The Lost Duke of Wyndham Chapter Seven

And that, Jack decided, was his cue to leave as well. Not that he had any great love for the duke. Indeed, he'd had quite enough of his marvelous lordliness for one day and was perfectly happy to see his back as he left the room. But the thought of remaining here with the dowager†¦ Even Miss Eversleigh's delightful company was not enough of a temptation to endure more of that. â€Å"I believe I shall retire as well,† he announced. â€Å"Wyndham did not retire,† the dowager said peevishly. â€Å"He went out.† â€Å"Then I shall retire,† Jack said. He smiled blandly. â€Å"End of sentence.† â€Å"It's barely dark,† the dowager pointed out. â€Å"I'm tired.† It was true. He was. â€Å"My John used to stay up until the wee hours,† she said softly. Jack sighed. He did not want to feel sorry for this woman. She was hard, ruthless, and thoroughly unlikable. But she had, apparently, loved her son. His father. And she'd lost him. A mother shouldn't outlive her children. He knew this as well as he knew how to breathe. It was unnatural. And so instead of pointing out that her John had most likely never been kidnapped, strangled, blackmailed, and stripped of his (albeit paltry) livelihood, all in one day, he walked forward and set her ring – the very one he had all but snatched from her finger – on the table next to her. His own was in his pocket. He was not quite prepared to share its existence with her. â€Å"Your ring, madam,† he said. She nodded, then took it into her hands. â€Å"What is the D for?† he asked. His whole life, he'd wondered. He might as well gain something from this debacle. â€Å"Debenham. My birth surname.† Ah. It made sense. She'd have given her own heirlooms to her favorite son. â€Å"My father was the Duke of Runthorpe.† â€Å"I am not surprised,† he murmured. She could decide for herself if that was a compliment. He bowed. â€Å"Good evening, your grace.† The dowager's mouth tightened with disappointment. But she seemed to recognize that if there had been a battle that day, she was the only one who had emerged victorious, and she was surprisingly gracious as she said, â€Å"I shall have supper sent up.† Jack nodded and murmured his thanks, then turned to exit. â€Å"Miss Eversleigh will show you to your room.† At that Jack snapped to attention, and when he looked Miss Eversleigh's way, he saw that she had, too. He had been expecting a footman. Possibly the butler. This was a delightful surprise. â€Å"Is that a problem, Miss Eversleigh?† the dowager asked. Her voice sounded sly, a little bit taunting. â€Å"Of course not,† Miss Eversleigh replied. Her eyes were clouded but not entirely unreadable. She was surprised. He could see it by the way her lashes seemed to reach a little higher toward her brows. She was not used to being ordered to tend to anyone except the dowager. Her employer, he decided, did not like to share her. And as his eyes fell again to her lips, he decided that he was in complete accord. If she were his, if he had any right to her†¦he would not wish to share her, either. He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to touch her, just a soft brush of hand against skin, so fleeting that it could only be deemed accidental. But more than any of that, he wanted use of her name. Grace. He liked it. He found it soothing. â€Å"See to his comfort, Miss Eversleigh.† Jack turned to the dowager with widening eyes. She sat like a statue, her hands folded primly in her lap, but the corners of her mouth were tilted ever so slightly up, and her eyes looked cunning and amused. She was giving Grace to him. As clear as day, she was telling him to make use of her companion, if that was his desire. Good Lord. What sort of family had he fallen into? â€Å"As you wish, ma'am,† Miss Eversleigh replied, and in that moment Jack felt soiled, almost dirty, because he was quite certain she had no idea that her employer was attempting to whore her off on him. It was the most appalling sort of bribe. Stay the night, and you can have the girl. It sickened him. Doubly so, because he wanted the girl. He just didn't want her given to him. â€Å"It is most kind of you, Miss Eversleigh,† he said, feeling as if he had to be extra polite to make up for the dowager. They reached the door, and then, before he forgot, he turned back. He and the duke had spoken only tersely on their outing, but on one matter they had been in accord. â€Å"Oh, by the by, should anyone ask, I am a friend of Wyndham's. From years gone by.† â€Å"From university?† Miss Eversleigh suggested. Jack fought back a grim chuckle. â€Å"No. I did not attend.† â€Å"You did not attend!† the dowager gasped. â€Å"I was led to believe you'd had a gentleman's education.† â€Å"By whom?† Jack inquired, ever so politely. She sputtered at that for a moment, and then finally she scowled and said, â€Å"It is in your speech.† â€Å"Felled by my accent.† He looked at Miss Eversleigh and shrugged. â€Å"Pommy R's and proper H's. What's a man to do?† But the dowager was not prepared to let the subject drop. â€Å"You are educated, are you not?† It was tempting to claim he'd been schooled with the local lads, if only to witness her reaction. But he owed his aunt and uncle better than that, and so he turned to the dowager and said, â€Å"Portora Royal, followed by two months at Trinity College – Dublin, that is, not Cambridge – and then six years serving in His Majesty's army and protecting you from invasion.† He cocked his head to the side. â€Å"I'll take those thanks now, if you will.† The dowager's lips parted with outrage. â€Å"No?† He lifted his brows. â€Å"Funny how no one seems to care that they still speak English and curtsy to good King George.† â€Å"I do,† Miss Eversleigh said. And when he looked at her, she blinked and added, â€Å"Er, thank you.† â€Å"You're welcome,† he said, and it occurred to him that this was the first time he'd had cause to say it. Sadly, the dowager was not unique in her sense of entitlement. Soldiers were occasionally feted, and it was true that the uniforms were quite effective when attracting the ladies, but no one ever thought to say thank you. Not to him, and especially not to the men who'd suffered permanent injury or disfigurement. â€Å"Tell everyone we shared fencing lessons,† Jack said to Miss Eversleigh, ignoring the dowager as best he could. â€Å"It's as good a ruse as any. Wyndham says he's passable with a sword?† â€Å"I do not know,† she said. Of course she wouldn't. But no matter. If Wyndham had said he was passable, then he was almost certainly a master. They would be well-matched if ever they had to offer proof of their lie. Fencing had been his best subject in school. It was probably the only reason they had kept him to age eighteen. â€Å"Shall we?† he murmured, tilting his head toward the door. â€Å"The blue silk bedroom,† the dowager called out sourly. â€Å"She does not like to be left out of a conversation, does she?† Jack murmured, so that only Miss Eversleigh could hear. He'd known she could not answer, not with her employer so close, but he saw her eyes dart away, as if trying to hide her amusement. â€Å"You may retire for the night as well, Miss Eversleigh,† the dowager directed. Grace turned in surprise. â€Å"You don't wish for me to attend to you? It's early yet.† â€Å"Nancy can do it,† she replied with a pinch of her lips. â€Å"She's an acceptable hand with buttons, and what's more, she doesn't say a word. I find that to be an exceptionally good trait in a servant.† As Grace held her tongue more often than not, she decided to take that as a compliment, rather than the rear-door insult it was meant to be. â€Å"Of course, ma'am,† she said, bobbing a demure curtsy. â€Å"I shall see you in the morning, then, with your chocolate and the newspaper.† Mr. Audley was already at the door and was holding out his hand to motion for her to precede him, so she walked out into the hall. She had no idea what the dowager was up to, giving her the rest of the evening off, but she was not going to argue further. â€Å"Nancy is her maid,† she explained to Mr. Audley once he reached her side. â€Å"I'd guessed.† â€Å"It's most odd.† She shook her head. â€Å"She – â€Å" Mr. Audley waited rather patiently for her to finish her sentence, but Grace decided the better of it. She had been going to say that the dowager hated Nancy. In fact, the dowager complained most bitterly and at painful length each time she had a day out and Nancy served as a substitute. â€Å"You were saying, Miss Eversleigh?† he murmured. She almost told him. It was strange, because she barely knew him, and furthermore, he could not possibly be interested in the trivialities of the Belgrave household. Even if he did become the duke – and the thought of it still made her somewhat sick to her stomach – well, it wasn't as if Thomas could have identified any of the housemaids. And if asked which ones his grandmother disliked, he'd surely have said, All of them. Which, Grace thought with a wry smile, was probably true. â€Å"You're smiling, Miss Eversleigh,† Mr. Audley remarked, looking very much as if he were the one with a secret. â€Å"Do tell why.† â€Å"Oh, it's nothing,† she said. â€Å"Certainly nothing that would be of interest to you.† She motioned toward the staircase at the rear of the hall. â€Å"Here, the bedchambers are this way.† â€Å"You were smiling,† he said again, falling in step beside her. For some reason that made her smile anew. â€Å"I did not say that I wasn't.† â€Å"A lady who doesn't dissemble,† he said approvingly. â€Å"I find myself liking you more with every passing minute.† Grace pursed her lips, eyeing him over her shoulder. â€Å"That does not indicate a very high opinion of women.† â€Å"My apologies. I should have said a person who does not dissemble.† He flashed her a smile that shook her to her toes. â€Å"I would never claim that men and women are interchangeable, and thank heavens for that, but in matters of truthiness, neither sex earns high marks.† She looked at him in surprise. â€Å"I don't think truthiness is a word. In fact, I'm quite certain it is not.† â€Å"No?† His eyes darted to the side. Just for a second – not even a second, but it was long enough for her to wonder if she'd embarrassed him. Which couldn't be possible. He was so amazingly glib and comfortable in his own skin. One did not need more than a day's acquaintance to realize that. And indeed, his smile grew jaunty and lopsided, and his eyes positively twinkled as he said, â€Å"Well, it should be.† â€Å"Do you often make up words?† He shrugged modestly. â€Å"I try to restrain myself.† She looked at him with considerable disbelief. â€Å"I do,† he protested. He clasped one hand over his heart, as if wounded, but his eyes were laughing. â€Å"Why is it no one ever believes me when I tell them I am a moral and upstanding gentleman, on this earth with the every intention of following every rule.† â€Å"Perhaps it is because most people make your acquaintance when you order them out of a carriage with a gun?† â€Å"True,† he acknowledged. â€Å"It does color the relationship, doesn't it?† She looked at him, at the humor lurking in his emerald eyes, and she felt her lips tickle. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to laugh the way she'd laughed when her parents were alive, when she'd had the freedom to seek out life's absurdities and the time to make merry over them. It almost felt as if something were waking up within her. It felt lovely. It felt good. She wanted to thank him, but she'd sound the veriest fool. And so she did the next best thing. She apologized. â€Å"I'm sorry,† she said, pausing at the base of the stairs. That seemed to surprise him. â€Å"You're sorry?† â€Å"I am. For†¦today.† â€Å"For kidnapping me.† He sounded amused, vaguely so. Perhaps even condescending. â€Å"I didn't mean to,† she protested. â€Å"You were in the carriage,† he pointed out. â€Å"I do believe that any court of law would brand you an accomplice.† Oh, that was more than she could take. â€Å"This would, I assume, be the same court of law that sent you to the gallows earlier that same morning for pointing a loaded gun at a duchess.† â€Å"Tsk tsk. I told you it wasn't a hanging offense.† â€Å"No?† she murmured, echoing his earlier tone precisely. â€Å"It ought to be.† â€Å"Oh, you think?† â€Å"If truthiness gets to be a word, then accosting a duchess with a gun ought to be enough to get one hanged.† â€Å"You're quick,† he said admiringly. â€Å"Thank you,† she said, then admitted, â€Å"I'm out of practice.† â€Å"Yes.† He glanced down the hall toward the drawing room, where the dowager was presumably still enthroned upon her sofa. â€Å"She does keep you rather silent, doesn't she?† â€Å"Loquaciousness is not considered becoming in a servant.† â€Å"Is that how you see yourself?† His eyes met hers, searching her so deeply she almost stepped away. â€Å"A servant?† And then she did step away. Because whatever it was he was going to find in her, she wasn't so sure she wanted to see it. â€Å"We should not loiter,† she said, motioning for him to follow her up the stairs. â€Å"The blue silk bedroom is lovely. Very comfortable, and with excellent morning light. The artwork in particular is superb. I think you will like it.† She was babbling, but he was kind enough not to remark upon it, instead saying, â€Å"I'm sure it will be an improvement over my current lodgings.† She glanced over at him with surprise. â€Å"Oh. I had assumed – † She broke off, too embarrassed to remark that she'd thought him a homeless nomad. â€Å"A life of posting inns and grassy fields,† he said with an affected sigh. â€Å"Such is the fate of a highwayman.† â€Å"Do you enjoy it?† She surprised herself, both by asking it and also by how very curious she was in the answer. He grinned. â€Å"Robbing coaches?† She nodded. â€Å"It depends on who is in the coach,† he said softly. â€Å"I very much enjoyed not robbing you.† â€Å"Not robbing me?† She turned then, and the ice, which had been cracked, was officially broken. â€Å"I didn't take a thing, did I?† he returned, all innocence. â€Å"You stole a kiss.† â€Å"That,† he said, leaning forward with great cheek, â€Å"was freely given.† â€Å"Mr. Audley†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I do wish you'd call me Jack,† he sighed. â€Å"Mr. Audley,† she said again. â€Å"I did not – † She looked quickly about, then lowered her voice to an urgent whisper. â€Å"I did not†¦ do†¦what you said I did.† He smiled lazily. â€Å"When did ‘kiss' become such a dangerous word?† She clamped her lips together because truly there was no way she would gain the upper hand in this conversation. â€Å"Very well,† he said. â€Å"I shan't torment you.† It would have been a kind and generous statement if he hadn't followed it with: â€Å"Today.† But even then, she smiled. It was difficult not to, in his presence. They were in the upper hall now, and Grace turned toward the family apartments where he would be staying. They moved along in silence, giving her ample time to consider the gentleman beside her. She did not care what he'd said about not completing university. He was extremely intelligent, unique vocabulary notwithstanding. And there was no arguing against his charm. There was no reason he should not be gainfully employed. She could not ask him why he was robbing coaches, however. It was far too forward on so short an acquaintance. It was ironic, that. Who would have thought she'd be worried about manners and propriety with a thief? â€Å"This way,† she said, motioning for him to follow her to the left. â€Å"Who sleeps down there?† Mr. Audley asked, peering in the opposite direction. â€Å"His grace.† â€Å"Ah,† he said darkly. â€Å"His grace.† â€Å"He is a good man,† Grace said, feeling she must speak up for him. If Thomas had not behaved as he ought, it was certainly understandable. From the day of his birth, he'd been raised to be the Duke of Wyndham. And now, with the flimsiest of fate twists, he'd been informed that he might be nothing more than plain Mr. Cavendish. If Mr. Audley had had a rough day, well then, surely Thomas's was worse. â€Å"You admire the duke,† Mr. Audley stated. Grace couldn't quite tell if this was a question; she didn't think so. But either way, his tone was dry, as if he thought she was somewhat naive for doing so. â€Å"He is a good man,† she repeated firmly. â€Å"You will agree with me, once you further your acquaintance.† Mr. Audley let out an amused little puff of breath. â€Å"You sound like a servant now, starched and prim and properly loyal.† She scowled at him, but he clearly did not care, because he was already grinning and saying, â€Å"Are you going to defend the dowager next? I should like to hear you do it, because I'm most curious as to how, exactly, one would attempt such a feat.† Grace could not imagine that he might actually expect her to reply. She turned, though, so he could not see her smile. â€Å"I could not manage it myself,† he continued, â€Å"and I'm told I have a most silver tongue.† He leaned forward, as if imparting a grave secret. â€Å"It's the Irish in me.† â€Å"You're a Cavendish,† she pointed out. â€Å"Only half.† And then he added, â€Å"Thank God.† â€Å"They're not so bad.† He let out a chuckle. â€Å"They're not so bad? That's your rousing defense?† And then heaven help her, she could not think of a single good thing to say except, â€Å"The dowager would give her life for the family.† â€Å"Pity she has not done so already.† Grace shot him a startled look. â€Å"You sound just like the duke.† â€Å"Yes, I'd noticed they had a warm and loving relationship.† â€Å"Here we are,† Grace said, pushing open the door to his chamber. She stepped back then. It could not be proper for her to accompany him into his room. Five years she'd been at Belgrave, and she'd never once stepped foot inside Thomas's chambers. She might not have much in this world, but she had her self-respect, and her reputation, and she planned to keep a firm hold on both. Mr. Audley peeked in. â€Å"How very blue,† he remarked. She could not help but smile. â€Å"And silken.† â€Å"Indeed.† He stepped inside. â€Å"You're not going to join me?† â€Å"Oh, no.† â€Å"Didn't think you would. Pity. I'm going to have to loll about all on my own, rolling in all this silken blue splendor.† â€Å"The dowager was right,† Grace said with a shake of her head. â€Å"You're never serious.† â€Å"Not true. I'm quite frequently serious. It's up to you to figure out when.† He shrugged as he wandered over to the writing desk, his fingers trailing idly along the blotter until they slid off the edge and back to his side. â€Å"I find it convenient to keep people guessing.† Grace said nothing, just watched him inspect his room. She ought to go. She rather thought she wanted to go, actually; all day she'd been longing to crawl into bed and go to sleep. But she stayed. Just watching him, trying to imagine what it was like to see all of this for the first time. She had entered Belgrave Castle as a servant. He was quite possibly its master. It had to be strange. It had to be overwhelming. She didn't have the heart to tell him that this wasn't the fanciest or most ostentatious guest bedchamber. Not even close. â€Å"Excellent art,† he commented, tilting his head as he regarded a painting on the wall. She nodded, her lips parting, then closing again. â€Å"You were about to tell me it's a Rembrandt.† Her lips parted again, but this time in surprise. He hadn't even been looking at her. â€Å"Yes,† she admitted. â€Å"And this?† he asked, turning his attention to the one underneath. â€Å"Caravaggio?† She blinked. â€Å"I don't know.† â€Å"I do,† he said, in a tone that was somehow both impressed and grim. â€Å"It's a Caravaggio.† â€Å"You are a connoisseur?† she asked, and she noticed that her toes had somehow crossed the threshold of the room. Her heels were still safe and proper, resting on the corridor floor, but her toes†¦ They itched in her slippers. They longed for adventure. She longed for adventure. Mr. Audley moved to another painting – the east wall was full of them – and murmured, â€Å"I would not say that I am a connoisseur, but yes, I do like art. It's easy to read.† â€Å"To read?† Grace stepped forward. What an odd statement. He nodded. â€Å"Yes. Look here.† He pointed to a woman in what looked like a post-Renaissance work. She was seated upon a lavish chair, cushioned in dark velvet, edged with thick, twisting gold. Perhaps a throne? â€Å"Look at the way the eyes look down,† he said. â€Å"She is watching this other woman. But she is not looking at her face. She's jealous.† â€Å"No, she's not.† Grace moved to his side. â€Å"She's angry.† â€Å"Yes, of course. But she's angry because she's jealous.† â€Å"Of her?† Grace responded, pointing to the â€Å"other† woman in the corner. Her hair was the color of wheat, and she was clad in a filmy Grecian robe. It ought to have been scandalous; one of her breasts seemed poised to pop out at any moment. â€Å"I don't think so. Look at her.† She motioned to the first woman, the one on the throne. â€Å"She has everything.† â€Å"Everything material, yes. But this woman† – he motioned to the one in the Grecian robe – â€Å"has her husband.† â€Å"How can you even know she is married?† Grace squinted and leaned in, inspecting her fingers for a ring, but the brushwork was not fine enough to make out such a small detail. â€Å"Of course she is married. Look at her expression.† â€Å"I see nothing to indicate wifeliness.† He lifted a brow. â€Å"Wifeliness?† â€Å"I'm quite certain it's a word. More so than truthiness, in any case.† She frowned. â€Å"And if she is married, then where is the husband?† â€Å"Right there,† he said, touching the intricate gilt frame, just beyond the woman in the Grecian robe. â€Å"How can you possibly know that? It's beyond the edge of the canvas.† â€Å"You need only to look at her face. Her eyes. She is gazing at the man who loves her.† Grace found that intriguing. â€Å"Not at the man she loves?† â€Å"I can't tell,† he said, his head tilting slightly. They stood in silence for a moment, then he said, â€Å"There is an entire novel in this painting. One need only take the time to read it.† He was right, Grace realized, and it was unsettling, because he wasn't supposed to be so perceptive. Not him. Not the glib, jaunty highwayman who couldn't be bothered to find a proper profession. â€Å"You're in my room,† he said. She stepped back. Abruptly. â€Å"Steady now.† His arm shot out and his hand found her elbow. She couldn't scold him, not really, because she would have fallen. â€Å"Thank you,† she said softly. He didn't let go. She'd regained her balance. She was standing straight. But he didn't let go. And she did not pull away.

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The Crusades as a Religious Endeavor - Essay Example Islam not only posed the threat of a rival religion, they also posed the threat of a rival culture (Rosenthal, 2005). Cultural and political influence must therefore be considered necessary additions to religion as factors in the ensuing power struggle. A thousand years after the Crusades, little has changed, with Christianity, Islam and Judaism vying for control throughout, not just the area of the Byzantine Empire, but the world. Again, culture and politics must be considered as well as religion. In the name of democracy, President George W. Bush considers the war in Iraq a quest for freedom, but a large contingent in the Middle East are followers of Islam, and in this respect consider the effort by Western nations to change their culture and religion in the name of democracy to be unacceptable. Great Britain's Tony Blair has remained committed to Bush's actions in Iraq, but the people of Great Britain are more realistic than the Americans as to the economic, political and cultural aspects involved in the Iraqi War. Perhaps, by studying the results of the Crusades, its effect on different populations might be an indicator of the importance of world cultural studies. A study of the Crusades might offer a different viewpoint of the present wars in which religion happens to play a major role. Pope Urban II as a Catalyst Pope Urban II has been credited with initiating the Crusades. He was elected as Pope in 1088 but did not take the papal throne until six years later, having been in exile on the Island of St. Bartholomew. Political issues kept the Byzantine Empire in a state of flux, and Urban was faced with many difficulties. The timing of his ascension, however, was in his favor. Not only was he a truly religious person with a focus on sharing Christianity throughout the world, he was also charismatic, and when he broached the idea of a Crusade against the enemies of the Christian faith at a council meeting in Clermont in 1095, it turned out to be a matter of good timing and use of imagination on his part. He strongly appealed to the general public, and the Crusades became a major undertaking, encompassing several countries (Butler, 2003). Appeals were sent out all through Europe urging people to take the cross. It must be noted, however, that one benefit of the Pope's appeal was to offset the pro pensity for violence within the Byzantine Empire__with individuals acting from personal and political motives__and the desire for economic expansion (Sloan, 2000). The Crusades gave society a common goal, and after a life of exile, upheaval and poverty, Pope Urban II finally was able to carry out his providence. The so-called "People's Crusade" was successful initially, but success was followed by failure, and a new crusade was begin in 1100, the second of eight formal crusades, and this army too was destroyed in 1101. For almost two hundred years, the Crusades affected a broad geographical and cultural area which carries through into the

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN BUSINESS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN BUSINESS - Assignment Example There is an undertone of optimism in the message of Suranovic’s story and its conclusions have practical implications for national governments and business leaders. National governments can learn that not to be overcautious with every prospective partner as not every prospective partner intends to exploit them unfairly. This persuades national governments to ease any stringent measures that hinder the success of their relations with other governments. The conclusions of the story advise national governments to encourage the maximization of resources for the benefit of their partners (Sengupta 65). Business leaders can borrow important lessons that would add value to their ways of making decisions. The principles used in Suranovic’s story can help business to appreciate their strengths of their partners and make them look at their partners as complementary rather than entirely competitive. The classmate’s posting is terse and insightful to both student of international studies and people seeking a deeper understanding of the model of competitive advantage. The posting presents England and Portugal as equal partners who grew mutually from their partnership. It is noteworthy that the posting observes existence of mutual need between the two countries and not that one of them needs the other more than the other does. The posting illustrates satisfactorily that harmony in the partnership between England and Portugal provides market for each country’s in the other’s domestic

Accessing Healthcare Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Accessing Healthcare - Assignment Example At the current rate of growth, by 2050, the Hispanic population would double to 30% and would be around 133 million individuals. Today, the Hispanics are found in all parts of the US, rather than the mere Southern States (CDC, 2011). Around 500,000 Hispanic are entering the US every year, legally and illegally, and when they enter they do not have proper facilities such as jobs, healthcare, education, etc. Hence they are force to live in poor conditions and make take up very low-end jobs (Moore, 2001). Due to various environmental, genetic, ethnic and situational problems existing in the US, the Hispanic population may find it very difficult to access healthcare facilities or be in a situation where they can control their health status. One of the major health issues that affect the African American population in the US is substance abuse, and within this population, there may be different variations noted, and often the Hispanic individuals get heavily criminalized for drug-related or alcohol-related crimes. Hence, they often end up facing huge drug offences and may be jailed. As per the NIDA 1991 study, the drug abuse rates may be lower in Hispanics compared to African-Americans or Caucasians, but comparatively it can be found that Hispanics misuse cocaine more frequently than any other population, and any offence related to cocaine usage is heavily criminalized. In other parts of the US such as New York, Heroin abuse is high amongst the Hispanics (Moore, 2001). There may be several reasons why the drug abuse problem is serious with the Hispanics. Firstly, there may be huge number of people in the Hispanic groups that indulge in serious drug abuse, compared to other populations, and in certain groups located, the rate of alcohol abuse may be similar to the Whites and the African-American, if not higher. Besides,

The Validity of The Developmental Theories of Freud, Erikson and Essay

The Validity of The Developmental Theories of Freud, Erikson and Piaget based on the personal experiences of Amy - Essay Example In the oral stage, a child gets satisfaction and pleasure through mouth, tongue and lips. Toilet training plays a significant role in delivering pleasure and satisfaction to a child in the anal stage. The third is the phallic stage when sexual organs become a focal point for both the genders. This is also a stage for the development of Oedipus complex in which sexual attraction is developed for the opposite gender. The Latency or Puberty is the fourth stage in which Oedipus complex is resolved through repressing the open expressions of sex; though the dominant area of gratification is still the genital area. The Genital Stage (Puberty onwards) where primary interest turns towards the opposite sex. However, the individual understands the social taboos and try to play within the social norms (see the website). Erikson (29-34) development theory identifies eight stages of human development. In Trust-Mistrust stage, trust is defined as an essential trust on others and one's own self, whi ch is important and has lasting effects throughout the life. Toddlers try to control the environment by doing small things for themselves such as holding feeder in the stage of autonomy-shame and doubt, which brings sense of autonomy if they are successful. During Initiative-guilt stage, children take initiatives and feel guilty if they are discouraged. Comparison with peers becomes important in the Industry-inferiority stage and negative evaluation of one one's own self is damaging. In the Ego Identity-Ego diffusion phase, the adolcence tries to integrate many roles such as sibling, student, athlete, worker into a self-image and leads to dissatisfaciton if develops a feeling that they are not capable to fulfill the role. The next phase is Intimacy-Isolation in which one learns to develop meaningful relationship with others and draw satisfaction and encouragment. The Generativity-Stagnation is phase of adulthood in which one seeks satisfaction in productivity in career, family and s ocietal work. One feels satisfied in the stage of Integrity-Despair if one feels that he has reasonable accomplishments in the past. Jean Piaget (see website) gives four periods of development. The Sensorimotor period has six stages including development of reflexes, habits, coordination between vision and prehension, and beginning of creativity. Pre-Operatory thoughts, Pre-Operational stage, and Sensorimotor are stages of Preoperational period in which a child starts from learning to represent objects by images and words to developing language skills. The Concrete Operational period is the period of cognitive development where a child learns to sort objects in shape and colors, identifies sets of objects, considers multiple aspects to solve a problem, learns complex reversable aspects such as mathmatics, understands and develops ability to arrange unrelated arrangments of numbers, quality and numbers in a meaningful way and leaves egocenterism. In formal operational period, a child develops the ability to think abstractly, reason logically and draw conclusions from the information available. The crux of the theories is that specific developmental conflict becomes critical at a certain stage but that does not mean that attributes of each stage is only related to a specific stage. A passed stage has

Internet Marketing †Acquisition and Retention Essay Example for Free

Internet Marketing – Acquisition and Retention Essay The methods of conducting business have really changed as the impact of globalization has causes several flexibilities and easiness in our lifestyles and daily life. Many businesses find it costly to open it in a physical location and expanding through outlets, which often does not target large audience. Therefore, many businesses are starting through internet where they can target customers from all over the world, market their products or services easily and economically, and get payments right away. Not only this, those businesses that do not operate virtually and have physical locations are finding it more effective and financially beneficial to market their products through internet, and that what is called Internet Marketing. Internet marketing also contains the elements of Direct Marketing, where the promotion of products is done online such as, websites (ResearchStarters, 2008). It does not mean that when businesses are started online they would always save costs and be successful; in fact, many businesses fail due to several factors and one significant of them is poor marketing strategies. Of course, the consumers would not have any idea that a new business has started that for instance, sells soccer jerseys, through its website. The target market should have to be made aware of that business, the products, new offers/deals, customer value, feedback, etc. Therefore, all this requires the business to use effective marketing tools and strategies where it can convey the message to the audience, impress them, convince them to purchase, and provide feedback. Businesses can use online marketing strategies such as, designing websites that grab the attention of the customers at first sight, force them to explore, make them realize that they are everything for the company, provide them with ease in shopping online, and let them give a chance to give a feedback. Moreover, businesses can also use the strategy of mass-emailing to the customers or potential customers whether they are individuals or other entities. Placing ads on popular and most-visited websites is another strategy but is quite expensive. And finally, the use of social networking websites such as, Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, is lucrative since it is inexpensive and targets wide range of audience. Customer Acquisition and Retention There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that it takes a business much more to spend in acquiring new customers than to retain the old or present customers. The reason being that the acquisition of new customers require the business to conduct market research, target them in a new way, shape the products or services according to their needs, reposition the brand that might damage it, and shape the marketing strategies accordingly. These all result in occurring more and more costs for the company; whereas, retaining old or present customers is quite prolific since they have already tried the products, have an image for it, know the company and its reputation, and most importantly can result in promoting them through word-of-mouth. Other marketing strategies for retaining such customers include offering them membership programs, building good relationships with them, increasing the contact with them, asking them for feedback about whether they are satisfied or not, enhancing support for them, and making them realize that they are part of the database and are given importance (Hughes, 2010). Moreover, retention of customers require the company to reshape and bring innovative features and qualities in their products to make those dormant customers restart buying the products if they have stopped to. There is a rule called 80/20 rule, which means that 80% of the revenue comes from 20% of the loyal customers. Therefore, businesses should not feel bothered if they have to invest more on those customers because they are providing them with more sales. So, companies can conduct sales promotion activities or other marketing campaigns for rejuvenating them and milking them. Also, when businesses get to know that their certain customers have stopped buying the products, they should conduct surveys where they should ask the customers what were the reason due to which they stopped buying, what flaw they saw in it, what improvements they want, etc (Businessfast4ward, 2010).

Geopolitical context Essay Example for Free

Geopolitical context Essay Syriana (2005) was directed by Stephen Gaghan and was produced by George Clooney, who also starred in it. The film, loosely adapted from Robert Baers memoir, See No Evil, is a thriller which focuses on contemporary themes and is highly relevant in todays geopolitical context. It tells four parallel stories, and the audience is taken on a lightning-paced, often confusing ride from Texas to Washington D. C. to Switzerland to Spain to the Middle East. This places it into the genre of hyperlink cinema, where storylines and characters interact subtly and events in one storyline have a distinct effect on other story lines, but the characters are not aware of this fully. Gaghans Syriana is similar in treatment to the documentary feel of Steven Soderberghs Traffic, which was written by Gaghan. While the latter had drug trade exposure as its main theme, both used interlocking stories to take the viewer on a spell-binding ride, which keeps throwing curves till the very end. The ensemble films central theme is petroleum politics and the widespread influence of the oil industry. Key plotlines focus on the political, economic, legal and social ramifications of this industry on CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney) who is highly experienced in the Middle East but his stellar reputation is tainted by his failure in a mission involving missiles in Beirut, an energy analyst Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) who is a friend of the Persian Gulf Prince Nasir Al-Subaai but suffers owing to this association, a lawyer in Washington Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) who is investigating the merger of two oil companies and Wasim Khan (Mazhar Munir), a Pakistani immigrant working for an oil company in an Arab country, which later fires him. The acting is top-notch and there is not a trace of bad acting in this movie. Clooney plays a man who has been exhausted by the CIAs war on Middle East terrorism, who on one hand is trying hard to get his son through college, and on the other has the power to order the assassination of the Persian Gulf Price because he chose China over the U. S. in an oil transaction. His acting has a hypnotic quality to it which stays with the viewer even after the final credits are rolled. Matt Damon also gives a brilliant performance who, much to his wifes horror, is perfectly willing to exploit the accidental death of his son in the Princes house for his own benefit. Tim Blake Nelson who plays Danny Dalton, the right-hand man of the executive at one of the oil companies involved in the merger, must also be mentioned for his amazing timing in the scene where he extols the safe and warm qualities of corruption. Syriana falls short of being a great movie, and ranks somewhere above average on the quality scale. The screen play is gripping, the dialogue sharp and the debates all those which gained relevance in the post 9/11 environment and stay so till now. The movie succeeds at telling its viewers how they should stop trying to understand the oil industry, because the real story is so complex it might not even be properly grasped by oil company executives, Arab monarchy, CIA agents or energy brokers anywhere in the world. The screenplay and direction both reflect a certain intelligence and the quality of research is impeccable. There are a number of individual scenes which contain an almost fierce power and energy in them, but they dont thread together the movie as a whole. The problem I faced with Syriana was that while I was spellbound throughout the duration of the movie, the various intermingled storylines confused me and I felt this happen more so because the characters in the movie itself are confused by the events around them and do not know exactly what kind of situations theyre involved in. The confusion of characters might have been written in the script, but in this particular case, it got passed on to the audience as well, which was in most probability, not the intention of the director. Another issue with the multifaceted stories were that some characters and plotlines were more developed and interesting, such as those of Matt Damon and George Clooney, while others, such as Jeffery Wrights could not impress, even with Wrights brilliant potential, simply because he just got about twenty minutes of screentime. Hence, while parts of the movie were good, they did not add up to a rewarding whole. Syriana is similar to Traffic in its aesthetic appeal: it has not been shot in a studio, rather to ensure the believability of the movie, production took place all around the globe to capture the true essence of the stunning landscapes and inimitable societies it would be depicting. The entire movie has been shot using a pair of hand-held cameras, which give the film its unique quasi-documentary feel and helps in providing context for some of the issues discussed in the movie. The movie is worth the two hours spent watching it, however, one ends up feeling that it was too ambitious a project where the execution could not deliver all that it was expected to. Nevertheless, Gaghans effort is commendable and the narrative of the oil industry is definitely eye-opening. His approach of not explaining everything and leaving the viewer to decide the right and wrong of it makes this movie a tough nut: gripping, complex, confusing and yet fascinating till the end.

The Task And Responsibility Of Front Office Workers Tourism Essay

The Task And Responsibility Of Front Office Workers Tourism Essay Front office is the main part for hotels. The popularity and how famous is the hotel are also depends to the hotel front office system because for a hotel customers are important and even with the presence of customer only the management can run the business. Moreover, front office people are the one who greet and give first impression to the customers. So, the way they greet customer can lead the hotels to have more customers. Front office are the one who also promote room and beverage sales such as type of room and packages available. 1.2 THE TASK AND RESPONSIBILITY; 1.2.1 THE RESPOSIBILITYS OF FRONT OFFICE MANAGER The front office manager is the one responsible for any good or bad things happened in the front desk, this includes the staff routine, staff training and all type of communication. The front office manager should also be available to work any shifts. Moreover, if there are any problem in the front office department, he should be ready to settle it off. The front office manager should also be a good leadership for the staffs. The front office manager is also the one who responsible for all the VIP and guess concerns. 1.2.2 THE RESPONSIBILITYS OF FRONT OFFICE ASSISTANT MANAGER The front office assistant manager is the one who need to update all the profit and problems to the manager. Moreover, the assistant manager is the one who assist manager in the front desk routines and management. He will help the manager with all the basic needs such as the front desk staff schedule, and then take care the desk when the manager not around. He should also able to solve the customers problem with fast act before the issue goes to the manager. The assistant manager is the one who responsible for all the meetings between the staffs too. Should assign the staffs with the routine. And if theres any emergency should take early act and make sure things are under control. 1.2.3 THE RESPONSIBILITYS OF FRONT OFFICE REPRESENTATIVE These peoples usually represent the front office such as if theres any problem the staffs, these people will see 1st before it goes to the supervisor. 1.2.4 THE RESPONSIBILITYS OF FRONT OFFICE NIGHT AUDITOR The night audit team responsible of the hotels daily activities such as they will be handling the front desk at night. Moreover, they also need to prepared the record of the day for all the room occupied and more. They also need to submit off the account for the particular day. They also need to verify the room charges, banquet charges and other charges correctly in order to provide the hotel data correctly. So, a night auditor plays important roles in a front desk. 1.2.5 THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A CASHIER A cashier is the one who handle money in front desk hotel. The cashier should and responsible for all the money act. The cashier will collect money from the guest during check in or check out. They generally operate a cash in a adding machine. The cashier should be very careful and responsible with the cash they handle to prevent any unwanted act. Usually, the cashiers work shift depends to the hotel procedures whereby a normal office hours duty. 1.2.6 THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF RESERVATIONIST The reservationist would be handling the front office department in handling the reservation calls. So, this people is the one who pick calls for customer reservation. If theres a call from outside customer to booked a hotel, the hotel reservationist will take their booking and explain about the hotel procedure to the customer. They, are the one who arranged rooms or even any meetings arrangement for the customer if theres such a booking. They, should also create a good mannerism when speak to the customer in the phone because there are representing the hotel and should make the guest to came down to booked this hotels rooms. Usually, this department working shifts is also depends to the hotel rules. They, should also be a good language speaker. 1.2.7 THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A TELEPHONE OPERATORS A telephone operator usually in the front desk with attending calls from outsides, such as if a customer needs to know room availability the telephone operators will transfer the line to interior department. So, a telephone operator should also be a good English speaker to attract the guess. Usually, their working shift time will be bit more different then others and its depends to the hotel procedures. The hotel department should appoint a right person to work here who is more responsible because they are the one who answers the calls whenever theres incoming call and should answer it within two three rings. 1.3 CONCLUSION So, front office is really a very important for a hotels. If, a hotel need to run in successfully the front office department is the major cause. Moreover, front office department are the main receiver of a guess, so a the very 1st satisfaction of a guess is after the way they are treat and its obviously the front office people. So, a good business for a hotel is all depend to the front office so the department heads should take good care of this front desk. 2.0 QUESTION 2 Front office staffs must have certain skills to attract guests during the first impression. Write about Front Office staff skill in guest relations? 2.1 INTRODUCTION The front office staff must have a good working skill to communicate or attract the guest. For a hotel a business can run up to level if the staff are in proper system, what we can mean here is about the skill and the ability to speak and communicate by the staff to the guest. It is really important for the staff to have a special skill to attract the staffs because not all the staffs can communicate well here and interact with guest in the proper term, so they need to have this special skill to have a qualify working skill. For a newly appointed staff usually the management will give them 1week training session, so the supervisor or the in charge person will give the training to the staffs. Most of the hotels will give them a certificate to prove they are well trained but then certain hotel doesnt do this. Even some of the hotels give money to the staff for that 1week working training. During the staff in training week, they will be given working hour shift that is from 9a.m 5pm. 2.1 FRONT OFFICE STAFF SKILL 2.1.1 GOOD COMMUNICATION A staff who works in the front office department should have the ability to speak very well. It is because the guest who going to check in to stay in the hotel not only going to be a local resident but then from worldwide, so the staff should have the ability to speak well language. Moreover, if the particular staff can speak multi language it will be more great full because there will be multinational language guest with different mother tongue. So, when the staff can communicate this way it will be easier for the guest from foreigners to communicate. 2.1.2 APPEARANCE Those staff who works at the front desk should have a good appearance. They should be neat in hair wise, the uniform they wear should be neat. All this are important because the guest who check in need to have a good look about the hotel in appreance wise so with such a good appreance, the guest will have respect for the hotel and the board. If, the particular person is tidy with poor appreance and with long hair and so on the guest who check in will have bad manner about the department and speak bad about it to others of his or her friends and give a bad reward to the hotel. 2.1.3 GOOD LISTENING SKILL The staff should have a good listening skill too. This is because usually front office will be very grandly and one or two noisiness so by having good listening they can overcome it and comfortable with the environment. It also show the support of us to the guest and we can get know what is expected from us by the guest or the superior. The staff can also resolve any problems which occur between the guest. Moreover, they need to have good hearing because when updating any guest data shouldnt have any error or else they might be in severe problem. To be a good listener the staff and the workers all should have good eye contact with the person whom we are talking. Either than that, they shouldnt interrupt when the speaker is speaking or else we might not get what they are all talking about and going to cause us problem because the guest cant keep on repeating the same thing to us so, we shouldnt interrupt but then listen to them with patient and calm. Nextly, the receiver should also s tand or seat in proper way because we need to respect the guest. 2.1.4 POSTURE Posture also can be defined same as the standing positioning, but in this wise the staff should always face the guest. For example, the receptionist will stand half away bend and talking hardly all shouldnt be practice as it can lower the hotel prestige. 2.1.5 EXPRESSION The staff working at front office should always have a good face expression. Whenever, the guest check-in or check-out or even when the guest are standing nearby, the staff should greet them with a smile or even some wish such as good evening and so on. So, by doing this the hotels prestige will get higher and at the same time the guest feel good about it. 2.1.6 GOOD EYE CONTACT The staff should also have a good eye contact with the guest. When a person talks to us, we should greet them back nicely in speaking wise and also by a good eye contact so that the particular persons know that we are hearing to their conversation. If let say theres no any eye contact, the person will think that we are not listening to them. So, all the staff should be train with having a good eye contact. 2.3 CONCLUSION So by overall, all the staff should have good working skill moreover for those who works in front desk as the need to deal with the guest every day. For a cashier, this type of skill will be very important because they will be handling cash every day and if any error occur they will be the one to blame. So, the staff should practice those skills in their daily routine to prevent from any problems.

Civil Engineering Essay -- essays papers

Civil Engineering The need for Civil Engineers is rapidly growing from day to day. Civil Engineers are vital to the advancement of society. Civil Engineering is the combination of common knowledge and practical planning to the layout of the cities, towns, and communities being developed today. Civil Engineers are involved in the designing and building of the new structures surrounding us, as well as keeping them maintained. Also, Civil Engineers are responsible for finding efficient methods for updating city, town, and community structures. Civil Engineers are a necessity in the advancement of structures, businesses, cities, towns, and communities that are used daily. Although Civil Engineers are among the lowest paid in the field of Engineering, their salary may reach $117,000 per year. Entry-level salaries, however, are among the highest of all Engineers. Entry-level Civil Engineers with a bachelor’s degree start with a salary near or above $33,000 a year. Those who have completed a masters degree generally earn about $35,000 a year, while students who have obtained a doctorate degree have a starting salary of about $47,000 annually. Civil Engineers who are employed by the government usually make more that those employed by private businesses. The average salary for a mid-level Civil Engineer is $46,000 (employed by a private company) and $61,000 (employed by the government). The top-level Civil Engineers – owners and top government employers -- may earn up to $117,000 a year. Every salary differs due to years of experience and time put into degrees. The salaries earned by a Civil Engineer are backed by many years of education. All Civil Engineers mush receive a high school diploma or achieve an equivalent diploma. Students with an interest in becoming a Civil Engineer should focus on mathematics, sciences, computer science, English, and humanities. Interested students should also participate in many honors-level courses. Once completing the necessary high school courses, students should enroll in a college or university to work toward a bachelor’s degree. A bachelor’s degree may be earned by completing a four or five-year accredited college or university. Also, a bachelor’s degree may be earned by participating in a five to ten-year CO-OP program, which is the act of attending class for part of the year and working in an... ...s highways and water systems. The government also plays a big part in the future of Civil Engineers. If the government decides to cut off some funds to help keep cities, towns, and communities updated, the number of Civil Engineers may decrease. Finally, the public plays a large role in the need for Civil Engineers. If the public becomes more concerned in the environment, more Civil Engineers will be need to establish new wastewater plants, recycling establishments, and toxic waste dump sites for industrial and residential waste products. Civil Engineers will always be in demand, they are the heart of many current establishments. Civil Engineering improves daily. New processes and methods are always being developed to make projects more accurate, easier, and more efficient. The amount of training, number of engineers, and the average salaries will begin increasing as these developments are accepted. Civil Engineering will be around as long as there are objects that need to be constructed or updated. Throughout the years, the demand may increase or decrease. No matter what the future supplies, Civil Engineers will be considered the heart of many projects and solved problems.

Dr. Seuss: The Great American Childrens Poet Essay -- essays research

Dr. Seuss: The Great American Children's Poet   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dr. Seuss is the pseudonym for Theodor Seuss Geisel III, Ted Geisel to his friends. He originally thought of his pen name being pronounced zo-oice which is the German pronunciation. He took his middle name from his mother's maiden name.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He was born in 1904 to Theodor Jr. and Henrietta Geisel of Springfiel Massachusetts. Both sets of grandparents were from Germany. Theodor Jr. was a wealthy brewer and tavern owner until the Prohibition. Then he worked as the manager of the Springfield Zoo. Ted also had an older sister named Marnie. He went to college at Dartmouth and graduate school at Oxford. While at Dartmouth he got into a bit of trouble when the police arrested him for drinking. (This was during the Prohibition.) As punishment he was kicked off the school magazine, The Jack O'Lantern, to which he contributed as a cartoonist. To get around the rule he began to sign his work as Dr. Seuss. And that is why Ted Geisel became Dr. Seuss. While at Oxford he met his first wife Helen Palmer to whom he was married for 40 years until her death. They moved to New York. While in New York he worked drawing cartoon advertisments for Flit, an insect repellant. It was he who coined the phrase â€Å"Quick Henry, the Flit† which was to 1930s advertising what â€Å"Just Do It† is to 1990s advertising. Sort of.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They later moved to La Jolla, California where Ted live...

Diagram of Generic Academic Performance Monitoring System Essay

Figure 2.0: Context Diagram of Generic Academic Performance Monitoring System The figure 2.0 represents the two (2) users of the Generic Academic Performance Monitoring System namely the Administrator and the Professor. The Administrator entity shows the capability to access the system; manage account by modifying account’s profile; managing member’s account such as creating new user profile and updating user profile; importing student list; creation of grade criteria; generating students grade report and updating website contents. The Professor entity shows the capability on accessing the system; managing account profile; importing student list; defining grade template for grading computation and generating student’s grade. Figure 3.0: First Entry Level Data Flow Diagram of Administrator’s Capabilities The figure 3.0 represents the First Entry Level Data Flow Diagram of the Administrator upon successfully logging-in into the Generic Academic Performance Monitoring System. He/she has the capabilities to manage modules such as handling member’s account, importing students list, creation of grade criteria, grade computation and updating website contents Figure 3.1: Second Entry Level Data Flow Diagram on Managing Account for Administrator The figure 3.1 shows the Second Entry Level Data Flow Diagram of the Administrator on managing members account wherein he/she has the capability to create account’s profile for new professor or associate. He/she also capable on updating existing member account. Figure 3.2: Second Entry Level Data Flow Diagram on Import Student List, Create Criteria, Grading and Website Modules for Administrator Figure 3.2 shows the continuation of the Second Entry Level Data Flow Diagram of the Administrator. Upon successfully accessing the system, he/she has the capability to import students list and create criteria template to be use for the student’s grade computations. The Administrator also has the  capibility to change or update website contents from client’s discretion. Figure 4.0: First Entry Level Data Flow Diagram for Professor’s Capabilities In the Figure 4.0 shown above, it represents the First Entry Level Data Flow Diagram of Professor in the Generic Academic Performance Monitoring System. Same with the Administrator user, the Professor also have the capabilities to update own account profile, import student lists and generate student’s grade summary. Figure 4.1: Second Entry Level Data Flow Diagram on Managing Account, Import Student Lists and Compute Grade Modules for Professor Figure 4.1 shown above presents the Second Entry Level Data Flow Diagram of the Professor upon successfully logging-in into the system. Same with the Administrator user, the Professor is also capable on modifying and updating account profile; importing student list; defining grade criteria template and generate grade summary of students.

Public Habit

Win-win thinking simply describes the belief that everyone can win. This line of thinking allows you to care for others as well as yourself. Thinking win-win is like an all you can eat buffet; there is more than enough for everybody. To fully understand what it means to think win-win, we must understand what it is not. Win-Lose (aka-The Totem Pole) is the attitude that there's only a certain amount of something, and if you get big piece, there is less for me, so therefore I'm going to get my piece first.Lose- Win (aka-The Doormat) is the attitude that sets low expectations and compromises standards repeatedly, such as if I lose, you win. Lose-Lose (aka-The Downward Spiral) is the attitude that, â€Å"If I go down, you're going down with me. â€Å"Unlike these, the Win- Win cares about others and wants them to succeed, as well as caring about themselves. So you might be asking yourself, â€Å"How can I think Win-win? † First, you must succeed in obtaining private victories, w here the benefit is internal.Without Hess, it's hard for a person to enjoy other's successes, or share recognition and praise, because of their insecurities. As a person makes deposits into their ABA (Personal Bank Account), takes responsibility for their own life, and creates a plan, their confidence and security will boost, thus allowing them to enjoy the company of others instead of feeling threatened by them. The â€Å"tumor twins†, competing and comparing, are the two habits that, like tumors, slowly eat you away.Competition and impairing turns dark when your self-worth Is tied to winning or being better than others. These, when not appropriate, can harm you. Lose-Win and Win-Lose will cloud you with negative thoughts. Not only does developing a Win-Win attitude infuse your heart with warm thoughts, but It also gives you confidence. Get a big piece, there is less for me, so therefore I'm going to get my piece first. Lose- comparing turns dark when your self-worth is tied to winning or being better than infuse your heart with warm thoughts, but it also gives you confidence.

Comparing and Contrasting the Pardoners Tale and the Wife of Bath Tale

I. Definitions A. Controls all products B. Is a part of the Economic System C. System of society of living things D. Political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership II. Pro and Cons A. Social programs 1. Food stamps 2. Public housing 3. Public health-care 4. Public education B. Allows for a stable economy C. All capitalistic system is all about individual and singular life 1. people don't necessarily like to share 2. think their higher than one another D. Distributes the wealth of a nation III.Statistics And Facts A. Socialism is equality for all and a classless system B. Became along in the late 18th and early 19th century 1. reaction to the economic and social changes 2. industrial revolution C. had become the most important political force on the continent D. Democratic socialism took firm root in European politics after World War 1 IV. Key Figures A. Utopian Socialist 1. Socialist writer 2. Followed Babeuf B. Louis Blanc 1. Followed the Utopians 2. Put forward a system of social workshops in 1840 C. Marxism . European socialism 2. Theoretical basis for most socialist thought D. Democratic socialism 1. Took firm root in European politics after World War I 2. participated in government in Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other nations E. Christian socialism V. Conclusion A. Has systems of social organization B. Socialist parties came to power in many nations throughout the world C. Believes in the removal of all borders between countries D. Includes a diverse array of political philosophies ‘

Industry Life Cycle of Nokia Company

Social Sustainability Process Industry Social Sustainability Social Indicators for Sustainable Project and Technology Life Cycle Management in the Process Industry Carin Labuschagne1 and Alan C. Brent1* 1 Chair of Life Cycle Engineering, Department of Engineering & Technology Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa * Corresponding author (alan. [email  protected] ac. za) DOI: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1065/lca2006. 01. 233 Abstract Goal, Scope and Background.The importance of the social dimension of sustainable development increased significantly during the last decade of the twentieth century. Industry has subsequently experienced a shift in stakeholder pressures from environmental to social-related concerns, where new developments in the form of projects and technologies are undertaken. However, the measurement of social impacts and the calculation of suitable indicators are less well developed compared to environmental indicators in order to assess the pot ential liabilities associated with undertaken projects and technologies.The aim of this paper is to propose a Social Impact Indicator (SII) calculation procedure based on a previously introduced Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) calculation procedure for environmental Resource Impact Indicators (RIIs), and to demonstrate the practicability of the SII procedure in the context of the process industry in South Africa. Methods. A framework of social sustainability criteria has been introduced for the South African process industry.The social sub-criteria of the framework are further analyzed, based on project and technology management expertise in the South African process industry, to determine whether the criteria should be addressed at project or technology management level or whether they should rather form part of an overall corporate governance policy for new projects and technologies. Furthermore, the proposed indicators for criteria that are considered appropriate for project or technology evaluation purposes are constrained by the type of information that is available, i. e. he calculation methodology relies on the availability of regional or national social information where the project will be implemented, as well as the availability of project- or technology-specific social information during the various phases of the project or technology development life cycle. Case studies in the process industry and statistical information for South Africa are subsequently used to establish information availability for the SII calculation procedure, demonstrate the SII method together with the RII method, and determine the practical use of the SII method.Results and Conclusion. The case studies establish that social footprint information as well as project- and technology social data are not readily available in the South African process industry. Consequently, the number of mid-point categories that can be evaluated are minimal, which results in an impaired soci al picture when compared to the environmental dimension. It is concluded that a quantitative social impact assessment method cannot be applied for project and technology life cycle management purposes in industry at present.Recommendation and Perspective. Following the outcomes of the case studies in the South African process industry, it is recommended that checklists and guidelines be used during project and technology life cycle management practices. Similar to the environmental dimension, it is envisaged that such checklists and guidelines would improve the availability of quantitative data in time, and would therefore make the SII procedure more practical in the future.Keywords: Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA); Life Cycle Management (LCM); process industry; Resource Impact Indicator (RII); Social Impact Indicator (SII); social sustainability Introduction The last decade of the twentieth century marked significant steps to draw the social dimension of sustainable development into the open [1]. The inclusion of social aspects in the sustainability debate and practice has nevertheless been marginal compared to the attention given to the other two dimensions, especially from a business perspective [1,2,3].However, stakeholders are forcing companies to address the inclusion of social sustainability by shifting pressure from environmental to social related concerns [4,5]. The social dimension is commonly recognised as the ‘weakest' pillar of sustainable development due to a lack of analytical and theoretical underpinnings [5] and it is believed that the state of development of indicators or measurements for social business sustainability parallels that of environmental performances about 20 years ago [6].Nevertheless, there is a definite need for practical tools to introduce social sustainability into business evaluation processes [1,7,8]. This paper proposes a methodology to assess the social sustainability of projects and technologies in the process industry by calculating social impact indicators, and addresses the following two questions: 1) What social criteria must such an assessment methodology consider and measure? 2) How must these criteria be addressed and measured?To address the first question, a framework of social business sustainability criteria is defined, which is relevant for operational initiatives in the process industry. Social sustainable development indicators are then introduced, demonstrated and discussed, based on the defined framework. Int J LCA 11 (1) 3 – 15 (2006)  © 2006 ecomed publishers (Verlagsgruppe Huthig Jehle Rehm GmbH), D-86899 Landsberg and Tokyo †¢ Mumbai †¢ Seoul †¢ Melbourne †¢ Paris 3 Process Industry Social Sustainability Responsibility (CSR) literature and guidelines, and other international guidelines were undertaken (Table 1) [9].The analysis showed that a comprehensive social sustainability framework should define appropriate criteria to address the comp any's impacts on the social systems in which it operates, as well as the company's relationship with its various stakeholders. A sustainable development framework for operational initiatives was subsequently developed and proposed, the social dimension of which is shown in Fig. 1. Table 2 provides the definitions of the criteria at the different levels of the framework, which are described in detail elsewhere [9]. 1 1. 1 Social Sustainability Criteria FrameworkDevelopment of a framework for business management purposes in the process industry The current indicator frameworks that are available to measure overall business sustainability do not effectively address social aspects of sustainability at operational level in the process industry, especially in developing countries such as South Africa [9]. The question arises what the exact scope of social sustainability should entail from a business management perspective. An analysis of current available frameworks, Social Impact Assessm ent (SIA) guidelines, Corporate SocialTable 1: Analysis of the social criteria addressed by current frameworks and guidelines [9] Name and type of literature Health Education Environment Housing / Living conditions ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Criteria Society Security / Crime Facilities & Services Population characteristics Community characteristics Economic welfare / Employment ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Indicator frameworks United Nations 1 ? ? 3 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Global Reporting Intitiative2 IchemE Sustainability Metrics Wuppertal Indicators 4 European Conceptual Framework for Social Ind. SIA literature Interorganizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles6 Socioeconomic impacts for Energy Efficiency Project for Climate Change Mitigation7 South Sydney Council SIA 8 checklist SIA categories for development 9 projects in South Africa South African social criteria for CDM project evaluation10 Classification of social impacts 11 according to Vanclay Classification of social impacts 11 according to Juslen Classification of social impacts according to Gramling and 11 Freudenburg SIA Series’ Guide to Social Assessment12 Government actions European Greenpaper on CSR World Bank’s Social Analysis 14 Sourcebook SRI Indexes Dow Jones Sustainability Index FTSE 4 GOOD16 JSE SRI Index 17 18 15 13 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Pressures from international financing organisations ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Dominini 400 Index Global Compact19 International standards and guidelines Global Sullivan Principles20 Caux Round Table OECD Guidelines SA 8000 23 21 22 AA 100024 Investors in People CSR standards Ethos Indicators 27 25 26 Ethical Trading Initiative ? 29 ? ? ? ? ? Standards of CSR28 Danish Social Index 4 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability Process IndustryTable 1: Analysis of the social criteria addressed by current frameworks and guidelines [9] (cont'd) Name and type of literature Society Community cohesion Indicator frameworks 1 United Nations 2 Global Reporting Intitiative ? 3 IchemE Sustainability Metrics 4 Wuppertal Indicators European Conceptual Framework ? 5 for Social Ind. SIA literature Interorganizational Committee on ? 6 Guidelines and Principles Socioeconomic impacts for ? Energy Efficiency Project for 7 Climate Change Mitigation 8 South Sydney Council SIA checklist ? SIA categories for development ? 9 projects in South Africa South African social criteria for CDM project evaluation10 Classification of social impacts ? 11 according to Vanclay Classification of social impacts ? 1 according to Juslen Classification of social impacts ? according to Gramling and 11 Freudenburg SIA Series' Guide to Social ? Assessment12 Government actions 13 European Greenpaper on CSR ? Pressures from international financing organisations World Bank's Social Analysis ? 14 Sourcebook SRI Indexes 15 Dow Jones Sustainability Index FTSE 4 GOOD16 17 J SE SRI Index 18 Dominini 400 Index International standards and guidelines 19 Global Compact 20 Global Sullivan Principles Caux Round Table21 22 OECD Guidelines 23 SA 8000 ? AA 100024 ? 25 Investors in People ? 26 Ethical Trading Initiative ? CSR standards 27 Ethos Indicators 28 Standards of CSR Danish Social Index29 1Criteria Society and company (interlinkage) Product Community Stakeholder Training, responsibility involvement participation / education of of company Engagement staff Equity Company internal Fair Human labour rights practices Employee health and safety ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (2001): Indicators of susta inable development: guidelines and methodologies. United Nations. Available from ;http://www. un. rg/esa/sustdev/ natlinfo/indicators/indisd/indisd-mg2001. pdf;, visited on 19 November 2003 Global Reporting Initiative (2002): Sustainability Reporting Guidelines 2002. Global Reporting Initiative, Boston Institution of Chemical Engineers, (2002): The Sustainability Metrics: Sustainable Development Progress Metrics recommend for use in the Process Industries. Institution of Chemical Engineers. Rugby Spangenberg JH, Bonniot O (1998): Sustainability Indicators – A Compass on the Road Towards Sustainability. Wuppertal Paper 81 Centre for Survey Research and Methodology (ZUMA) (2000): Conceptual Framework and Structure of a European System of Social Indicators.EuReporting Working Paper no 9, Mannheim Interorganizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment (1995): Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment. Environmental Impact Assessment R eview 15 (1) 11–43 Vine E, Sathaye J (1999): Guidelines for the Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting, Verification and Certification of Energy-Efficiency Projects for Climate Change Mitigation. US Environmental Protection Agency through the U. S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC03-76SF00098 South Sydney Council (2004): The South Sydney Plan: Social Impact Assessment Checklist. ;http://www. sscc. nsw. gov. au/router? model=c=1704;, visited on 21 January 2004. Khosa M (2000): Social Impact Assessment of Development Projects. In: Khosa M (ed), Infrastructure Mandate for Change 1994–1999.Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Publishers, Pretoria Brent AC, Heuberger R, Manzini D (2005): Evaluating projects that are potentially eligible for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) funding in the South African context: A case study to establish weighting values for sustainable development criteria. Environment and Development Economics 10 (5) 631–649 Vanclay F (200 2): Conceptualising social impacts. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 22 (3) 183–211 Branch K, Hooper DA, Thompson J, Creighton J (1984): Guide to Social Assessment: A framework for assessing social change. Westview Press, London European Commission: Employment and Social Affairs (2001): Promoting a European framework for corporate social responsibility. European Communities, Luxembourg Social Analysis and Policy Team (2003): Social Analysis Sourcebook: Incorporating Social Dimensions into Bank-supported projects.Washington DC, The World Bank: Social Development Department SAM Indexes (2003): Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes Guide, Version 5. 0. SAM Indexes GmbH, Zollikon-Zurich FTSE (2003): FTSE4Good Index Series: Inclusion Criteria. FTSE The Independent Global Index Company, London Johannesburg Stock Exchange (2004): JSE SRI Index: Background and Selection Criteria. ;http://www. jse. co. za/sri/docs/;, visited on 9 January 2004 Domini Social Investments (2003): T he Domini 400 Social IndexSM. Available from ;http://www. domini. com/Social-screening/creation_maintenance. doc_cvt. htm;, visited on 31 December 2003 Kell G (2003): The global compact: origins, operations, progress and challenges.The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Autumn, 35–49 Global Sullivan Principles (2003): The Global Sullivan Principles of Social Responsibility. Available from ;http://www. globalsullivanprinciples. org;, visited on 27 December 2003 Caux Round Table (2003): Caux Round Table Principles for Business, English Translation. Available from: ;http://www. cauxroundtable. org/ENGLISH. htm;, visited on 20 January 2003 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (2000): The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises 2000 Revision. OECD Publication, Paris Social Accountability International (2003): Overview of SA8000. Available from ;http://www. cepaa. org/SA8000/SA8000. tm;, visited on 4 March 2003 AccountAbility (1999): Overview of the AA1000 fr amework. AccountAbility Publication, London, available from ;http://www. accountability. org. uk/uploadstore/cms/docs/AA1000%20Overview. pdf;, visited on 29 December 2003 Investors in People UK (2003): The Standard. Available from ;http://iipuk. co. uk/IIP/Internet/InvestorsinPeople/TheStandard/default. htm;, visited on 29 December 2003 Ethical Trading Initiative (2003): Ethical Trading Initiative Homepage. Available from ;http://www. ethicaltrade. org;, visited on 29 December 2003 Ethos Institute for Business and Social Responsibility (2001): ETHOS Corporate Social Responsibility INDICATORS.Instituto Ethos de Empresas e Responsabillidade Social, Sao Paulo Goodell E (ed) (1999): Social Venture Networks: Standards of Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Venture Networks, San Fransisco Danish Ministry of Social Affairs, KPMG, Socialforskningsinstituttet (2000): Social Index: Measuring a Company's social responsibility, Danish Ministry of Social Affairs, Copenhagen Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 5 Process Industry Social Sustainability Social Sustainability Internal Human Resources External Population Macro Social Performance Stakeholder Participation Employment Stability Human Capital Socio- Economic Performance Information Provision Employment Opportunities Employment Renumeration Employment Practices Health Economic Welfare Trading Opportunities Socio- Environmental Performance Collective Audience Selected Audience Stakeholder Influence Education Productive Capital Disciplinary & Security Practices Employee Contracts Equity Housing MonitoringDecision Influence Potential Stakeholder Empowerment Service Infrastructure Mobility Infrastructure Regulatory & Public Services Community Capital Legislation Enforcement Labour Sources Health & Safety Health & Safety Practices Health & Safety Incidents Capacity Development Sensory Stimuli Cultural Properties Social Pathologies Security Economic Welfare Social Cohesion Research & Development Career Development Fig. 1: Framework to assess the social sustainability of engineering projects and technologies [9] Table 2: Definitions of Social Criteria [9] Internal Human Resources focuses on the social responsibility of the company towards its workforce and includes all aspects of employment.The criterion addresses a business initiative's impact on work opportunities within the company, the stability thereof as well as Employment Stability evaluating the fairness of compensation. Disciplinary and secrecy practices as well as employee contracts are addressed under this criterion. These are evaluated to Employment Practices ensure that it complies with the laws of the country, international human rights declarations as well as other human rights and fair employment practice standards. The criterion focuses on the health and safety of the workforce and evaluates preventive measures as well as the occurrence Health & Safety and handling of health and/or safety incidents. Capacity Development The criterion addresses two different, aspects namely research and development, and career development.External Population focuses on the external impacts of the company’s operational initiatives on a society, e. g. impacts External Population on the availability of services, community cohesion, economic welfare, etc. Human Capital refers to an individual's ability to work in order to generate an income and encompasses aspects such as health, Human Capital psychological wellbeing, education, training and skills levels. The criterion addresses Health and Education separately. Productive capital entails the assets and infrastructure an individual needs in order to maintain a productive life. The criterion Productive Capital measures the strain placed on these assets and infrastructure availability by the business initiative.This criterion takes into account the effect of an operational initiative on the social and institutional relationships and networks of Community Capital trust, reciprocity and sup port as well as the typical characteristics of the community. Macro Social Performance focuses on the contribution of an organisation to the environmental and financial Macro Social Performance performance of a region or nation, e. g. contribution to exports. Socio-Economic Performance This criterion addresses the external economic impact of the company's business initiatives. Economic welfare (contribution to GDP, taxes, etc. ) as well as trading opportunities (contribution to foreign currency savings, etc. ) are addressed separately.Socio-Environmental This criterion considers the contributions of an operational initiative to the improvement of the environment for society on a Performance community, regional and national level. The extension of the environmental monitoring abilities of society, as well as the enhancement of legislation and the enforcement thereof, are included in this criterion. Stakeholder Participation focuses on the relationships between the company and ALL its stakeholders (internally and Stakeholder Participation externally) by assessing the standard of information sharing and the degree of stakeholder influence on decision-making. The quantity and quality of information shared with stakeholders are measured.Information can either be shared openly with all Information Provisioning stakeholders (Collective Audience) or shared with targeted, specific groups of stakeholders (Selected Audience). The degree to which the company actually listens to the stakeholders' opinion should also be evaluated. Two separate subStakeholder Influence criteria are included: Decision Influence Potential and Stakeholder Empowerment. Internal Human Resources 6 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability Process Industry The conclusion was reached that no social aspect of the ten projects could be found that could not be classified into the criteria framework. In addition, all of the social criteria did not manifest in each asset life cycle phase. However, ther e may be social aspects that did not manifest in either the case studies or the framework.Nevertheless, the basis on which the individual case studies were chosen makes these cases adequately representative of the current social environment in which construction, operation, and decommissioning occurs in the process industry. It is subsequently concluded that the framework is complete enough to be used as an initial basis to develop a social assessment methodology, which can incorporate social sustainability into project and technology management practices. The social sustainability framework was further validated by means of a Delphi Technique survey [12]. The survey focused on the relevance of the proposed social criteria for the evaluation of projects or technologies and attempted to answer whether the project team, a functional unit within an organisation, or an organisation's corporate governance framework should address the different social aspects.A total of 23 project managem ent experts in a process industry company in South Africa participated in the survey, which established the suitability of the social criteria, as well as the relevance of the criteria in terms of sustainable business practices. The outcomes of the survey support the conclusion reached by the case studies, but also suggest, according to the opinion of project management experts, that all the criteria are not relevant to project and technology management, but should rather manifest as part of corporate policy (Table 3) [11]. 1. 2 Verification and validation of the completeness and relevance of the social criteria of the framework The social sustainability framework was verified by means of case studies testing the completeness and relevance of its criteria.Since the aim of the framework is to assess the social sustainability of projects and technologies in the process industry, ten case studies were chosen that represent the three phases of the asset, or technology, life cycle with t he greatest potential to cause social impacts, i. e. the Construction Phase, the Operation Phase, and the Decommissioning Phase. The rationale for focussing on the three asset life cycle phases, as well as the interaction between asset and project life cycles, can be found in literature [10]. The case studies aimed to describe the significant social impacts that may occur during the life cycle phases in relation to the proposed framework, and to identify any social impacts that cannot be classified into the framework [11]: †¢ The construction of three process industry facilities: an incinerator, a mine, and a gas pipeline. The operation of four chemical manufacturing facilities, one in Germany, one in the USA, and two in different provinces in South Africa. †¢ The decommissioning of three process industry facilities: a cyanide manufacturing plant, an acrylic fibre manufacturing plant, and a mine. Project related documentation, pertaining to each of the case studies, was ev aluated and personal interviews were held with project responsible individuals [11]. It must be noted that in case study research it is not easy to generalise results, since statistical analysis cannot necessarily be applied. Cases are not sampling units and cannot be treated as such. Table 3: Delphi Technique survey results [11]Criterion Employment Opportunities Employment Remuneration Disciplinary & Security Practices Employee Contracts Equity & Diversity Labour Sources Health & Safety Practices Health & Safety Incidents Research Development Career Development Health Education Housing Service Infrastructure Mobility Infrastructure Regulatory & Public Services/ Institutional Services Sensory Stimuli Security Cultural Properties Economic Welfare Social Pathologies Social Cohesion Economic Welfare Trading Opportunities Monitoring Legislation Enforcement Information Provisioning Stakeholder Influence Project x The criterion should be addressed by†¦ Business Strategy x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Functional Department x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 7 Process Industry Social Sustainability CC = Characterisation factor for an impact category (of intervention X) within the pathway. As a first approximation no characterisation factors are assumed and social LCI constituents are considered separately.NC = Normalisation factor for the impact category based on the social objectives in the region of assessment, i. e. the inverse of the target state of the impact category. The information is obtained from social footprint data in the region of the assessment. And, Significance (or relative importance) of the impact category in a social group based on the distance-to-target method, i. e. current social state divided by the target social state (see section 1. 2). 2 Social Impact Indicator (SII) Calculation Procedure The main focus of this paper is the development and testing of a quantitative so cial sustainable development indicator calculation method.A life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) approach has been proposed before for the evaluation of the social impacts of life cycle systems from compiled LCIs [13,14]. An introduced LCIA methodology developed specifically for the South African context, termed the Resource Impact Indicator (RII) approach [15], is thereby used as basis for the development of social indicators. The environmental RII approach considers the current and target ambient state or ecological footprint through a conventional distance-to-target normalisation and weighting calculation procedure [15]. A similar calculation procedure is proposed for Social Impact Indicators (SII), using the four main social criteria (shown in Fig. 1) as Areas of Protection (AoP).Three of these criteria represent the main groups of social resources on which the company can have an impact, while the fourth criterion represents all relationships between the company and stakeholders . The general SII calculation procedure is described through Eq. 1. (1) Where: SIIG = Social Impact Indicator calculated for a main social resource group through the summation of all impact pathways of all categorised social interventions of an evaluated life cycle system. QX = Quantifiable social intervention (X) of a life cycle system in a midpoint impact category C, i. e. project or technology specific information with regards to social impacts. Table 4: Midpoint categories and evaluation methods [17] Social Impact Indicators (SIIs) Internal Human Resources Midpoint category SC = CS = TSTo develop the calculation method, the same case studies used for the verification of the social criteria (see section 1. 2) were used to compile a list of possible social interventions, i. e. a social Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of assessed operational initiatives in the process industry. However, the RII method makes use of mid-point categories. To define midpoint categories, the list of social i nterventions was mapped against the social criteria at various levels within the proposed social sustainability framework. A causal relationship diagram was consequently established for each of the four main social criteria, which define the midpoint categories. These causal diagrams are shown in the Appendix [16].Three measurement methods are proposed to express the defined midpoint categories in equivalence units (Table 4) [17]: †¢ Established risk assessment approaches, which require a subjective evaluation of the probability of occurrence, the projected frequency of the occurrence, and the potential intensity thereof; Measurement methods to establish equivalence units Quantitative Risk Quantitative Quantitative Risk Qualitative Quantitative Qualitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Qualitative Quantitative Qualitative/Quantitative Quantitative External Population Stakeholder Participation Macro-Social PerformancePermanent internal employment positions Internal Health and Safety situation Knowledge level / Career development Internal Research and Development capacity Comfort level / Nuisances Perceived aesthetics Local employment Local population migration Access to health facilities Access to education Availability of acceptable housing Availability of water services Availability of energy services Availability of waste services Pressure on public transport services Pressure on the transport network / People and goods movement Access to regulatory and public services Change in relationships with stakeholders External value of purchases / supply chain value/Nature of Purchases Migration of clients / Changes in the product value chain/Nature of Sales Improvement of socio-environmental services 8 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability Process IndustryTable 5: Proposed Midpoint Categories for the four main social criteria together with proposed units of equivalence Social AoP Internal Human Resources Midpoint Category Permanent Internal Employment Positions Possible Health and Safety Incidents Internal Research & Development Capacity External Population Comfort Level/Nuisances Units of equivalence Number of employment opportunities equivalent to a specific position Fatality or Disability Injury Rate Cost spend on R capacity Risk of uncomfort/ Kilo tons of pollutants emitted per annum Intervention Information, i. e. project Social Footprint Information needed or technology information Number and type of employment Employment by type, i. e. osition and opportunities created or destroyed full-time/part-time, for municipality Risk of health and safety incidents with prediction of number based on similar previous undertakings Investment by project in R as part of project budget Predicted emissions that can smell or risk of emissions Industry fatal accident or disability injury rate Municipality budget on R or industry budget Emissions and noise le vel of municipality as well as acceptable levels by standards, e. g. SABS standards Predicted noise levels or risk of noise Aesthetics Level of perceived acceptability Risk of structure and location having a negative impact on aesthetics of community Perceived level of aesthetic acceptability by community Local Employment Fraction of employable community hours Number of permanent job type equivalents Calculation: permanent positions multiplied by conversion factor Employment by type for community or municipality Local Population Migration Access to health facilities Level of short-term demographic changes People per qualified doctorPredicted change in local population Predicted increase or decrease in ratio, focus only on public health sector Predicted impact on the number of literate adults The predicted need for houses which must be build multiplied by the average size Quantity of water used or supplied Quantity of electricity used or supplied Quantity of waste generated and/or qu antity of waste removed from municipal area Number of additional public transport seats required Tons of good transported on roads and or kilometre of road infrastructure provided Percentage of turnover or expenses spend locally Monetary amount spend on services, resources or information that will improve macro environmental performance Predicted Percentage improvement or deterioration in perceived stakeholder trust Demographic profile of community or municipal area National ratio of people per qualified doctor or international ratio Literate adults in municipality area or region Size of municipality area Access to Education Availability of acceptable houses Availability of water services Availability of energy services Availability of waste services Pressure on public transport services Pressure on transport network/ People and goods movement Macro Social Performance Literate adults Zoned residential area per capita Water of drinking quality per capita kWh of electricity per capita Capita per G:h landfill siteWater of drinking quality used by municipality Electricity usage by municipality Landfill sites (type and size) used by municipality Public Transport seats available in municipal area Ton kilometres per capita (in region or nationally) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per region and/or per industry. Monetary amount spent on Environmental Services by the region, i. e. provincial government or municipal council Perceived stakeholder trust based on community questionnaires or surveys Seat kilometres per capita Ton kilometres per capita External value of purchases Fraction of purchased locallymanufactures goods Improvement of SocioEnvironmental Services Cost spent on SE services per capita Stakeholder Participation Change in relationships with stakeholders Level of stakeholder trust Quantitative evaluation approaches, including, but not limited to, costs and direct measurements in society; and †¢ Qualitative evaluation approaches, which require appropriate subjective scales and associated guidelines, and have been proposed for the industrial ecology and streamlined LCA disciplines (see section 1. 2). The defined midpoint categories, which, from the validation survey (see section 1. 2), are considered appropriate at project or technology management level, together with pro- posed units of equivalence for evaluation purposes are shown in Table 5. The units of equivalence were determined from the characteristics of the social interventions identified from the ten case studies.The definitions of the midpoint categories make it evident that the normalisation and significance steps will be constrained by what is practicably measurable within a society where an operational initiative, i. e. project or technology (from an industry perspective), will typically occur. The availability of information is likely to differ be- Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 9 Process Industry tween developed and developing countries. Furthermore, the projection of the socia l interventions of a project or technology may be problematic or at least differ from case to case. Separate studies may be required for some of the social sustainability criteria, e. g. stakeholder participation, even at project-specific level, which may be problematic. Case Studies to Demonstrate and Test the SII Calculation Method Social Sustainability 3. 1 Construction of an open cast mine 3. 1. 1 Background The SII calculation method was applied to three case studies to determine the current feasibility thereof in terms of data availability. In the third case study, environmental Resource Impact Indicators were also calculated using the RII method [15]. All case studies are set in South Africa and project information was obtained from Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies as well as interviews with members of the respective project teams. Due to the hindsight application of the SII method no additional data could be collected from a project perspective.Social footprint information was obtained from: †¢ Statistics South Africa [18]; †¢ South African Department of Transport [19]; †¢ South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) [20]; †¢ South African Department of Health [21]; †¢ South African Department of Labour [22]; †¢ NOSA International [23]; and †¢ Municipal Demarcation Board South Africa [24] and individual municipalities, e. g. some municipalities have undertaken Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) in certain regions of South Africa. In the case studies, mid-point categories were evaluated in respect of whether both project and social footprint information are available, and if the respective information is comparable. It is noted that whereas LCA normally considers a product's life cycle, these case studies focus on the asset, or technology, life cycle (as described in section 1. 2) with the functional unit being one operational year of the asset.However, since the asset life c ycle and the associate product life cycle interact through the asset’s operational phase [10], the indicators could be translated to a typical product-manufactured functional unit. In 1996 a petrochemical company in South Africa announced its intention to develop an Open Cast Strip Mine on the banks of the Vaal River between the Gauteng and Free State Provinces. The project was motivated on the basis that the reserves of the company's main mine in the area had reached the end of its economic life and that this posed a threat to the future of a large chemical manufacturer in a nearby town, which was supplied by the mine from 1952.Ultimately, a threat to the existence of the chemical manufacturer is a direct threat to the existence of the town and in a sense the province since the manufacturer contributes 12% to the geographical economy of the region. The project was met with a lot of resistance from the public, especially owners of riverside properties. The project was stopped after a non-governmental organisation took the company to court and won a legal battle, which changed the mining legislation of South Africa. 3. 1. 2 Available project and social footprint information Tables 6 and 7 summarise the available project information and social footprint information that have been obtained from the Environmental Management Programme Report [25] and the specialist study on the macro social economic impacts [26]. 3. 1. 3 SIIs for the projectThe information presented in Tables 6 and 7 highlights the mismatch between available project and social footprint information. SIIs were calculated as far as possible where both appropriate project and social footprint information was available for midpoint categories (Table 8) using Eq. 1. The project will have an overall positive social impact, although job creation could not outweigh the negative impact on the comfort level on the neighbourhoods in a close vicinity to the plant. The overall positive impact is mainly d ue to the large contribution the project will make to the Gross Geographic Product (GGP) of a relative small area, which relies strongly on mining.Table 6: Available project social intervention information for the proposed mine Construction Employment Opportunities created Employment Opportunities destroyed Indirect Employment Opportunities Contribution to GDP (added or lost) Reduction in property values Increases in Ambient Noise levels (dBa) on Average Dust (mg/day/m2) 450 people [24:138] Operation 300a employment opportunities over a 20 year life span [24:121] Multiplier effect of 2. 8: 840a a 20 employment opportunities on farmsa [24: 267] Multiplier effect of 2. 8: 1260 R52 million per annum (in 1999/2000) [25:32] 9-19% (year 1–10) [24: 258] ;2 [24: 195] Between ;50–250 [24: 187] 2–6% (after year 10 till mine closure) [24:258] ; 2 [24: 238–239] ;100a [24: 231] a a These values are used as quantifiable social interventions (Qx) in the SII calculation procedure. The South African Rand is equal to approximately 0. 12 Euros (as at the end of October 2005). 10 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability Process IndustryTable 7: Available social footprint information for the region of the proposed mine Labour Force: Potentially Economically Active [25: 55] Total 736,721 100% Estimated ambient noise level (dBA) [24: 97] Time of day Morning Midday Evening Night Over 24 hours Sasolburg GDP (1991) due to kind of activity [25: 59] Mining & Quarrying Dust Pattern [25] March–July August–December January–February Dust Figures [25] September October (2 x sites) November (1 site) a b c Employed 308,826 41. 9% a Unemployed 149,335 20. 3% a Not-economically active 278,560 37. 8% Typical weekday 50. 9 46. 9 41. 4 34. 7 44. 6 b Typical weekend 49. 2 48. 0 46. 9 42. 3 46. 8 b R 259 677 000 per annumc Low Higher Lower 251–500 mg/day/m2 501–1200 mg/day/m 501–1200 mg/day/m 2 2 Moderate Heavy Heavy The sum of t hese values are the target state for the region. The current tate refers to only the value 308,826. The average of these two values are used as the target state for the region. The current state is assumed equal to the target state. Value used for target and current state for the region. The South African Rand is equal to approximately 0. 12 Euros (as at the end of October 2005) 3. 2 Operation of a chemical facility 3. 2. 1 Background The chemical facility is located on a 6,798 ha industrial site in South Africa. The construction of the site started in the early 1970s and was finished in 1980. It employs approximately 7000 permanent employees. The facility contributes 13% to the economy of the geographic region. 3. 2. Available operation and social footprint information †¢ A Strategic Environmental Assessment of the area; †¢ South African Census Information; and †¢ South Africa’s Compensation Fund Statistics. References of these sources are withheld to protect the company's identity. Table 9 summarises the available plant information and social footprint information that were obtained. 3. 2. 3 SIIs for the operation The following sources of information were used to calculate SIIs: †¢ The company's Sustainable Development Report; Table 10 shows the calculated SIIs using Eq. 1. Table 10 shows that the operation of the plant has in total a negative social impact. The positive contribution to GDPTable 8: Calculated Social Impact Indicators for the proposed open cast mine from the available case study information Area of Protection Internal Human Resources External Population Intervent. Employment Creation Permanent Positions b Noise & Dust 1 Generated 2 Nature of Sales Midpoint Category Permanent Positions Local Employment Comfort Level Intervent. Value 300 in total 2195200 hrs a Normalisation Value (Ts–1) –06 2. 183 x 10 1. 11 x 10 –09 Significance Value (Cs/Ts) 0. 674 0. 674 1 1 1 Midpoint Indicator Value 4. 41 x 1 0 –04 SII Value 4. 4 x10 –04 1. 65 x 10 –03 –7. 5 x10 –02 –01 External Value of 2. 0 x 10 Macro Social Purchases Performance No information available Stakeholder Participation –01 Final Social Impact Value 1. 5 x10 a Total of 1140 permanent positions at 40 hours per week assumed for 49 weeks (three weeks vacation, etc. ). b A target (and current) state is taken as the weighted average for the region, i. e. 916 mg/day/m2. 1 Since no characterisation factors for noise to dust or dust to noise is available, the midpoint. category was calculated as a weighted average with equal weights to each constituent. 2 The units of equivalence have been changed to contribution to GDP due to the information available. 2 dBA 2 100 mg/d/m R 52 mil. 2. 19 x 10 –03 1. 09 x 10 –03 3. 85 x10 –02 –4. 38 x 10 –01 –1. 09 x 10 –01 2. 0 x 10 –02 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 11 Process Industry Social Sustainabili tyTable 9: Available operational and social footprint information for the region of the chemical facility Interventiona Employees Plant Informationb  ± 7,000 Social Footprint Information Target: To have everyone employed excluding people who prefer to be not economically active. Govan Mbeki Municipality: Employed: 60,681 Unemployed: 40,189; Total Labour Force: 100,870. Employable Community Work hours – assuming all full-time employees – 40 hours – 49 weeks (3 weeks leave). 13 019 (target and current state assumed equal). Not available Not available Not available 197 kilo ton 138. 8 kilo ton 394 kilo ton 90 kilo ton (Permit: 101) 44,109. 2 kilo ton Atmospheric Emissions (concentration information from SEA) NOx 1 Hour Maximum NO2 concentration Average of 5 3 receptor points: 539.  µg/m Acceptable Target (WHO guideline): 200  µg/m3 (1-hour NOx average) Current State: 1 Hour Maximum NO2 concentration based on maximum predicted concentration: 801  µg/m3 Accep table Target (WHO guideline): 125  µg/m3 Current State: 24 Hour Maximum SO2 Concentration based on based on maximum 3 predicted concentration: 152  µg/m Target: (1:200 year firm yield) 150 million m per annum Current (predicted 1998/2000 average) 183. 6 million m3 per annum R 49,707 million Not available Not available 3 Indirect Employment Creation  ± 21,000 (applying the rule of 3 used in SIAs) Total Injuries Disabling Injury Rate (no/200,000 hours) Health & Safety Incidents (Spillages) Atmospheric Emissions: SO2 NOx VOC H2S CO2 541 0. 59 70 Not available Not available Not available Not available Not available SO2 24 Hour Maximum SO2 Concentration based on average of 5 receptor points: 127. 4  µg/m3 Water Usage – River Water 89,963 m 3 Financial Turnoverc Transportation Incidents Complaints a b R 7835 million 12 36 cOnly those quantifiable social interventions for which plant and social footprint information is available, are used in the SII calculation procedure. Al l plant information has been obtained from the Sustainable Development Report where the average of data available has been used unless otherwise stated. The South African Rand is equal to approximately 0. 12 Euros (as at the end of October 2005). Table 10: Calculated Social Impact Indicators for the chemical facility from the available case study information Area of Protection Internal Human Resources Intervent. Midpoint Category Permanent Positions Possible Health and Safety Incidents Local Employment Comfort Level Availability of water services External Value of Purchases Intervent.Value 7,000 541 Normalisation Value (Ts–1) 9. 91 x 10–06 7. 68 x 10 –05 Significance Value (Cs/Ts) 0. 602 1 Midpoint Indicator Value 4. 17 x 10–02 –4. 16 x 10 –02 SII Value Employment Creation Health & Safety Incidents 1. 9 x10–04 External Population Permanent Positions Atmospheric Emissions (SO2) Water Usage 41,167,000 hrs 127. 4  µg/m 89. 963 m 3 3 5. 06 x 10 0. 008 0. 007 –09 0. 602 1. 216 1. 224 0. 125 –1. 239 –0. 734 0. 158 –1. 85 Macro Social Performance Stakeholder Participation Nature of Sales R 7835 mil. 2. 01 x 10 –05 1 0. 158 No information available –1. 69 x10 –01 Final Social Impact Value 12 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability nd employment cannot outweigh the negative impacts on comfort level, people (in the form of health and safety accidents), and the water usage. The biggest social impact is the impact on comfort level due to atmospheric emissions, i. e. secondary environmental impacts. 3. 3 Decommissioning of a fibre manufacturing plant Process Industry In addition, environmental RIIs were calculated using standard RII values, which were calculated for selected process parameters [27]. Table 11 shows the available project and social footprint information. 3. 3. 3 Environmental and social impact indicators 3. 3. 1 Background Tables 12 and 13 show the calcula ted Social and Environmental Impact Indicators.The values in Tables 12 and 13 show that although a similar methodology was followed to calculate SIIs compared to RIIs, the indicator outcomes are vastly different. This highlights that the interpretation of indicators remains challenging. Assessing the overall sustainability performance of a project or technology by allowing trade-offs between the contributions and damages should be seriously considered before it is applied. Ultimately, the trade-offs between the different dimensions would be the responsibility of the specific decision-makers, and therefore reflect the preferences of the decision-makers. 3. 4 Conclusions from the case studies In the early 1990s a second-hand acrylic fibre plant from a manufacturing facility in France was dismantled and relocated in the KwaZulu Province of South Africa.However, the decreasing acrylic fibre market in South Africa, combined with a lack of import protection, led to the decision to decommi ssion the plant in March 2002. The plant manufactured its last products in May 2002, which were sold in August 2002. The plant was dismantled and the site rehabilitated by March 2003. 3. 3. 2 Available project and social footprint information Using the company's sustainable development report, the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the region, as well as the sustainable development indicator data of the municipal area in which the plant operated, the SII calculation procedure was applied to calculate the social impacts. As stated before it is not easy to generalise from case study research.However, the case studies showed that it is not possible to calculate all social midpoint category indicators, Table 11: Available project and social footprint information for the region of the fibres plant Interventiona Nature of Jobs Project Information 250 employment opportunities lost (5% relocated = 12 ) Social Footprint Information eThekwini unemployment: 591,024 eThekwini employmen t: 782,933 Target: To have everyone employed excluding people who prefer to be not economically active. Employable Community Work hours – assuming all full-time employees – 40 hours – 49 weeks (3 weeks leave). Indirect Employment Destruction  ± 750 (applying the rule of 3 used in SIAs) Work-hours lost due to injuries Disabling Injuries 475. 25 hours 6. Although social footprint information is available the definition of disabling injuries is not given and therefore information is not comparable. Not available Not available eThekwini Emissions 0. 488 kilo ton per annum 0. 111 kilo ton per annum 0. 005 kilo ton per annum 1,429,200 kilo litre per annum 54. 50 kilo ton per annum 54. 50 kilo ton per annum No information available eThekwini – with water loss: 168,090 ML – without water loss: 280,149 ML eThekwini: 9098 GWh per annum Not available Durban South Basin: 45,000 ton per annum Not available GDP of Kwa Zulu Natal: R 113,047 million Disabling In jury Rate (no per 200 000 hours) Health & Safety Incidents (Spillages) Atmospheric Emissions: SO2 NOx VOC Water Usage 2. 375 0. 75 per annumEnergy Usage Solid Waste: General/Domestic Non-Hazardous Industrial Nature of Sales c 48. 384 GWh per annum 5. 25 x 10 m per annum 2. 575 x 10 m per annum b 1,545 tons per annum 2. 675 x 10 m per annum Annual turnover of R 500 million 0. 5 per annum 3 3 3 3 3 3 Stakeholder Complaints a b c Only those quantifiable social interventions for which plant and social footprint information is available, are used in the SII calculation procedure. The South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry's minimum requirements for waste density was used for the conversion. The South African Rand is equal to approximately 0. 12 Euros (as at the end of October 2005). Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 13 Process Industry Social SustainabilityTable 12: Calculated Social Impact Indicators for the decommissioning of the fibres plant from the available case study informati on Area of Protection Internal Human Resources Intervent. Employment Creation Permanent Positions Energy Usage External Population Water Usage Waste a Generated Atmospheric Emissions (SO2 & NOx)b Macro Social Performance Stakeholder Participation Final Social Impact Value a b c Midpoint Category Permanent Positions Local Employment Availability of energy services Availability of water services Availability of waste services Comfort Level External Value of Purchases Intervent. Value 262 1,983,520 hrs 48. 384 GWh 1,429,200 kl 1 545 t 0. 65 kt SO2 eq. R 500 mil. Normalisation Value (Ts–1) 7. 28 x 10–07 3. 71 x 10 –10 Significance Value (Cs/Ts) 0. 570 0. 570 1 1 1 Midpoint Indicator Value –1. 09 x 10–04 –4. 20 x 10 –04 SII Value –1. 1 x10–04 1. 1 x 10–04 3. 57 x 10 –09 5. 32 x 10–03 5. 10 x 10 –03 5. 47 x10–04 2. 22 x 10–05 2. 84 x 10–02 7. 98 x 10–06 3. 43 x 10– 02 1. 04 x 10–02 –3. 99 x 10–03 –4. 0 x10–03 a Nature of Salesc 1 No information available 5. 06 x10 –02 Based on information available the units of equivalence have been changed to domestic waste generated in tons. Comfort level is measured quantitatively in kilo tons SO2 per annum using CML characterisation factors.The units of equivalence have been changed to contribution to GDP due to the information available. The South African Rand is equal to approximately 0. 12 Euros (as at the end of October 2005). Table 13: Calculated environmental Resource Impact Indicators for the decommissioning of the fibres plant from the available case study information Process Parameter (annual quantities) Waste Electricity used Coal Used Steam used Water used 1,545,000 kg 174,182,400 MJ 46,368,000 kg 354,960,000 kg 1,429,200,000 kg Resource Impact Indicator Water 7. 29 x 10–02 7. 88 x 10 0 2. 60 x 10 7. 00 x 10 8. 84 x 10 4 4 5 Air 2. 33 x 10– 06 1. 79 x 10 0 2. 51 x 10 0 1. 81 x10 +04 2 4 Land 4. 2 x 10–02 1. 68 x 10 0 4. 41 0 1. 72 x 10 +02 2 Mined 0 8. 81 x 10 1 1. 67 x 102 1. 52 x 10 0 4. 07 x 10 +02 2 +05 either because of a lack of project information, or because of a lack of social footprint information. In addition, the units of equivalence cannot be fixed since they depend on the available information. This complicates indicator comparisons between various projects. The limitation of available social footprint information results in the fact that only some midpoint category indicators are possible, i. e. permanent positions, water usage, energy usage, nature of sales, and comfort level, which leads to an impaired social picture.In addition, the midpoint category indicators for water usage, energy usage and comfort level are much higher than permanent positions, thus resulting in a net negative social impact for any proposed development, which may not be a representation of the true social influence of the project or technology. 4 Conclusions and Recommendations sions of sustainable development [29]. The research therefore concludes that a quantitative social impact assessment method cannot be applied for project and technology life cycle management purposes in industry at present. It is emphasised that these conclusions were reached from a process LCA perspective, which is industry sector-wide.Research with a product LCA focus may lead to different outcomes. Although a comprehensive top-down approach was followed, a bottom-up approach may be more appropriate for product LCAs [30], as the selection of suitable criteria would be constrained to the specific scope of a LCA study. 4. 1 Further steps to quantify social impact indicators A case study independent analysis of available social footprint information in South Africa confirmed the main finding of this paper that social footprint information is not available for all midpoint categories [28]. It is regarded as an international prob lem that current available statistics are incapable of providing an integrated view of various dimen-It is proposed that social sustainability should be incorporated into project and technology life cycle management by means of guidelines and checklists. Similar to the environmental dimension, it is envisaged that such checklists and guidelines would improve the availability of quantitative data in time, and would therefore make the SII procedure more practical in the future. Although such guidelines and checklists have been developed from a theoretical perspective [28], practical guidelines and checklists from a project or technology life cycle management perspective are yet to be dem- 14 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability onstrated. Further cases are subsequently required for demonstration and analysis purposes.While the guidelines and checklists may lead to a paradigm shift in industry towards obtaining and evaluating social impact-related information, it is also suggest ed that a lesscomprehensive list of social criteria is used as a starting point to develop social LCA-specific methodologies, possibly using those midpoint category indicators that were quantifiable in the case studies of this research, i. e. permanent positions, water usage, energy usage, nature of sales, and comfort level, or other midpoint categories that are currently proposed [30]. However, social issues are highly influenced by cultural perceptions, and it would be best to undertake such a task at national level.National indicator sets can then be compared and combined on an international level. 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