Sunshine Chapter 9 Free Essays

string(93) " early experiments with what turned out to be the ancestors of Bitter Chocolate Death et al\." I nodded. I picked up my jackknife and put it back in my pocket. I looked at Jesse. We will write a custom essay sample on Sunshine Chapter 9 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Then I looked at the blood-smeared table knife lying on his desk, and he watched me looking. â€Å"That’s the next thing, isn’t it?† he said. â€Å"Okay – you have some kind of line on worked metal. Some pretty astonishing line, it must be. But that doesn’t explain†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The phone rang. He picked it up. â€Å"Ah. Well, better send him up then.† We all looked hard at Pat. He wasn’t blue at all. Theo unlocked the door. Mel came through it about ten seconds later, looking fit to murder battalions of SOFs with nothing more than a table knife. â€Å"What the dharmic hell do you red-eyed boys think you are up to, keeping a law-abiding member of the human public incommunicado for over an hour?† I managed to keep a straight face. â€Å"Red-eyed boy† (or girl) is an accusation of Other blood: just the sort of thing a pissed-off civilian would say to a SOF. They all looked perfectly blank. â€Å"Sorry,† said Jesse. â€Å"We didn’t mean to keep her incommunicado. We were getting her out of a bad situation as fast as possible – brought her in the back way, of course. The media jokers can’t get to her here. But we forgot to send word to the front desk that we weren’t – er – holding her.† Sure you forgot, I thought. Mel, still quivering with fury, and equally aware Jesse was lying, turned to me. â€Å"I’m okay,† I said. â€Å"I was a bit – hysterical. They let me have a shower,† I added inconsequentially. I’d had a rough night, and it was getting harder and harder to remember what I’d told whom and why. â€Å"A shower?† said Mel, taking in my fuzzy-bunny clothing – probably the first time he’d ever seen me in anything that didn’t involve red or pink or orange or yellow or at least peacock blue or fluorescent purple – and I realized he didn’t know what had happened. He wouldn’t, would he? You don’t destroy vampires by rushing up to them and sticking them with table knives. The only sure thing about the night’s events was that there’d been some kind of fracas – some messy kind of fracas – and I’d disappeared with some SOFs. There were probably half a dozen incompatible versions of what had happened out there by now. No wonder Mel was feeling a little wild. â€Å"It’s sort of a long story,† I said. â€Å"May I leave now, please?† Before you start asking me about tonight, I thought. â€Å"That’s what I’m here for,† said Mel, throwing another good glare around. â€Å"See you tomorrow,† said Jesse. â€Å"What?† said Mel. â€Å"I’ll tell you on the way out,† I said. â€Å"Sleep well,† said Pat. â€Å"You too,† I said. They gave me my soggy clothes in a plastic Mega Food bag and I managed to jam my feet into the clammy, curled-up sneakers so I could walk. Jesse offered to call a taxi, but I wanted some outdoor air. Even midtown civic center outdoor air. We had to go back to the coffeehouse: the Wreck was there. Mel had walked over. Well, I don’t know about walked. He had come over without vehicular assistance anyway. He was still putting out major anger vibes, even after a successful rescue of the damsel from the dragon-encircled tower. The dragon had been blue, and essentially friendly. The real problem was about the damsel†¦I had never wanted someone to talk to so badly, never been so unable to say what I wanted to talk about. And if I managed to tell him, what was he going to say? â€Å"I’ll start ringing up residential homes for the lethally loony tomorrow, see where the nearest openings are†? â€Å"Don’t even try to tell me what happened till you’ve had some sleep,† said Mel. â€Å"The goddam nerve of those guys†¦I thought Pat and Jesse were okay.† â€Å"I think they are okay,† I said, regretfully. In some ways it would have been easier if they weren’t. â€Å"Jesse and Theo did get me out of there – um – and they couldn’t help being, you know, professionally interested.† Mel snorted. â€Å"If you say so. Listen, the whole neighborhood is talking about it. Whatever it is. The official SOF report – what they’ve already fed to the media goons – is that you were an innocent bystander. None of us is going to say anything, but there were a lot of people in that alley by the time Jesse and Theo got you away, and it’s unanimous that you were†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There was a pause. I didn’t say anything. He added, â€Å"Charlie seemed to think Jesse was doing you a favor. That SOF could protect you better than we could.† Yeah. Further destruction of personal world view optional. Mel sighed. â€Å"So we hung around the phone at the coffeehouse, waiting – Charlie and me. We sent everybody else home – including Kenny, sworn on pain of having his liver on tomorrow’s menu not to tell your mother anything. The phone didn’t ring. So then we rang SOF and got yanked around by some little sheepwit on the switchboard, and that’s when I came over†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I’m sorry,† I said. The coffeehouse was dark and the square silent and empty, although there was some kind of distantly audible fuss going on somewhere it was easy enough to guess was a block or two over and down a recently defiled alley. We went round the side of the coffeehouse and I could see a light on in the office. Charlie, drinking coffee and pacing. He had his arms wrapped around me so tight I couldn’t breathe almost before I was inside. Charlie is such a mild little guy, most of the time. â€Å"I’m okay,† I said. Charlie gave a deep, shuddering sigh, and I remembered him backing me up with Mr. Responsible Media. I also remembered all the time he’d spent in years past, encouraging my mundane interest in learning to make a mayonnaise that didn’t crack, how much garlic went into Charlie’s famous hash, my early experiments with what turned out to be the ancestors of Bitter Chocolate Death et al. You read "Sunshine Chapter 9" in category "Essay examples" There was no magic about Charlie. Nor about most restaurants, come to that. Human customers tend to be a little twitchy about anything more magical than a waitress who could keep coffee hot. I wondered about my mother’s motive in applying for a job as a waitress all those years ago: I was already making peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies while we were still living with my dad (if there was a grown-up to turn the oven on for me), and if she was looking for nice safe outletsâ⠂¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Tonight. It’s – it’s connected with what happened – when I was gone those two days.† â€Å"I was afraid of that,† said Charlie. â€Å"Jesse wants me to try to find the place it all happened. Out at the lake. They’re taking me out there tomorrow.† â€Å"Oh bloody hell,† said Mel. â€Å"It’s been two months. They don’t have to go tomorrow.† I shrugged. â€Å"Might as well. I have the afternoon off.† â€Å"The lake,† said Charlie thoughtfully. I’d told everyone I’d driven out to the lake. I hadn’t said that what happened afterward also happened at the lake. Till tonight my official memory had ended sitting on the porch of the old cabin. â€Å"Yes. I was – er – held – at a house on the lake. They want me to try to find it.† Either Mel or Charlie could have said, when did you remember this? What else do you remember? Why did you tell SOF when you haven’t told us? Neither of them did. Mel put his arm around me. â€Å"Oh, gods and frigging angels,† he said. â€Å"Be careful,† said Charlie. One of the (few) advantages to getting to work at four-thirty a.m. is that you can be pretty sure of finding a parking space. When I come in later I’m not always so lucky. I’d had to park the Wreck in a garage lot that evening, and it was locked at eleven. Mel took me home. When we got there and he turned the bike off the silence pressed against me. The sudden quiet is almost always loud when you’ve been on a motorcycle and got somewhere and stopped and turned it off, but this was different. Mel didn’t say any more about the night’s events. He didn’t say any more about SOF taking me out to the lake the next day. I could see him wanting to†¦but as I’ve said before, one of the reasons Mel and I were still seeing each other after four years was because we could not talk about things sometimes. This included that we both knew when to shut up. It was blissful, spending time with someone who would leave you alone. I loved him for it. And I was happy to repay in kind. It had never occurred to me that leaving someone alone could harden into a habit that could become a barrier. It had never occurred to me before now. I had to repress the desire that he not shut up this time. I had to repress the desire to ask him if I could talk to him. But what could I have said? We stood there in the darkness for a minute or two. He was rubbing another of his tattoos, the sand wheel, on the back of his left hand. Then he came with me to check that I still had Kenny’s bicycle and the tires weren’t flat. Then he kissed me and left. â€Å"See you tomorrow,† is all he said. I reached over my head to touch the wards strung along the edge of the porch roof on my way indoors. These were all Yolande’s. Her wards were especially good and I’d often thought of asking her where she got them, but you didn’t really ask Yolande questions. I had noticed that her niece, when she was visiting, didn’t seem to ask questions either, beyond, â€Å"I’m taking the girls downtown, can I bring you anything?† And the answer would probably be â€Å"No, thank you, dear.† I wiggled my fingers down the edges of my pots of pansies on the porch steps, to check that the wards I’d buried there were still there, and that a ping against my fingers meant they were still working. I straightened the medallion over my downstairs door and lifted the â€Å"go away† mat in front of the one at the top of the stairs to check that the warding built into the lay of the planks of the floor hadn’t been hacked out by creature or creatures unknown. I fluttered the charm paper that was wound round the railing of my balcony to make sure it was still live, blew on the frames of my windows for the faint ripple of response. I didn’t like charms, but I wasn’t naive enough not to have good basic wards, and I’d been a little more meticulous about upkeep in the last two months. Then I made myself a cup of chamomile tea to damp down the scotch and the cheese. I took off the bunny pajamas and put on one of my own nightgowns. The toilet paper had held; there wasn’t any blood on the SOF thing. I put my still-wet clothes in a sinkful of more soap and water. Tomorrow I would put them through a washing machine. I might throw them out anyway, or burn them. (I still hadn’t burned the cranberry-red dress. It lived at the back of my closet. I think I knew I wasn’t going to burn it after the night I dreamed that it was made of blood, not cloth, and I’d pulled it out of the closet that night, in the dark, and stroked and stroked the dry, silky, shining fabric, which was nothing like blood. Nothing like blood.) My sneakers would live. I had dozens of T-shirts and jeans if I decided I wanted to burn something but I wasn’t going to sacrifice a good pair of sneakers if I could help it. I pushed open the French doors and went out and sat on my little balcony. It was a clear, quiet night with a bright quarter moon. When Yolande had had mice in her kitchen I had set take-’em-alive traps and driven the results twenty miles away and released them in empty farmland. (Wards against wildlife are notoriously bad: hence the electric peanut-butter fence to keep the deer from eating Yo-lande’s roses. And a house ward successful against mice and squirrels would be almost the money-spinner that a charm to let suckers walk around in daylight would be.) I couldn’t kill anything larger than a housefly. I’d stopped putting spiders outdoors after I read somewhere that house spiders won’t survive. When I dusted, I left occupied cobwebs alone. I hadn’t drawn blood in anger since the seventh-grade playground wars. I don’t eat meat. I’m too squeamish. It all looks like dead animals to me. On the days I cover in the main kitchen, the only hot food is vegetarian. Maybe my mother had successfully coerced and brainwashed her daughter into being a nice, human wimp. But I’d blown it. I’d blown it when I’d turned my knife into a key, because it was the only way to stay alive. Because – maybe only because I didn’t know any better – I wanted to stay alive. I looked down at my arms, at my hands cupping the tea mug, as if I would start growing scales or fur or warts – or turning blue – immediately. Most demon blood doesn’t make you big or strong or blue though, whether it comes with magic ability or not. A lot of it makes you weaker or stupider. Or crazier. I’d been doing okay as my mother’s daughter. My life wasn’t perfect, but whose was? Yes, I’d always despised myself for being a coward. A wuss. So? There are worse things. And then I had to drive out to the lake one night. They’d started it. And I may be a wuss, but I’ve never liked bullies. Maybe, if it was all about to go horribly wrong, I could at least go out with a bang. How cute and sweet and winsome and philosophically high-minded, that I didn’t like bullies, that I wanted to go out with a bang. I was still a coward, I had a master vampire and his gang on my tail, I was all alone, and I was way out of my league. â€Å"Oh, Constantine,† I whispered into the darkness. â€Å"What do I do now?† I slept the moment my head touched the pillow, in spite of everything that had happened. It was very late for me though, and I’d had two generous shots of scotch. The alarm went off about three hours later. I woke strangely easily and peacefully. I can get by on six and a half hours, just, and only if I’m feeling lively generally, which I hadn’t been lately. Three hours’ sleep doesn’t cut it under any conditions. But I sat up and stretched and didn’t feel too bad. And I had the oddest sensation†¦as if someone had been in my bedroom with me. Given the events of the night before, this should have been panic stations, but it wasn’t. It was a reassuring feeling, as if someone had been guarding me in my sleep. Get a grip, Sunshine. I had to get moving quickly however I was feeling, because it took so much longer to bicycle than to drive into town. But as it turned out, it didn’t. When I went round to the shed to fetch Kenny’s bike there was a car parked at the edge of the road, engine off, but SOF spotlight on, illuminating the SOF insignia on the door, and the face of the man leaning against the hood. Pat. † ‘Morning,† he said. â€Å"We are not going to the lake at this hour,† I said, half scandalized and half disbelieving. â€Å"I am going to make cinnamon rolls and oatmeal bread and brownies and Butter Bombs, and you can call out the cavalry at about ten.† â€Å"Sheer. I know you’re going in to make cinnamon rolls. You want to be setting some aside to bring with you later on. The only good Monday is a holiday Monday when Charlie’s is open. But we figured that Mel would bring you home last night which would leave you with only two unmotorized wheels this morning. And we don’t want you tired this afternoon.† Tired but alive would do, I thought. Dawn isn’t for another hour and a half, and if I’m the first person to stake a sucker with a table knife I could be the first person to get plucked off a bicycle†¦I had been thinking about this as I walked downstairs in the dark. Living alone has its advantages in terms of warding: your wards don’t get confused, nor do they blunt as fast as they will if there are several of you. A big family with a lot of friends will go through wards like the Seddons through popcorn on Monday nights. And unless you are so fabulously wealthy that you can spend millions on made-to-order wards, there are always going to be some holes in the barrier. Someone living alone who isn’t constantly having different people over can probably build up a pretty good, solid, home ward system. That’s probably. But wards are unstable at best, and they tend to blow up or fall over or go rogue or get their attributes crossed and morph into something else, almost certainly something you don’t want, pretty easily, and generally speaking the more powerful they are the more likely they are to go nuts. And wards are the sober end of the charm family. Most of the rest of them are a lot worse. One of the most dependable ways to make a ward kali on you is to expect it to travel. All charms, including wards, that you wear next to your skin, are different – hence the perennial, if problematic, popularity of tattoos – but wards you hang at a distance have to stay put. Consequently the eternally vexed question of warding your means of transportation. And while it’s true that the chauffeur-driven limos of the global council are almost more ward than limo, it’s also true that no council member travels anywhere without a human bodyguard stiff with technology, including to the corner store for a newspaper. If there are any global council members that live in neighborhoods with corner stores, which there probably aren’t. The irony is that the best transport ward for us ordinary schlemiels remains the confusing fact of motion itself. (There’s a crucial maintenance speed of a little under ten mph. This is a brisk pedal on your bicycle and sensible joggers, if this isn’t a contradiction in terms, get their exercise during the day. In the horse era a harness or riding horse that couldn’t maintain a nine-mph clip for a useful distance was shot. This made horses short-lived and expensive and most people stayed at home after dark: but at least travel was possible.) The protection of movement is nothing like perfect, which is why they keep trying to create transport wards, but it exists – and thank the gods and angels for it, since without it I don’t think there would be many sane humans left. There’s only so much constant relentless constrictive dread you can live with. Anyway I knew to be grateful for it, but it had never made much sense, at least not till a vampir e had told me it is not the distance that is crucial, but the uniformity and given me an inkling. But what kind of homogeneity is it, about sucker senses? Had the goblin giggler’s last sight of the human who offed him been transmitted anywhere? I’d felt relatively safe inside my apartment. I had good wards, and you can kind of feel the presence of the screen they put up, that it’s there, and there aren’t any big drafts coming through it. And you feel it when you come out from behind it too. But I’d never been able to bear a charm against my skin. They make me a total space cadet. I’d agreed to the key ring loop to make Mom feel good, and that was pushing it. Poor thing. It had probably been grateful to be drowned in the shower, last night, if it had survived the little incident shortly before. I said to Pat unkindly, â€Å"You might have thought of that last night.† He grinned, and opened the passenger door. I got in. â€Å"Why did you draw the short straw?† † ‘Cause I’m best at going without sleep. My demon blood has its uses.† There were at least two classes of demons who didn’t sleep at all. My favorite is the Hildy demon, who gets all the sleep it needs during the blinking of its eyes. You’d think this would seriously interrupt any train of thought that takes longer to pursue than the time between one eye blink and another, but not to a Hildy. (They’re called Hildies after Brunhilde, who slept for a very long time surrounded by fire. Hildies also breathe fire when they’re peeved, although they’re even-tempered as demons go.) Hildies aren’t blue though. I certainly couldn’t get all the sleep I needed by blinking my eyes. I stayed in the bakery all morning. Charlie and Mel kept everyone who didn’t belong behind the counter on the far side, Mom answered more phone calls than usual and said â€Å"she has nothing to say† a lot. With the bakery door open I could sometimes hear conversations in the office. Mom is good at hanging up on people. It’s one of her great assets as a small-business manager. (She and Consuela had lately been working up a good cop/bad cop routine that was a joy to eavesdrop on.) I had no idea what Charlie had told her about the events of the night before. I didn’t want to know. But he must have told her something. Miraculously, she left me alone, although a particularly lurid new charm was waiting for me on my apron hook that morning. I left it there, glowering to itself. I like orange, but not in over-decorated feather whammies. It wasn’t as bad as it might have been by a long shot. I felt some grudging admiration for SOF. Nobody tried to follow me when I left the coffeehouse at ten, or at least nobody but some of the overweight so-called wildlife that hangs around the pedestrian precinct and tries to cadge handouts from the weak-willed. They know a white bakery bag when they see one, and I was carrying a dozen cinnamon rolls. I swear some of our sparrows are too fat to fly, but the feral cats are too fat to catch them. And the squirrels should have had teeny-weeny skateboards to keep their bellies off the ground. One of the recent rumors about Mrs. Bialosky’s neighborhood activities was that she ran a commando unit that protected us from some of Old Town’s larger, more threatening wildlife, the rats and foxes and mutant deer that never shed their short but pointy horns. If Charlie’s had had to keep all of that lot too fat to intimidate anybody we’d have gone out of business. It was just Jesse and Pat today. They put me in the front seat – of an unmarked car – with Pat alone in the back. Jesse ate four cinnamon rolls and Pat ate five. I didn’t think this was humanly possible – but then maybe it wasn’t. I ate one. I’d had breakfast already. Twice. Ten o’clock is a long time from four in the morning. We drove first to the old cabin. I was still clinging to that mysterious sense of someone keeping a protective eye on me, but I was beginning to feel a little rocky nonetheless. Maybe I should have brought the feather whammy instead of hiding it under my apron when I left. As the weed-pocked gravel of what had once been a driveway crunched under my feet, I put my hand in my pocket and closed it round my little knife. I had been not remembering what had happened two months ago so emphatically that the edges of my real memory had become a little indistinct. Standing on the ground where it had begun brought it horribly back. I looked at the porch, where I hadn’t heard them coming from. I looked at the place where my car had no longer been, two days later. I went down to the marshy reach near the shore, where the stream had run fifteen years ago. It didn’t look like anybody had been there playing in the mud recently. I went back to the cabin. â€Å"Yeah,† Pat was saying. â€Å"But it’s been a long time, and they haven’t been back,† said Jesse. They were just standing there, no gizmos in sight, no headsets, no wires, no portable com screens with flashing lights making beeping noises. I guessed it wasn’t technology that was helping them draw their conclusions. What a good thing Pat hadn’t walked on my porch this morning, and up my stairs and knocked on my door and, maybe, walked into the front room where the same, if savagely stain-removed, sofa still stood, and the little square of carpet beside it, and maybe even the handle of the fridge door, the same handle that had been there ready to expose a carton of milk behind it if someone pulled on it, two months ago. What a good thing that good manners dictate that you don’t idly cross people’s probable outer ward circle and knock on their doors unless invited. Carthaginian hell. We got back in the car and drove on the way we’d been going, north. There was a bad spot almost at once. I picked it up first, or anyway I was the one who said, â€Å"Hey. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to go any farther this way.† â€Å"Roll up your windows,† said Jesse. He hit a couple of buttons on the very peculiar dashboard I was only now noticing and suddenly there was something like heavy body armor enclosing me, oppressive as chain mail and breastplate and a full-face helm, plume and lady’s silk favor optional. I could almost smell the metal polish. â€Å"Ugh,† I said. â€Å"Don’t knock it, it works,† said Jesse. Our voices echoed peculiarly. We drove very slowly for about a minute and then a red light on the dashboard blinked and there was a manic chirping like a parakeet on speed. â€Å"Right. We’re clear.† He hit the same buttons. The invisible armor went away. â€Å"Spartan, isn’t it?† said Pat. â€Å"No,† I said. We drove through two more bad spots like that and I hated the body armor program worse each time. It made me feel trapped. It made me feel as if when I woke up again I’d be sitting at the edge of a bonfire with a lot of vampires on the other side. It was a long drive. Thirty miles or so. I remembered. Then we reached a really bad spot. Jesse hit his buttons again but this time it really was like being trapped – held down while Things slid through the intangible gaps between the incorporeal links, reached out long taloned fingers and grabbed me†¦ Big. Huge space. Indoors; ceiling up there somewhere. Old factory. Scaffolding where the workers had once tended the machines. No windows. Enormous square ventilator shafts, vast parasitic humps of silent machinery, contortions of piping like the Worm Ouroboros in its death throes†¦ And eyes. Eyes. Staring. Their gaze like flung acid. No color. What color is evil?†¦ When I came to, I was screaming. I stopped. Even the guys looked shaken. I could see the scuff marks in the road ahead of us, where Jesse had slammed us into reverse. Good thing the driver hadn’t gone under. I put my hands over my mouth. â€Å"Sorry,† I said. â€Å"Nah,† said Pat. â€Å"If you hadn’t been screaming, I’d’ve had to do it.† â€Å"What now?† said Jesse. They both looked at me. â€Å"Maybe this is the really big bad spot behind the house,† I said. â€Å"I told you there was one. We’re pretty well north of the lake now, aren’t we? Seems like we’ve come far enough, but I keep losing the lake behind the trees.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Jesse. â€Å"The road’s well back here, because this is where the big estates are. Were.† â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"So we walk.† I opened the car door and clambered stiffly out. This was harder than it would have been if I hadn’t been squashed by SOF technology four times, especially the last time when it didn’t work. I patted my stomach as if checking to make sure I was still there. I seemed to be. The cut on my breast was itching like crazy: the sort of variable itch that reinforces its performance by regular nerve-fraying jabs of pain. How to cite Sunshine Chapter 9, Essay examples

The Importance of Being Earnest ( Oscar Wilde ) free essay sample

Examines role of Cecily Cardews diary in advancing plays farcical plot her relationship with Ernest. This study will examine the role of the diary of the character of Cecily Cardew in Oscar Wildes play The Importance of Being Earnest, and the relationship of that diary to the story and Cecilys relationship with Ernest. The diary is merely another piece of utter nonsense and deception, especially self-deception, in a play composed of little but deception and nonsense. Cecily creates in her diary a make-believe world in which she fantasizes a relationship with Ernest. In fact, the relationship she fantasizes is not with the real Ernest, who is in fact Jack, but rather with Algernon, who she believes to be Jacks brother, who is not actually his brother. In fact, Jack has no brother, and in any case, Cecily had never even met Ernest (Algernon) before she had composed the bulk of her. We will write a custom essay sample on The Importance of Being Earnest ( Oscar Wilde ) or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page .

Porters Diamond in a Mexican Context free essay sample

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [emailprotected] org. . Springer is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to MIR: Management International Review. http://www. jstor. org This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 8 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions mir SpecialIssue 1993/2, 41-54 pp. mir Illfftl lUllLuU Pftviftlif ll  © Gabler Verlag 1993 Richard M. Hodgetts Porters Diamond Framework in a Mexican Context Abstract used as a basis forexamining  ¦ The Porterdiamondmodelhas been widely This examines waysin which the international competitive strategies. article itself theU. S. economy a doublediamond. to via Mexico is linking cluste rs petrochemicals automobiles  ¦ The strategies Mexicosleading of and the within doublediamondframework. We will write a custom essay sample on Porters Diamond in a Mexican Context or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page re considered Key words to  ¦ A doublediamondmodelis alreadybeingused by Mexicancorporations bothcreateand sustaineconomic progress. Author at of is M. Dr. Richard Hodgetts Professor Strategic University, Management FloridaInternational Boca Raton,FL, U. S. A. March1992,revised received April1992. Manuscript mir vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 41 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Richard Hodgetts M. Porter Revisited Porters and diamondmodelis well-known bothresearchers practitioners. to In wayofreprise, modelis based on four and determinants the country-specific twoexternal variables. These include: 1. Factorconditions and cost of personnel; suchas: (a) thequantity, skills, (b) rethe abundance,quality,accessibility, cost of the nationsphysical and sources;(c) thenationsstockof knowledge resources; theamountand (d) cost of capitalresources and thatare availableto finance industry: (e) the and usercost of thenationsinfrastructure. type, quality, 2. Demand conditions such as: (a) the composition demandin the home of market: thesize and growth of thehomedemand;and (c) themechrate (b) anismsthrough whichdomestic and demandis internationalized pullsa nationsproducts and services abroad. 3. Relatedand supporting industries as: (a) thepresence internationally such of in indusindustries createadvantages downstream that competitive supplier tries and (b) or efficient, through early, rapidaccessto cost-effective inputs; and can related industries which coordinate share internationally competitive in activities thevaluechainwhencompeting thosewhich involve or products thatare complementary. . Firmstrategy, firms are and suchas: (a) thewaysin which structure, rivalry seekto attain managedand chooseto compete; thegoals thatcompanies (b) as well as the motivations theiremployees and (c) the of and managers; amountof domestic of and and persistence competitive rivalry thecreation in advantage therespective industry. The twooutsideforces, but also affecting competitiveness a nation, not the of direct are determinants, these: 1. The roleofchanceas causedbydevelopments as: (a) newinventions; such (b) in shifts decisions foreign wars;(d) significant political (c) by governments; in worldfinancial markets exchange or discontinuities inputcosts rates;(e) such as oil shocks;(f) surgesin worldor regional demand;and (g) major technological breakthroughs. 2. The variousrolesof government (a) (b) poliincluding: subsidies; education toward of cies;(c) actions markets; theestablishment localproduct capital (d) standards regulations; thepurchase goodsand services; taxlaws; and of (f) (e) and (g) antitrust (Porter, 69-130). egulation pp. an of of Figure1 provides illustration thecomplete system thesedeterminants and external and variables. can be seen,each determinant As affects others the are all, in turn, affected theroleof chanceand government. by 42 mir vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditio ns the Porters DiamondFramework: MexicanContext DiamondFramework 1. Figure Porters The from MichaelE. Porter, Competitive Source: Adapted Advantage Nations (NewYork:Free of Press,1990),p. 127. Critique and Evaluation of the Porter Model business it to modelto international In applying Porters strategy, is important in is the realize First, governmentofcritical importance influenckey eight facts. it as For example, can use tariffs a advantage. inga homenationscompetitive subsidies an as and to barrier penalizeforeign direct firms, it can employ entry firms. the with for vehicle penalizing indirect However, problem foreign-based and can suchas theseis thatthey backfire end up creating actions government thatis unable to competein the worldwide domestic a sheltered industry market 1990). Rugmanand Verbeke in factor international business chanceis a critical Second,while influencing until For and difficult predict guardagainst. example, to itis extremely strategy, was HusseininvadedKuwait,theUnitedStatesgovernment theday Saddam thattherewould be no invasion. In a similarvein,technological predicting in have resulted rapid electronics in and breakthroughs computers consumer mir vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 43 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions M. Richard Hodgetts ndustries in manycases,werenotpredicted companies and, by changein these weremarket leaders. that,at thetime, in modelmustbe applied business Porters of Third, thestudy international interms company As and of considerations notnational advantages. he specific in international marso wellnotesin his book, Firms,not nations, compete kets(Porter, 33). p. based on statistical modelwas constructed Fourth,thePorter analysisof data on exportsharesfor ten countries: Denmark,Italy,Japan, aggregate the the SouthKorea,Sweden, Switzerland, UnitedKingdom, United Singapore, wereprovided In historical cases studies States,and WestGermany. ddition, the forfourindustries: Germanprinting the patient pressindustry, American and tile the monitoring equipment industry, Italianceramic industry, theJapaand neseroboti cs about thesecountries examples Whatis important industry. nations. Sincemost is thatthey drawn are industrialized from triad other the or as or affluence countries theworlddo nothave thesameeconomic of strength thosestudiedby Porter, is highly it thathis modelcan be appliedto unlikely them without modification. Porter forth sets our distinct Fifth, developcompetitive stagesofnational and wealth-driven. ment:factor-driven, innovation-driven, investment-driven, In thefactor-driven internationally advandrawtheir successful industries stage resources from basicfactors production the of suchas natural tagealmost solely on and thenationslarge,inexpensive labor pool and they compete primarily efficient In the investment-driven companiesinvestin modern, price. stage theseinvestments facilities technology they and and workto improve through not In modification alteration. heinnovation-driven firms onlypurand stage chase technology and methodsfromothers,but theywork to createthem and from i nnovation their on own partas wellas assistance suppliers through in In firms related industries. thewealth-driven beginto lose their stage,firms to ebbs, and thereis a declinein motivation competitive advantage, rivalry Korea is investIn invest. Porters viewSingapore in thefactor-driven is stage, ment-drive, Germanyand the United States are Japan is innovation-drive, and between innovationand wealth-driven, Great Britainis wealth-driven. he influences countrys Since the stage of development competitive greatly in is So theplacement countries thisschema critical. too is thelogic of response, two or thanspanning rather thatcountries move from one stageto another in or to moreof thesestages, sincethere likely be industries companies all are at majoreconomies operating each of thesestages. investment thatonlyoutward direct Porter contends Sixth, (FDI) is foreign investment is valuablein creating and inboundforeign advantage, competitive subnever solution a nationscompetitive to the Mor eover, foreign problems. idiaries are not sourcesof competitive foreign advantageand widespread in investment thatthe processof competitive upgrading an usuallyindicates 44 mir vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Porters Diamond Framework: the Mexican Context is becausedomestic in firms manyindustries lack economy notentirely healthy their to market thecapabilities defend firms positions againstforeign (Porter, are questionable. For example,Canadianp. 61). These statements highly based scholars (Safarian1968,Rugman1980,and Crookell1990)havedemonand undertaken foreign-owned is not strated research development that firms by different thatof Canadian-owned from companies. significantly Additionally, thatthe20 largest American subsidiaries Canada export in Rugmanhas found rateofexports salesis 25 percent to as muchas they while (the import virtually to tha tof imports sales is 26 percent). reliance natural on resources factor-driven as Seventh, (the stage)is viewed to worldwide stature. nsufficientcreate However, Canada, forone, competitive a of whichhave turned counhas developed number successful the megafirms in natural resources proprietary into comparative advantage firm-specific trys in and and are of processing further refining; these sources advantages resource case studies sustainable of advantage (Rugmanand Mcllveen1985). Moreover, multinationals as Alcan,Noranda,and Nova help such successful thecountrys illustrate methods whichvalue added has beenintroduced themanthe by by resource-based ofthese companies (DCruz and Fleck1987,Rugmanand agers DCruz 1990). odeldoes not adequatelyaddresstherole of MNEs. the Eighth, Porter multinational such as Dunning(1990) have suggested Researchers including as a thirdoutsidevariable(in additionto chance and government). activity MNE activity covered in whether is there good reasonto question is Certainly and some researchers and thefirm determinant; structure, rivalry strategy, determinant both can how have raisedthequestion regarding thesame rivalry for includemultinationality global industries excludeit formultidomestic yet to thatMNEs As industries. Dunningnotes,thereis ampleevidence suggest theconfiguration thediamondin of in are influenced their by competitiveness in and homecountries, thatthis, turnmayimpinge otherthantheir upon the of (Dunning,p. 111). For example,Nestle competitiveness home countries Thus the Swissdiamondof of earns95 percent its sales outsideSwitzerland. in countries shaping thanthatof foreign is lessrelevant advantage competitive of the contribution Nestle to the home economy. This is truenot only for of nations. For example, all but Switzerland for95 percent theworlds virtually of Canadas largemultinationals on sales in theUnitedStatesand other rely is that U. S. diamond morerelevant the it markets. triad Indeed, couldbe argued thanis Canadas own diamond,since multinationals forCanadas industrial takeplacein theUnitedStates. Other of over70 percent their sales,on average, home diamondsincludeAustralia, New nationswithMNEs based on small if as and most, notall, Asian and LatinAmerican countries, Zealand,Finland, in of Even smallnations theEC, wellas a largenumber othersmallcountries. he of havebeenable to overcome problem a smalldomestic suchas Denmark, vol. nth* 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 45 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Richard Hodgetts M. market gaining access to one of thetriadmarkets. in applying Porters So by framework international to businessat large,one conclusionis irrefutable: diamonds needto be constructed analyzed different and countries, Different for and thesediamonds and linkagewith diamonds the often integration of require other countries creating double thus a diamond stronger economically paradigm. Mexico and the Double Diamond Paradigm Porters diamond the nations advanhelpsexplain nontriad develop competitive their diamondintothatof triadcountries. Mexicoprovides an tageby linking excellent example. Background Mexicocurrently thestrongest has in The has economy LatinAmerica. country also vigorously to theUnitedStateswhichnow promoted exports, especially counts Mexicofor25 percent all imported on of fruit vegetables and (Bakerand Walker1991a). The maquiladoraindustry another is sourceof ecogrowing nomicstrength thecountry. thesametimeMexicois a majormarket for At for multinational investment. MNE Investment Theclimate foreign for direct investment increasing(FDI) inMexicohasgrown the favorable recent in on Whilethere werestrict controls FDI during ly years. in As introduced 1989reversed 1970s,regulations manyof theserestrictions. a For example, an number MNEs are now investing of there. esult, increasing Ford Motor has beguna $ 700 million plantin expansionin an automotive in to produce cars Nissanis putting 1 billion a newassembly $ Chihuahua; plant forexport boththeUnitedStatesand Japan;Volkswagen investing 950 to is $ million expanditsplant;McDonalds has earmarked 500 million open to to $ 250 new restaurants theyear2000; Sears Roebuckis putting 150 million $ by intonew storesand malls throughout country, additionto renovating in the a older units;and PepsiCo has expandedits snack businessby purchasing stakein Gamesa, Me xicos largest cookie maker(Bakerand Walker majority 1991b). amin One of themajorreasonsforthisincrease FDI is theprivatization thatbeganin 1982and whichhas pickedup speedsincethen. Whilethe paign continues playa majorrolein theeconomy, to through primarily government has the there beensignificant state-owned entities suchas Pemex, giantoil firm, reduction itsownership. in Thesesales havebeenmadeto bothforeign companiesand Mexicaninvestors (Baker 1991). 46 nth* 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 vol. This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Porters Diamond Framework: the Mexican Context Another reasonfornewFDI has beenthechangesin investment that laws to hold major equitypositions. In the past, foreign now permit foreigners in had to of but companies beenlimited 40 percent equity, ownership auto-parts the reduces number firms of thatare subject this a newdecreenow sharply to based on percentages exportsales and sales to of law by creating exemptions river lake individuals. and mining, Exceptin someareassuchas petrochemicals, investment permitted to is and telecommunications, foreign up transportation, in and 100 percent (although somecases suchas agriculture, publishing, conis It struction, approval required). as also becomeeasierto acquire government withMexicanfirms. or realestateand to purchase merge Todayapproximately is of 75 percent theeconomy open to fullforeign ownership (Perry 1992). has been theLaw for thePromotion Protection and Another majorchange in a which was enacted 1991and provides muchbroader Property ofIndustrial This also thanpreviously. newlegis lation placestighter ofpatent coverage scope that on Still controls tradesecrets. another changehas beenlegislation endsthe for conneed forofficial requirements technology approvaland registration the thatMNEs willintroduce increase likelihood These developments tracts. nto theirMexican operations. There have also been more hightechnology newprotection software for in copyright thatprovide laws producers changes These changesare designedto attackpiracy,a and the recording industry. in serious inadequate copyright proproblem Mexicobecauseofitspreviously tection. FDI is thelow wage rates. In 1992 minimum factor Another encouraging in MexicoCityand majortownswas around$ 4 perday,whileit was $ wage Thiswage 3. 60 in manyother largecitiesand $ 3. 25 in therestof thecountry. cardin attracting investment. as Thus structure beena strong foreign drawing in over theeconomicenvironment Mexico has improved dramatically thelast decade. Double Diamond Analysis Mexico mustcontinue develop to its I n orderto maintain economicgrowth, Thisis currently done bylinking into international being strength. competitive in and this not theUnitedStatesmarket, particular, viewing market just as a source for exportbut also as part of the home market(see Figure2). In this particular, requires: 1. developing innovative new products and services thatsimultaneously meet theneedsof American and Mexicancustomers, that recognizing close relawithdemanding S. customers U. houldset thepace and styleof tionships product development; ink vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 47 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions M. Richard Hodgetts 2. Figure U. S. -MexicoDouble Diamond Source: Adapted fromAlan M. Rugmanand JosephR. DCruz, Fast Forward:Improving Kodak Canada 1991). CanadasInternational (Toronto: Competitiveness 2. drawing thesupport of on industries infrastructureboththeU. S. and and to Mexicandiamonds, that theU. S. diamondis morelikely possess realizing and and moreefficient markets suchindustries; for deeper in 3. aking free and fulluse of thephysical and humanresources bothcountries (DCruz and Rugman1992). Strategic Clusters In Mexicos Double Diamond business The primary advantageof usingthedoublediamondis thatit forces and publicpolicy and government leadersto think aboutmanagement strategy as in a different No longer thedomestic diamondtheunitof analysis, is way. now becomes in Porters The singlediamondframework. properperspective of clusters indusviablestrategic thatofidentifying successful potentially and acrossthe and performance within nation and to examine their tries the linkages doublediamond. ocatactivities and A strategic is of cluster a network businesses supporting and firms ed in a specific competeglobally regionwheretheleadingflagship 48 mk vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All us e subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Porters DiamondFramework: MexicanContext the In somemaybe foreign-owned. are activities home-based, although supporting business inutsand skillsmaycome from outside someof thecritical addition, and determined themembership relevance usefulnes withtheir thecountry by cluster. f thestrategic will have one or more large multinational cluster A successful strategic is these homeor foreign-ownedirrelevant, are Whether at enterprises itscenter. on a globalbasis are so longas they globally Ideally, they operate competitive. within framework globalcompetithe of and plan their strategies competitive is with related supporting and ofthecluster companies tion. A vitalcomponent In and publicsectororganizations. addition, bothprivate activities, including and institutions research there tanks, supportgroups, educational maybe think theseefforts. ing Mexicos Strategic Clusters The clusters. sixmajorones,in orderof are In Mexicothere a hostof strategic maand arepetroleum/chemicals, automotive, housing household, importance, The and and foodand beverage, semiconductors computers. and terials metals, to the and two thatare mostinternationally competitive provide bestinsights and the cluster how the Mexicandouble diamondis used are the petroleum It Crudeoil is Mexicos largest cluster. automotive industry. accountsfor4. 3 is of and of theworldscrudeexports, 57 percent thisproduction sold percent due beenexpanding has cluster in theUnitedStates. The automotive rapidly to has Since1986carand truck inthis production been globalrestructuring sector. thesetwo clusters, In at an annual rate of 24 percent. examining increasing of determinants competitiveness; four on is attention focused Porters principal and relatedand supporting demandconditions, factor industries, conditions, and firm strategy rivalry. Petroleum Cluster of and 15 accountedfor28 percent all exports Mexicos petroleum industry in the is of GDP in 1991. Of all firms thiscluster, largest state-owned percent is fifth Mexicanos Petroleos largest currentlytheworlds (Pemex). Thecompany firm. Pemexhas a workforce of and crudeoil producer theworlds57thlargest and assets of $45 billion,including refineries, 168,000employees pipelines, and aircraft, railcars. tankers, at reserves theendof1989 base is huge. Proven resource Mexicospetroleum in to barrels the for at werecalculated 66. 4 billion barrels, contrast 26. 3 billion of Mexicois a netexporter energy, UnitedStates. As a result, oil, principally, nuclearand geothermal and coal. naturalgas, hydraulic power, power, mk vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 49 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 8 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions M. Richard Hodgetts Thereare also strong industries infrastructure. and Over petroleum-related thepast50 years under statecontrol oil exploration, of and processing refining, ofbasicand secondary and a majorindustry infrastrucstrategy petrochemicals, turehas emerged refining for use bothcrudeoil fordomestic and export and ot her refined there suchas gasolines and petrochemicals. present, At products are 1975 companiesoperating basic and secondary 490 plants petrochemical the and 130,000 throughout country employing pproximately people. Foreign in sector with Mexcompanies participate thesecondary petrochemical usually icanjointventure partners. in Domesticdemandof oil-related products Mexico has been increasing in more Pemexto becomeconsiderably sharply recent years. This has forced As in over the productive. a result, 1991 crudeoil outputwas up 7 percent at market thisoil is expected remain current for to previous year. The export levelsforthe foreseeable future. withcapitalexpenditures However, planned overthenextfiveyearscoupledwithrising demandforpetroleum products, crudeoil outputis forecasted riseto around3. million barrels day in to per 1995,comparedto 2. 68 millionbarrels dailyin 1990. The UnitedStateswill from continue be Mexicoslargest to and customer, whiledemandhas declined its1976-1980peak,U . S. conservation willconmeasures depressed and prices NAFTA discussions tinueto createdemandforoil imports. recent Moreover, and through have centered U. S. access to Mexican oil through on imports in theenergy sector. increased forAmerican Major opportunities technologies off are American suchas Arco,Chevron, and Phillips selling some companies outof their domestic and for opportunities properties are looking exploration thatthe sidetheU. S. Mexicois likely provea very to attractive location, except of alter refuses substantially itsownership hydrocarto government currently bon resources. are contracts now beingused to However, turnkey exploration and Mexicandrilling American and efficiency effecintegrate expertise improve Table1. MexicanPetroleum/Chemical Cluster FirmName Petroleos Mexicanos CelaneseMexicanaSA DupontSA CV Industrias Resistol SA Petrocel SA Ciba GeigyMexicanaSA CV FibrasQuimicasSA Tereftalatos MexicanosSA SA GrupoPrimex CV PoliolesSA QuimicaDe. Rey SA CV Source:Expansion, 21, August 1991. 1990sales(U. S. $m) 16,996 757 277 207 189 187 165 139 129 127 84 50 mlr vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Porters Diamond Framework: the Mexican Context reduce costofbringing to themarket. the oil Thistrend makeMexico will tively in one of thelowestcost producers theworldnextto Saudi Arabia. in firms theMexicanpetroleum cluster reported Table 2. n The leading are As can be seen,Pemexis thedominant firm. company vertically The is flagship in and and stageofthevaluechainin bringing integrated involved every energy to UndertheSalinasgovernment, recent in petrochemicals themarket. changes for of investment theproduction basic and secondary foreign petrochemicals will increasethe role of international firms such as Celanese,DuPont, Ciba haveannounced and other firms suchas Exxonwhich the plansto enter Geigy, Th esecompanies looking growth are for Mexicanmarket. utside opportunities are theUnitedStates. In particular, they seeking cheaperoil and they relyon and The rivalry oil imports their for and refining petrochemical production. has alreadyestablished in the American market thesevertically competition and firms worldleadersin exploration, as transportation, refining, integrated of products. marketing energy-related little nature theenergy of business for The commodity provides opportunity the of bothpricing demand and itself from cyclical Mexicoto insulate changes for to in this cluster. The real opportunities Mexico lie in trying improve efficiencies (a) exploration programs allowingmore by through: liberalizing contractors carry turnkey to out efficient operations; work(b) drilling foreign to withtheunionsto rationalize jobs thatare not required reducethecost ing in Mexicanexpertise lacking; is base; (c) usingforeign technologies areaswhere in of foreign firms producing participation petrochemicals (d) allowing greater of to domesand to expandcapacity competitivenesscommodity products meet MNEs to bringin technology to tic and exportdemand;(e) using foreign to and (f) market; produceadvancedpetrochemicals be used in theAmerican fuels, alternative, cleaner-burning suchas natural and unleaded gas developing and to complywithinternational fuelsto reducerelianceon U. S. imports standards. nvironmental in of looks promising even though recent The potential thiscluster years and have fallen benchmark Mexicanprovenreserves slightly theinternational priceforcrudehas droppe dto the $ 15-20 per barrelrange. The vast unexto a opportunities continue strong ploredareas of Mexico providelong-term cluster. the of Additionally, proximity the UnitedStates, hydrocarbon-based and increased on will withits declining provenreserves dependence imports, economiesof scale and provideMexico withan exportbase forimproving in and exploration fundsforreinvestment drilling activities. Thus generating willbe closelylinkedto theAmerican Mexicoseconomic diamond. progress AutomotiveCluster s The globalauto industry currently a In undergoing worldwide restructuring. as thisprocessMexicois emerging a majorcar and truck Since1986 producer. mlr vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 51 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Richard Hodgetts M. theindustry grown has In with was rapidly. 1990totalunitproduction 820,000 of and unofficial over1 million for exports 276,800 figures 1991puttotalou tput units. If a NAFTA is negotiated, units to is production expected top 3 million theyear2000. OverthelastdecadetheBigThreeU. S. automakers havebeen by their in expanding capacities Mexico,whileclosingplantsin theUnitedStates in and Canada. At thesame time, firms investing are Europeanand Japanese to as Mexico,in an effort tap such benefits low cost labor,low capitalcost, in to of auto market theworld, demand, proximity thelargest growth domestic and accessibility relatedsupportindustries. close look at Portersfour A to that occurring is determinants national of the advantage helpsillustrate linkage between Mexicanand U. S. diamonds. the 2. ) (Again,see Figure cluster. Mexico has a strong, its richresource base supporting automotive is Morethanhalfthepopulation under age of20,and there an abundance is the thatthese of young,skilled, are adaptablelabor. Foreignauto firms finding in workers particularly are effective after have been giventraining total they In and quality concepts. ddition, management, just-in-time inventory, related than their unionsin Mexico are much more cooperative withmanagement some to thenorth. a result, resource As this base is nowproducing counterparts of thehighest in and the Hermosillo cars and trucks NorthAmerica, quality on as one plantis widely regarded thenumber auto factory thecontinent. Thereare also strong industries a well-developed and infrastrucsupporting in ture theautomotive cluster. auto parts The consists approximateof industry that workers supply and around51 percent the of ly400 firms employ125,000 auto partsmarket. Thesecompanies forboththedomestic countrys produce and exportmarkets, and manyare a resultof foreign directinvestment by U. S. -based auto part firms. For example,General Motors has component as in a plantsin thecountry, wellas financial participation Aralmex, Mexican auto partcompanythatexportssnobbers, and the Condumexgroup,which Table2. MexicanAutomotive Cluster FirmName GeneralMotorsof MexicoSA CV de Chrysler MexicoSA de Volkswagen MexicoSA CV Ford MotorCo. SA RenaultIndustrias MexicanasSA CV Kenworth MexicanaSA CV Cifunsa CV SA Cummins CV SA MetalsaSA CV Y SUBS Central Industrias CV de SA NemakSA Source:Expansion, 21, August 1991. 1990 sales (U. S. $ m) 2,252 2,090 1,600 1,242 208 143 134 93 92 90 53 52 nth vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Porters Diamond Framework: the Mexican Context ith and Ford Motorhas a jointventure Mexicanauto harnesses rings. exports and firms thatmanufacture motorheads, plasticparts. security glasses, parts firms have similar Nissan,and a host of otherforeign arrangeV olkswagen, ments. customers auto outputin Mexico are in thelocal market. for The primary of thatgoes forexport increasing is the However, percentage thisoutput every in and In 1986itwas 17 percent; 1988itwas 32 percent; by 1990,thelast year. The forecast 1995 are for yearforwhichstatistics available,it was 34 percent. if In particular, a free tradeagreement signed is Mexicosaccessiis 50 percent. in Thisaccessiauto market theworldwillincrease to sharply. bility thelargest sinceU. S. rotectionism now is critical the country, to is bility particularly A Mexicanacceptance of barriers. thesame time, to raiseimport threatening in The sameis true American carsmanufactured Mexicois at an all-time high. of the where qualityreputation Mexicanassembly in theUnitedStates, plants at is beingfelt thedealershowroom. cluster in The leadingfirms theMexicanautomotive (see Table 2) all have in investments Mexico. For example,General Motors uses these significant Ford makesthe and to Cavaliers; operati ons produceBuickCentury Chevrolet turns the Ram Charger, out and Escortshere;and Chrysler Tracers Shadow, In thesefirms, wellas others as in and Spirit itsMexicanoperations. ddition, of will billions dollarsoverthenextfiveyearsto in theindustry, be spending is and expand theirlocal capacityin Mexico. The results that the upgrade in thiscountry overthenextdecade will of cars and trucks produced quality of to continue riseand Mexicowillbecomea majorworldclass producer cars market. and theexport forboththedomestic is cluster extremely of The market high. Thereare potential theautomotive is thatwill have to be dealt withif thecountry to some problems, however, Primeamong theseis the need for its continueincreasing competitiveness. One of the major reasonswhy Mexican autos are cost technology. greater and It that trend automation robotics. s unlikely this is efficientthelackofhigh and Canadian auto In can continue. addition,as more and moreAmerican on to is business shifted Mexico,thiswi llput majorpressure any NAFTA to from strategy that this and benefit thatthesetwocountries ensure handsomely and Europeans, not. do suchas theJapanese otherforeign producers, Conclusion future closelylinked thatof theUnitedStates,and if is to Mexicoseconomic of a NAFTA is signed,NorthAmerica. When analyzedin terms the Porter mk vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 53 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Richard M. Hodgetts iamond someofthecountrys worldclusters havealready strategic developed wide competitive and automotive strength. Duringthe 1990s the petroleum clusters proving be highly the of are to It thatbefore turn competitive. is likely thecentury, into Mexicowillhaveeffectively linked theseindustries theNorth in and American market willbe a majoreconomic and force energy automotive will It thatthecountry beginmaking products. is equallylikely majorinroads in otherareas such as sem iconductors computer. in its automotive and As this as is of success, development lessa result technological prowess itwillbe the defavorable factor relatedand supporting industries, conditions, countrys firms. efore, As Mexico mandconditions, thestructure rivalry the and of and willfindthatitcan linkitsdiamondframework thatof theUnitedStates with in areas(Magnusand in theprocess becomea worldwide other competitor still will son 1992). Once again,Porters diamondframework proveto be a useful paradigm. References Baker, S. (1991) The Friends of Carlos Salinas. Business Week 3223, pp. 40-42. Baker, S. and S. Walker. (1991a) Mexico: The Salad Bowl of North America? Business Week 3201, pp. 70-71. Baker, S. and S. Walker. (1991 b) The American Dream is Alive and Well in Mexico. Business Week 3233, pp. 102-103. Crookell, H. (1990) Canadian-American Trade and InvestmentUnder the Free Trade Agreement. Westport,Conn: Quorum Books. DCruz, J. R. and J. Fleck. (1987) Yankee Canadians in the Global Economy. London, Ontario: National Centre for Management Research and Development. Toronto: DCruz J. R. and Alan M. Rugman. (1992) New Compactsfor Canadian Competitiveness. Kodak Canada Inc. Dunning, J. (1990) Dunning on Porter. Paper presentedat the Annual Meeting of the Academy of InternationalBusiness. Magnusson, P. Building Free Trade Bloc by Bloc. Business Week. No. 3267, pp. 26-27. Perry,N. (1992) Whats Powering Mexicos Success. Fortune125, 3, p. 114. Porter,M. E. (1990) The Competitive Advantageof Nations. New York: Free Press. and Performance, EconomicImpact. Boston: Rugman, A. (1980) Multinationalsin Canada: Theory, Martinus Nijhoff. for Canadas Multinationals. Toronto: Rugman, A. and J. Mcllveen (1985) Megafirms:Strategies Methuen/Nelson. Rugman, A. and A. Verbeke (1990) Global Corporate Strategyand Trade Policy. London: Routledge. for for Rugman, A. M. and J. DCruz. (1990) New Visions Canadian Business: Strategies Competing in the Global Economy. Toronto: Kodak Canada Inc. Canadas International CompetitiveRugman, A. M. and J. DCruz. (1991) Fast Forward: Improving ness. Toronto: Kodak Canada Inc. Toronto: McGraw-Hill. Safarian, A. E. (1968) Foreign Ownershipof Canadian Industry. 54 mir vol. 33 †¢ Special Issue †¢ 1993/2 This content downloaded from 146. 50. 153. 28 on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:40:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The Political and Social Partition of India †History Essay

The Political and Social Partition of India – History Essay Free Online Research Papers The Political and Social Partition of India History Essay The political and social partition of India was several decades in the making. The ‘Hindus’ and ‘Muslims’ in India were of a mindset completely different from that of the British. Prior to British colonialism ‘Hindus’ and ‘Muslims’ did not identify themselves as such. The lines between each religion were blurred. After the British colonized India, they began to identify these similar groups of people purely on the basis of their religious beliefs. The effects were not significant to begin with, but as time went on they began to root themselves within Indian culture. Those people who were once ignorant to religious profiling began to do so in their own right, without coercion from the British. Each generation following the previous one cultivated this prejudice and it infected India like a virus. Politically the two religious factions were rivals. Their ideas and interests clashed in every way possible. There were external factors that contributed a great deal. British colonialism got the ball rolling. The differences between Muslim and Hindu became clearer every day until it tore the country in half. From the day the East India Company introduced itself into the subcontinent until the time Indian won its independence a great deal of change occurred, most of which could be attributed to the birth and rise of the East Indian Company. Although the significant changes were not made until and after Lord George Nathaniel Curzon arrived in India as viceroy in 1899. Curzon was â€Å"convinced that efficient administration by benevolent autocratic rulers best served the country (Metcalf Metcalf 153).† Lord Curzon was an extremely driven and effective viceroy, who was also said to be both overbearing and arrogant. Towards the beginning of his stint as viceroy Curzon did what he could to keep the diverse group of people that inhabited India happy, but his popularity vanished promptly. Curzon was very surprised because he had assumed that such reforms as establishing the department of commerce and industry and the Archeological Survey of India, as well as supporting agricultural rese arch would â€Å"keep the masses content and the politically active chastened (Metcalf Metcalf 154)† It became clear to Curzon that he needed to make a much bolder political move in order to keep the people happy. After all it had been less than forty years since the last revolt, and Curzon knew he would be responsible if it happened again. In 1905 Curzon announced his intentions to split Bengal into separate provinces. The Hindu population was outraged, especially the upper caste bhadraloks, they believed this was an attempt by the British to reduce their power. Bengal was considered the ‘divine Mother’ by the bhadralok, and Curzon’s plan to split Bengal would give the Muslims control of western Bengal. At this point the lower caste ‘Hindus’ did not concern themselves much with politics, but the bhadralok needed their support in order to successfully secure Bengal from what they believed to be Muslim oppression. In order to gain the support they needed, the bhadralok began what they would deem the ‘swadeshi movement.’ The purpose of the swadeshi movement was first to create a national Hindu identity and second to utilize this nationalist identity to oppose both the British and Muslims. The bhadralok took their first steps towards creating the national ‘Hindu’ i dentity by utilizing popular religious symbols to promote nationalistic principles. This tactic was extremely effective; it mesmerized the common Hindu and placed the bhadralok in a very powerful position. The bhadralok began the swadeshi movement, and furthered the nationalist movement, but their power would not last. In a short period of time the nationalist movement became so far reaching that there was no way to control it. â€Å"Nationalists across the country took up Bengal’s cause. Calcutta came alive with rallies, bonfires of foreign goods, petitions, newspapers and posters.† The Hindu nationalist movement had taken root in Bengal and was quickly spreading, gaining more support each day. It was only a matter of time before the bhadralok’s vision of freeing India from Muslim oppression would become a reality (Metcalf Metcalf 155-56). In the meantime, the partition of Bengal and other reforms motivated the Muslims to seek more political autonomy in India. In 1906, lead my Aga Khan, the Muslim population in India, â€Å"urged the viceroy†¦to grant Muslims a representation that would reflect not only their numerical strength, but also their political importance (Metcalf Metcalf 158)† Although this became a popular idea amongst the Muslims, the British, hesitant to give up any of their governmental power, didn’t give it much thought. Although the British didn’t want to give up any governmental power to the Muslims, they needed to keep them happy. In 1911 the king-emperor George V announced three ‘boons’. First the capital of India would be moved from Calcutta to Delhi. This not only moved the capital out of the politically active Calcutta, it also reminded Muslims of a past Mughal glory. Next the partition of Bengal would be nullified and the British would recognize its power b y making it a governor’s province. Now that the partition of Bengal was repealed the Muslims were back to square one, the entire basis of their power was dependant upon their influence over western Bengal. Despite this setback the Muslims were now determined to become more actively involved in Indian government (Metcalf Metcalf In 1913 Mohammad Ali Jinnah joined the Muslim League. Prior to Jinnah joining the Muslim League, it had significantly less power than it did after he joined. The Muslims were still under the thumb of both the British and even the Hindus, but an important piece of legislation would be passed in 1916 titled the Lucknow Pact. The Indian National Congress and the Muslim league met agreeing to the principle of separate electorates for Muslims in the larger interest of Hindu-Muslim unity against colonial rule. The Lucknow Act could be considered a victory for both the Hindus and the Muslims, after all the Hindus gained a powerful ally in their fight against British rule and the Muslims were finally making progress in their fight for a more active roll in government. Although the short-term effects were positive, this marks a crucial point in the social interaction between the two religious groups (Jalal 415). Muslims were not happy with the fact that they were the minority. The Lucknow Pact may have brought out the best in the two religious groups, but it was just a start. The Muslims and Hindus had to wait thirty more years before they would finally achieve independence from the British and the creation the two new nation-states of India and Pakistan in 1947. Now that the independence of India and Pakistan was reality the religious factions would no longer have an oppressive government to fight together, so they began to fight each other. â€Å"Independence was to be disfigured by the ugly horrors of riot and massacre.† The Hindus were more than anxious to finally separate themselves from the Muslims whom they believed were disgracing their mother land simply by living there. Although there is no way to be completely accurate calculating how many deaths there were during the riots, it is said that over a half million people were killed. Fourteen million people who were not killed became refugees and were forced out of the country. â€Å"What made the moment of independence particularly bitter was that neither of the two new states turned out to be quite what its proponents had hoped for (Pandey 613).† Even though Pakistan was supposed to become a homeland for every Muslim that had inhabited India, nearly ninety-million remained and were dispersed throughout the country. This gave rise to a very hot debate for both new nation states, should they choose to be secular or not? Although no formal political decisions were made Pakistan was doing everything in its power to make Pakistan a homogenous nation. Hindus who inhabited Pakistani lands that were once part of India became refugees, and Muslims who still lived in India were to be removed and there land handed over to the Hindus. Those people who would not migrate to their respective land faced a great deal of opposition. â€Å"†¦killing and counterkilling, massacre and countermassacre could not g o on endlessly without destroying everything and everybody, by the fact that in some areas there was no one left to kill†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ( Pandey 614). Ten percent of India was still Muslim, even after all the terrible things they were subjected to while they were there. The people that stayed in India who were Muslim no longer had an identity outside of being Muslim in the eyes of those Hindus in India. They were not trusted and were treated as second-class citizens who didn’t belong. Relations became so cold between Muslims and Indians at this point that there was even thoughts of war between the two countries. The Congress Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Govind Ballabh Pant had this to say in regards to his feelings toward those Muslims who chose to stay in India. â€Å"Every Muslim in India would be required to shed his blood fighting the Pakistani hordes, and each one should search his heart now, and decide whether he should migrate to Pakistan or not (Pandey 617)† After the British colonized India, they began to identify these similar groups of people purely on the basis of their religious beliefs. The effects were not significant to begin with, but as time went on they began to root themselves within Indian culture. Those people who were once ignorant to religious profiling began to do so in their own right, without further coercion from the British. Each generation following the previous one cultivated this prejudice and it infected India like a virus. Politically the two religious factions were rivals. Their ideas and interests clashed in every way possible. The differences between Muslim and Hindu became clearer every day until it tore the country in half. The creation of the two nation-states India and Pakistan, it turns out, was not even the tip of the iceberg. The Hindus and Muslims held an unfathomable amount of contempt for each other, all of which was based on nothing other then they practiced different religions. The two countries w ere being assembled by religious zealots who refused to seek compromise, and had no tolerance for anything the opposite people believed in. If the British had not colonized India by way of the East India Company in 1600, here is no telling what would have become of India. It is clear that the British are responsible for what nearly could be considered a civil war in India. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people were killed, all of which could have easily been avoided. Of course the British cannot be blamed solely for these atrocities, but if it had not been for the British one wonders what India would be like today if the British had never settled there. Research Papers on The Political and Social Partition of India - History EssayPETSTEL analysis of IndiaAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Quebec and CanadaCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeBringing Democracy to AfricaMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andGenetic EngineeringWhere Wild and West Meet

Persuasive Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Persuasive - Research Paper Example This initiation process that aims at propagating the achievement of the set goals describes motivation (Nelson & Quick, 2013). There exist various ways in which employees could be motivated, including fair compensation, provision of conducive working environment and use of rewards and incentives. Taking the context of a convenience store where I work as cashier together with other three, I earn a monthly salary that equals that of the other cashiers despite always serving the highest number of customers monthly. In as much as we appreciate the effort that our supervisor has put forth in taking care of our welfare including provision of medical insurance and free lunch on working days, I feel that more needs to be done to optimally motivate us to serve customers faster, especially during peak times, so as to avoid longer queues which discourage customers. Appreciating the argument by Nelson and Quick (2013) that motivation would take place through a combination of approaches in any gi ven context, it would thus be important for our supervisor to adopt additional strategies in order to make us more motivated to work faster. In this case, I propose the inclusion of rewards to top performers, monthly, quarterly or semi-annually depending on the availability of resources. Danish and Usman (2010) acknowledge rewarding employee performance as a significant stimulus in sustaining high performance. The law of effects indicates that people would tend to repeat actions that cause them to attain positive rewards. As a cashiers therefore, if the supervisor rewards my all-time high transactions, I would be motivated to maintain the high performance. This has been referred to as a complement or an external reward. However, this would call for effective appraisal of employees’ performance so as to ensure accurate evaluation of performance. This argument has not only attracted research studies but has also caused scholars to come up with theories that could explain it. In deed, Victor H. Vroom attributed this phenomenon to the expectancy theory which postulates that people would desire outcomes of performance and behavior that could be considered as rewards of behavior (Nelson & Quick, 2013). This implies that with employees being aware that their effort would be rewarded by performance and further rewards, they would put greater effort which increases productivity. Of all the motivation approaches, the study of the Pakistani context by Danish and Usman (2010) indicates that rewards have been the most preferred by employees as opposed to other approaches like operating procedures, recognition and the work. As such, it means that this would be the most effective motivation strategy for our cashiers. Similar observation has been made by Brooks (2012) who acknowledges rewards as the most preferred and thus effective strategy to motivation of employees. The reason for its preference would be the value that employees attach on such rewards which would all ow for pursuance. Successful global organizations respect this postulate and as such have adopted reward plans that match their organizational needs (Nelson & Quick, 2013). The limitation of the supervisor adopting this employee motivation strategy in the convenience store, just like in any other organization would be the argument that rewards would increase the organizational expenses. Acquisition

Walmart -Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Walmart -Planning - Essay Example Overview of planning Planning is considered to be the first step in doing anything. Planning comprises of a scheduled set of activities and tasks which are pre-defined and resources, cost, material, labor and time is also determined in advance for every activity in the planning process. Without planning, there is no set route to follow and everything goes haywire. Chances of discrepancies, inadequacies, risks and gaps increase in the absence of planning process. Planning can take the form of short or long term planning. In the former case, planning is not much in-depth and focuses on achieving short term monetary benefits. Long term planning is meant to gain strategic advantage because all other elements of managing, controlling and organizing are then aligned with that of strategic planning to fulfill desired goals. Wal-Mart’s vision and mission Wal-Mart’s successful operations are attributed to its cost leadership strategy which has always been focused on its customer (Center for Applied Research 2005). While its vision/mission statement goes as "Wal-Mart’s mission is to help people save money so they can live better†, its stores slogans also compliment its vision and mission statement which run as "Wal-Mart. Always low price. Always." Thus, cost effectiveness and providing products and services at rock bottom prices stand at the core of any planning or managing process at Wal-Mart. Planning at Wal-Mart is a mix of both strategic and day-to-day planning. When we talk of strategic goals, it refer to supplier selection, optimizing on technological inputs, use of automation techniques, software and other decisions which provide a competitive edge to it. Daily routine planning involves inventory control and management, quality control, distribution systems, et cetera (Goodstein, Nolan & Pfeiffer 1993, p.131). Application of planning process within Wal-Mart Wal-Mart is considered as a value driven company and this value addition is attri buted to its strategic planning in operational, tactical and contingency categories. It has always decided in advance where it wants to go, how and which activities to focus upon to achieve desired objectives. Wal-Mart’s planning process spans across all of its functions namely store management, finance, human resources, operations, information technology and strategic management. On tactical front, it has always devised plans and means on how to attract customers and stick to its low cost proposition. This is what gives way to its EDLP (Every Day Low Pricing) strategy. In operations side also, Wal-Mart exercises collaborative planning and forecasting relationship (CPFR) with that of its suppliers as it believes that involvement of suppliers in critical decisions helps reduce costs and improve quality. This way, it is able to extract synergies from that of its partners and develop long term relations with them. From financial perspective, separate committee is formed comprisi ng of 3-4 members who meet regularly and discuss issues pertaining to the capital structure, financial status, global policies, acquisitions, investments and annual financing plans. Within strategic planning, the committee also analyzes the basic goals to be achieved and in this respect, reviews its relations with investors, stakeholders, banks, financial institutions and others. Regular monitoring and check on its dividend policy and annual budgeting process enables undeviated implementation of set plans

Moulin Rouge Analysis

Moulin Rouge Analysis Nowadays we live in democratic society and all members take action in shaping our culture. From all forms of mass communication, from all types of art the cinema occupies in society unique position. Many critics take the cinema to hot facilities of mass-media, i.e. to such, which fully seize spectator perception and compel a spectator to be identified with the heroes of film, and sometimes and with a movie camera. Specific of cinema spectacle is in its comprehensive affecting deep layers of consciousness, in a breach to archetypes of collective unconscious. An audience that gather together even today submerge in this world of dreams, appellant to bottomless and ancient archaic character of our consciousness, affecting all strings of the soul and simultaneously reflecting the most topical problems of contemporaneity. Id like to analyze one musical that has a title Moulin Rouge and I like it very much. Getting through the fashionable salons of Paris, through the fairs of beginning of a ge, finding a sound and color, surviving the competition of television and video, films continue to unite people, giving oneself up the magic twinkling of illusion, able to unite emotions, passions, expectations and dreams of millions together. Not a single art passes with such authenticity exactly because of that is not a locomotive picture, copying reality, and shows by itself the product of collective creation and consumption, our everyday life, our habits and consuetudes, doing them maximally accessible to the greatest masses. I want to say that it is too easy to be critical of things we dislike. Additionally, we tend to be cynical about things we dislike, rather than critical and for this my assignment, I will be required to employ the critical process to something that I like, of my favorite film or it will be better to say to my favorite musical. First of all it is necessary to pay our attention on the next information that the nature of the cinema socializes people, unites them and it has a place not only because it is the synthesis of all other arts (and in this sense has one analogy temple action only) but also that is why, that the cinema is industry which must be covered a cost, functioning like the kind of independent thing in itself, but not burdening society financial dependence, compensated submissive execution of social order. Only the cinema is able to engulf practically all spheres of public consciousness, however much it is a sphere of mythology, i.e. cognition of the world by immersion in the difficult structures of archetypes and phenomena, by their emotional research from within. Putting in order and taking away individual and social myths in the sphere of consciousness, the cinema reconsiders them in a spirit every new decade, for history of cinematographic being art by a whole epoch. Intruding in a daily o ccurrence, the glimmered ray of projector compels us to comprehend and experience our life as nothing much more valuable and considerable, than that, how we perceived it. And herein is a true of the cinema, because it does not substitute by itself reality, but mythologized private and public life, giving every action and motion of the soul of man unique and epic scope. Much more unbelievable things happen in life, there are coincidences and chances, far more surprising, than on the screen, but the cinema offers to us problems, characters and signs in more bare and dramatized kind. It is a way of an old proverb appearance: As in the cinema! I want to make my first step of critical analysis with musical description. Moulin Rouge is a romantic musical film produced by Baz Luhrmann in 2001. In accordance with Red Curtain Cinema principles, the film is based on the Orpheah myth and also on Guiseppe Verdis opera La Traviata. It tells us amazing love story of a young English poet Christian (Ewan McGregor) and the star of Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and courtesan Satine (Nicole Kidman). Chriastian fall in love with this girl and as a result of it we receive wonderful musical that take away our feelings and emotions. The film won two Oscars (for direction and costume design) and was really nominated on 8 of them. In Sydney, Australia it was filmed at Fox Studios. We should mark that it is the first musical in 22 years that was nominated for the best picture. Analyzing this musical we can say that the first half of film is a continuous furious show, dances, cancan, songs, phantasmagoria, shocking sceneries, humor and slapstick. Dynamics of development of events is quite shocking. You do not have time to regain consciousness from one most magnificent shot, as it is replaced other, yet more magnificent, chic and impressive. But from some certain moment, when all protagonists of this theatrical are certain, it loses all dynamism and grows into viscous and a few snotty melodrama. Dynamism at once is lost, the masculine half of hall begins frankly to be sad and reaches mobile telephones, to read the SMS-massages got in times of cancan, however nice ladiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Nice ladies look at this simple history not attentively, nervously pinning handkerchiefs against the charming noses. It is love story for them. An old love story! Old words of love! However, I do not have claims against that bright, magnificent and a very dynamic action suddenl y whipped off steam and rolled at a speed of light carriage, spreading wheels on an asphalt old as the world story about a love triangle and about that, how harmful and it is wrong to fall in love in courtesans. In fact, it is laws of genre! It is a rule of construction of such films! Show, whirlwind, slapstick, whereupon sudden viscous melodrama. Describing and summarizing actions of this musical I want to say that personally for me the first half of film atoned everything. Because it is the real show. Because it is perfectly taken off and looks at oneself simply splendidly. Moulin Rouge was filmed without the observance of some age-old canons and traditions, giving vent unrestrained flight of fantasy and allowing artists, computer designers, decorators and ballet-masters to create something new and interesting. A quite phantasmagoric spectacle went out from their hands, describing it with more details and bright images. I like this musical Moulin Rouge very much and I want to emphasize that separate brilliant idea was to take plenty of modern hits and rehash them for this film. Thus, part of hits interlaced in magnificent pot-pourri, and some are carried out as independent works, but with quite by other accent and with quite by other serve. As you understand, to use for this film immortal Show must go on is a very risky step, taking into account a few specific orientation of film and awe which tests most audience to immortal and great singer. But in spite of the fact that in Moulin Rouge this song performance far from it due fervor, it sounds completely another faint notes and overflows span-new paints. If to be honest and critical in this film analyzing part of audience was disappointed with this film. Almost on every session a few persons (however, quite two-bit) leave cinema hall. Probably, they expected a not musical, but melodrama and they did not simply have patience a bit to wait the same tears and sobbingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ De autre part, somehow foolishly from a film with the name Moulin Rouge not to wait songs and dances. And they there are fully enough. Abort from film a love-story and it will turn out into a few quite shocking video clips. Especially as Luhrmann, as that is required by modern realities, feels free for surveys to use the clips manner of the endless changing of personnels and plans. But it does not irritate, because it done enough fairly. This musical forced me to think about interesting eternal questions. Is it correct to behave to the cinema spectacle as to the next type of public entertainments? It depends on the term that is understood under entertainment. As major socially-psychological force, the cinema releases a spectator from frustrations and tension of the last day, from an existential melancholy and numerous phobias, from sense of guilt or vulnerability. It is not an escape from problems, but clearing of the soul and returning of individual society  «resting », and sometimes and finding the new understanding of own life et al. Complexes and affects  «hatch » from the psyche of audience the masses by different cinema genres. The film of horrors is cleared by a subconsciousness from fear of death or illness, a comedy takes off a conflict between society and individual; fervor of detective not only in romanticism of city but also in proclamation of right for every human personality on protecting from any encroachments from outside. On consisting and development of such cinema genres of country it is possible effectively to define the degree of democracy of every society. Thus, taking into account all above mentioned and my personal emotion it is possible to conclude that it is really good musical, with interesting easy plot and emotional its presentation. I can recommend this film to all my friends, but it is necessary to watch it on a large screen, because exactly big screen allows spectators to receive all necessary impressions from a brilliant show. I would recommend men to go away from the half of film, from that moment, when Kidman begins continuously to die, can however, because Like and virgin is carried out in the second half of film, and Roxanne and quite in the end. But if you will not look these shocking numbers, it means you did not see this film. And it needs to be looked. It is satisfied unusually and very amusing. In my opinion you should remember that it is not a film but musical and wait wonderful show but not great films plot.