The Indigo Spell Chapter Four

I FROZE. I didn't trust myself to respond. What was Adrian thinking? Putting aside all the drama between us, it was absolutely unforgivable to ask this here, in front of other Moroi and Alchemists. Maybe in Palm Springs, where things were a little more casual with my friends, it might not be that crazy a request. But here? He risked exposing that we knew each other, which in turn risked Jill. Almost as bad, it could be a tip-off of his feelings for me. Even if I insisted that I had no matching feelings, the fact that things had progressed this far could get me in serious trouble with the Alchemists. As all these thoughts raced through my mind, a more concerning one suddenly popped up. A good Alchemist shouldn't be worried about any of those things. A good Alchemist would have simply been horrified at the immediate problem: dancing with a Moroi. Touching a vampire. Realizing this, I quickly mustered an outraged expression, hoping I looked convincing. Fortunately, everyone else was too shocked to pay much attention to me. Good relations only went so far. Stanton and Ian wore legitimate looks of disgust. The Moroi nearby while not appalled, were astonished at the breach of etiquette. And yet . . . I also saw a couple exchange looks that said they weren't entirely surprised Adrian Ivashkov would suggest something so outrageous. This was an attitude I'd seen a lot with him. People often shrugged off his behavior with, â€Å"Well, that's Adrian.† Ian found his voice first. â€Å"She . . . no! She absolutely can't!† â€Å"Why not?† Adrian glanced between all our faces, his expression still sunny and unassuming. â€Å"We are all friends, right?† Abe, who was rarely shocked by anything, managed to shake off some of his surprise. â€Å"I'm sure it's not that big a deal.† His tone was uncertain. He knew that Adrian wasn't a total stranger to me but undoubtedly assumed I had the usual Alchemist hang-ups. As tonight had demonstrated, most Alchemists still struggled with handshakes. Stanton seemed to be waging a mental war. I knew she thought it was an outlandish request . . . yet she was still conscious of the need to keep things pleasant. She swallowed. â€Å"Perhaps . . . perhaps it would be a nice gesture.† She shot me a sympathetic look that seemed to say, Sometimes you have to take one for the team. Ian jerked his head toward her. â€Å"Are you crazy?† â€Å"Mr. Jansen,† she snapped, conveying a stern warning in just his name. All eyes turned toward me as everyone realized that ultimately, it was my decision. At this point, I didn't know if I should be shocked or scared – and the thought of dancing with Adrian made me feel both. I met Stanton's eyes again and slowly gave a nod. â€Å"Sure. Okay. Good relations, right?† Ian's face turned bright red, but another sharp look from Stanton kept him silent. As Adrian led me to the dance floor, I heard a few whispered comments from curious Moroi mentioning â€Å"that poor Alchemist girl† and â€Å"there's no predicting what he does sometimes.† Adrian put his arm around my waist, perfectly proper and distant. I tried not to think about the last time I'd been in his arms. Even with appropriate spacing between us, our hands were still clasped, our stances still intimate. I was hyperaware of every single place his fingers rested on my body. His touch was light and delicate but seemed to carry an extraordinary heat and intensity. â€Å"What were you thinking?† I demanded once we were moving to the music. I was trying to ignore his hands. â€Å"Do you know how much trouble you may have gotten me in?† Adrian grinned. â€Å"Nah. They all feel bad for you. You'll achieve martyrdom after dancing with a mean, wicked vampire. Job security with the Alchemists.† â€Å"I thought you weren't going to pressure me about . . . you know . . . that stuff. . . .† The look of innocence returned. â€Å"Have I said a word about that? I just asked you to dance as a political gesture, that's all.† He paused for impact. â€Å"Seems like you're the one who can't get ‘that stuff off your mind.† â€Å"Stop turning my words against me! That's not – no – that's not right at all.† â€Å"You should see that Stanton woman watching us,† he remarked with amusement, glancing behind me. â€Å"Everyone's watching us,† I grumbled. It wasn't like the entire room had come to a standstill, but there were certainly a number of curious onlookers, gawking at the unlikely sight of a Moroi and a human – an Alchemist, at that – dancing. He nodded and swept me into a turn. He was a good dancer, which wasn't entirely a surprise. Adrian might be brash and impertinent, but he knew how to move. Maybe dance lessons had been part of growing up in an elite tier of Moroi society. Or maybe he was just naturally skilled at using his body. That kiss had certainly show a fair amount of talent. . . . Ugh. Adrian was right. I was the one who couldn't get over â€Å"that stuff.† Unaware of my thoughts, he glanced over at Stanton again. â€Å"She's got the look of a general who just sent her army on a suicide mission.† â€Å"Nice to know she cares,† I said. For a moment, I forgot my dance floor woes as I thought angrily back to Stanton's â€Å"need to know† attitude. â€Å"I can pull you closer, if you want,† he said. â€Å"Just to see how much she cares. I'm always willing to help like that, you know.† â€Å"You're a real team player,† I said. â€Å"If putting me in danger is for the greater good, then Stanton probably wouldn't do anything about you moving in on me.† Adrian's self-satisfied smirk faded. â€Å"Did she ever come clean about that guy you were trying to find? Martin?† â€Å"Marcus,† I corrected. I frowned. Her denial still bothered me. â€Å"She keeps claiming she doesn't know him, and I can't push too hard if I don't want her to get suspicious.† â€Å"I thought of a way you might find him,† said Adrian. I would've thought he was joking if his face wasn't so serious. â€Å"You did?† I asked. The Alchemists had vast information at our disposal, with hands in all sorts of agencies and organizations. I'd been scouring them these last few weeks and found it unlikely that Adrian would have access to something I didn't. â€Å"Yup. You've got his picture, right? Couldn't you just do the same spell you did the other night? Locate him that way?† I was so surprised, I nearly tripped. Adrian tightened his grip to keep me from falling. I shivered as that small gesture brought us closer. The tension between us kicked up a notch, and I realized that along with our bodies being nearer, so were our lips. I had a little difficulty speaking, both because of how it felt to be so close to him and because I was still stunned by what he'd said. â€Å"That's . . . wow . . . that's not a bad idea. . . .† â€Å"I know,† he said. â€Å"I'm kind of amazed myself.† Really, the circumstances were no different from finding Ms. Terwilliger's sister. I needed to locate someone I'd never met. I had a picture, which was what the spell required. What was different was that I'd be initiating the spell myself. It was a difficult piece of magic, and I knew Ms. Terwilliger's coaching had helped me. There was also the moral dilemma of working that type of spell on my own. My conscience had an easier time handling magic when I felt coerced. â€Å"I couldn't try until next month,† I said, thinking back to the spell book. â€Å"I mean, I have the picture with me, but the spell's got to be done during a full moon. This is the last night for the current one, and I'd never be able to get the components in time.† â€Å"What do you need?† I told him, and he nodded along, promising he could get them. I scoffed. â€Å"Where are you going to get anise and hyssop at this time of night? In this town?† â€Å"This town's full of quirky boutique shops. There's some herbal place that sells soaps and perfume made of anything you can imagine. I guarantee they've got what you need.† â€Å"And I guarantee they're closed.† He swept me into another flourish-filled spin, and I kept up with him perfectly. The song was wrapping up. The time had flown by faster than I'd thought. I'd forgotten about the onlookers. I'd even forgotten I was with a vampire. I was simply dancing with Adrian, which felt easy and natural, so long as I didn't think about our audience. His roguish look returned. â€Å"Don't worry about that. I can find the owner and talk her into making an exception.† I groaned. â€Å"No. Not compulsion.† Compulsion was an ability vampires had to force their wills on others. All vampires had it to a small extent, and spirit users had it in excess. Most Moroi considered it immoral. Alchemists considered it a sin. The song ended, but Adrian didn't release me right away. He leaned a little closer. â€Å"Do you want to wait another month to find Marcus?† â€Å"No,† I admitted. Adrian's lips were a breath away. â€Å"Then we'll meet in two hours by the hotel's service door.† I gave a weak nod, and he stepped back, releasing my hands. â€Å"Here's one last sign of good relations.† With a bow that could've come straight out of a Jane Austen novel, he gestured to the bar and spoke loudly. â€Å"Thank you for the dance. May I escort you to get a drink?† I followed without a word, my head spinning with what I'd need to do in two hours. At the bar, Adrian astonished me by ordering ginger ale. â€Å"Nice restraint,† I said, realizing he'd need to stay sober to work spirit. I hoped he hadn't indulged too much already. For him, the only thing better than an open bar would be a case of cigarettes showing up at his door. â€Å"I'm a master of self-control,† he declared. I wasn't so sure of that but didn't contradict him. I sipped my Diet Coke, and we stood there in comfortable silence. Two Moroi men sidled up the bar near us, talking with the volume and exuberance of those who hadn't held back on sampling free liquor. â€Å"Well, no matter how liberal that girl is, she's certainly easy on the eyes,† one guy said. â€Å"I could look at her all day, especially in that dress.† His friend nodded. â€Å"Definitely an improvement over Tatiana. Too bad about what happened to her, but maybe a change of scenery was for the best. Did that woman ever smile?† They both laughed at the joke. Beside me, Adrian's own smile vanished, and he went perfectly still. Tatiana, the former Moroi queen, had been Christian's great-aunt. She'd been viciously murdered this summer, and though Adrian rarely spoke about her, I'd heard from a number of people that they'd been close. Adrian's lips twisted into a snarl, and he started to turn around. Without hesitation, I reached out and grabbed his free hand, holding it tightly. â€Å"Adrian, don't,† I said softly. â€Å"Sydney, they can't say that.† There was a dangerous look in his eyes, one I'd never seen. I squeezed his hand harder. â€Å"They're drunk, and they're stupid. They're not worth your time. Please don't start a scene here – for Sonya's sake.† I hesitated. â€Å"And for me.† His face was still filled with rage, and for a moment, I thought he would ignore me and throw a glass at one of those guys. Or worse. I'd seen angry spirit users, and they were terrifying. At last, that fury faded, and I felt his hand relax in mine. He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, they were dazed and unfocused. â€Å"No one really knew her, Sydney.† The sorrow in his voice broke my heart. â€Å"They all thought she was some draconian bitch. They never knew how funny she was, how sweet she could be. You can't . . . you can't imagine how much I miss her. She didn't deserve to die like that. She was the only one who understood me – even more than my own parents. She accepted me. She saw the good in my soul. She was the only one who believed in me.† He was standing in front of me, but he wasn't with me. I recognized the rambling, consuming nature of spirit. It messed with its users' minds. Sometimes it made them scattered and distant, like he was now. Sometimes it challenged people's grip on reality. And sometimes, it could create a despair with devastating consequences. â€Å"She wasn't the only one,† I told him. â€Å"I believe in you. She's at peace, and nothing they say can change who she was. Please come back to me.† He still stared off into someplace I couldn't follow. After a few frightening moments, he blinked and focused on me. His expression was still sad, but at least he was in control again. â€Å"I'm here, Sage.† He removed his hand and glanced around to make sure no one had seen me holding it. Thankfully, the bride and groom had taken to the dance floor, and everyone was too mesmerized watching them. â€Å"Two hours.† He knocked back the rest of his drink and walked away. I watched him until he disappeared into the crowd, and then I returned to my own table, glancing at the clock along the way Two hours. Ian jumped out of his seat at my approach. â€Å"Are you okay?† No Moroi well-wishers were around, so only Stanton was nearby to hear him. She seemed to share his concern. â€Å"I'm sorry you had to endure that, Miss Sage. As always, your dedication to our work is admirable.† â€Å"I do what I can to help, ma'am,† I said. I was still worried about Adrian and hoped he wouldn't slip back into spirit's grip again. â€Å"Did he hurt you?† asked Ian, pointing. â€Å"Your hands?† I looked down and realized I'd been rubbing my hands together. They were warm from where Adrian had touched me. â€Å"Huh? Oh, no. Just, um, trying to rub the taint off. In fact . . . I should probably go wash up. Be right back.† They seemed to find this a perfectly reasonable idea and didn't stop me as I hurried to the restroom. Free of their concern, I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd dodged two bullets here, by not letting the Alchemists know that I was friendly with a vampire and also that I was plotting magic with him. â€Å"Sydney?† I was so distracted when walking out of the restroom that I hadn't noticed Rose standing nearby with Dimitri Belikov. They stood arm in arm, smiling at my surprise. I hadn't seen Dimitri tonight, and his black and white guardian attire told me why. He was on duty here and had undoubtedly been one of the shadows darting among the trees of the greenhouse, keeping a watch on everyone. He must be on a break now because there was no way he'd be standing so casually here, even with Rose, otherwise. And really, â€Å"casual† for Dimitri meant he could still leap into battle at any moment. They were a striking couple. His dark-haired, dark-eyed looks matched hers, and they were both dazzlingly attractive. It was no wonder Adrian had fallen for her, and I felt surprised at how uncomfortable that memory made me. Like Sonya and Mikhail, there was a bond of love between Rose and Dimitri that was almost palpable. â€Å"Are you okay?† asked Rose, eyes kind. â€Å"I can't believe Adrian did that to you.† She reconsidered. â€Å"Then again, I kind of can believe it.† â€Å"I'm fine,† I said. â€Å"I think the other Alchemists were more appalled than I was.† I remembered belatedly that even if Rose and Dimitri knew I knew Adrian from Palm Springs, I still couldn't act too at ease here. I put on my earlier look of outrage. â€Å"It was still out of line, though.† â€Å"Propriety's never been Adrian's strong suit,† Dimitri observed. Rose laughed at the understatement. â€Å"If it makes you feel any better, you guys looked really good together out there. Made it hard to believe you're mortal enemies . . . or whatever it is Alchemists think.† She gestured to my dress. â€Å"You even coordinated.† I'd totally forgotten what I was wearing. It was a short-sleeved silk dress, almost entirely black save for some splashes of royal blue on the skirt. That was a bolder color than I would normally wear, but the black tempered it. Thinking back to Adrian's shades of blue, I realized our palettes had indeed complemented each other. You guys looked really good together. I don't know what expression I wore, but it made Rose laugh again. â€Å"Don't look so panicked,† Rose said, eyes shining. â€Å"It was nice seeing a human and a Moroi look like they belong together.† Belong together. Why did she keep saying things like that? Her words were messing with the cool, logical demeanor I tried to maintain. I knew she was speaking in that friendly, diplomatic way that everyone was pushing so hard for. But as progressive as Rose and Dimitri were, I knew even they would be shocked if they knew the truth about Adrian's feelings and that monumental kiss. I spent the rest of the reception with a knot of anxiety building within me. Fortunately, I didn't have to hide it. Moroi and Alchemist alike expected me to feel that way. In fact, Stanton soon got her own share of â€Å"diplomacy† when a middle-aged Moroi guy asked her to dance, obviously taking a cue from Adrian's display of goodwill. Apparently, as outrageous as Adrian's behavior had been, some Moroi thought it had been a smart move and decided to follow suit. Stanton could hardly refuse after encouraging me, so she took the dance floor with gritted teeth. No one asked Ian to dance, which was probably just as well. He didn't look at all disappointed. Adrian stayed away, presumably to gather my spell components. Time ticked down, and as the two-hour mark approached, I realized that although I'd brought Marcus's picture with me on this trip (I rarely let it out of my sight), it was still in my room. I excused myself from Ian, telling him I needed to go back to the inn to change shoes and would take one of the cars that had been ferrying wedding guests around town. Ian's face immediately grew protective. â€Å"Do you want me to go with you? It's not safe out there.† I shook my head. â€Å"No, you need to stay here. Stanton's in more danger.† She was standing near the bar, speaking to two Moroi men. I wondered if she had another dance in her future. â€Å"Besides, it's early, so there's still more of them here than out there. At least the inn is run by humans.† Ian couldn't fault my Alchemist logic and reluctantly let me go. Catching a town car was easy, and I was able to make the round trip in almost the perfect amount of time. I even changed shoes so that I'd have proof for my story. Although I'd worn heels to the wedding, I'd packed flats in my suitcase, just in case. That was just smart planning for any occasion. When I reached the service door, however, I realized my clever planning had failed. Filled with haste and anxiety, I'd left my warm, heavy shawl in the car, which was probably long gone. Now, waiting for Adrian in the bitter Pennsylvania cold, I wrapped my arms around myself and hoped I wouldn't freeze before he showed up. He was good to his word, though, and arrived at exactly the appointed time with a tote bag over one shoulder. Even better, he was completely back to his normal self. â€Å"Ready to go,† he told me. â€Å"Seriously?† I asked, my teeth chattering. â€Å"You found everything?† He patted the bag. â€Å"You ask, I deliver. Now where do we need to do this?† â€Å"Somewhere remote.† I scanned around. Beyond the hotel's parking lot was a vacant field that I hoped would suffice. â€Å"There.† Walking across the well-salted parking lot wasn't a problem, but once we â€Å"off-roaded† into the snowy field, even my practical flats were of no use. I was also so cold that I suspected my skin was as blue as my dress. â€Å"Stop,† said Adrian at one point. â€Å"We need to go a little farther,† I protested. Adrian, who'd had the sense to put on a wool coat, was taking it off. â€Å"Here.† â€Å"You'll be cold,† I protested, though I didn't stop him when he stepped forward and helped me put the coat on. He was taller than me, so the three-quarter length was mercifully full length on me. Its scent was a mix of smoke and cologne. â€Å"There.† He pulled the coat more tightly around me. â€Å"I've got long sleeves and the jacket. Now come on – let's hurry.† He didn't have to tell me twice. Aside from the temperature, we had to do this before we were caught by others. Even I wasn't going to be able to explain this away to the Alchemists. The moon was still crisp and bright when we finally found an acceptable spot. I sifted through Adrian's bag, amazed that he'd come through with everything, from the mirror to the dried leaves and flowers. He stayed quiet as I set it all up, only speaking when I was just about ready to go. â€Å"Is there anything I can do?† he asked gently. â€Å"Just keep watch,† I said. â€Å"And catch me if I pass out.† â€Å"Gladly.† I'd memorized the spell when Ms. Terwilliger and I had performed it. Still, I was nervous about going solo, especially since the environment was so distracting. It was kind of hard to find the mental focus I needed while kneeling in snow. Then I thought back to Stanton and the lies the Alchemists were telling me. A spark of anger flared in me, creating warmth of a different sort. I used that to direct my thoughts as I stared at Marcus's picture. He was Adrian's age, with shoulder-length blond hair and a pensive look in his blue eyes. The tattoo on his check was a tangle of indigo crescents. Slowly, I managed to sink into the spell. I felt that same euphoria as the mirror shifted into a city image. No fog blocked me this time since presumably Marcus wasn't wielding the kind of protective magic that Ms. Terwilliger's sister had been using. The scene before me showed what looked like a very modest studio apartment. A mattress lay on the floor, and an ancient TV sat in one corner. I looked around for any identifying features but found nothing. The room's one window finally gave me a clue. Outside in the distance, I could see a Spanish-style building that looked like a church or monastery. It was made of white stucco, with red-roofed domed towers. I tried to get a closer look, to fly up like I had in the other spell, but suddenly, I became aware of the Pennsylvania cold seeping into me. The image shattered, and I was back to kneeling in the field. â€Å"Ugh,† I said, putting my hand to my forehead. â€Å"So close.† â€Å"Did you see anything?† Adrian asked. â€Å"Nothing that'll help.† I stood and felt a little dizzy but managed to stay upright. I could see Adrian ready and waiting to catch me in case I did indeed keel over. â€Å"You okay?† â€Å"I think so. Just a little light-headed from the blood sugar drop.† I slowly gathered up the mirror and bag. â€Å"I should've had you get orange juice too.† â€Å"Maybe this'll help.† Adrian produced a silver flask from his suit jacket's inner pocket and handed it toward me. So typical, Adrian helpfully offering alcohol. â€Å"You know I don't drink,† I said. â€Å"A few sips won't get you drunk, Sage. And it's your lucky night – it's Kahlua. Packed with sugar and coffee-flavored. Trade me and try.† Grudgingly, I handed him the bag and then took the flask as we began walking back to the hotel. I took a tentative sip and grimaced. â€Å"That is not coffee-flavored.† No matter how much people tried to dress up alcohol, it always tasted awful to me. I didn't understand how he could consume so much. But, I could taste the sugar, and after a few more sips, I felt steadier. That was all I drank since I didn't want to get dizzy for different reasons. â€Å"What'd you see?† asked Adrian, once we reached the parking lot. I described the spell's scene and sighed in frustration. â€Å"That could be any building in California. Or the Southwest. Or Mexico.† Adrian came to a halt and slung the bag over one shoulder. â€Å"Maybe. . . .† He took out his phone from his jacket and typed in a few things. I shivered and tried to be patient as he searched for what he needed. â€Å"Did it look like this?† I peered at the screen and felt my jaw drop. I was looking at a picture of the building from my vision. â€Å"Yes! What is it?† â€Å"The Old Mission Santa Barbara.† And then, just in case I needed help, he added, â€Å"It's in Santa Barbara.† â€Å"How did you know that?† I exclaimed. â€Å"What that building is, I mean.† He shrugged. â€Å"Because I've been to Santa Barbara. Does this help you?† My earlier dismay transformed into excitement. â€Å"Yes! Based on the window's position, I can get a pretty good idea of where the apartment is. You may have found Marcus Finch.† Caught up in my elation, I squeezed his arm. Adrian rested a gloved hand on my cheek and smiled down at me. â€Å"And to think, Angeline said I was too pretty to be useful. Looks like I might have something to offer to the world after all.† â€Å"You're still pretty,† I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them. Another of those intense moments hung between us, the moonlight illuminating his striking features. Then it was shattered by a voice in the darkness. â€Å"Who's there?† Both of us flinched and jerked back as a black-and-white-clad figure seemed to materialize out of the shadows. A guardian. It was no one I knew, but I realized I'd been foolish if I thought we could slip in and out of the hotel unseen. The grounds were probably crawling with guardians, keeping watch for Strigoi. They wouldn't have cared much about two people leaving, but our return would naturally be challenged. â€Å"Hey, Pete,† said Adrian, putting on that easygoing smile he excelled at. â€Å"Nice to see you. Hope you're not too cold out here.† The guardian seemed to relax a little upon recognizing Adrian, but he was still suspicious. â€Å"What are you two doing outside?† â€Å"Just walking Miss Sage back,† said Adrian. â€Å"She had to get something from her room.† I gave him a puzzled look. The inn wasn't in this direction. Pete looked dazed for a moment. Then he nodded in understanding. â€Å"I see. Well, you'd better get back inside before you freeze.† â€Å"Thanks,† said Adrian, steering me away. â€Å"Make sure you get a break and try the canapes. They're amazing.† â€Å"You compelled him,† I whispered, once we were safely out of earshot. â€Å"Only a little,† said Adrian. He sounded very proud of himself. â€Å"And being outside to walk you is a valid reason, one he won't think too much about later. Compelling someone into believing a story works best if there's a little truth – â€Å" â€Å"Adrian? Sydney?† We'd almost reached the back of the building now and were suddenly face-to-face with an ivory-clad figure. Sonya stood before us, a fur stole wrapped around her. Once again, I was struck by her beauty and the happy glow she seemed to radiate. She gave us a puzzled smile. â€Å"What are you two doing out here?† she asked. Both of us were speechless. Adrian had no brash words or tricks. Sonya was a spirit user too, and compulsion wouldn't work on her. Frantically, I groped for some excuse that wasn't: We were out using illicit magic in a continuing effort to uncover secrets the Alchemists don't want me to know about. â€Å"You can't tell,† I blurted out to her. I held up the flask. â€Å"Adrian was letting me sneak some of his Kahlua. Stanton'll kill me if she finds out.† Sonya looked understandably startled. â€Å"I didn't think you drank.† â€Å"Tonight's been kind of stressful,† I said. It was hardly a lie. â€Å"And it's coffee-flavored,† Adrian pointed out, as though that might aid our cause. I wasn't sure if Sonya was buying it, so I attempted a change in subject. â€Å"Congratulations, by the way. I didn't have a chance to talk to you earlier. You look beautiful.† Sonya let go of her inquisitiveness and offered me a smile. â€Å"Thank you. It's kind of unreal. Mikhail and I have been through so much . . . there were times I never thought we'd reach this moment. And now . . .† She glanced down at the diamond sparkling on her hand. â€Å"Well, here we are.† â€Å"What are you doing out here, Mrs. Tanner?† Adrian had recovered himself and was back to his outgoing self. â€Å"Shouldn't you be inside gazing adoringly at your husband?† She chuckled. â€Å"Oh, we've got a lifetime of that ahead. Honestly, I just needed to get out of the crowd.† Sonya took a deep breath of the crisp, cold air. â€Å"I should probably get back soon. We're about to throw the bouquet. You aren't going to miss your chance, are you?† That was to me. I scoffed. â€Å"I think I'll sit this one out. I've already caused too much speculation tonight.† â€Å"Ah, yes. Your infamous dance.† Sonya glanced between us, and a bit of her earlier puzzlement returned. â€Å"You two look very good together.† Awkward silence fell for a few seconds, and then she cleared her throat. â€Å"Well, I'm getting in where it's warm. Hope you'll change your mind, Sydney.† She disappeared through the service door, and I resisted the urge to beat my head against the wall. â€Å"She knows we're lying. She can tell.† Spirit users were good at reading subtle cues from people, with Sonya being one of the best. â€Å"Probably,† agreed Adrian. â€Å"But I doubt she's going to guess we were out working magic in a field.† A terrible thought came to me. â€Å"Oh God. She probably thinks we were off doing – you know – romantic type, um, things – â€Å" That amused Adrian far more than it should have. â€Å"See, there you go again. That's the first thought that comes to your mind.† He shook his head melodramatically. â€Å"I can't believe you keep accusing me of being the obsessed one.† â€Å"I'm not obsessed!† I exclaimed. â€Å"I'm just pointing out the obvious conclusion.† â€Å"Maybe to you. But she's right about one thing: we need to get inside.† He anxiously touched his hair. â€Å"I think my hair gel's frozen.† I handed him back the flask and opened the door. Just before stepping through, I hesitated and glanced back at him. â€Å"Adrian? Thanks for helping me.† â€Å"What are friends for?† He caught the door from me and motioned for me to go inside. â€Å"Yeah, but you went above and beyond tonight for something that has nothing to do with you. I appreciate that. You didn't have to help. You don't have the same reasons I have for cracking open the Alchemists.† Not knowing what else to say, I gave him a small nod of thanks and went inside. As the warmth and noise of the crowd swallowed us, I thought I heard him say, â€Å"I have different reasons.†

Existentialism: Philosophy of Life and Existence Essay

â€Å"Existentialism is an attitude that recognizes the unresolvable confusion of the human world, yet resists the all-too-human temptation to resolve the confusion by grasping toward whatever appears or can be made to appear firm or familiar†¦The existential attitude begins a disoriented individual facing a confused world that he cannot accept. † (Robert Solomon) Existentialist all share a common concern with what they have coined as the â€Å"Human Condition. † They tend to ask: †¢Why am I here? †¢What does it mean to be human? †¢How should I go about living my life? Existentialism is more of individual rather than social. They, Existentialist need to justify their existence. For them, they’re having their journey in life to know their purpose based on their own philosophy, according to EDU310 Foundations of Learning. There is no predetermined definition or purpose. We are free to make our own definitions through choices that lead toward self-definition. Students are free agents, responsible for creating their own selves and purpose. Everything learned is a tool toward the realization of one’s own subjectivity. Standardized testing restricts the interpersonal relationship between teacher and student. Value-laden students are vital, as is authentic assessment. Therefore, Existentialism is a philosophy concerned with human existence, self-discovery, and the search for life’s meaning based on free will, experiences, beliefs, laws, and traditions. How does existentialism connect to Axiology and Metaphysics? (Branches of philosophy) In Education, Existentialism is very important, because as an Educator we should know each child’s life, existence and story behind their attitudes and characters, for us to become an effective educator, according to Bethel Jadem. For example, a child has a problem and suddenly changed his/her attitude; we have to know the reason behind it for us to understand him/her. We should know also their philosophy and belief in life so that we could better adjust, know and appreciate their existence as well. To show the connective thread between Axiology and existentialism and metaphysics and existentialism the terms need to first be defined. †¢Axiology is the study of value. It is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and types of value such as in ethics and religion. (â€Å"What and why do you value? †) †¢Metaphysics is (â€Å"What is real? †) In connection to axiology, an example of existentialism is: According to EDU 301 Foundations of Learning, studying the ethics of the Christian and Jewish religions is an example of a study in axiology. Therefore, if a child growing up in a Christian home has strong beliefs about God he/she values her beliefs and therefore concludes that here existence is solely because of God. â€Å" There is a purpose for my existence, God will show me the way. † In connection to metaphysics, an example of existentialism is: Since â€Å"this† exists, that cannot exist. â€Å"John was walking (this) on water (that). † There is only knowledge of how, beyond what is given, so inferred to make the situation valid with natural cause. As a metaphysical example, if he could walk on water, maybe he had water in his shoes. There is also questions that go beyond what we know. Such as â€Å"is there a â€Å"first† cause? † Or is time â€Å"infinite†? Since we ourselves can have no observation of such truth, only inference based on given present events, it becomes Metaphysical.

Outline current legislation guidelines

The UK government provides guidelines to organisations and individuals in England and Wales to inform them about how legislation enacted in Parliament should be interpreted and applied. Policy is the term used to describe as a principle or rule used to inform decision making within organisations, so that they are able to achieve a rational or desirable outcome. Policy differs from legislation as it guides actions, but cannot compel or prohibit behaviours. A procedure is a document written to support a policy principle or rule.A Procedure is designed to stablish corporate accountability for implementation of a policy by describing the set of actions that have to be executed and by whom within an organization in relation to it. Practitioners working with children do so within a complex framework of both national legislation and guidance, and local policy and procedure, directed at safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. For practitioners to achieve the best outcomes for chi ldren it is essential that they are familiar with the legislative and policy framework within which work.In terms of current legislation and policy afeguarding the welfare of children and young people is defined as: protecting children from maltreatment preventing impairment of children's health or development ensuring children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care. Child protection is an aspect of safeguarding children's welfare and refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.Children Act (1989) The Children Act (1989) charged local authorities with duties to safeguard and romote the welfare of children in their area, to work in partnership with parents and to provide â€Å"services for children in need, their families and 17). The Act also imposed upon local authorities a â€Å"duty to investigate if they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child who lives, or is found, in their area is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm† (section 47).The Children Act (1989) requires courts to make the welfare of the child the paramount consideration in any judgments made. It also introduced the principle that delays in court proceedings ere harmful to the child. The Act articulated the principle that parents have responsibilities for their children not right over them. Education Act (2002) The Education Act ( 2) included a provision (section 1 5 requiring school governing bodies, local education authorities and further education institutions to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.The Laming Report (2003) The Laming Report arose from the inquiry into the murder of child abuse victim Victoria Climbi ©. In his report Lord Laming made at total of 108 recommendations for he overhaul of child protection in England and Wales. Key recommendations of the Laming report included: The cre ation of a children and families board chaired by a senior government minister, to coordinate policies and initiatives, that have a bearing on the wellbeing of children and families.A national agency for children and families, led by a children's commissioner, should be established to ensure local services meet national standards for child protection and implement reforms. The report directed that Safeguarding Boards for children and families should be stablished by councils, with members drawn from social services, education, housing, the NHS, the police and probation services. The boards should appoint a local director of children and family services to monitor effective interagency working on child welfare and protection.The creation of a national children's database that keeps a record of every contact a child has with a member of staff from the police, health and local authorities. Every Child Matters (ECM) (2003) The I-JK government responded to the Laming Report with the Ever y Child Matter (ECM) green paper launched in 2003. ECM covers children and young adults up to the age of 19, or for those with disabilites up to the age of 24..Its main aims are for every child, irrespective of their background or circumstances, to have the support they need to: Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and achieve Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well-being All childcare settings are required to demonstrate that are promoting the 5 (SHEEP) principles of ECM. Each of these themes has a detailed framework attached whose outcomes require multi-agency partnerships working together to achieve.

The good the bad and the ugly parts of being a nursing assistant in Essay

The good the bad and the ugly parts of being a nursing assistant in long term care - Essay Example The Good: Lucky to know the patients and residents better. The amount of information sharing, if time permits, about past experiences, adventures, achievements, failures etc. are enriching the life of a CNA as a listener simultaneously encouraging the other side of reviving the past or relieving the suffering. Listening is the best counseling. The difference you can make in someones life! The shift meetings, specific duties, routines, recording the vital signs, escorting patients, mobility support, assisting with eating meals etc. all hold good. The Bad: Waking up the patients or residents, helping with dressing, bathroom, errands, severe mood or depression, injury, arguments, non-co-operative patients, and extreme physical and emotional demands as well as recording activities and incidents is at times unpleasant. The Ugly: The evening routine of changing residents into pajamas, personal hygiene, bathroom visits, changing diapers, emptying bedpans and the emotional stress of seeing a patient or resident dying, one feels at times, unpalatable. Conclusion: As a CNA I laugh, visit, and console patients and residents and I enjoy my work. As Suzanne Sweezy (2010) rightly said, â€Å"CNA description is not one filled with fast paced excitement or overly appreciative supervisors† but if you ask me if I enjoy being a CNA, then the answer is always a resounding

Threats And Vulnerabilities Analysis Coursework

Threats And Vulnerabilities Analysis - Coursework Example As the result, it is upon the institution to implement policies that would serve best in physical, technical and administrative safeguards of the system. The following section lists a number of policy statements that give the narration of the information security controls that could be used by the institution to implement recommendations for protection. The recommendations focus on major areas of the institutional operations including Institutional Information, Information Systems, Computerized Devices, And Infrastructure Technology. The policy statements are applicable across all departments within the organization and they are categorized in terms of Information Security Plan, Physical Controls, Monitoring Controls, Technical Security and Access Controls, General Operational Controls, and Account and Identity Management Controls.Policy statements Information Security plan The top management is responsible for documenting and overseeing implementation of an Information Security plan . This would help in securing the system and protection of data within the system, thereby thwarting intentions by any intruders. The Plan includes the following: 1.The Security Plan shall delegate and plan responsibilities across the organization to the appropriate people. For instance, this shall cut across system owners and system operators. This way, there will be proper engineering of the system’s operation thereby avoiding vulnerabilities such as poor administrative procedures.

Create my own exam Math Problem Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Create my own exam - Math Problem Example A line passing through the centre of a circle is the diameter of the circle (Mosteller 109). If two or more diameters are in the same circle then all of them are equal in length irrespective of their position. Therefore, if the two sides from both triangles that pass through the middle of the circle were taken as o for Triangle A and x for triangle B, then o will be equal to x. The side will also be the longest on either triangle. In the equation o + p + q = x + y + z we can eliminate o and x since they cancel each other keeping in mind that o = x, hence we will be left to prove that p + q = y + z. To prove this we will first have to identify the angles formed by the two triangles. If triangle A has angles O, P, Q where angle P and Q join sides p and q to side o respectively, then angle O is opposite to side o. On the other hand, triangle B has angles X, Y, Z where by angle X is opposite to side x and angles Y and Z join sides y and z to side x respectively. If we start with both tri angles as isosceles triangles then sides p + q = y + z because for both triangles the longer side is equal (Kac and Ulam 167). In the event that the shape of either triangle changes then the following, changes will also take place. Let us start with triangle A, a change in the shape of the triangle from an isosceles triangle an irregular triangle this will cause angle O to increase. The change will also be associated with change in length of side p and q, where with every increase in side p side q will be subsequently decreasing and vice versa. The total length of the two sides will be maintained that is p + q for all the changes will remain the same. In triangle B the same principle will also apply such that a change in the shape of the triangle from an isosceles triangle to an irregular triangle then angle X will be increasing and an increase in side y will lead to a decrease in side z and vice versa. The total length in this case will be maintained that is to say that y + z will remain the same in whichever shape the triangle changes. Since p + q = y + z for the isosceles triangle then the same principle will apply for a change in shape of the triangles. Theorem 2 If a rectangle is drawn inside a chessboard with its sides parallel to the sides of the chessboard, then the number of complete dark squares will NOT be equal to the number of light squares covered by the rectangle. That is if the rectangle covers m complete dark squares and n complete light squares then m ? n. Taking note that not necessarily that all the squares covered by the rectangle will be complete. Proof: Suppose we take a chessboard (which is square in shape) with sides C and D where C = D and inside the chessboard there are ‘n’ equal squares, which are made of one unit of each side, therefore n = C ? D (Garder 510). The dark squares are denoted by b and the light squares denoted as w. A rectangle with length J and width K is drawn inside the chessboard where the side J is pa rallel to C and K is parallel to D. Further, J should not be equal to C and K should not be equal to D, meaning the rectangle is smaller than the chessboard and there should be no three sides of the rectangle touching the sides of the chessboard. If the rectangle is drawn to fit exactly two units of C and one unit of D then the rectangle will

Effective group discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Effective group discussion - Essay Example The agenda would involve discussion on the above topic/ question and determine whether the conjecture is supported by sufficient facts to make it a plausible outcome. Use of moderator and tape recorder would ensure that discussion progresses smoothly during the 30 minutes, allotted to the group. The two questions would be discussed to come determine the veracity of the topic. Two discussion questions would be: the possible penalty that can effectively serve as deterrent measure for speeding; and previous outcome of the penalty on the convicts (Ehrlich, 1973). 2 minutes would be allowed to each of 10 participants to give their reasons and 10 minutes would be used to make empowered decision by the group leader, based on the informed choices as presented by the participants. It is hoped that discussion would help determine the outcome of conjecture. The discussion would focus on 3 areas: the legal aspect of the process of euthanasia in different countries; the moral paradigm of practice of euthanasia; and the efficacy of methods used on patients with terminal illness (Emanual & Fairclaugh, 2000). A moderator would oversee that discussions proceed within the defined guidelines and make recordings of the same. The 6 participants would be given 2 minutes to present their facts and views. Rest of the times would be used to collate the facts and use brainstorming techniques to decide on the outcome. The group leader would ensure that facts and moral compulsions are judiciously used to determine the conditions under which conditions euthanasia can be made legal. The main agenda of discussion would involve discussing the situation on the broader context of healthcare accessibility to the marginalized population of poor countries and the ways it can be addressed by developed countries and corporations. The discussion would be of 30 minutes

Effects of Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Effects of Drugs - Essay Example This paper will assess the influence of drugs one’s family, career and life. As mentioned above, drugs are addictive meaning an individual becomes dependent on the substance and neglects his or her responsibilities in order to satisfy his addiction. Drugs have side effects after use as they imitate or inhibit the action of neurotransmitters which makes them stimulants or depressors (Carlson, 12). In addition, drugs have a toxic effect on the neurons which reduces the mental capabilities of an individual. Therefore, the diminished neuronal function will adversely affect an individual’s cognition making him or her incompetent at the workplace. Furthermore, the patient is likely to experience changes in his personality and regular mood swings which affect his relation to his colleagues. Therefore, drugs make an individual incapable of performing his professional obligations and he or she is unlikely to keep a job. This also explains why the majority of drug users are unemployed. The family of drug user is likely to be affected the most by this habit. This is because the family knows the real personality of an individual on drugs and they are tormented by watching the way drugs metamorphose his or her behavior and character. Therefore, drug use has a severe psychological impact on the family of a drug user. If the individual is the breadwinner, the family will also be affected financially as he will be unable to provide the financial resources necessary for satisfying basic needs (Swain et al. 327-333). Drug users often use the majority of their money on drugs as these are expensive and if they do not use these drugs they begin to experience withdrawal symptoms which are very difficult to resolve. According to sociological studies, drug users are also more likely to be abusive meaning the family can also be subjected to violent attacks from the user. In summation, the life of a drug user is very complicated and he or she is often depressed due to the extremes

Personal Statement for the University Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

For the University - Personal Statement Example Studying an undergraduate degree on Accounting and Finance in University of Exeter gave me greater insights into how the subject and the function of accounting within business help to define the process. During my first year compulsory modules, Business Law for Accountants, I understood and demonstrated knowledge of the legal systems in the UK and the principle features of business law. The Hong Kong legal systems are based on the UK system and so although this module was UK-based.Knowledge of the law can help me in dealing with unexpected difficulties. During my holiday in 2011, I have travelled to a new villa in the Maldives for vacation with my friends. During this 1 week holiday, my friends and I were promised by a travel agency that there was a bar and English speakers on premise. However, when we arrived, they spoke very poor English and the bar only opened once during the week. As such, we are very disappointed with the journey. When I came back to Hong Kong, I filed suit agai nst the travel contract by applying the case "Jarvis v Swan Tours (1973)" which I had learned in my business law module. Finally, I held to be entitled to damages for my disappointment. As a result, I received 1/3 of the cost of my holiday as well as receiving â€Å"disappointment damages† for the holiday. Due to the fact that I was able to apply the case law I was familiar with in order to positively affect my own life as well as the life of my friends, I have become greatly more interested in better understanding the nuances of the law.

Benefits of Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Benefits of Strategic Management - Essay Example Companies that utilize strategic management can greatly benefit from its implementation. Strategic management allows managers the ability to forecast the future. The proper use of strategic management can increase the productivity and profitability of a business. An example of a strategic management decision is using only a few of the patents a company develops in order to postpone the release of new products for the future. An industry in which this occurs a lot is the pharmaceutical industry. Another benefit of strategic management is that it can be used to change the corporate culture of a company. The use of strategic management can also help an organization gain a competitive advantage. The accounting department benefits from strategic management because it allows the firm to make better budgeting decisions (Hainescentre, 2012). Planning for the future allows a firm the ability to predict future expenditures and income streams. Strategic management can also be used to improve decision making (Robinson, 2005). Robinson, R. (2005). The advantages and disadvantages of strategic management. Retrieved February 10, 2013 from

An analysis of Palm Malls Management Information System Term Paper

An analysis of Palm Malls Management Information System - Term Paper Example An analysis of Palm Mall’s Management Information System This system will be used for the management of Palm Mall’s working and operations. This application will make use of an automated BAR-Code detection system to detect the product details. At the cash counter the customer will take the shopping cart and cashier will scan each item to detect the products’ features such as price and other details. This system will also accept manual entries of products in case bar code reader fails to work properly. At the end of day system will offer the overall sales record with possible stock availability details. The objective of this implementation is to improve the efficiency and quality of business functions. Scope and Objectives The implementation of Palm Mall Management Information System is aimed at offering an excellent support for business management. In fact, the successful implementation of this technology based information system will improve the management capabilities of the business. Additionally, this system will offer an excellent support in the form of fast and error free business retail record management. The new system will improve the overall supply chain management through better record management of stock. This system will also offer a variety of features and functions for ensuring improved business decision support and performance. As a result, the overall corporate performance will improve and the business will be able to offer a great deal better service to its clients. In addition, this system will be implemented at various levels such as management level, stock and warehouse level and at sale person level. This system will not involve any customer input or intervention. This system will be completely under the control of business staff. Benefits of the system According to (Laudon and Laudon 7; Hoffer, Prescott and McFadden 429), â€Å"an information system is a group of interrelated elements that work together, process, store, and distribute information to various departments with the p urpose of supporting decision making and control in an organization†. In this scenario, â€Å"a management information system is one of the basic forms of information systems. Basically, an MIS is a purpose or particular use of information system that offers support for management oriented reporting.† In addition, these reports are usually produced or maintained on a given schedule as well as become manifest in a prearranged structure (Whitten, Bentley and Dittman 47). Palm Mall Management Information System will offer a number of advantages for the business. Given below are some of the major advantages of implementing a new management information system: Automation of process Error free working Simple management Fast receipt development for customer Digital record management of all business transactions Effective management of all business operations Simple management of complex processes Improved supply chain management Superior handling of all business operations Man agement support Better decision support for staff Enhanced management of all corporate operations with canalized business management

Sunny Grove Police Essay Example for Free

Sunny Grove Police Essay INTRODUCTION I have just taken command of the Sunny Grove police department. The department is riddled with various organizational issues ranging from theft to poor records management. I am responsible for leading a vigorous turn-around within the organizational culture and transforming the department from its currently underperforming state of operations to a respected department within the state in minimum time. OVERVIEW There is a list of issues the Sunny Grove Police Department (SGPD) has suffered from under its previous leadership. Among the list of issues includes a lack of ethical behavior, poor organizational control, and a seemingly absent set of enforced disciplinary measures. Quality control measures seem to be lacking department wide, and if they are present, they certainly have not been enforced with the rigor and swiftness they ought to be. These problems have created a lax, seemingly care-free organizational culture within the department which is made evident by the poor overall performance of the SGPD when racked-and-stacked amongst other police departments in the state. While impossible to list all the underlying problems occurring within the SGPD in the case report, it is probably very safe to assume that this is department in near shambles and it will require some extreme measures to get it operating back within acceptable parameters. INSTITUTING BUREAUCRATIC CONTROLS When bureaucratic-type controls are overused, they can have a tendency to weight the organization down, slowing productivity, and hindering effectiveness. Depending on the type of organization, instituting bureaucratic controls outside of the basic company policies and standard operating procedures can be quite a detriment; however, in organizations such as a Police Department, such controls are necessary to maintain good order as well as safe and effective operations. The term bureaucratic itself implies regulation and its the first thing we think of when we think  of a governmental agency. A Police Department is no Pixar Animation Studios—creative thinking on a whim can have serious implications to the justice system in general and so formal rules and standards must be implemented and strictly adhered to. It’s obvious that whatever the rules, regulations, and policies are for the SGPD, they aren’t being followed to the degree they need to be. This could be attributed to a number of reasons: quality control policies don’t exist; rules, regulations, and polices are not being enforced or are not known; rules, regulations, and policies exist but are inadequate; senior management has failed to properly convey the policies as well as the importance of having them; and information reporting systems are inadequate or ineffective. Without having more detailed information from the case study, I’d have to assume only that many if not all of these attributes are causal for the current state of affairs within the department. Rules and regulations must have been pre-existing, especially for a governmental agency. Special department created policies may also have been pre-existing but perhaps they were either insufficient or lacked the depth and scope required. In any case, I have to assume the regulations were both known by management and employee, and that there isn’t question as what those regulations are. As a governmental agency, these rules and regulations define the industry within which the agency exists in the first place. My role will not be to create bureaucratic regulations with the exception of perhaps evaluating internal policies for effectiveness and maybe creating a few new ones to help bring certain practices through a more closely watched quality control â€Å"checks-and-balances† process. Instead, my role will be to undergo an intensive control cycle quality check within all the various departments inside the SGPD. Setting the standards for performance and ensuring those standards are well communicated. Each department will undergo a rigorous initial performance review and analysis and later evaluated to determine effectiveness. From here, the necessary steps will include correcting errors as well as areas of deficient performance. Discipline is clearly an issue within the SGPD and so  disciplinary action for failing to meet the instituted standards will finally be enforced. Those not meeting expectations must be dealt with in an appropriate manner, even if it includes termination. In addition, it will be critically important for me to create a climate which encourages the sharing of feedback both up and down the chain of command within the department. Strengthening the mutual respect between members of the SGPD will play a large role in helping to turn around the present culture. Changing the culture of an organization is not an easy task, and this control cycle will have to be revisited frequently until the culture returns to acceptable norms and then the pressure can be reduced slightly. INSTITUTING MARKET CONTROLS Market controls in general have no place within the SGPD with the exception of looking at the â€Å"market† as the high crime areas within the jurisdiction of the department. Crime in itself is market driven in the traditional sense of supply and demand. To reduce the supply, you have to reduce the demand. Statistical data should show the areas within the SGPD jurisdiction which can be considered high crime areas. A more hand’s on approach to collecting and evaluating this data can lead to a change in how the SGPD does business. An obvious way to reduce demand, is for the SGPD to be more present in those areas—being more involved within those communities, strengthening ties, and increasing patrols will help reduce demand. These types of market controls will help improve the performance of the SGPD, and if controls of this nature are not already in place, this is certainly an area I would be quick to implement change in. INSTITUTING CLAN CONTROLS While heavy bureaucratic controls will be the way of life for any governmental agency, it is important to not neglect the â€Å"human relations† aspect of management. Especially true for this particular police department where the culture is struggling, it will be very necessary to connect organizational values to every day tasks. Creating a vision that is shared among the entire department and frequently revisiting that vision will help  to cement expectations, beliefs, and values. Obviously, communication is a key component of directing change and it will be vital to continuously stress those things that are important to the success of the organization so that focus is never lost and confusion is never a component.

Organisations

Organisations Today organizations especially large ones are very complicated, because they are in a continuously changing business and economic environment. Moreover consumers demand is high, constantly changes and all that force organisations to be in an intensive competition and to increase the standards of performance. Companies have established Human resource departments or senior managers to perform human resource management functions and use practices in order to try to improve and sustain a better organisational performance. Every company has to know their employees, their capabilities to actually get best of them because it is believed to be the most valuable capital and main source of competitive advantage. In 2001, Calkin claimed, that more than 30 studies in the US and UK leave no room for doubt; how organizations mange and develop people has a powerful-perhaps the most powerful-effect on overall performance, including the bottom line. The main ones have been done in the past starts in 1990s by Arthur in 1992, 1994; MacDuffie in 1995; Martell and Carroll in 1995b; Huselid in 1995; Delaney and Huselid in 1996; Wood in 1996; Guest in 2001 which claim to prove statistically the bond between both HRM practises and organizational performance because of increased productivity. The results of their studies are that the HRM activities such as decentralisation of authority will result in lower degree of turnover (Arthur, 1994) or Bundles of internally consistent HRM practices are associated with higher productivity and quality ( McDuffie, 1995) are to support the hypothesis that there is a link between HRM and the HRM outcomes on performance. Also looking through studies established in the UK call centres, US firms, Australia and New Zealand manufactures, Norway, those cases do identify a relevance in favour that there is a relationship between human resource management and organisational performance. However there is a strong criticism about them, especially how the resea rch was performed, evaluation methods used and the data interpreted. Before linking HRM and performance it is important to understand what it is. First of all human resource management in many textbooks is simply explained as getting things done through the people. A more objective definition would be proposed by Storey (1998) where he states that HRM is a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques. Additionally it useful to mention that is the strategic perspective of HR, which actually presents the importance of human resource practices for organisational performance Companies try to achieve significant superior performance by using HRM and different practices. The US academic Jeffrey Pfeffer (1998) identified seven main HR practices in the successful organisations. According Pfeffer human resource practices for performance improvement are: employment security, selective hiring, self-managed work teams, high pay contingent on company performance, extensive training, reduction of status differences, sharing information. Later European researchers Den Hartog and Verbug (2004) complemented Pfeffers job by distinguishing eight key practices which help to understand the association between HR and organizational performance. They are: employment skills, autonomy, pay-for-performance, profit-sharing, performance appraisal, team performance, information-sharing, job evaluation. Thus there is different ways to recognise how HR policies and practices actually contribute, because only certain ones might always result in high performance. This approach is called universalistic approach. The contingency approach proposes that that variety of practices needed to make a difference also taking into account environment and business strategy. Another view is that we have to realise that every organisation has its own culture, unique employees and because of that the set of HR practices and polices which will be the best will also be unique to that company. This approach is call as resource-based view (D.Torrington, L.Hall, S.Taylor, 2008 p.256). Every organisation has different outcomes and according Brattson and Gold this organisational performance can be measured from two sides (2007 4thed:527). The first measure is operating performance what includes reduced unit costs, improved product/service quality, labour productivity, innovation of products and processes all those are employee related indicators. Another measure of a performance is by financial performance such as profit, market share, and return on investment. Because companies can quite easily copy one anothers technology, but not human resource capabilities if an organisation has well working HR practices that is a big advantage to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. (Toby D. Wall and Stephen J. Wood, 2005) For instance not a long time ago Stephen Wood, David Holman and Christopher Stride (2006) did a research on HRM and performance in UK call centres. They have use data from a sample of 145 UK call centres and the research has found direct relationships between human resource practices and performance. However the represented response rate was only 20per cent. It is very low response rate, but it allowed for the authors to make conclusions from what was detected that firstly, that performance appraisal was negatively associated with unauthorised absence. Secondly, systematic selection tests, longer initial training and higher levels of internal recruitment were positively associated with achieving target times and suggestion making. Also there was significant links between relationship-building and both work discretion and teamworking, task discretion is associated with both training and improvement teams as well as internal recruitment seems to improve performance and innovation, cust omers satisfaction.(p:117-120) This example identifies relevance that practices and their implementation are vital ingredient in linking employees especially management to overall organisational performance. In addition there is a reason given to believe in a linkage because of Peters H. van der Meer and Kristens Ringdals research which was conducted in Norway (2003) findings were positive after organisation introduced job rotation which appeared to reduce labour costs per unit produced by having lower wage cost. Also the productivity increased more than in the organisations without job rotations. However the critique here would be that like in other similar works that there is n obvious limitation in data collection, because results could be affected by selectivity and response of respondents, also there is not enough of the evidence to prove. Graeme Salaman, John Storey and Jon Billsberry state that it is very important to identify the best HRM practices, those whose adoption generally leads to valued firm-level outcomes (2005:p122) Authors have extinguished that as extensive recruitment, selection, and training policies; formal information sharing, attitude assessment, job design, grievance procedures, and labour management participation programs; performance appraisals, promotion, and incentive compensation systems that recognise and reward employees practices. Than the research was given which was held in the US 3,452 firms participating. There were thirteen High performance practices to analyse the independent contribution of each practice to firm performance. The results showed that before the research there was a strong support for the hypotheses predicting that High performance work Practices will affect firm performance and important employment outcomes, the results justified it and that also significant effects o f High performance practices found are also financially meaningful as Graeme Salaman, John Storey and Jon Billsberry state.(2005: p140) Although all those studies propose that there is a synergy among increasing productivity and HRM especially strategic HRM, what is the overall combination of HR philosophy, processes, policies, programmes and practices creating the human performance desired and it is doing so at a reasonable cost (Gordan 2001). However not all of the studies finds only positive results. For instance it was thought because of the previous studies that one of the main HR practices are training and team working, from the example of NHS. Thus the research does identify a link; it can not be taken for granted that HR really helps to reduce mortality rates. Yes training helps to develop skills, and company expects them to be transferred into work floor, but does it happen straight after employees have been trained. Moreover according the D. Challis, D.Salmon and B.Lawson research done in the Australia and New Zeland 1024 manufacturing sites indicates that organizational and human resource practices are sig nificant additional variance in both employee and manufacturing performance. The results have showed that both training and teams are important in weak manufacturing environments, but are not significant in strong manufacturing environments. Moreover although training helps develop worker skills, it may not be enough to guarantee that skills employee got will actually be transferred to the factory floor.'(2005 vol. 43(1) p.103) So it is very difficult to prove and there are some disadvantages of the processed studies and the results. First of all because of the evaluation of a study is very subjective. There are different available methods used in evaluating results. People have their own interpretation, opinions, such as about the turnover, in one case it can be assumed to be a good thing because constantly changing employees bring new ideas into the organisation. And on the other hand if employees today do not have job satisfaction, do not have their career developing, do not get higher wages or better working conditions they leave. Some peoples answers depend upon the way questioned employees feel that day, or because after the notice of research taking place makes them feel suspicious maybe and work harder. Also it depends on the bundles of practices used in the research and put together. Sometimes it can be forgotten that practices used or implemented can bring benefits after long term. The author Phillips (1991) in his book states that external factors can influence and change the performance, government regulation, labour market conditions, and union strength. For instance the economic recession determines workers to work hard and not to l ose jobs in the case of reduction of staff. A very relevant critique was found in an article called The romance of human resource management and business performance, and the case for big science written by Toby D. Wall and Stephen J. Wood(2005), they argue that the studies done before have created wrong expectations of the effect of HRM practices on performance. Their critique upon the studies done, what they call as a romance is containing errors; Wall and Wood identify that the reliability is often tolerant although the sizes of effects are typically small in prior research. Also in some cases measures of performance chosen might not be appropriate; they have to look at the environment of a business. Authors judge the studies because they are not done properly, and say that in the future it should be used better research methods and design, and also should be large-size long-term research when you can look what it was like before and what is after implementation and use of HRM. O therwise it is like a failure of to see the certified link between HRM and performance. In the conclusion nowadays business world is changing very rapidly and both people and organisations which vary in size, aims, functions, construction, the nature of their product or service are complicated and because of that to be the best in the industry firms have to have a well established human resource management according main studies. Organizations have to have their HRM working at a strategic level because then practices are focused on a short or better on a long term results when the improved performance could have an added-value and benefits. However the discussion about the link between the HRM and performance is under investigation for about more than 20 years and nobody is sure about it. Yes it is known that HRM management is working and do have the impact on employees and might make organisation successful but which particular practice or bundle to use universally is not known, because one thing combines with another, one organisation is different than another. Howeve r to apply studies and believe in all the results of practices or practice make a different would be violent interpretation. Because in studies done to prove the link of HRM and organizational performance there are limitations and it is very important to understand bias as well as that how the research been conducted and interpreted. References: Arthur, J. B. (1994) Effects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance and turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 37: 670-87 Bratton and Gold (2007) Human resource management: Theory and Practice 4th ed.; Palgrave Macmillan, New York D. Challis, D.Salmon and B.Lawson (2005) Impact of technological, organizational and human resource investments on employee and manufacturing performance: Australian and New Zealand evidence International Journal of Production Research, 43(1): 81-107 Derek Torrington., Laura Hall, Stephen Taylor (2008) Human Resource Management; 7th ed. London, Pearson education, p.256 Godard, J., (2001) High Performance and the Transformation of Work: The Implications of Alternative Work Practices for the Experience and Outcomes of Work Industrial and Labor Relations Review 54 (4): 776-805 Graeme Salaman, John Storey and Jon Billsberry (2005) Strategic Human resource Management: Theory and Practice; 2nd ed. Sage publications, London Lahteenmaki, S., J. Storey and S. Vanhala (1998) HRM and Company Performance: the Use of Measurement and the Influence of Economic Cycles, Human Resource Management Journal, 8(2): 51-65. MacDuffie , J.P. (1995) Human resource bundles and manufacturing performance: organizational logic and flexible production systems in the world auto industry. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol.48: 197-221 Michael Armstrong and Duncan Brown (2009) Strategic Reward Implementing more effective reward management; Kogan Page, London and Philadelphia Pfeffer, J. (1998) The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting people first. Boston: Harward Business School Press. Toby D. Wall and Stephen J. Wood (2005) The romance of human resource management and business performance, and the case for big science Vol.58(4): 429-462 West A., Carol Borrill, Jeremy Dawson, Judy Scully, Matthew Carter, Stephen Anelay, Malcolm Patterson and Justin Waring (2002) The link between the management if employees and patient mortality in acute hospitals Int. J. of Human Resource Management 13(8): 1299-1310 West, M. et al. (2002) The Link between the Management of Employees and Patient Mortality in Acute Hospitals, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 13(8): 1299-1310. Wood S. (2006) Human resource management and performance in the UK call centres British Journal of Industrial Relations 44(1):99-124

Five Basic Corporate Finance Functions

Five Basic Corporate Finance Functions Introduction UBS AG is a diversified global financial services company, having its main headquarters at Basel and Zurich, Switzerland. In June 1998, Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) completed the merger announced six months previously. Just two years later, UBS acquired the US brokerage firm Paine Webber, greatly increasing the size and scope of its business. Then the new firm set the seal on these achievements by proclaiming a single brand. In this light, UBS is both a new institution and new brand. In the picturesque Swiss region of Valposchiavo, for example, one UBS branch traces its origins as far back as 1747. The core components of todays UBS date back to the second half of the nineteenth century. At the same time, its history extends many generations into the past, particularly in Switzerland, the US and the UK. UBS is ranked second worlds largest asset manager of private wealth, and is the second-largest bank in Europe, in both market capitalisation and profitability. With its major presence in United States UBS has its headquarters located in New York City; Weehawken, Private Wealth Management in New Jersey; and Stamford, Connecticut for Capital markets, UBSs has its retail offices throughout the U.S., and has its presence in more than 50 countries (www.ubs.com/1/e/about/history.html). UBS was force to turn to the Government of Singapore for fresh funding after incurring a huge loss in 2007. After funding, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation became the largest shareholder of UBS in 2007. UBS managers pledged to return bonuses after a dramatic loss in November 2008. New financial aid was expected from Swiss government after the UBS shareholders voted to restore the shaken trust in UBS (www.ubs.com/1/e/about/history.html). Credit Suisse found a new cross-town rival in the form of UBS which has evolved on a similar path. Both of them originated from Switzerland indulging in commercial and retail banking who purchased major investment banks in United States and both are being investigated by U.S. authorities currently for helping 17,000 American citizens to avoid taxes. Based on the order by the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FINMA), UBS on 18th February 2009, immediately has agreed to provide the identities of and account information of about 250 American clients to United States and also agreed to pay US$ 780 million in the form of compensation and fines (www.ubs.com/1/e/about/history.html). Corporate Finance Modern companies need to raise finance from the capital market in order to invest in the real and intangible assets they need to earn profits. Their first priority is to ensure that they can source finance for both their short run and their long run needs in the most economical way possible. Corporate investment is by its nature risky and often capital intensive (Ryan, 2007). In order to justify the use of other peoples money a firm needs to ensure that the investment decisions it makes, taking into account its cost of capital, lead to an overall increase in the value of the firm and hence its investors wealth. Alongside the problem of sourcing finance at the cheapest cost, the firm has to make sure that all the investment decisions it undertakes are value adding. If they are not the firm will not be able to justify its existence for very long and will find itself out of business (Ryan, 2007). The ability to trade the financial claims of business ventures has been known about and practised for centuries. In the modern era the standardization of financial claims into homogenous trading units has transformed the way markets operate. Until the 1930s companies, for example, borrowed money from banks but following the Wall Street Crash in the United States there was a sudden loss of confidence in the banking sector. As a result, companies started to practise what governments had been doing for some time and sidestepped the banks going directly to lenders and offering them securitized debt in the form of bonds (Ryan, 2007). Although modern financial intermediaries are marvel of efficiency, the role of traditional intermediaries such as banks as providers of debt capital to corporations has declined for decades. Instead, nonfinancial corporations have increasingly turned to capital markets for external financing, principally because the rapidly declining cost of information processing makes it much easier for large number of investors to obtain and evaluate financial data for thousands of potential corporate borrowers and issuers of common and preferred stock equity (Megginson and Smart, 2006). The Five Basic Corporate Finance functions: Although corporate finance is defined generally as the activities involved in managing cash flows (money) in a business environment, a more complete definition would emphasize that the practice of corporate finance involves five basic functions: Raising capital to support companies operations and investment programs (the external financing function); Selecting the best projects in which to invest firms resources, based on each projects perceived risk and expected return (the capital budgeting function); Managing firms internal cash flows, its working capital, and its mix of debt and equity financing, both to maximize the value of firms debt and equity claims and to ensure that companies can pay off its obligations when due (the financial management function); Developing company-wide ownership and corporate governance structures that force managers to behave ethically and make decisions that benefit shareholders (the corporate governance function); and Managing firms exposures to all types of risk, both insurable and uninsurable, to maintain and optimal risk-return trade-off and therefore maximize shareholder value (the risk-management function). (Source: Megginson and Smart, 2006) External financing When corporations are young and small, they usually must raise equity capital privately, either from friends and family, or from professional investors such as venture capitalists. These professionals specialize in making high-risk/high-return investments in rapidly growing entrepreneurial businesses. Once firms reach a certain size, they may decide to go public by conducting an initial public offering (IPO) of stock-selling shares to outside investors and listing the shares for trading on a stock exchange. After IPOs, companies have the option of raising cash by selling additional stock in the future (Megginson and Smart, 2006). Capital Budgeting The capital budgeting function represents firms financial managers single most important activity, for two reasons. First, managers evaluate very large investments in the capital budgeting process. Second, companies can prosper in a competitive economy only be seeking out the most promising new products, processes, and services to deliver to customers. Companies such as Intel, General Electric, Shell, Samsung, and Toyota regularly make huge capital outlays. The capital budgeting process breaks down into three steps: Identifying potential investments; Analysing the set of investment opportunities and identifying those that create shareholder value; and Implementing and monitoring the investments (Source: Megginson and Smart, 2006) Risk Management Historically, risk management has identified the unpredictable act of nature risks (fire, flood, collision, and other property damage) to which firms was exposed and has used insurance products or self-insurance to manage those exposures. Todays risk-management function identifies, measures, and manages many more types of risk exposures, including predictable business risks. These exposures include losses that could result from adverse interest rate movements, commodity price changes, and currency value fluctuations. The techniques for managing such risks are among the most sophisticated of all corporate finance practices. The risk-management task attempts to quantify the sources and magnitudes of firms risk exposure and to decide whether to simply accept these risks or to manage them (Megginson and Smart, 2006). Corporate Governance Recent corporate scandals-such as financial collapses at Enron, Arthur Andersen, WorldCom, and Parmalat-clearly show that establishing good corporate governance systems is paramount. Governance systems determine who benefits most from company activities; then they establish procedures to maximize firm value and to ensure that employees act ethically and responsibly. Good management does not develop in a vacuum. It results from corporate governance systems that hires and promotes qualified, honest people, and that motivate employees to achieve company goals through salary and other incentives (Megginson and Smart, 2006). Developing corporate governance systems present quite a challenge in practice because conflicts inevitably arise among stockholders, managers, and other stakeholders interests. But rarely is it in the interest of any individual stockholder to spend the time and money needed to ensure that managers act appropriately. If individual stockholders conducted this type of oversight, they would personally bear all the costs of monitoring management, but would share the benefits with all other shareholders. This is a classic example of the collective action problem that arises in most relationship between stockholders and managers (Megginson and Smart, 2006). Bankruptcy and Corporate Financing Patterns The more debt a firm uses in its capital structure, the less likely the firm will be able to meet its debt service obligations, and the more likely default will occur (Benning and Sarig, p.347). It is this default likelihood that introduces bankruptcy costs into capital structure. As argued by Van Horne (p.268), the presence of bankruptcy costs is an important source of imperfection in the markets for corporate funds. Under imperfect conditions, there are the administrative costs of bankruptcy, and assets may have to be liquidated at less than their economic values (Bekter, p. 56). It is also this tendency that Myers (p.218) describes as the direct cost of bankruptcy. The implication of the presence of bankruptcy cost in financial leverage is manifested more by the fact that debt-financing generates risks. Not only that, but it has been argued that for instance that every financing decision comes with some risk implications on the value of the firm (Glen and Pinto, 1994). The largest bankruptcy in U.S. history was finally coming to an end. On April 20, 2004, MCI, Inc. Emerged with an announcement that it had begun distributing securities and cash to its creditors according to a court-approved reorganization plan. MCIs chief executive officer, Michael Capellas, heralded a new beginning for his company, which had filed for bankruptcy court protection twenty-one months earlier-when the company was called WorldCom-after disclosing and $11 billion accounting fraud. At the time of its Chapter 11 filing, WorldCom had assets totalling nearly $104 billion and debts of $32 billion (Megginson and Smart, 2006). WorldCom shocked the business world when the company announced in June 2002 that it had fraudulently overstated $3.9 billion of expenses as capital expenditures, which had allowed it to book higher profits during the telecom boom years of 1998-2001. WorldCom chief financial officer Scott Sullivan was fired the day the accounting fraud was disclosed, and his exit followed that of founder and long-time CEO, Bernine Ebbers, who had been forced out in April 2002. Over the next two years, more than $7 billion in additional accounting errors and frauds were uncovered,, bringing the total misstatements to $11 billion, and in a March 2004 restatement of its 2001 and 2002 financial results, the company wrote off over $74 billion in previously booked profits and goodwill (Megginson and Smart, 2006). Corporate Control Transactions Changes in corporate control occur through several mechanisms, most notably via acquisitions. An acquisition is the purchase of additional resources by a business enterprise. These resources may come from the purchase of new assets, the purchase of some of the assets of another company, or the purchase of another whole business entity, which is known as a merger. Merger is itself a general term applied to a transaction in which two or more business organizations combine into a single entity. Oftentimes, however, the term merger s reserved for a transaction in which one corporation takes over another upon the approval of both companies boards of directors and shareholders after a friendly and mutually agreeable set of terms and conditions and a price are negotiated (Megginson and Smart, 2006). Statuary Merger A statutory merger is a form of target integration in which the acquirer can absorb the targets resources directly with no remaining trace of the target as a separate entity. Many intrastate bank mergers are of this form. Subsidiary Merger Conversely, an acquirer may wish to maintain the identity of the target as either a separate subsidiary or division. A subsidiary merger is often the integration vehicle when there is brand value in the name of the target, such as the case of PepsiCos merger with Pizza Hut in 1997. Sometimes, separate tracking or target shares are issued in the subsidiarys name. Sometimes, these shares are issued as new common shares in exchange for the targets common shares, as occurred when General Motors issued new Class E and Class H shares to acquire, respectively, Electronic Data Systems and Hughes Electronics during the 1980s. Alternatively, a new class of preferred stock may be issued by the bidding firm to replace the common shares of the target as well (Megginson and Smart, 2006). Consolidation Consolidation is another integrative form used to effect a merger of two publicly traded companies. Under this form, both the acquirer and target disappear as separate corporations and combine to form an entirely new corporation with new common stock (Megginson and Smart, 2006). Dealing with the Crisis The merger of the Union Bank of Switzerland and the Swiss Bank Corporation in June 1998 resulted in UBS evolution. The new company was named originally as Union Bank of Switzerland, but officials chose to call it as UBS as the name was clashing with United Bank Switzerland a subsidiary part of the United Bank Limited, Switzerland. United Bank of Switzerland is no longer known for its name as it made its brand name UBS like 3M. The carried over logo from SBC, which stands for confidence, security and discretion has remained with UBS. With its acquisitions of Dillon Read in New York and S. G. Warburg in London, SBC had investment banking business all over the world before the merger. Due to the Long-Term Capital Management crisis, in October 1998, the first chairman of the merged bank resigned which affected the Union Bank of Switzerland. After the acquisition of Paine Webber Group Inc. by UBS in 2000, it became the largest private clients wealth management company in the world. A CHF 3.265 trillion assets was invested in wealth management businesses, including the U.S. As the company began to operate as one large firm, all the business group of UBS were rebranded under the UNBS name on the 9th June 2003. All major companies bought by Union Bank of Switzerland like UBS Paine Webber, UBS Warburg, UBS Asset Management and others were just called UBS. With the retirement of the Paine Webber brand UBS took a US$1 billion write-down for the loss of good will associated with as a result of the rebranding (www.ubs.com/1/ e/about/history.html). In a report released on 01st April 2008, 15 billion Swiss francs (US$15.1 billion) in a new capital was seeked by Swiss bank UBS AG as it expected to post net losses of 12 billion Swiss francs (US$12.1 billion) for the first quarter of 2008. Approximately US$19 billion on U.S. real estate and related credit positions were expected to write-down as UBS was hit by U.S. Subprime mortgage crisis and losses. Fitch Ratings and Standard Poors, and Moody are cut down the long term credit rating of UBS in April 2008 to AA and Aa1 respectively. A new capital of CHF 6 billion through mandatory convertible notes was announced by UBS which they had on the 16th October 2008, and was place with Swiss Confederation. Transfer agreement of approximately USD 60 billion currently illiquid securities and various assets from UBS to a separate fund entity were made between the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and UBS (www.ubs.com/1/e/about/history.html). The third quarter Group net profit was announced by UBS on 4th November which was in line with their 16th October pre announcement, CHF 296 million standing with net profit attributable to UBS shareholders. A further CHF 4.8 billion of write-downs and losses on risk positions affected that quarter in gain on tax credit of over CHF 900 million and own credit of CHF 2.2 million. In an announcement made on the 12th November 2008, UBS said that from 2009 there will be no more than one-third of any cash bonus paid out in year it is earned with the rest held in reserve. Top executives will have to hold 75% of any vested shares; incentives would also vest after three years on shares with share bonus accounts subject to malus charges. US$6 billion of equity was put into the new bad bank entity by UBS in November 2008; a benefit option was kept only if the value of its assets were to recover. UBS structure guaranteed clarity for UBS investors by making an outright sale, which was indicated as a neat package by the New York Times (www.ubs.com/1/e/about/history.html). The head of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and Chairman Jean-Pierre Roth on Friday the 30th January 2009 was quoted on Reuters as saying that the two best capitalised banks in the world are UBS and Credit Suisse. In an announcement made on the 09th February 2009 by UBS, said that it lost nearly 20 billion Swiss francs (US$17.2 billion) in 2008, which is the single-year biggest loss in the history of Switzerland. The commitment to each of the UBS business divisions and strategy were confirmed by UBS Board of Directors and the Group Executive Board on the 10th February 2009. Investigations relating to UBS U.S. cross-border business are getting resolved by entering into a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice and a Consent Order with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. US$380 million represents disgorgement of profits from its cross-border business out of US$780 million which UBS agreed to pay. And the remaining represents the tax amount of United States which UBS failed to withhold to the accounts. The interest, penalties and restitution for unpaid taxes are included in the figures. UBS also entered into an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of the deal in which it agreed to the charges of having acted as an unregistered broker-dealer and investment adviser for Americans (www.ubs.com/1/e/about/history.html). Initiative taken CHF 20.9 billion (US$ 18 billion) loss was posted by UBS AG on the 11th march 2009 which was stated in their revised FY 2008 report. It was said that UBS was extremely cautious about the outlook of 2009. UBS announced in its Annual General Meeting held on 15th April 2009, it has plans of cutting 8,700 jobs in its return to profitability. UBS had to make about US$50 billion in write-downs and announce of 11,000 job cuts since 2007 due to the global financial crisis. UBS agreed to sell its Brazilian financial service business, UBS Pactual, to BTG Investments for approximately USD 2.5 billion in a statement made on the April 21st 2009. UBS was aiming to reduce its risk profile and to become more profitable by the sale of the Brazilian business. U.S. federal grand jury charges were made on private banker Raoul Weil for which UBS formally cut all its ties on the 1st May 2009. Raoul had been suspended in November 2008 after he was indicated in correlation to the tax evasion affair. A first quarter net loss of two billion Swiss francs (USD1.75 billion) was confirmed by UBS on May 20th 2009 which was less than initially expected. UBS restated its 2008 annual report on the May 20th 2009. A further reduction in the net profit was announced by the bank of CHF 450 million, and CHF 269 million in reduction of equity and equity attributable to UBS shareholders (www.ubs.com/1/e/about/history.html). UBS strengthened its capital base by placing 293.3 million shares from existing authorized capital by taking the advantage of current market conditions. A small number of large institutional investors were placed with the shares. In the view of the regulators it was consistent that this capital raising aims at strengthening confidence in UBS and the Swiss financial centre which is claimed by UBS. The second quarter loss of CHF 1.4 billion (US$1.32 billion) was reported on the 4th August 2009. The Swiss government made a statement of selling its CHF 6 billion stake in UBS on the 20th August 2009, making significant profit; the mandatory convertible notes of 332.2 million which it had purchased in 2008 to help UBS clear its balance sheets of toxic assets (www.ubs.com/1/e/about/history.html). In the Lundquist CSR Online Awards 2009, UBS ranked No.1 in Switzerland and No. 2 globally in November 2009. The award is given for demonstrating best online CSR communications.