004, Vol.12 Issue 4 [13] Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (2005), Marketing Management – 12th Edition, Prentice Hall [14] Malcolm J. Saunders (1997), Strategic Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, Financial Times – Prentice Hall [15] Derek Torrington and Laura Hall (2003), Personnel Management – HRM in Action, FT: Prentice Hall [16] News Article (2006), IKEA plays up more in mega stores opening, Media Asia, 15621138, 4/7/2006: Business Source Premier [17] News Article, IKEA tops loyalty brand survey in Hong Kong, Media Asia; 10/6/2006, p11-11 [18] Lee Michele (2002), Ikea plays up space solutions in HK burst, Media Asia, 10/4/2002