The Peloponnesian War Essay Example for Free

The Peloponnesian War Essay The Greek empire did not comprise of any center for power ruling over the states, instead it consisted of numerous city-states each having independence and being governed in a manner separate from the rest. Where Athens had a democratic style of government, with everyone from the populace having the right to participate in the government (except for women and slaves), Sparta had a totalitarian form of governance. The populace was divided into 3 distinct classes which included Spartan men (who were all raised to be warriors), Spartan women (who were patriotic, proud, and exhibited more independence then women from other states) and finally Helots, or slaves (Adams). Aside from the political difference between the states, even their culture was vastly different. The lifestyles of Athenian citizens encouraged them to seek artistic and intellectual pursuits whereas Spartan men were trained to be soldiers from birth and led a life by the sword. Athens was the most powerful state amongst the other states in the Greek Empire. After the expulsion of the Persian from the continent by the Greek allies led by Athens, the state became the central power by increasing their forces and converting the ally states into tribute paying states with the money earned going into improving Athens infrastructure and help strengthen its naval fleet. It did not make matters any better when in a Helot uprising in Sparta, when Sparta called for aid from all the other Greek allies, it dismissed the contingent from Athens as they feared the troops would change sides and support the Helots instead, since Athens was a democratic state and Sparta was not. . The Peloponnesian War, which lasted from 431 – 404 BC provided the states a chance to enter into direct confrontation with each other to resolve their issues once and for all. In my opinion, the Peloponnesian War was an outlet for the states to finally destroy the others as each saw the others existence as an affront. The superiority of Athens and their cultural background clashed with the ferocity and dominant attitude of the Spartans and eventually an altercation would have taken place. This paper will identify the strengths of the two city-states, determine which factors gave them an edge over the other and will analyze whether the states where able to maximize the potential of those benefits. Military Background Athens Athens was the most prosperous state on the continent. It had wealth and a large population, being the centre for business and politics. After the Persian invasion, Athens took on the leading role and used its position to build its own state far surpassing the others. When the Persians had been defeated, the allies of Athens were reduced to subservient tribute paying states that were supposed to aid Athens prosper even more. The policies adopted by Athens towards the other states exhibit the superior attitude with which Athens looked upon the other states. Athens had a defensive wall built around its city which made land attacks impractical and futile. Since the Persians had left and Athens had begun work to strengthen the walls, Sparta had seriously been against the measure as they recognize the tactical benefit Athens would obtain as Sparta would have difficulty in defeating Athens with the presence of the wall. Athens also had a strong naval fleet. Its fleets were much superior to the other states’ and it was able to maximize upon its advantage by using said fleets to ravage the Peloponnesus (Hooker, 1999). Sparta Sparta, as mentioned earlier, was a state which trained every one of its inhabitants to become warriors. From birth onwards, Spartan men lived a life of training and fighting to become the ultimate soldiers. Therefore the Spartan army relied on its brute strength and its training superiority. The Spartan infantry was more numerous than the Athenian and in size; the Spartan army far surpassed the other states’. Throughout the course of the Peloponnese War, Sparta used its numbers to ravage the territory around Athens (Attica in general). Historical Events Exhibiting Military Strategies The first war between Sparta and Athens was the Archidamian War, named after the Spartan king, was initiated by the Spartans. The Spartan troops invaded the lands surrounding Athens and were meant to deprive the city-state of its food source and access to its productive land. The strategy employed by the Spartans was a strategy any land based army would adopt. To cut off supplies and eventually force the opponent to surrender is probably the most successful way to gain victory without shedding much blood on the attacker’s side. Spartan troops however were unable to succeed by this strategy as Athens was able to acquire food and material via its ports which it still had access to. The Spartan army itself was unable to stay over long periods of time due to the harvesting of their own crops and the inability to leave the helots unsupervised in the home state. The success of sieges work only if they are meant to last over longer durations, but the Spartans were able to stay at most for 40 days. From the start of the War we can see that the strengths of both the armies were conflicting with each other and an outright battle to rule was out of the question as both sides wished to play by their strengths. Athens adopted the strategy to avoid any land battles with its far more superior opponent due to its numbers and experience in land battles. But in 430 BC an outbreak of plague hit the city and roughly one third of the Athens population died. But the plague had the effect that the Spartan armies did not want to catch the sickness and decided to put the ravaging expeditions on a hold as it would bring them in proximity to the Athenians (B. Strassler, 1996). After recovering from the plague, Athens launched an offensive by sending out its naval troops to ravage the port cities of the Peloponnesus. Athens began stretching its military activities to further reaches and began setting up posts in the Peloponnesus bringing the war closer to the Spartans. Instead of engaging in direct confrontations, the Athenian forces began drawing the Spartan helots to them which crippled Sparta as most of the domestic work was tended to by these slaves. Sparta led an expedition to the Athenian colony of Amphipolis, which was controlled nearby silver mines which basically funded the Athenian troops. A war was fought in Brasidas which eventually led to the two states signing a truce which lasted 6 years (ThinkQuest). The truce was an excuse for both sides to build up their strengths as both had faced economic losses. During the era of peace, the Athenians were able to gather support from the states of Argos, Mantinea and Arcadia. The allied coalition appeared to get early victories but was eventually crushed by the Spartan forces. It can clearly be seen that Sparta had the major advantage in land battles and that Athens was initially wise in avoiding direct clashes as in the battle of Mantinea, which was the largest land battle fought in the Peloponnesian War, Sparta was able to crush its opponents brutally. The deciding battle in the war could probably be the Sicilian expedition. Syracuse (which shared the same race as the Spartans) were attacking Sicily (which shared the race with Athenians). Since Sicily was the second largest state and would have provided much needed resource to Athens, Athens decided to help them. Troops sent for aiding Sicily proved incapable of defeating the Syracusan forces. While the Athenian forces waited to gather more allies in the surrounding vicinity, Syracuse was able to get the support from Sparta which tipped the scale in Sparta’s favor. Around this time Athens was facing harsh times as Spartan forces had made access to their lands difficult and food and other necessities had to be shipped in which cost a lot to the Athens government. The main source of funding for the Athenian forces was the silver mines which had now been taken over by the Spartans. To accommodate for the decrease in capital, Athens began demanding more tribute from its allies. This created friction amongst the coalition and would eventually lead to dissatisfaction in the allies. (Hanson, 2005) Realizing the tactical advantage Athens possessed due to its navy, Sparta contacted the Persians and took their aid in building its own navy. The navy would prove to be the decisive factor as in 405 the critical blow hit Athens when the Spartan commander Lysander took his navy northward to Hellespont and destroyed the Athenian forces existing there. This blow seemed too big to bear and Athens eventually conceded defeat and had to succumb to the humiliating terms laid down by the Spartans (Thucydides Lattimore, 1998). Personal Observations Pertaining to the Peloponnesian War The war was not won due to the number of forces or the number of allies that any side had but it relied on the ability of the army to change to meet the situation. Both sides possessed benefits in separate areas, with Spartans having superiority on land and Athens having the superiority on the seas. But Sparta was constantly reevaluating its approaches and battle plans and would accommodate for the situation at hand. Rather than relying strictly on sieges and confronting on the mainland, Sparta developed its own naval strength and reduced the competitive advantage that the Athens forces had over it. Even though from the beginning Sparta would have been deemed as the military superior, Athens had a number of opportunities to tip the war in their favor. Such as during the Sicilian expedition, it was mismanagement and lethargy which cost the Athens forces defeat. Conclusion The strengths of the two states were clearly exhibited in this research paper but no amount of strength is affective if it does not keep training and does not keep advancing. The Athens forces made this mistake by simply relying on one’s strength and believing it would win them the war where in truth Sparta proved to be the wiser of the two and used the opponent’s strength, incorporated into its own arsenal and eventually won the war. The Spartans were able to not only maximize on their own strength during the war (land based warfare) but created advancements in their weakness as well and had they not done so, the war would have lasted for numerous more years due to an intermittent deadlock as both sides initially had opposing tactical advantages. References Adams, P. (n. d. ). Comparing Athens and Sparta. Retrieved February 22, 2009, from Discovery Education: http://school. discoveryeducation. com/lessonplans/programs/spartans/ B. Strassler, R. (1996). In R. B. Strassler, The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War. New York: The Free Press. Hanson, V. D. (2005). In V. D. Hanson, A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War. New York: Random House. Hooker, R. (1999, June 6). Ancient Greece. Retrieved February 22, 2009, from Ancient Greece: The Peloponnesian War: http://wsu. edu/~dee/GREECE/PELOWARS. HTM ThinkQuest. (n. d. ). Peleponnesian War. Retrieved February 22, 2009, from ThinkQuest. com: http://library. thinkquest. org/17709/wars/peloponn. htm Thucydides, Lattimore, S. (1998). In S. Lattimore, The Peloponnesian War. Hackett Publishing.

Between White and Roberts Essay Example for Free

Between White and Roberts Essay Between the descriptive essay Once More to the Lake by E.B. White, and the narrative essay How to Say Nothing in 500 Words by P.M. Roberts I find the descriptive essay to be far more interesting to read for the way it is written appeals to the senses of the reader. Both essays, however, carry good merit and are written very well. The essay that is currently being presented is an interpretation of the similarities and differences between the styles of these two essays, and the impact they have on the reader as well. Among the major differences between the two essays is the way they are structured. In the essay â€Å"How to Say Nothing in 500 Words† Roberts uses nine different headings relating to the key elements of what he is writing about. He breaks down each component of what he considers to be good practices of writing with each section consisting of its own idea. He uses this method to present multiple ideas pertaining to the same general subject of the essay. Using headings to separate ideas and points is a good way to present information clearly, but it also gives a paper an impersonal and formal feeling that most casual or average readers do not relate to. In â€Å"Once More to the Lake†, however, White does not separate ideas into different headings. The story he tells in his essay progresses forward without being broken up into multiple ideas, and the general subject does not change throughout the essay in any major way. The entire essay reads like it is its own chapter of a book. It provides the reader with a fluent story from start to finish. Another large difference between these two essays is in the tone and language that the authors use. Roberts uses a mostly formal tone and language throughout most of his essay. There are a few places in which he uses mild humor to keep the readers’ interest, but his dry tone mixed with the subject his essay is centered on limits the effectiveness of his attempts. One such attempt at humor is where he speaks of a college  professor grading essays in the sentence, â€Å"As he reads paper after paper all saying the same thing in almost the same words, all bloodless, five hundred words dripping out of nothing, he wonders how he allowed himself to get trapped into teaching English when he might have had a happy and interesting life as an electrician or a confidence man.† (P.M. Roberts) He has a very dry sense of humor that leaves the reader wondering why he even makes the attempt at humor in many cases. White uses an informal tone in his essay, and uses language that appeals to the readers’ senses. He makes no attempts at humor in his essay like Roberts does, but he instead paints pictures of scenery with words in exuberant detail. The depth and detail with which he writes stirs the readers’ emotions and memories in the way he tells of his own memories. He takes the mind of the reader on a journey with him as he recounts memories of his childhood. The tone he uses is one that is somber and serious, but also quite casual. â€Å"Summertime, oh summertime, pattern of life indelible, the fade proof lake, the woods unshatterable, the pasture with the sweet fern and the juniper forever and ever, summer without end; this was the background, and the life along the shore was the design, the cottages with their innocent and tranquil design, their tiny docks with the flagpole and the American flag floating against the white clouds in the blue sky, the little paths over the roots of the trees leading from camp to camp and the paths leading back to the outhouses and the can of lime for sprinkling, and at the souvenir counters at the store the miniature birch-bark canoes and the post cards that showed things looking a little better than they looked.† (E.B. White) It is with the use of this kind of language that White fills the writing canvas, as well as the reader’s thoughts, with the detailed images of the surroundings of the lake. The subject matter between the essays by Roberts and White is yet another drastic difference. â€Å"How to Say Nothing in 500 Words† is an informative narrative essay about what to, and what not to do in the writing of a college essay. It is a strictly academic essay. It covers a number of points of what kind of language and ideas to use in a college level paper. The section of his essay that he names â€Å"Call a Fool a Fool† can easily be summarized as him trying to get across that one should say what they think of a matter regardless of what they think the instructor grading the paper or anyone else that might read it would think of what you have to say. He  basically states that if it is your opinion, then state it without worrying that it may offend anyone that may not share the same view. The subject matter of Roberts’ essay is a topic that only a college student would truly care to read about. The subject matter of the essay by White, however, is nearly as far in the other direction as you can get from Roberts’ essay about writing an essay about college football. White’s essay â€Å"Once More to the Lake† is about his visit with his son back to the same lake that his own father took him to every summer with his family while he was growing up. He describes in detail the changes that have occurred in the many years since he had been back to the lake, and the times he had with his family in his youth as well as the time he is spending there now with his own son. â€Å"Inside, all was just as it had always been, except there was more Coca Cola and not so much Moxie and root beer and birch beer and sarsaparilla. We would walk out with a bottle of pop apiece and sometimes the pop would backfire up our noses and hurt. We explored the streams, quietly, where the turtles slid off the sunny logs and dug their way into the soft bottom; and we lay on the town wharf and fed worms to the tame bass. Everywhere we went I had trouble making out which was I, the one walking at my side, the one walking in my pants.† (White E.B.) The way he describes and speaks of his surroundings and the small adventures that he and his son embark upon makes it evident that he truly cares about the story he has written, and that the entire compositio n is a nostalgic journey through his past and present. The feelings that he clearly has while writing his essay is something that nearly any reader can relate to. Now that the major contrasting points between the two essays have been presented we should move on to the similarities, but there are next to no similarities at all. The most prominent similarity between them is simply the fact that both compositions are considered essays. They are written in completely different styles on completely different subjects, and with a completely different reading audience in mind. It can be said, however, that both essays are properly written for their intended audience, and one could also argue that the essays are similar in regards to the fact that both essays give the reader something to think about after having read the compositions, but that would be reaching very far to find some form of similarity simply for the sake of being able to say that they are similar in some fashion. It is easy to say  that the two essays contrast in major ways, but it is not so easy to say that they compare in any significant way. The essays â€Å"How to Say Nothing in 500 Words† by P.M. Roberts, and â€Å"Once More to the Lake† by E.B. White are both well written, but the descriptive essay by White is the superior of the two for his use of easily understood descriptive language and the seamless flow of his ideas and thoughts on the paper making for an easy and enjoyable read. His essay is also written about a subject that nearly any reader can relate to in some way while the essay by Roberts is aimed more at a particular demographic. Roberts also uses a â€Å"matter of fact† kind of tone that if he had not introduced a dash of humor here and there throughout his essay would have made it too technical to keep the average reader interested enough to read the whole composition while the essay by White draws the reader in and leaves them wanting more. The essay â€Å"Once More to the Lake† by E.B. White is a timeless piece of literature that the writer of this essay strongly recommends to any reader. References Roberts, P. M. (n.d.). How to say nothing in 500 words. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gw_UcMT4u-ZSW7ZBN_RAMspZFex6o83oIbnvtuV-CM8/edit?pli=1 White, E.B. Once more to the lake. Retrieved from http://www.freewebs.com/lanzbom/EBWhiteLakeEssay.pdf

Customer Requirements And Product Characteristics

Customer Requirements And Product Characteristics One of the main roles of any manufacturing plant is to produce product that caters to the demands of the market, and the best way to understand the market needs is to distinguish what is important to the customer/consumer. This understanding of the customer gives the manufacturer a competitive edge, as he knows more or less what the needs of the customer is, when he sells his product in the market. This competitive edge can be distinguished into various factors, for e.g. Quality, Speed, Dependability, Cost, and so on. A particular way of distinguishing which factor gives us more competitive edge is to distinguish between what Prof Terry Hill calls as â€Å"order winners† and â€Å"order qualifiers†. (Pycraft et al 1997) [Online] But before we dive into categorising the various competitive factors into order winners and order qualifiers, it will be helpful if we knew where the products lie in the Puttick Grid. The Puttick Grid, devised by the Warwick Manufacturing Group, defines product market position with respect to the complexity of the product and the level of uncertainty in the market. A point to note about the Puttick Grid is that over a period of time, product tends to move around in the grid and hence may change after a period of time. The Specialist DBPs have a very erratic demand profile, they are basically manufactured either one by one, or if they is more demand they probably in batches of 10. There is a peak in demand during the spring and summer seasons as a lot of people get back to riding their bikes after the winter, and hence become desirable during these seasons amongst the people who own vintage bikes. Also since these are vintage bikes, they dont mind spending a bit for getting replacement parts. The Aftermarket DBPs have a rather subdued demand as compared to the Specialist DBPs. Since these are DBP that are no longer in standard productions, there are a lot of organisations that have come out with their own version of the DBP and hence the customer has more choice. So, in such a case, the customer will go by brand image, price and the quality of the product. The Original Equipment DBPs on the other hand, will have a very stable demand that will be known to Friction Materials well in advance. Quality and price become very important for such a product and hence they become more of a commodity. Hence according to the above discussion, the products have been placed in the Puttick Grid as shown below in Figure 1.1.1 Super Value Product Responsive/Jobbing/Fashion Specialist DBP Consumer Durables Commodities Original Equipment DBP Now that we have an understanding of where the product lies with respect to the Puttick Grid, we can distinguish which competitive factor is an order winner and which is an order qualifier. Characteristic Aftermarket DBP Specialist DBP Design Brand Name 60 60 Price 40 40 Speed (Lead Time) Q Dependability (Availability) QQ Q Quality (Fit to purpose) Q QQ Table 1.1.1: Order Winners and Qualifiers. (Adopted for Hill 2000) [Note: Order Winners are marked out of 100. Q: Order Qualifier; QQ: Order Looser.] Characteristics Original Equipment DBP Design 40 Brand Name 10 Price 40 Speed (Lead Time) 10 Dependability (Availability) QQ Quality (Fit to purpose) QQ Table 1.1.2: Order Winners and Qualifiers. (Adopted for Hill 2000) [Note: Order Winners are marked out of 100. Q: Order Qualifier; QQ: Order Looser.] 1.1.1 Design The links between design, operations and markets are the very essence of the business. The way that these integrate, therefore, is fundamental to sound strategy development and implementation. Both design and operations aim is to provide products according to the technical and business specifications. (Hill Hill 2009) In case of Aftermarket DBPs, the dimensions of the DBP are calculated from the equivalent OE component and then some changes are made so as to avoid patent infringement. So in this case, the design of the DBP is not very important as it is only reverse engineered from an existing product. In case of Specialist DBPs, the dimensions are taken from records if they exist or taken from existing component and then designed as a made-to-order item. So in this case too, not much work goes into the design of the DBP as they are already available to the manufacturer. Hence, design of the DBP does not give the product any competitive edge over other competitor products. In case of Original Equipment Manufacturer, initially specifications will be given by the motorcycle manufacturer. But if Friction is selected as the preferred OE for DBP, it will be expected to design the brakes to meet the requirements given by the manufacturer. Hence, if not initially, over a period of time the designing of brakes for the OE product range will become the one of biggest competitive edge that the company could get in winning the order. 1.1.2 Brand Name Through a variety of activities, companies try to establish a brand name for their products in the market. Where this has been achieved and maintained, companies will win orders partly due to the image that has been created in the market. (Hill Hill 2009) In case of Aftermarket DBPs and the Specialist DBPs, the brand name, â€Å"Stop-Rite†, play a major role in winning orders for the company. Since these parts are no longer in standard production by the OEM, there is a lot of competition in the market to win orders for these products. And hence the brand image, which Friction Materials Ltd has maintained for the last 20 years, becomes the biggest competitive edge in the market to win orders. In case of the OE DBPs, initially Friction Materials is trying to win orders and hence it does not have a brand name in the OE market as of now. But as they start to win orders and establish them in the market, their brand name will start to help them win orders and hence, as time will progress, brand name will become an order winner. 1.1.3 Price In many markets, particularly in the growth, maturity and saturation phases of the product life cycle, price becomes a very important order winner. When there is a range of products to choose from, price comparisons with alternatives becomes an integral part of the customers evaluation of the product and hence price plays a very important part in winning orders. (Hill Hill 2009) In case of the Aftermarket and the Specialist DBPs, since there are a lot of alternatives in the market, price eventually become one of the main reasons why the customer chooses to buy the product, as if there are two products meeting his criteria, they are bound to buy the cheaper product. Hence they become an order winner. In case of the OE DBPs, since the manufacturer is going to buy the product in bulk, he is going to want to buy them from a manufacturer who is able to produce them in the cheapest possible way and who also meets their requirements. Hence price in this case becomes one of the biggest factors for choice. 1.1.4 Speed (Lead Time) and Dependability (Availability) A company may be able to qualify for an order/win an order based on how quickly they are able to supply the product or if the product is already available for delivery/purchasing for the customer. Hence is it very important that the Operations Lead Time must be able to match the Customer Lead Time. (Hill Hill 2009) In case of the Aftermarkets DBPs, the ability to deliver the DBP faster than others may affect the spares stores to make an order to the manufacturer. This is possible if the lead time for the product is less and hence lead time becomes an order qualifier. With respect to the customers, the product being available on the store self become an order qualifier, i.e. they consider the product as a possible buy. But in case the product is not available on the shelf, means that even though their product is better than the competition, they will lose an order and hence this becomes an order looser. Similarly, in case of the Specialist DBPs, since these are mostly made-to-order items, the lead time does not give an influential competitive edge over the competition. But at the same time, availability/delivery of the product has to be on time and this becomes an important factor that the customer will take into consideration when he/she is looking to buy a DBP for his/her Vintage Motorbike. Hence availability of the product on time becomes an order qualifier in this case. In case of the OE products, the motorcycle manufacturer will be looking for a manufacturer who can produce the parts and deliver them in the shortest possible time. Hence speed or lead time becomes an order winner. Also, being a local supplier to the local motorcycle industry will give them a competitive edge over other outside competitors as they will be able to respond to the demand much quicker. But, in addition to this, being able to deliver the products on time is going to be a very important factor. So important that initially, some late deliveries may lead to the manufacturer going to an alternate supplier as you are not able to meet his demands on time. Hence dependability becomes an order looser. 1.1.5 Quality Quality or Quality Conformance can be defined as ability of a manufacturer to manufacture products according to the customers requirements. (Slack et al 2002) In case of the Aftermarkets and Specialist DBPs, no one is going to consider buying the product unless you are certain that the DBP is fit to use on their particular motorcycle model. Hence for both these product ranges, quality becomes an order qualifier. That is, only if the DBP is fit to use on a particular customers motorcycle, they will consider buying that DBP. In case of the OE products, since now they are trying to become suppliers of OE products for the first time, quality has to be bang on target. It has to meet all the customer requirements. Any lapse of quality may lead to a halt in the manufacturers assembly line and this is going to cost them a lot of money. Hence any lapse in quality of the OE suppliers part will give a bad impression and hence may lead to the supplier losing the order. Hence quality for the OE product range becomes an order looser. 1.2 Implications on Operations The Polar diagram (above) shows all the competitive factors for all the product range and their relevant importance for winning orders. Hence, in a way, the diagram also helps understand where Operations should concentrate more so that they will be able to produce more products that will be able to win the orders in the market. From the above diagram, we see that for all the three product ranges, Price, Quality and Dependability are the common performance objective that can help give them competitive edge in the market. Hence operations has to focus more on reducing the cost of the product and at the same time try to keep quality at a good level and always deliver the goods on time. Also, we see Brand Name is very important for the Aftermarket and Specialist market. But if operations is able to maintain price, quality and dependability; it will maintain and perhaps even built up the brand name of the product. Also, by concentrating on dependability, operations is going to keep the lead time (speed) of the product to as low as possible to meet the delivery times and hence speed is also taken care of. Hence by concentrating more on price, quality and dependability, operations will be able to cover all the order qualifier and winner factors of all the 3 product ranges. 2 Manufacturing Strategy for the OE product 2.1 Framework Hill, T. (2009) breaks down the process of developing an operation/manufacturing strategy into 5 simple objectives. 2.1.1 Defining the Corporate Objectives The recent future Corporate Objective of Friction Materials is to try and break into the OE product sector. This will help them isolate the financial burden that they have to carry due to the ever decreasing prices because of cheap Far Eastern Aftermarket DBP available in the market. Hence another Corporate Objective is to make them more stable financially by entering a highly profitable and long term contract product range. Other general corporate objective like Profit and Growth and ROI also apply to Friction Materials Ltd. 2.1.2 Defining the Market Strategies to meet these objectives As said in the Corporate Objectives, Friction Material Ltd. is now trying to enter the Original Equipment product market. Volumes initially (during sampling stage) will be low, to the order of 300. But once their samples get approved, they will start producing these products in very high volumes, to the order of about 3000 DBP/week. Keeping these facts in mind, the Marketing Strategy for the OE product range is to produce and deliver high quality low cost DBP on time, every time. 2.1.3 How do products win orders in the market place? As mentioned in Section 1, the major factors that win orders for the OE product is Price, Quality and Dependability (in terms of delivery). Once Friction Materials becomes the choice for OEM for DBPs, they will have to design the brakes themselves and hence Design also becomes an important order winner. 2.1.4 Establishing the most appropriate mode to manufacture these sets of products Process Choice We are in process of getting samples accepted for the new OE product range. Currently we are manufacturing only the Spares and Specialist product ranges and this is done in a batch process flow layout. This is ok for these ranges as they are in small quantities of about 300 DBP/week. But the new OE product range is going to require about 3000 DBP/week. Hence the Batch layout will not suffice to meet this quantity demand. The most appropriate process choice for such a huge demand is the Mass Layout or the Continuous Layout. But the continuous layout calls for a bigger investment in terms of the money involved. Since Friction Materials is only starting to try to establish itself in the OE market, it would not be wise to tie up a lot of the Companies money into something that might not work out to the magnitude expected. Hence the Mass Layout seems to be a more sensible choice. 2.1.5 Provide the manufacturing infrastructure required to support production Providing the infrastructure to support production of the new OE product is going to involve some amount of trade off in the sense of a balance between the various competitive factors that will affect the ability of the product to win orders. For instance, from the polar diagram (Sector 1.2) we see that dependability and cost of product play a very important role in helping the product win orders. In order to always deliver the product on time, we must always have enough stock with us to meet the demand. This can mean that we make-to-stock the product. But if we have a lot of inventory, it means that we have a lot of money held up as inventory and this may lead to increase in the price of the product to help insulate this cost. But this increase of cost may lead to loss of an order. Hence what amount of inventory would be sufficient to always meet customer demands and not hold a lot of money in inventory would be the trade off that we will be keen to look for. This process of trade o ff balance will help the manufacturing/operations to align itself with the corporate strategy. (Slack et al 2002) 2.2 Analysis of Current Operations System Before we can start formulating and making changes to the production system, we must first define what the current system is. We can do this with the help of various tools. We are going to use the SWOT analysis tool to do the same. Once we know where the current production capabilities are, we will be able to make decision taking into account the current scenario. 2.2.1 SWOT Analysis Strengths Weakness The brand name â€Å"Stop Rite† Established producer of aftermarket DBPs in the UK and Western Europe Competency in making the brake pad mixture * Good liquidity and turnover * Bad production planning system even though a MRP system is in place for the same Opportunities Threats OE market will lead to more opportunity in the EU market. OE market will help insulate the competition and market share because of the Far Eastern Competition * Growing to a medium scale company will help in being capable of handling more customers * Competition for cheaper Far Eastern Competition Table 2.2.1: SWOT Analysis Tool The brand name â€Å"Stop-Rite† is one of the main strengths of Friction Materials Ltd. This is what is helping them win orders in the Specialist market and the aftermarket market. This brand name that they have, they have been able to establish it because of being one of the main trusted DBP manufacturer in the UK and Western Europe market. This is also one of the strengths that they should exploit. They have a competency in creating their own mixture for the DBPs, which helps keep the cost of the product down. Also, as we can see from the financials, their Quick Ratio is about 1.03 and their Current Ratio is about 1.8, both of which are very near the acceptable values and hence the company is doing very well financially. And as they say â€Å"Cash is King†, this is their main strength. But even though they are strong in these areas, their production planning system is not very good, or up to industry standards. Even though they have a MRP II system in place, the Planning Controller has to fire fight situation that should not arise because of the system. This shows one of the two situations, either the Planning Controller is not familiar with the system or there is something wrong with their planning system. This can cause a lot of problems if they are to start production for about 3000DBP/week for the OE product. Opportunity wise, the OE product can help gain more market share in the Western European market and hence improve their brand name even further. Also, since this will be a more steady market, this will help insulate some of the market share loss due to the cheaper Far Eastern Competitor products in the Spares market. This will help the company grow financially which is always the main aim of any organisation. Once the organisation has more market share and money, they can easily transition to a medium scale company and hence cater to more customers. The only threat that the company faces is due to the Far Eastern products. They are almost as good as their DBPs, but they are far cheaper than Frictions DBPs and hence this sometimes leads to loss of market share. Entry to the OE product market will help them to insulate this loss. Now that we are clear on where the organisation current strengths and weakness lie, we can develop our manufacturing strategy to complement the strengths and negate the weakness of the organisation. 2.3 Elements of Manufacturing Strategy Miltenburg (2005) divides manufacturing strategy in six main sub-systems and terms them as Manufacturing Levers to reflect the concept that each sub-system can be adjusted to align according to market demands and corporate mission. 2.3.1 Sourcing Current list of all the suppliers to Friction Materials Ltd. are largely UK based. This is good as this help in decreasing the manufacturing lead time of the component. Since currently, their production demands are very low, to the order of 300DBPs/week; they were unable to convince their suppliers to deliver Just-in-Time. But now since they are looking to produce to the order of about 3000DBPs/week; they should be able to convince the suppliers to deliver Just-in-Time. Along with this, they should bring the list down in number and probably sign long term contracts with their most reliable supplier as the demand for the OE market is very stable and this long term contracts will help with the demand and also improve relations with their suppliers. But care should be taken when such contracts are framed, so that if the supplier does not make the delivery, then Friction Materials is free to buy that demand from another supplier. (Quinn and Hilmer 1995) In terms of the product range, since making DBPs is their main expertise, I feel that they should continue to produce all their existing product range so that they do not lose their current market share and customer base. The level of vertical integration should be kept to a minimum and Friction Materials should concentrate on its main competency of making the DBPs. Smaller parts of the product like the packing materials should be bought from an external vendor. 2.3.2 Process Technology Hill (2009) uses a profiling method to help decide what kind of production process is good for a particular type of product depend on the profile of the product. We will use this profiling approach to decide the type of process that we will implement for the OE range of product. Relevant Aspects Characteristics of Process Choice Product Job Batch Line Type Special Standard Range Wide Narrow Order Size Small Large Level of Change High Low Rate of NPD High Low Order-Winner Del. Speed Price Process Technology G.P. Dedicated Flexibility High Low Volumes Low High Key Tasks Meet Spec. Cost Investment Low High Table 2.3.2.1: Hills Profiling Approach (Source: Hill and Hill 2009) For the OE product range, we know the following: The order volume is going to be very high; hence the product is going to be standardised. Since the product is standardised, it is logical to have machinery dedicated to the product so that it can churn out more product and help meet the high demand. This in turn will decrease the flexibility of the process, but that is a trade-off that has to be taken to meet the high demand. We are going to produce only a certain types of DBPs, hence range is very narrow. The variations in the design of the DBPs are going to be minimal. New designs will only be developed when there is a requirement for it, hence the rate for new product development is also low. Order-winner for the OE product as discussed above is a balance between delivery speed and cost. Hence the key task for the process is bringing the cost of the product down. Hence we see from the above table, most of the profile of the OE product fits the Line Process choice. Hence in our case, for the OE product range, it is advisable that we go for a Line process. Currently, the Spares and Vintage DBPs are being produced in a Batch Equipment Paced Line Flow. They are currently running operations with 3 machining centres, each consisting of a pair of inter linked CNC machines with magazine feed. But even with a demand of only 300 DBPs/week compared to a demand of 3000 DBPs/week, the 3 machining centres are running at full capacity and often require overtime to meet the demand. Hence it is only logical for Friction Materials to in some new machining centres for the new OE production line that will be mainly be used for OE production, as they will find it very difficult to cope up with the demand with the existing infrastructure available. In fact, Friction Materials should look to start to invest into some of the other machines that they require for the production of DBPs to help cope up with this new OE demand. It is also advisable to make this new investments into the shop floor as the OE market is a profitable market which has a very stable demand and this demand will be there for quite a few years and hence this investment can be easi ly recovered during the life cycles of not OE product, but probably two or three OE products. The current manufacturing process layout should be adopted for the OE production also. The process has been setup taking into consideration the capacity of the mixer, setup time on the presses and stock levels and hence they are designed to give the whole process a flow. But setting up a completely new production line demands a lot of capital being invested and it will take quite some time before you will be able to break even for this investment. Hence the logical thing to do for Friction would be to invest in some new machining centres, so that they would be able to able to cope with the demand. But these new machining centres should be dedicated to only for the OE products. And over time, with increasing profits from the OE business, they can keep adding more machining centres to create a separate line for the OE product. 2.3.3 Production Planning and Control The production of DBPs has been broken down majorly into two process; namely Pressing and Finishing. The Pressing team takes care of making the brake pads; the Finishing team takes care of machining the DBPs to ensure consistency of the physical dimensions of the pad. Since both these processes are independent of each other, they are connected to each other with some decoupling or WIP inventory (Miltenburg). In our case, the baking process is the decoupling process. The two bin system can be used for inventory control for raw materials. In this system, the buffer stock in kept in the second bin and the current stock in kept in the first bin. Once the first bin is emptied and the buffer stock is brought into use, the purchase team should place orders to the respective material supplier for replenishing the material. For quality control, the organisation is already running on Statistical Process Control charts for the Spares and Specialist market. But this is acceptable for these products as their production volumes are not very large. The OE volumes are going to be very huge and hence SPC may not be the right choice for quality control. SPC looks at maintaining the quality of the products that the processes inside the organisation. Since OE is such a big market and where it is always important to â€Å"get things right the first time, every time†; it is better that Friction Materials looks into implementing Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM not only looks into the quality of parts being produced inside the organisation, but it takes the whole supply chain into account and sees to it that not only are the part being produced are up to quality standards, but also parts entering into the system are of optimum quality as it is unlikely to product good quality parts out of sub-standard part s. (GE Systems). Also in TQM, each worker becomes responsible for keeping the quality of their output up to standard. Hence this virtually removes the requirement of a quality control team in the organisation. 2.3.4 Human Resources The major machines, that require training in the whole manufacturing process at Friction Materials, are the press machines and the machining centres. The current workforce employed at Friction Materials is very well trained and are flexible enough to work on any process within their block. But we see that there is considerable time that goes into the setup of the presses when there is a need to change the design of the pad. So the employees can be further trained in how they can reduce the set up time for the presses. Regular maintenance is being carried out at Friction Materials by the current

The Interference Of The Supernatural In Macbeth :: essays research papers

In Macbeth, there were many interesting sections which concentrate on the suspense and the involvement of the supernatural. The use of the supernatural in the witches, the visions or the hallucinations, the ghost, and the apparitions are all key elements in making the concept of the play work also making the play rather interesting to the audience. In each act of the play you will notice that the supernatural is actaully a major factor on the play style. The use of the supernatural occurs at the beginning of the play, with three witches predicting the fate of Macbeth. This gives the audience a clue to what the future holds for Macbeth. "When the battles lost and won"(Act I, Scene I,) was said by the second witch. It says that every battle is lost by one side and won by another. This may be interrperated that Macbeths fate is that he will win the battle, but will lose mant things along the way possibly even including his soul and true personality. After the prophecies of the witches' revealed the fate of Macbeth, the plan in which to gain power of the throne is brought up. According to Lady macbeth and Macbeth the only way to gain power of the throne was for macbeth to murder King Duncan. was an easier plan. Lady Macbeth also relied on the supernatural by her soliloquy of calling upon the evil spirits to give her the power to plot the murder of Duncan without any remorse or conscience(Act I, Scene V, lines 42-57). Lady Macbeth has convinced her husband Macbeth to murder King Duncan. On the night they planned to kill Duncan, Macbeth is waiting for Lady Macbeth to ring the signal bell to go up the stairs to Duncan's chamber. He sees the vision of the floating dagger. The interest of the dagger is that it leads Macbeth towards the chamber by the presence of evil of the dagger being covered with blood. This part may come as a conffusion to the reader bceause one may not be entirely sure wether the murder has already taken place or if it is yet to come. Then the bell rings and Macbeth stealthily proceeds up the staircase to Duncan's chamber. Once the murder has been committed, some time later Banquo has his suspicions about Macbeth killing Duncan to have power of the throne.

Essay on The Holy Bible - The Nature of God in the Genesis

The Nature of God in the Genesis  Ã‚   Genesis is the first book of the Bible.   It begins with the story of God’s creation of the universe.  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Lord is the Almighty Creator of the world, skies, heavens, seas, animals, man, and woman.   He governs the universe and develops relationships with man.   Throughout Genesis, God acknowledges the fact that human beings make mistakes, and accepts their imperfection.   Throughout Genesis, God changes from one who does not tolerate disobedience, to one who shows clemency.   Early on in Genesis, God punishes Adam and Eve for disobedience.   After making the mistake of flooding the world, the Lord realizes that even He is not perfect, and does not allow Jacob’s deceit of his father to taint his future. In the story of Adam and Eve, God severely punishes the first two humans for disobeying his orders.   Upon placing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God commands â€Å"†¦the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, though shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.† (15).   After Adam and Eve disobey, God is outraged and punishes them severely.   â€Å"I will greatly multiply thy (woman’s) sorrow and they conception†¦and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.   And unto Adam he said†¦cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shall thou eat of it all the days of thy life;†¦And unto Adam he said, in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, til though return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return† (16-17).   God’s punishment to women is especially harsh, for he makes childbirth treacherous for them, and appoints man as their ruler. To Adam, the Lord says that man is not imm... ...h can be seen from the story of Adam and Eve.   After creating a flood that destroys the entire world, God realizes that He has made a mistake.   He assures Noah that He will never do it again.   The Lord learns from his blunder, just like humans learn from theirs.   God accepts the fact that no one is flawless, and no longer punishes every wrongdoing.   He is aware that if even He, the Lord, can sometimes show poor judgment, humans should have the privilege of a second chance.   For example, God gives Jacob a second chance when he does not punish him for deceiving his father.   Rather than penalizing Jacob, God ignores his sin, and blesses Jacob, allowing him to prosper. As is frequently the case with humans, God’s nature changes as He is exposed to new experiences.   Throughout Genesis, the Lord transforms from on who does not tolerate disobedience, to one who shows mercy.  

Why John Brown Chose Violence :: essays research papers

Why do you believe that John Brown believed that the situation in the U.S. at the time could only be solved by bloodshed and not compromise?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I believe that there are many reasons why John Brown believed that violence was the only way he could prevail in the fight to end slavery in the United States. First of all; at this time in history, issues were moving fairly quickly. As soon as Kansas was to become a territory, supporters from both the North and South rushed to settle on the land and tried to gain control of the vote in the area. Secondly, it probably seemed that any attempts at compromise at that time had not, and would not, get very far in the issue. Lastly, the most prominent reason I believe that John Brown felt violence was the only answer, was because of his belief in God. As he stated in his speech to the courts during his trial, he felt that what he did was not wrong. Sacrificing his life was worth it; even if it was just one step towards ending slavery, something that was so cruel and wicked anyway, his violence was no worse than the slavery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the Kansas-Nebraska Act was introduced in the U.S., the North was upset because the new territories would probably be pro-slavery. As soon as they could, both sides of the issue sent in settlers to try and gain control. This â€Å"race for Kansas† made the race to make a final decision on the issue of slavery in the U.S. an even more urgent issue. This battle to decide what side the two new territories would be on probably pushed the issue so hard it caused a lot of discomfort and probably hurried people like John Brown into making decisions quickly, because people were afraid. I believe that the rush to make a ruling for or against slavery was one reason why John Brown chose bloodshed over compromise.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second reason I believe Brown picked violence over negotiation was because of the lack of communication. It probably seemed a hopeless endeavor to even try to correspond with the South on the issue, especially after violence had already begun in many places; not to mention in the act of slavery itself. It would have been very hard for either side to civilly speak or negotiate with the opposition in an reasonable manner.

Forward the Foundation Chapter 6

15 Cleon was no longer quite the handsome young monarch that his holographs portrayed. Perhaps he still was-in the holographs-but his mirror told a different story. His most recent birthday had been celebrated with the usual pomp and ritual, but it was his fortieth just the same. The Emperor could find nothing wrong with being forty. His health was perfect. He had gained a little weight but not much. His face would perhaps look older, if it were not for the microadjustments that were made periodically and that gave him a slightly enameled look. He had been on the throne for eighteen years-already one of the longer reigns of the century-and he felt there was nothing that might necessarily keep him from reigning another forty years and perhaps having the longest reign in Imperial history as a result. Cleon looked at the mirror again and thought he looked a bit better if he did not actualize the third dimension. Now take Demerzel-faithful, reliable, necessary, unbearable Demerzel. No change in him. He maintained his appearance and, as far as Cleon knew, there had been no microadjustments, either. Of course, Demerzel was so close-mouthed about everything. And he had never been young. There had been no young look about him when he first served Cleon's father and Cleon had been the boyish Prince Imperial. And there was no young look about him now. Was it better to have looked old at the start and to avoid change afterward? Change! It reminded him that he had called Demerzel in for a purpose and not just so that he might stand there while the Emperor ruminated. Demerzel would take too much Imperial rumination as a sign of old age. â€Å"Demerzel,† he said. â€Å"Sire?† â€Å"This fellow Joranum. I tire of hearing of him.† â€Å"There is no reason you should hear of him, Sire. He is one of those phenomena that are thrown to the surface of the news for a while and then disappears.† â€Å"But he doesn't disappear.† â€Å"Sometimes it takes a while, Sire.† â€Å"What do you think of him, Demerzel?† â€Å"He is dangerous but has a certain popularity. It is the popularity that increases the danger.† â€Å"If you find him dangerous and if I find him annoying, why must we wait? Can't he simply be imprisoned or executed or something?† â€Å"The political situation on Trantor, Sire, is delicate-â€Å" â€Å"It is always delicate. When have you told me that it is anything but delicate?† â€Å"We live in delicate times, Sire. It would be useless to move strongly against him if that would but exacerbate the danger.† â€Å"I don't like it. I may not be widely read-an Emperor doesn't have the time to be widely read-but I know my Imperial history, at any rate. There have been a number of cases of these populists, as they are called, that have seized power in the last couple of centuries. In every case, they reduced the reigning Emperor to a mere figurehead. I do not wish to be a figurehead, Demerzel.† â€Å"It is unthinkable that you would be, Sire.† â€Å"It won't be unthinkable if you do nothing.† â€Å"I am attempting to take measures, Sire, but cautious ones.† â€Å"There's one fellow, at least, who isn't cautious. A month or so ago, a University professor-a professor-stopped a potential Joranumite riot single-handedly. He stepped right in and put a stop to it.† â€Å"So he did, Sire. How did you come to hear of it?† â€Å"Because he is a certain professor in whom I am interested. How is it that you didn't speak to me of this?† Demerzel said, almost obsequiously, â€Å"Would it be right for me to trouble you with every insignificant detail that crosses my desk?† â€Å"Insignificant? This man who took action was Hari Seldon.† â€Å"That was, indeed, his name.† â€Å"And the name was a familiar one. Did he not present a paper, some years ago, at the last Decennial Convention that interested us?† â€Å"Yes, Sire.† Cleon looked pleased. â€Å"As you see, I do have a memory. I need not depend on my staff for everything. I interviewed this Seldon fellow on the matter of his paper, did I not?† â€Å"Your memory is indeed flawless, Sire.† â€Å"What happened to his idea? It was a fortune-telling device. My flawless memory does not bring to mind what he called it.† â€Å"Psychohistory, Sire. It was not precisely a fortune-telling device but a theory as to ways of predicting general trends in future human history.† â€Å"And what happened to it?† â€Å"Nothing, Sire. As I explained at the time, the idea turned out to be wholly impractical. It was a colorful idea but a useless one.† â€Å"Yet he is capable of taking action to stop a potential riot. Would he have dared do this if he didn't know in advance he would succeed? Isn't that evidence that this-what?-psychohistory is working?† â€Å"It is merely evidence that Hari Seldon is foolhardy, Sire. Even if the psychohistoric theory were practical, it would not have been able to yield results involving a single person or a single action.† â€Å"You're not the mathematician, Demerzel. He is. I think it is time I questioned him again. After all, it is not long before the Decennial Convention is upon us once more.† â€Å"It would be a useless-â€Å" â€Å"Demerzel, I desire it. See to it.† â€Å"Yes, Sire.† 16 Raych was listening with an agonized impatience that he was trying not to show. He was sitting in an improvised cell, deep in the warrens of Billibotton, having been accompanied through alleys he no longer remembered. (He, who in the old days could have threaded those same alleys unerringly and lost any pursuer.) The man with him, clad in the green of the Joranumite Guard, was either a missionary, a brainwasher, or a kind of theologian-manque. At any rate, he had announced his name to be Sander Nee and he was delivering a long message in a thick Dahlite accent that he had clearly learned by heart. â€Å"If the people of Dahl want to enjoy equality, they must show themselves worthy of it. Good rule, quiet behavior, seemly pleasures are all requirements. Aggressiveness and the bearing of knives are the accusations others make against us to justify their intolerance. We must be clean in word and-â€Å" Raych broke in. â€Å"I agree with you, Guardsman Nee, every word. But I must see Mr. Joranum.† Slowly the guardsman shook his head. â€Å"You can't ‘less you got some appointment, some permission.† â€Å"Look, I'm the son of an important professor at Streeling University, a mathematics professor.† â€Å"Don't know no professor. I thought you said you was from Dahl.† â€Å"Of course I am. Can't you tell the way I talk?† â€Å"And you got an old man who's a professor at a big University? That don't sound likely.† â€Å"Well, he's my foster father.† The guardsman absorbed that and shook his head. â€Å"You know anyone in Dahl?† â€Å"There's Mother Rittah. She'll know me.† (She had been very old when she had known him. She might be senile by now-or dead.) â€Å"Never heard of her.† (Who else? He had never known anyone likely to penetrate the dim consciousness of this man facing him. His best friend had been another youngster named Smoodgie-or at least that was the only name he knew him by. Even in his desperation, Raych could not see himself saying: â€Å"Do you know someone my age named Smoodgie?†) Finally he said, â€Å"There's Yugo Amaryl.† A dim spark seemed to light Nee's eyes. â€Å"Who?† â€Å"Yugo Amaryl,† said Raych eagerly. â€Å"He works for my foster father at the University.† â€Å"He a Dahlite, too? Everyone at the University Dahlites?† â€Å"Just he and I. He was a heatsinker.† â€Å"What's he doing at the University?† â€Å"My father took him out of the heatsinks eight years ago.† â€Å"Well-I'll send someone.† Raych had to wait. Even if he escaped, where would he go in the intricate alleyways of Billibotton without being picked up instantly? Twenty minutes passed before Nee returned with the corporal who had arrested Raych in the first place. Raych felt a little hope; the corporal, at least, might conceivably have some brains. The corporal said, â€Å"Who is this Dahlite you know?† â€Å"Yugo Amaryl, Corporal, a heatsinker who my father found here in Dahl eight years ago and took to Streeling University with him.† â€Å"Why did he do that?† â€Å"My father thought Yugo could do more important things than heatsink, Corporal.† â€Å"Like what?† â€Å"Mathematics. He-â€Å" The corporal held up his hand. â€Å"What heatsink did he work in?† Raych thought for a moment. â€Å"I was only a kid then, but it was at C-2, I think.† â€Å"Close enough. C-3.† â€Å"Then you know about him, Corporal?† â€Å"Not personally, but the story is famous in the heatsinks and I've worked there, too. And maybe that's how you've heard of it. Have you any evidence that you really know Yugo Amaryl?† â€Å"Look. Let me tell you what I'd like to do. I'm going to write down my name on a piece of paper and my father's name. Then I'm going to write down one word. Get in touch-any way you want-with some official in Mr. Joranum's group-Mr. Joranum will be here in Dahl tomorrow-and just read him my name, my father's name, and the one word. If nothing happens, then I'll stay here till I rot, I suppose, but I don't think that will happen. In fact, I'm sure that they will get me out of here in three seconds and that you'll get a promotion for passing along the information. If you refuse to do this, when they find out I am here-and they will-you will be in the deepest possible trouble. After all, if you know that Yugo Amaryl went off with a big-shot mathematician, just tell yourself that same big-shot mathematician is my father. His name is Hari Seldon.† The corporal's face showed clearly that the name was not unknown to him. He said, â€Å"What's the one word you're going to write down?† â€Å"Psychohistory.† The corporal frowned. â€Å"What's that?† â€Å"That doesn't matter. Just pass it along and see what happens.† The corporal handed him a small sheet of paper, torn out of a notebook. â€Å"All right. Write it down and we'll see what happens.† Raych realized that he was trembling. He wanted very much to know what would happen. It depended entirely on who it was that the corporal would talk to and what magic the word would carry with it. 17 Hari Seldon watched the raindrops form on the wraparound windows of the Imperial ground-car and a sense of nostalgia stabbed at him unbearably. It was only the second time in his eight years on Trantor that he had been ordered to visit the Emperor in the only open land on the planet-and both times the weather had been bad. The first time, shortly after he had arrived on Trantor, the bad weather had merely irritated him. He had found no novelty in it. His home world of Helicon had its share of storms, after all, particularly in the area where he had been brought up. But now he had lived for eight years in make-believe weather, in which storms consisted of computerized cloudiness at random intervals, with regular light rains during the sleeping hours. Raging winds were replaced by zephyrs and there were no extremes of heat and cold-merely little changes that made you unzip the front of your shirt once in a while or throw on a light jacket. And he had heard complaints about even so mild a deviation. But now Hari was seeing real rain coming down drearily from a cold sky-and he had not seen such a thing in years-and he loved it; that was the thing. It reminded him of Helicon, of his youth, of relatively carefree days, and he wondered if he might persuade the driver to take the long way to the Palace. Impossible! The Emperor wanted to see him and it was a long enough trip by ground-car, even if one went in a straight line with no interfering traffic. The Emperor, of course, would not wait. It was a different Cleon from the one Seldon had seen eight years before. He had put on about ten pounds and there was a sulkiness about his face. Yet the skin around his eyes and cheeks looked pinched and Hari recognized the results of one too many microadjustments. In a way, Seldon felt sorry for Cleon-for all his might and Imperial sway, the Emperor was powerless against the passage of time. Once again Cleon met Hari Seldon alone-in the same lavishly furnished room of their first encounter. As was the custom, Seldon waited to be addressed. After briefly assessing Seldon's appearance, the Emperor said in an ordinary voice, â€Å"Glad to see you, Professor. Let us dispense with formalities, as we did on the former occasion on which I met you.† â€Å"Yes, Sire,† said Seldon stiffly. It was not always safe to be informal, merely because the Emperor ordered you to be so in an effusive moment. Cleon gestured imperceptibly and at once the room came alive with automation as the table set itself and dishes began to appear. Seldon, confused, could not follow the details. The Emperor said casually, â€Å"You will dine with me, Seldon?† It had the formal intonation of a question but the force, somehow, of an order. â€Å"I would be honored, Sire,† said Seldon. He looked around cautiously. He knew very well that one did not (or, at any rate, should not) ask questions of the Emperor, but he saw no way out of it. He said, rather quietly, trying to make it not sound like a question, â€Å"The First Minister will not dine with us?† â€Å"He will not,† said Cleon. â€Å"He has other tasks at this moment and I wish, in any case, to speak to you privately.† They ate quietly for a while, Cleon gazing at him fixedly and Seldon smiling tentatively. Cleon had no reputation for cruelty or even for irresponsibility, but he could, in theory, have Seldon arrested on some vague charge and, if the Emperor wished to exert his influence, the case might never come to trial. It was always best to avoid notice and at the moment Seldon couldn't manage it. Surely it had been worse eight years ago, when he had been brought to the Palace under armed guard. This fact did not make Seldon feel relieved, however. Then Cleon spoke. â€Å"Seldon† he said. â€Å"The First Minister is of great use to me, yet I feel that, at times, people may think I do not have a mind of my own. Do you think that?† â€Å"Never, Sire,† said Seldon calmly. No use protesting too much. â€Å"I don't believe you. However, I do have a mind of my own and I recall that when you first came to Trantor you had this psychohistory thing you were playing with.† â€Å"I'm sure you also remember, Sire,† said Seldon softly, â€Å"that I explained at the time it was a mathematical theory without practical application.† â€Å"So you said. Do you still say so?† â€Å"Yes, Sire.† â€Å"Have you been working on it since?† â€Å"On occasion I toy with it, but it comes to nothing. Chaos unfortunately interferes and predictability is not-â€Å" The Emperor interrupted. â€Å"There is a specific problem I wish you to tackle. Do help yourself to the dessert, Seldon. It is very good.† â€Å"What is the problem, Sire?† â€Å"This man Joranum. Demerzel tells me-oh, so politely-that I cannot arrest this man and I cannot use armed force to crush his followers. He says it will simply make the situation worse.† â€Å"If the First Minister says so, I presume it is so.† â€Å"But I do not want this man Joranum†¦ At any rate, I will not be his puppet. Demerzel does nothing.† â€Å"I am sure that he is doing what he can, Sire.† â€Å"If he is working to alleviate the problem, he certainly is not keeping me informed.† â€Å"That may be, Sire, out of a natural desire to keep you above the fray. The First Minister may feel that if Joranum should-if he should-â€Å" â€Å"Take over,† said Cleon with a tone of infinite distaste. â€Å"Yes, Sire. It would not be wise to have it appear that you were personally opposed to him. You must remain untouched for the sake of the stability of the Empire.† â€Å"I would much rather assure the stability of the Empire without Joranum. What do you suggest, Seldon?† â€Å"I, Sire?† â€Å"You, Seldon,† said Cleon impatiently. â€Å"Let me say that I don't believe you when you say that psychohistory is just a game. Demerzel stays friendly with you. Do you think I am such an idiot as not to know that? He expects something from you. He expects psychohistory from you and since I am no fool, I expect it, too. Seldon, are you for Joranum? The truth!† â€Å"No, Sire, I am not for him. I consider him an utter danger to the Empire.† â€Å"Very well, I believe you. You stopped a potential Joranumite riot at your University grounds single-handedly, I understand.† â€Å"It was pure impulse on my part, Sire.† â€Å"Tell that to fools, not to me. You had worked it out by psychohistory.† â€Å"Sire!† â€Å"Don't protest. What are you doing about Joranum? You must be doing something if you are on the side of the Empire.† â€Å"Sire,† said Seldon cautiously, uncertain as to how much the Emperor knew. â€Å"I have sent my son to meet with Joranum in the Dahl Sector.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"My son is a Dahlite-and shrewd. He may discover something of use to us.† â€Å"May?† â€Å"Only may, Sire.† â€Å"You'll keep me informed?† â€Å"Yes, Sire.† â€Å"And, Seldon, do not tell me that psychohistory is just a game, that it does not exist. I do not want to hear that. I expect you to do something about Joranum. What it might be, I can't say, but you must do something. I will not have it otherwise. You may go.† Seldon returned to Streeling University in a far darker mood than when he had left. Cleon had sounded as though he would not accept failure. It all depended on Raych now.