Watership Down Quotes

'Watership Down' Quotes Watership Down is a novel by Richard Adams. Its popular on many high school reading lists. The work is an allegory: a fantasy about a group of rabbits in search of a warren. Here are a few quotes from Watership Down. The Threarah doesnt like anything he hasnt thought of for himself.- Richard Adams, Watership Down Note: This quote refers to the chief rabbit, and it tells us a little bit about the leadership in the rabbit community. This is the type of example that the younger generations have to followthe leaders they have to look up to. Its very self-centered  and does not consider what is best for the community. El-ahrairah, your people cannot rule the world, for I will not have it so. All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed.- Richard Adams, Watership Down Note: This quote reminds us of many of the trickster-like tales and legends. In Watership Down, the quote is derived from Dandelions myth. As in many of the other mythic tales were familiar with in literary history, gifts are given: intelligence (cunning), speed (runner), and strength (digger). Rabbits need dignity and above all the will to accept their fate.- Richard Adams, Watership DownTheyd altered what rabbits do naturally because they thought they could do better.- Richard Adams, Watership Down Note: Animals in the wild will act (and react) in certain ways that seem natural, but are also part of learned responses. When they learn that those behaviors are no longer required, some animals begin to act in unnatural ways. They could have comfortable burrows (for example), but buck rabbits wont (cant) dig. Their (natural) way of life has been changed. I think we ought to do all we can to make these creatures friendly. It might turn out to be well worth the trouble.- Richard Adams, Watership DownThe truth is, youre just a silly show-off.- Richard Adams, Watership DownWe all have to meet our match sometime or other.- Richard Adams, Watership DownI have learned that with creatures one loves, suffering is not the only thing for which one may pity them. A rabbit who does not know when a gift has made him safe is poorer than a slug, even though he may think otherwise himself.- Richard Adams, Watership DownIf a rabbit gave advice and the advice wasnt accepted, he immediately forgot it, and so did everyone else.- Richard Adams, Watership DownIf my authority goes, where will yours be in half a day.- Richard Adams, Watership Down

brigadoon essays

brigadoon essays I recently attended the play, Brigadoon by loewe and lerner, at my local college theater. Through all of the plays mystical events and songs, I noticed some very important details. I chose to compare the ideas in the play to some specific ideas held by a group of people in Italy. The mounted their ideas together to form a period in our history called the Renaissance. This was the first thing that came to my mind when I was thinking about my comparison. A play acts as its own time period as it resembles a mere image of real life. A play could relate to almost any person, place, or thing. The first comparison I would like to talk about deals with themes. The Renaissance period is often referred to as the, "rebirth", period. People in Italy changed the way of living by creating an organized and free way of living. I believe that Brigadoons main theme deals with the rebirth of Tommy Albright's life. Tommy Albright is one of the main stars in the play Brigadoon. He is from New York and is on a trip with one of his best friends. He is also engaged at the very beginning of the play but he is in no rush to settle down. Tommy and his friend run into this hidden town called Brigadoon in the middle of Scotland. It is here were Tommy falls in love with a girl named Fiona. However, the laws of Brigadoon forbid Fiona to leave with Tommy and go back to New York. Tension arises and Tommy leaves his loved one in Brigadoon. Once Tommy is back in New York he realizes his mistake and finds his rebirth. He realizes what he wants and who he wants to become. Tommy goes bac k to Brigadoon and stays with Fiona, leaving everything else behind. The comparison seems so close yet far away. In time everything goes through a little change or rebirth. But the renaissance and Tommy's rebirth was different. These changes delt with fate, destiny, and prosperity. The renaissance period has shaped our culture today. I might not even be writ ...

Physical Change Definition in Chemistry

Physical Change Definition in Chemistry A physical change is a type of change in which the form of matter is altered but one substance is not transformed into another. The size or shape of matter may be changed, but no chemical reaction occurs. Physical changes are usually reversible. Note that whether a process is reversible or not is not truly a criterion for being a physical change. For example, smashing a rock or shredding paper are physical changes that cannot be undone. Contrast this with a chemical change, in which chemical bonds are broken or formed so that the starting and ending materials are chemically different. Most chemical changes are irreversible. On the other hand, melting water into ice (and other phase changes) can be reversed. Physical Change Examples Examples of physical changes include: Crumpling a sheet or paper (a good example of a reversible physical change)Breaking a pane of glass (the chemical composition of the glass remains the same)Freezing water into ice  (the chemical formula is not changed)Chopping vegetables (cutting separates molecules, but does not alter them)Dissolving sugar in water (sugar mixes with water, but the molecules are not changed and may be recovered by boiling off the water)Tempering steel (hammering the steel does not change its composition, but does alter its properties, including hardness and flexibility) Categories of Physical Changes Its not always easy to tell chemical and physical changes apart. Here are some types of physical changes that may help: Phase Changes - Altering the temperature and/or pressure can change the phase of a material, yet its composition is unchanged,Magnetism - If you hold a magnet up to iron, youll temporarily magnetize it. This is a physical change because its not permanent and no chemical reaction occurs.Mixtures - Mixing together materials where one is not soluble in the other is a physical change. Note the properties of a mixture may be different from its components. For example, if you mix together sand and water, you can pack the sand into a shape. Yet, you can separate the components of the mixture by allowing them to settle or by using a sieve.Crystallization - Crystallizing a solid does not produce a new molecule, even though the crystal will have different properties from other solids. Turning graphite into a diamond doesnt produce a chemical reaction.Alloys - Mixing together two or more metals is a physical change that is not reversible. The reason alloying is not a chemical change is that the components retain their original identities. Solutions - Solutions are tricky because it may be hard to tell whether or not a chemical reaction has occurred when you mix together the materials. Usually, if there is no color change, temperature change, precipitate formation, or gas production, the solution is a physical change. Otherwise, a chemical reaction has occurred and a chemical change is indicated.

Police in New Orleans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Police in New Orleans - Essay Example In 2002 and 2003, the state reported highest number of homicide cases. The law enforcement agencies are criticized for their failure to protect and safeguard the lives and properties of the citizens. Poverty is considered to be the major reason behind the involvement of the police into corrupt practices, the official poverty rate of the state is 28%, more than 25% of the residents of New Orleans, which include large number of police officials, earn less than $20,000. The Katrina episode brought the inefficiency and incompetence of the police officials evident, in the Times Picayune edition it was reported that, "Neighbors in the area near Hickory and Short Streets Uptown said a body has been floating nearby in five feet of water since the unidentified man was shot five times on Monday. Neighbors said the shooting was reported, but police and other officials apparently have been unable to respond" (Nicole Gelinas, 2005). The New Orleans police was previously considered to competent force, in mid 1990s the former commissioner Richard Pennington struggled hard and was successful in reducing the crime rate. However, since Pennington's departure, the crime rates have risen significantly. The New Orleans police department is considered as corrupt, brutal and an incompetent institution and the Katrina episode turned the situation worst. The police have been involved in differe... The investigations concluded that more than 12 officers were involved in the alleged practices of their involvement in looting. More than 250 police officers i.e. 15 percent of the police force faced disciplinary motions against them for their unreported absence during and post Katrina disaster (Associated Press). The police department was reportedly accused of violence and brutality, and the senior police officials personally involved themselves for the clarity and investigation of the allegations. In one of the cases, an officer's wife lodged complain for being physical tortured by three police officers, who penetrated into her house without any warrant. The police authority launched the investigation instantly, and three officers were suspended with immediate notification. According to Police Supt. Warren Riley, 'We take our integrity very, very seriously'(Hampton, 2005). There were certain other accusations, in many of the crimes the police officials were caught red-handed. In one of the cases the police officials interrogated 12 officials for looting a market. The accused were traced through the installed security camera. The senior police officials were frank enough to confirm the allegations, and promised 'swift and decisive' actions against the accused, the senior officials reported th at, 'There is zero tolerance for misconduct or unprofessional attitude by any member of this department'. (Hampton, 2005) The police authorities did take considerable remedial measures to combat the allegations of corruptions. The police department revised their infrastructure, and the federal government provided the required resources for the up gradation of the services. The police department adopted

Recruitment, Selection and Training Process in McDonalds Essay

Recruitment, Selection and Training Process in McDonalds - Essay Example Effective business practices, effective product differentiation strategy, skilled employees and significant customer services are the core competencies of McDonalds. The HRM department of McDonald’s has tried to maintain healthy workplace environment through effective HRM policy implementation. An effective organizational structure, significant HR policies including recruitment and selection policies and processes, and suitable training and development program for the employees bring have brought efficiency in the business process. Being one of the leading MNCs, it is the responsibility of the organization to maintain a healthy workplace environment. The study will focus on recruitment, selection and training and development practices of McDonalds. Moreover, the study will highlight the benefits of these SHRM practices. Recruitment Process Recruitment process helps to identify the needs of organizations to employ some individual up to the point at which the forms of applicatio ns for the appropriate posts have arrived in the organization (Arthur, 2012, p.32). Recruiting employees to fill particular posts within a business firm can be done through internal and external process. Implementation of Steps and Stages Employing s suitable person in the suitable place at appropriate time is necessary for the leading organizations in order to practice effective organizational performances.... Implementation of Steps and Stages Employing s suitable person in the suitable place at appropriate time is necessary for the leading organizations in order to practice effective organizational performances. Therefore, it can be stated that recruitment is one of the important SHRM activities. An effective recruitment process should incorporate following steps. McDonalds need to gather information about the nature of the job. The organization should be knowledgeable about the job responsibility and its effectiveness in the structure of the organization. McDonalds need to develop both job attribute and personal profile. The organization needs to consider aptitude, skills, experience and knowledge as the recruitment criteria. Then it is the responsibility of the organization to find the suitable applicants or individuals for the job profile (Bowman, West and Wart, 2012, p.121). Staff referrals, job sharing and succession planning can help to find the applicants. The recruitment process can be divided into two categories, such as external and internal recruitment. Managing the application process is a key recruitment step. It is the final recruitment process. The recruitment managers need to monitor all the application forms and resumes of the applicants in order to sort out the suitable applicants. Last but not the least; recruitment process outsourcing will be an effective process. It will help the organization to minimiz4e time, cost and effort. McDonalds need to implement RPO in order to bring speed and effectiveness in the recruitment process. Benefits of Recruitment Process Allocating right time and suitable resources to select the suitable person for a specific job role have several positive effects on the business process of an organization. With

The Defeat That Won A Life Essay Example for Free

The Defeat That Won A Life Essay Throughout History man has suffered from many setbacks and even though these have slowed his progression it has never defeated him. In the fiction novel The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway the main character Santiago undergoes many challenges while fighting the big fish. Even though in the end Santiago lost the fish, he was never defeated. Throughout the novel The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway uses symbolism through Santiago, the marlin, and his nemesis, the sharks to contribute to his theme that â€Å"A man can be destroyed but not defeated. † Throughout the novel Santiago represents determination, bravery, patience, and the ideal everyman through his actions when dealing with obstacles. During Santiago’s fishing expedition the marlin represents the ultimate goal we must obtain. Lastly, the sharks represent our enemies in life and that no matter, what we cannot let them break our spirits. Santiago’s struggle with life shows his true character and that he is the ideal everyman. His struggle defines determination, patience, and bravery. Santiago first shows his inner character when he maintains his daily fishing even after eighty-four days of coming back empty handed. On the eighty-fourth day the old man comes in empty handed again, but something about him seems strange. When Santiago’s friend, Manolin, looks at him â€Å"everything about him was old except his eyes and they were they same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated†(10). Even though Santiago’s body might be starting to fail him his spirit has not. Santiago also represents the highly valued ability to have patience. After the big fish has been hooked and starts swimming at its steady rate out to sea Santiago realizes that this fish will not give up soon. As the sun starts to go down Santiago says softly, aloud â€Å"Fish, Ill stay with you until I am dead†(52). Santiago demonstrates patience here and that time cannot defeat him. Lastly, Santiago proves his bravery when he realizes that he is probably out matched. After one day of swimming below the surface the marlin jumps out of the water in an attempt to break the line. This will be the first time Santiago will be able to look at him. Once Santiago sees him during his breath taking jump Santiago is awed and panic stricken. Santiago has seen many great fish but, â€Å"Now alone, and out of sight of land, he was fast to  the biggest fish that he had ever seen and bigger than he had ever heard of†(63). He decides to stay with the fish and test his luck. Santiago shows that the big fishes size will not daunt him or let it scare him into defeat. Santiago will fight with all his might to capture this fish. All of these characteristics contribute to Santiago being the ideal everyman and the idealistic vision of man cannot be defeated. In every person’s life he or she encounters some very difficult obstacles and the rewards to them can be the ones they most highly prize, Santiago’s is the great fish. One of Santiago’s obstacles is his worn body and he pushes it hard. On the second day his left hand begins to cramp and eventually tightens into a form of claw. Santiago is disgusted and says, â€Å"What kind of a hand is that, cramp then if you want. Make yourself into a claw. It will do you no good†(58). Here Santiago is battling with his endurance. He knows his body is to old to catch the big fish but he won’t admit it or even acknowledge it because he knows that once he starts to believe it he will give up and the fish will have won. Another challenge Santiago is put through to obtain his goal is one in his mind. After Santiago first sees the fish he is dumb founded by its sheer beauty and then he realizes it is the biggest, strongest fish he has ever beheld. To succeed he must not let the size of the marlin break his mind set on catching it. After seeing the fish for the first time Santiago says to himself, â€Å"I must never let him learn his strength nor what he could do if he made his run†(63). Even though Santiago is up against the greatest fish he has ever seen he must keep his wits about him and not forget what he has learned his entire life about catching fish. No matter what Santiago cannot be defeated by the fish as long as he doesnt let the fish beat him mentally. After three long days of wrestling with the big fish Santiago finally succeeded. Once the fish went belly up he laid back and let the fish sit in the water by the boat for a bit. He then said to himself, â€Å"I am a tired old man. But I have killed this fish†(95). Santiago’s victory over the big fish proved that if a man kept his spirit strong the he could never be defeated no matter how strong or massive his opponent is. Santiago’s overcoming of his physical and physiological obstacles resulted in victory over the great fish and proving the statement that a man can be destroyed but not defeated. The worst way to loose is to give in to an enemy and let them break his or hers spirit. Santiago did exactly the opposite when dealing with the sharks. Once the huge fish was caught and killed Santiago started preparing to leave for home. He tied the fish to the side because it would sink the boat if he tried to bring it in and he hoisted the sail so that the winds could bring him in. No long after starting his long journey home the first shark came. When it first appeared Santiago was determined to not let his prize be ruined. He took out his harpoon and â€Å"he hit it with his blood mushed hands driving a harpoon with all his might†(102). Here Santiago shows that he will not let a shark beat him and take all his hard work away. If he can’t protect the fish he’s going to at least die trying. Even after his harpoon is lost Santiago doesnt stop fighting. He sees two more sharks coming and takes â€Å"up the oar with the knife lashed to it† to defend his prize. Santiago shows that he will go as far as it takes to keep himself from being defeated by lowly scavengers. In the end Santiago was beat and his prize destroyed but he was never truly defeated. As Santiago stumbles ashore and towards his shack he feels the pain of the long fishing trip in his muscles. As soon has he gets home his first and only priority is sleep. Santiago stumbles into bed and pulls the sheets over him. He closes his eyes and immediately falls asleep, â€Å"The old man was dreaming about lions†(127). The old man was never defeated. His body, the marlins strength, and the sharks predatorial attacks were no match for Santiago’s mind and his ability to overcome setbacks. Santiago’s dream about lions shows that this fishing trip was just another challenge life had thrown at him. Loosing the fish was only a small setback in Santiago’s life and minuscule in comparison to catching the fish itself. Throughout this novel Hemingway uses Santiago, the marlin, and the sharks as symbolism to contribute to his theme that â€Å"A man can be destroyed but not defeated.† Throughout the novel Santiago represented the ideal everyman through his actions which depicted determination, patience, and bravery. He showed the characteristics of a man who could leave any battle feeling undefeated and knowing that he gave it his all and didn’t back down. The marlin represented the ultimate goal we must achieve and how the fight to obtain it is the most strenuous one. In the end the sharks represented our  enemies and even if they take what we have earned earning the prize is more valued than the prize itself. Men are the most prize driven creatures and even though sometimes the prize is destroyed by others man has never let that defeat him.

The Turning Point in Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare :: Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

In this essay, I will be explaining how act 3 Scene 1 is a turning point. ?Romeo and Juliet? is a tragic love story based on two passionate lovers, Romeo and Juliet. However, their families dislike each other, forcing the young couple to only painful end. William Shakespeare made this story full of betrayal, love, jealousy, anger and death. In act 3 Scene 1, it shows the turning point of the whole account as one of Romeo?s best friend, Mercutio, is stabbed by Tybalt and died. Therefore, guilty Romeo decided to seek revenge and killed Tybalt. The author then introduces the prince of Verona who once said that if anyone ever disturbs the peace again, they will be executed. This shows that Romeo must suffer the consequences by being banished from Verona. In this essay, I will be discussing about seven turning points of the play. This story is mainly a comedy because there are the three playful friends who are Benvolio, Romeo, and Mercutio joking around and teasing the nurse mercilessly in Act 2 Scene 4. This phrase proves that the following statement is true: tis no less, I tell ye, for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of the moon?. After that, the nurse scolded the three young men for teasing her and called them a spoil brat, which makes the plot a little more humorous. After the turning point, the play becomes a tragedy. This is because Tybalt wants to kill Romeo but ends up with Romeo killing Tybalt looking for revenge and justice for Mercutio. Now that he committed a serious crime, he is a wanted person. He is a murderer and criminal in Verona, he is banished and he is not allowed to go back to Verona or else he will be executed. The main theme of this plot is love, like the relationship between Mercutio and Benvolio. They are both looking after each other, to prevent from something bad from happening. In the beginning of Act three scene 1, Benvolio wants Mercutio to withdraw because the Capulets are about and looking for trouble. This shows that Benvolio doesn?t want Mercutio to get in trouble since he is a troublemaker. After that, the main theme changes into death as two of the main characters died. As Romeo went to the Capulet?s party, which is an insult to Tybalt, there would be more hatred and misunderstanding between both of the family.

Mcdonald’s Five Forces

M ATTRACTIVENESS IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD Mergers and acquisitions form the majority of FDI deals in the developed world, but remain relatively scarce as a mode of entry in the developing world. The infrequent use of M as a foreign direct investment (FDI) entry modality into developing regions has motivated this study. As a first step in exploring the M paradigm in developing markets this paper will classify and rank the M attractiveness of 117 developing economies. Further, the distinction between FDI attractiveness and M attractiveness at a country and regional level will be illustrated. Mergers and acquisitions, as a mode of FDI are rare in developing countries. Only 26, 9 percent of the 11059 FDI developing economy deals documented in this study and concluded between 2004 and 2006 were cross border merger and acquisition deals, the remaining 73% of deals were all greenfield. Within the period 2002 to 2004, mergers and acquisitions made up a mere 19% of the total number foreign direct investment (FDI) deals concluded in developing economies. In contrast, cross- country mergers and acquisitions held far greater appeal in the developed world where M outnumbered greenfield FDI deals by making up 51% of the total FDI deals concluded over the same period 2002 to 2004 (UNCTAD, 2007). The clear preference for greenfield deals in the developing world indicates that there exist elements within locations attractive to M which are distinctive from those locations attracting greater greenfield activity. In order to understand these elements, M attractive and unattractive locations must first be identified and classified. M and greenfield are two distinct modes of entry with differing motivations and dissimilar host country effects. M involves the purchase of a controlling share of stock in an existing host country firm with production capacity (Raff et al, H. , Ryan, M. and Stahler, 2008) whereas 1 greenfield investments see the foreign firm building its own independent business, and sourcing all resources directly from the market (Nocke and Yeaple, 2007). The FDI attractiveness of economies has been well explored in the literature. However, research on the role of FDI in economic development is dominated by a generalised view of FDI where the separation of entry mode strategies was not central. Several authors have commented on the underreporting of M as a process distinct from the FDI umbrella in the literature; these same authors have begun to explore in greater depth the M concept (Kogut & Singh, 1988; Raff et al, Ryan & Stahler, 2005; Nocke & Yeaple, 2007 & Haller, 2008). The M literature is concentrated on the developed economies of the world as the greatest volume of M activity has historically occurred in developed regions. Much of the literature on M describes the increasing number of these deals and its importance in global FDI, often by referring to the global total (Haller, 2008; Bjorvatn, 2004; Horn & Persson, 2001, Shimizu, Hitt, Vaidyanath, Pisano, 2004). None of these studies have referred to the relative scarcity in utilisation of M in the developing world relative to the developed regions of the globe. This paper aims to make a contribution not just to the emerging literature on M but also to its particular developing economy paradigm. The methodology of this study allows for the identification and ranking of FDI attractive economies, M attractive economies and for the distinction to be drawn between M attractive economies at the country level and M attractiveness at a regional level. At the country level M attractive economies are economies which attracted more M than greenfield deals internally i. e. economies attracting a greater ratio of M activity to greenfield investments. Regional M attractive economies were defined as economies which whilst attracting large volumes of M activity within a region were not attracting a greater number of 2 M deals internally. Greenfield deals continue to dominate these markets. In other words these countries were M attractive by virtue of being FDI attractive. FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING ECONOMIES Understanding the distinction between developed and developing economies and foreign direct investment in these markets is fundamental to this study. Per capita income, an indicator of the wealth and potential of a market, is an important manifestation of the differences between developing and developed economies. Unfortunately however, developing economies are subject to frequent policy regime switches and growth rate volatility when compared against the group of developed economies (Aguiar and Gopinath, 2007). Productivity in emerging markets is unstable, here the cycle of political and economic shocks have become trends (Aguiar and Gopinath, 2007). The income inequality, higher poverty levels, governance, institutional contexts (North, 1994; Peng and Heath, 1996) and the level of economic and human development of developing economies is offset by the fact that since the early 1990’s these countries have also been the fastest growing market in the world for products and services (Khanna and Palepu, 2005). The strategic choices made by multinationals engaging in developing markets must necessarily be considered with respect to the above mentioned host country factors. Many developing economies which are characterised by an accelerated pace of economic development and a liberalisation or opening of their economies by the application of free market principles are termed emerging economies (Hoskisson, Eden, Lau, Wright, 2000). Other rapid growth countries included in this group are the transition economies of Eastern Europe which were historically planned economies but have now adopted free market principles (Hoskisson et al, 2000). 3 The literature is dominated by developed economy FDI. However, FDI patterns observed in developed countries cannot be generalized to transitional or developing economies (Pan, 2003). Blonigen and Wang (2005) have established that the factors determining the location of FDI â€Å"vary systematically† between developing and developed countries (Blonigen and Wang, 2005). In their paper, Phylatakis and Xia (2006) investigate the dynamics of global, country and industry effects in firm level returns between developed and emerging, markets. Their findings show that especially for emerging markets, country effects are more important than ndustry effects in explaining return variation for firms (Phylatakis and Xia, 2006). Sethi, Guisinger, Phelan and Berg (2003) believe that FDI flow should not only be studied at a firm level but additionally at a country level as country level factors affect the decisions of all firms over time (Sethi et al, 2003). In addition, not all of the hypothesized relationships in the literature on FDI (e. g. ex change rates and source country size) were supported in a study on the transitional economy of China (Pan, 2003). This suggests that the developed and developing region FDI paradigms should be studied as distinct entities. LOCATION FACTORS Encouraged by superior technology, faster and cheaper communications and motivated by intensifying competition, businesses are able to scour the globe in search of locations offering advantages which increase the competitiveness of the firm. Location advantages refer to the institutional and productive factors which are present in the particular geographic area chosen for FDI (Galan and Gonzalez-Benito, 2006). Dunning’s OLI theory explains a firm’s choice for a particular FDI destination. First the home based firm must possess an ability which it is able to 4 exploit abroad and which is portable. This is termed the ownership advantage (the O advantage) of the firm. The ‘L’, which is the focus of our research, refers to the location which must have desirable qualities and offer advantages to the firm. Examples of this would include large markets, production factors including cheap or skilled labour or natural resources. A locational advantage would enhance the profits of a firm. The ‘I’ refers to internalisation, which implies the firm has more to gain from the total control of the asset than by allowing control to rest with export agents or licensees (Dunning, 2001). Tong, Alessandri, Reur and Chintakananda (2008) find that country and industry effects and their interaction substantially influence firm performance. The authors advocate that industries with growth opportunities learn how to exploit country specific factors by locating operations there. Even though low labour costs are used by many developing economies to attract FDI (e. g. China and Vietnam) studies show that it is of far less consequence to FDI attraction than host market size and distance. Total costs of production taken together are however largely influential in the direction of FDI flows. High labour costs may be mitigated by the infrastructural spend on health and education which would result in a healthy, skilled and more efficient workforce which in turn acts to lower costs (Bellak, Leibrecht and Riedl, 2008). In understanding M attraction it is important to first mention the literature on FDI attraction, that is why firms go to foreign locations. According to Fontagne and Mayer (2005), firms will go to foreign locations if there exists sufficient demand in the country or region, total production costs incurred at the location are low, intense competition is not a threat, public policies are advantageous and institutions create productive and efficient economies in which to operate. Foreign locations may also be desirable in order to leverage economies of scale, take advantage of arbitrage opportunities involving factor costs, to diversify and reduce risk, exploit distinctive 5 dvantages to gain market and to escape from increasing home market competition (Rugman & Li, 2007 and Rugman and Verbeke, 2001). Therefore we may expect that economies offering locational factors conducive specifically to M will display greater attractiveness values. In light of the statements above, host country demand amongst other factors is responsible for the decisions of firms to choose foreign locations it leads us to believe that market size or the GDP of a country has an important role to play in M attraction. Therefore it may be expected that the larger a countries GDP the greater the M activity it will attract. First documented by Knickerbocker (1973) is an idiosyncrasy in the movement of firms. Firms follow into locations where other firms from their industry have already entered despite the increase in competitive intensity this generates. Therefore M attractiveness may also be related to the number of firms already functioning within the host market. This agglomeration tendency may be linked to supply chain and input-output linkages. Further by locating affiliates close to other multinational affiliates they may be able to benefit from absorbing technological spillovers. The effect of this would be the lowering of R costs and raising the firm’s competitiveness by enabling it to stay abreast of competitor strategy (Fontagne and Mayer, 2005). REGIONAL COUNTRY LEADER EFFECT Part of the focus of this paper is to explore a regional dimension of FDI and M. Much of the literature on regional leadership effects concerns Japanese FDI into the Asia-Pacific region. The ‘flying geese’ model by Ozawa describes the trend where mature products and industries are shifted from one country to another more peripheral lower cost destination within the region 6 (Ozawa, 2003 and Kojima, 2000). As the host country costs rise so it too moves toward higher value add products and the production of the good moves to the next low cost destination (Edgington and Hayter, 2000; Hart-Landsberg and Burkett, 1998). In this way advantages such as technology, employment, real incomes and innovation may cascade through a region (Clark, 1993). Several studies have shown that when MNC’s first plan to internationalise they choose geographically and culturally proximate regions, this is known as the ‘market familiarity principle’. In this way home based skills, advantages, management and resources may be leveraged to minimize transaction costs (Gomes and Ramaswamy, 1999). In ‘Regionalism and the Regionalisation of International Trade’, Gaulier, Sebastien and UnalKesenci (2004) explain the idea that regionalisation is a natural pattern and that the volume of inter-neighbour trade between countries is high due to the economic sense of trading over shorter distances. Various studies find that countries have the bulk of their foreign trade concentrated within a particular triad region (Gaulier, Sebastien and Unal-Kesenci, 2004; Rugman and Verbeke, 2004). In their study on 64 Japanese multinationals Collinson and Rugman (2008) found that only three operated globally with the remainder concentrating 80 % of their operations (sales & assets) intra-regionally. More importantly, with implications for this study and the attraction of M, was the finding that region-specific regionalisation trends are linked to changes in infrastructure, information or cultural ties. Large regional trade agreements, especially when a custom union exists, were also shown to have positive effects on trade volume and created lucrative opportunities for foreign producers. The trade agreements allowed access to a large market from a single country, even if it was a smaller market than its neighbours (Gaulier, Sebastien and Unal-Kesenci, 2004). This paper 7 reinforces the importance of institutions in developing regional trade and mentions specifically that a positive â€Å"gravity† factor of regionalisation could be the swift acceleration of GDP growth of other countries within a region. Policy makers should take note that contractual relationships present significant risks to foreign MNE’s in host countries which have linguistic, legal and economic institutions systems vastly different from the home country (Clark, 1993). Promoting and facilitating corporate governance would have a positive impact on inter-company linkages with the resultant promotion of regional development. The ability to access risk finance and instruments make it critical for a firm to operate in an advantageous national location within a region (Clark, 1993). Pajunen (2008) reinforces the above idea of a MNE firm searching for the most advantageous location within a region. In order to access the rapidly expanding emerging economy market a firm may make a strategic decision to enter South America or South–East Asia and will then search for the most attractive location within that region to trade from (Pajunen, 2008). As we have seen in an earlier paragraph, the growing number of regional trade agreements allows the MNE to transact with minimal trade costs within a region. The regional leader attracts the most FDI in a region. This research asks the question who attracts the most M and why? This question may be answered by the findings of Qian, Li, Li and Qian (2008). Qian, Li, Li and Qian (2008) confirm that firms are regionally focused and also offer an explanation for the regional internationalisation of firms rather than a fully global expansion. They find that firms’ costs are lower intra-regionally and hence performance is enhanced. They add however that a threshold to performance is reached intra-regionally and that a developed country MNE may maximise performance by entering into a moderate number of developed country regions and a strictly limited number of developing regions as costs here are substantially 8 ifferent. They advocate the careful selection and allocation of resources in developing regions as over-diversification here will result in costs outweighing benefits (Qian et al, 2008). This reinforces the idea of a regional FDI leader in the developing country context that is a ‘safer’ haven for MNE resource allocation. Taking into ac count this evidence, it is possible to assume that as regional cooperation is enhanced so inter-regional trade is encouraged which results in greater amounts of FDI and M which will flow into a regional leader country with the safest reputation. MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS An imperative of a foreign investment entry strategy is to minimise the cost of entry in order to render the venture more profitable. Cultural barriers and socio-political differences between the entrant and host raise the cost of transacting and thus the entry mode chosen will attempt to reduce this. M AND CAPABILITY SEEKING MULTINATIONALS Firms have capabilities in their own markets which are not necessarily internationally mobile, may not be useful in a foreign market or the firm may require a set of additional competencies to operate successfully in the foreign market (Anand and Delios, 2002). Anand and Delios (2002) offer a description of upstream capabilities which are described as fungible and portable; an example of this may be intangible technological know-how. By engaging in a cross-border M the firm is able to access the local knowledge and downstream capabilities of a local firm and use this to supplement its portable advantages in serving the new host market (Nocke and Yeaple, 2007). Examples of capabilities or advantages which the local firm may possess include brand, marketing and sales force knowledge, privileged access to 9 istribution channels, a capability to manoeuvre through local ‘institutional voids’ and challenges (Khanna and Palepu, 2005), emission rights for environmental pollution, landing slots at airports, scarce land or oil/mineral extraction rights amongst others (Horn and Persson, 2001). Fungible upstream capabilities are a stronger driver for acquisitions than downstream capabilities which are less fungible (Anand and Delios, 2002) . Developing countries are less likely to have superior technological capabilities than the potential developed country acquiring firm. The lower sophistication of the developing market would therefore limit the number of acquisition targets available for a developed country MNE. Acquisition targets for downstream capabilities (marketing, brand etc. ) would hold greater appeal in countries with large target markets. The number of M deals can therefore be expected to relate to market size (GDP) and market sophistication (represented by aspects like the level of human development and infrastructure). The number of M deals will also be related to the number of local acquisition targets available which in turn is dependent on the level of development of the country. ACQUISITION DRIVERS The initial choice to engage in FDI over export is dependent on how profitable the firm expects the greenfield or M to be. The second strategic choice of greenfield over M is related to the firm's ownership of productive assets and varies both across and within industries (Raff, Ryan and Stahler, 2005). A cross border-merger provides access to a foreign market whilst a national merger relieves domestic competitive pressure. When trade costs are low however national mergers do not reduce competitive pressure and firms will seek access to foreign markets through a cross-border merger. Economic integration results in lowered trade costs and therefore increased competition which is likely to increase the profitability of acquisitions (Bjorvatn, 2004). The lowering of trade costs 10 which is dependent on host country regulations will therefore increase the level of cross-border M activity. The literature describes one of the main advantages of cross-border M to be the access which it provides to a foreign market (Horn and Persson, 2001) whilst within border mergers are generally attributed to relieving domestic competitive pressure (Bjorvatn, 2004). Raff et al (2008) explains that firms entering a foreign market will approach local firms with a merger and acquisition or joint venture proposal in order to enjoy the synergies of such a relationship. Raff et al (2008) maintain that a merger & acquisition offer will be accepted by the local firm if the profitability and success of a greenfield investment by the multinational is likely and credible. Further, the greater the anticipated profitability of the greenfield investment the lower the merger & acquisition price offered to the local firm. Hence M& A would be preferred over greenfield as the entry costs would be lowered. The choice of greenfield over M will depend on the number of competitors in the market and the market potential as this affects the anticipated profitability of the greenfield venture or the cost of the M (Raff et al, 2007). This leads us to hypothesize that countries with greater market potential (GDP, GDP per capita and HDI) and fewer local competitors will result in a lowering of the cost of an M which in turn results in increased volumes of M. CULTURAL CHALLENGES AND THE ‘LIABILITY OF FOREIGNNESS’ Mergers and acquisitions and partially owned ventures offer the opportunity for a foreign MNE to access local assets such as brand, distribution networks and a client-base which is difficult to mobilise from home by working with local established companies (Petrou 2007). In instances where large cultural distances exist between home and host countries, Brouthers and Brouthers 11 (2000) advocate the use of acquisitions in order to confer legitimacy and cceptance on the foreign MNE. However, M involve greater costs when the cultural distance is high and therefore Chang and Rosenzweig, (2001) assert that firms would be more likely to choose greenfield entry to avoid the costs of integrating diverse company cultures. Greenfield investments offer total affiliate control and avoid post merger cultural difficulties but take a far longer time period to establish market presence and require substantial experience and know-how of local conditions (Chang and Rosenzweig, 2001). Most recently Slangen and Hennart (2008) have found that MNE’s will prefer acquisitions in culturally distant locations if they have little international experience or if they plan to grant the subsidiary autonomy in marketing. If they are internationally experienced or have no market related concerns then a greenfield is preferred in culturally distant locations. The entry choice is also industry-specific depending on the resource requirements of the firm. Manufacturing operations tend to favour greenfield deals whereas in advertising where brand and product are tailored to local tastes acquisitions are preferred as FDI entry strategies (Kogut and Singh, 1988). The above information alludes to the idea that M will tend to occur in the services industry as it confers on the MNE an understanding of, acceptance within and access to a foreign market. The information examined above dealt with the cultural challenges of M. The next section will broach the subject of institutional challenges in M deals especially in developing economies. M FAILURE 12 Approximately 70%-80% of all mergers fail (Bretherton, 2003) and KPMG reports only 17 % of cross border M s create value while 53% destroy value (Shimizu, Hitt, Vaidyanath, Pisano, 2004). These statistics may be part of the explanation for the lower volumes of M deals in developing economies where investor firms may be wary of entering into deals already known to have high failure rates and then compounding this in an environment fraught with challenges i. . developing regions. Therefore many organisations choose to enter into strategic alliances and joint ventures which allow them the benefits of searching for new market opportunities, sharing in innovation and technology, overcoming host regulatory requirements and developing new capabilities. Importantly however these alliances are easier and less costly for companies to enter and exit should the need arise. IMPORTANCE OF LEGAL AND FINANCIAL FRAMEWORKS TO SUPPORT MNE’S Market inefficiencies related to the resource profile and institutional profile of a host economy may be overcome by the entry strategy of the MNE. Chang and Rosenzweig (2001) assert that an acquisition is the quickest way for a firm to build a sizable presence in a foreign market. The challenges of this mode however involve the post acquisition cultural merge, the risk of overpaying and an inability to fully assess the value of the acquired assets (Chang and Rosenzweig, 2001). In a developing market context additional challenges to M include the scarcity or absence of legal, financial and institutional organisations and structures through which the deal could be investigated, formalised and protected and is further complicated by the existence of burdensome host country regulations relating to ownership (Khanna and Palepu, 2005). HYPOTHESIS 13 It is expected that M attractive economies in the developing world may be identified as a group distinct from FDI attractive economies depending on the context of the location factors of the host economies. It can therefore be hypothesised that M attractiveness does not equal FDI attractiveness and that varying levels of M attractiveness occur. RESEARCH DESIGN SAMPLE AND DATA SOURCES The World Bank and UNCTAD, through the annual World Investment Report and World Investment directory, publish data on over 210 economies which are divided into developed and developing economies. In this study data were assembled for 117 developing and transition economies. Blonigen and Wang (2004) in their examination of the FDI experiences of developed and developing economies conclude that the variation of data across these groups makes it inappropriate to pool data on them in empirical analyses. A further rationalisation for the isolation of developing economies from developed economies in this paper can be found in North (1994), he writes that the experiences of actors in highly developed modern economies may not be compared to that of individuals operating under conditions of uncertainty, political or economic. In order to identify regional FDI leaders, for the purpose of this study, the country data was divided into regional groupings (see table below) according to the United Nations Statistical Office as published in the UNCTAD World Investment Report classification for 2007. [Table 1 about here] VARIABLES AND MEASURES The analysis aims to separate FDI attractiveness from M attractiveness and to rank the attractiveness of developing countries to mergers and acquisitions. The data for value and volume 14 of M in the sample of developing economies was taken from the latest available M and greenfield data published by UNCTAD (based on data from Thomson Financial) over the period 2004 to 2006. Six variables were created. The table below describes, explains and shows the grouping of the variables. Group A in table 2 below represents country M attractiveness. Two measures numbers 1 and 2 were used to measure attractiveness at the country level. One is volume based; that is the number of deals in one country as a percentage of the country’s total deals, whilst two is value based that is the dollar value of deals which flowed into the respective country as a percentage of GDP. Thus the measure for country level M activity has two dimensions in this way the variable carries richer information and is less likely to be skewed by a single, large dollar value deal. As this measure is computed using per country total deals and per country GDP as the denominator, it is an intra-country measure. Group B in table 2 represents regional M attractiveness and contains 3 measures. Again both a volume and a dollar value were used to measure regional M activity for the same reasons listed above for country attractiveness. If for example a country attracted one very large dollar value deal, but no other deals, it may be read as an M attractive economy when in fact it only attracted a single deal. This regional group of variables is computed using the number of total regional M deals, the number of total regional FDI deals and the dollar value of the total regional FDI inflow as the denominators. Thus it measures the country’s M volume and value respective to the regional total. It is an intra- regional value. Group C in table 4 contains one measure for the FDI attractiveness of a country in a region. This measure includes all deals (greenfield and M) which a country attracts with respect to the total number of deals concluded in its geographic region. 15 [Table 2 about here] METHOD OF ANALYSIS The statistical challenge in this study was to find a method which would allow for the separation of FDI attractive economies from M attractive economies and of M attractive from M unattractive economies. Two statistical methods were utilised to test the variables. A cluster analysis allowed for countries with similarities based on the variables to be clustered together. A principal component analysis was performed in order to create an M attractiveness ranking of the sample countries. CLUSTER ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION TO CLUSTER THEORY A cluster analysis is a statistical tool which allows for the discovery of meaningful structures within data without explaining why they exist. This allows data to be sorted into groups or categories where the members of each group have a high degree of association with each other and a minimal association if they belong to another group. Thus this technique places the economies under study into clusters based on well defined similarity rules and finds the most significant groups of objects. (http://www. statsoft. com/textbook/stcluan. html) Clustering is the term used to describe the presence of separate and distinct groups in the data however if clustering is not recognized by failing to visually inspect the data (scatterplots or another graphing technique), the correlation coefficient may suggest that no relationship exists even though within each cluster a clear relationship may indeed exist (Siegel, 2000). As an initial exploratory step and in order to determine which of the variables listed in Table1 were most successful in dividing the economies a cluster analysis was performed. 16 The data for some variables such as GDP had a very different scale to the some of the smaller scale values e. g. Polcon 3 index. The data was thus standardized to allow each variable an equal opportunity to display significance in the cluster analysis and prevent any one variable dominating (Boudier-Bensebaa, 2008). A cluster analysis was run on the variables listed in table 2 above. A four cluster solution was accepted as all the clustering variables proved to be significant. PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS A principal components analysis allows for the identification of underlying factors in the variables which account for the largest variance amongst the data set of 117 countries. Table 3 below shows the variables used in the principal component analysis grouped at the country and regional level. This analysis is undertaken in order to create an attractiveness value per country which allows the developing countries to be ranked based on their M attractiveness score. Understanding Principal Component Analysis The principal component analysis (PCA) is a data reduction technique that distils the essence of several variables into a smaller number of components which explain the variance in the data. The regional and country variables listed above showed correlations but rather than discard them they are rolled into a two factor composite M attractiveness value one factor for regional attractiveness and one factor for country attractiveness. The principle of parsimony (simplicity and reduction) is followed by creating an attractiveness value out of the variables, in this way more meaningful and richer measure is created and the dimensions of the data set become more manageable (Siegel, 2000 p586; Berenson & Levine, 1986). 17 The Eigen analysis is the name of the mathematical technique used in PCA. Eigen values show the percentage of variance explained by each component, the largest Eigen value is the first principal component, the second largest Eigen value is the second principal component, and so on. (http://www. fon. hum. uva. nl/praat/manual/Principal_component_analysis. tml). The Eigen values for our study were determined; these values were then plotted on a scree plot to illustrate the importance of each of the components. A factor analysis was performed on the all the variables in table 3 above. The PC analysis will create factors by reducing the data into its underlying dimensions. These factors allow for an attr activeness score to be generated for each country. THE VARIABLE DENOMINATORS [Table 3 about here] The country level variables were expressed as percentages of per country GDP, per country FDI inward stock and total number of per country FDI deals. Therefore outcome values expressed are all calculated with respect to intra-country measures. The regional level variable denominators included the total FDI flows into a geographic region, the total number of M deals in a region and the total number of FDI deals in a region (e. g. Central America, North Africa etc) and are expressed as percentages. Therefore all values are calculated with respect to regional totals. By separating the variables a richer result is obtained, the analysis is able to pick out regional leaders and interesting countries which may not be FDI attractive but nevertheless are M attractive. If the analysis had not made the distinction between attractiveness at the country level 18 and regional level the interesting case of Libya where M deals predominate would have been lost as its total FDI is so small. RESULTS: THE FOUR CLUSTER SOLUTION, DESCRIPTIONS AND MEMBER COUNTRIES The results of the four cluster solution is summarised as a profile plot with the means percentages included in table 4 below. The premise that a country level and regional level group exist in the data was confirmed with the cluster analysis. All the countries in cluster 1 showed a high value for the intra-country number (or volume) of M deals respective to the other clusters. Cluster 1 countries are intra-country performers. They do not perform well at a regional level. Cluster 4 countries are country level performers like cluster 1 but perform better on M dollar sales value than on M volume. For the purpose of this study clusters 1 and 4 are both considered as country level performers, their distinction lies in a difference of measure that is volume of M deals versus value of M deals respectively. Cluster 2 displays a strong performance on the regional level M variables. Cluster 2 also displays the strongest regional FDI attraction. Cluster 2 countries are regional performers. [Table 4 about here] [Table 5 about here] [Figure 1 about here] Cluster 3 countries do not perform on any of the variables; they may be labelled poor M performers. Table 5 above lists the member countries of each cluster. In light of the descriptions defined above, each of the four clusters has displayed distinctive mean characteristics based on a regional and country distinction and on the strength of the M 19 ttraction. In order to illustrate each clusters level of attractiveness graphically, the clusters have been plotted onto the axes above (Figure 1), the y axis representing country attractiveness and the x axis representing regional attractiveness. PC ANALYSIS AND EIGEN VALUES: The PC analysis in table 6 below shows the reduction of the five variables into a two factor solution which explains 80, 3 % of the variance of the underlying variables. The Eigen value is the variance explained by each factor of the underlying variables. [Table 6 about here] The PC analysis onfirmed the premise held of there being both a regional and a country effect in the data by loading all the regional variables on factor 1 and the country variables on factor 2. Factor 1 is a regional M attractiveness factor and factor 2 is an intra- country M attractiveness factor. The 117 countries on the data table are run against these attractiveness values in order to obtain a regional and a country level attractiveness value for each. This is accomplished by multiplying each country’s variable score by the factors in the table. The regional PC factor value allows for the generation of a regional attractiveness value for each country whilst the intracountry PC value allows for the generation of an intra-country attractiveness value for each country. Two lists are thus created, a list of the 117 developing countries with regional attractiveness values and another containing the same 117 developing countries with intra-country attractiveness values. PER COUNTRY ATTRACTIVENESS VALUES AND RANKING: 20 In order to make sense of the country and regional attractiveness values each list was ranked and ordered so that the countries appear in order of attractiveness. The top quartile or quartile 1 (Q1) is the least attractive to M activity, the bottom quartile or quartile 4 (Q4) is the most attractive. Therefore the higher the ranking the more M attractive the country is. The following countries were not ranked as they had no M activity: Azerbaijan, Brunei Darussalam, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guyana, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Paraguay, Qatar, Senegal and Suriname. At the regional level the most M attractive economies were India, RSA and Brazil, Russia, Turkey and Mexico, Table 7 below lists and ranks the most regionally M attractive economies. Table 8 ranks the least attractive regional economies with Burkina Faso, Yemen and Albania being the most unattractive M economies regionally. The countries most attractive to M at the country level that is those countries attracting a greater number of intra-country M than greenfield deals are listed in Table 9, the top ranked countries are Mauritius, Burkina Faso, Bulgaria, Panama, and Ghana. The most unattractive country level economies for M activity are listed in Table 10, with the UAE as the most unattractive followed by Tanzania and Saudi Arabia. Table 7 about here] [Table 8 about here] [Table 9 about here] [Table 10 about here] [Figure 2 about here] 21 Figure 2 above is a scatter plot of the country level economies list on the ‘y’ axis and the regional level economies list on the ‘x’ axis. The most attractive country level economies (attract more M than greenfield internally) can be seen on the upper left section. The most attractive M economies on t he regional list can be seen on the lower right section of the plotted area. These economies attract the most M deals in their geographic regions. The line drawn through the origin recreates the M attractiveness axes shown in Figure 1 which can be superimposed over this plot. DISCUSSION For both sets of analyses the regional FDI leaders correlated. This list included the Cluster 2 countries and top ranked regional M attractive countries (India, RSA and Brazil, Russia, Turkey and Mexico). The large market sizes of these regional leader countries have several implications in terms of M attraction. First, large markets attract market seeking MNE’s, the literature shows that these firms are likely to utilise M as a mode of entry (Buch and De Long, 2001). The fact that they are economic hubs and attract greater volumes of FDI than other developing countries also results in an increased presence of foreign affiliates operating in their markets (Qian and Delios 2008; and Kolstad and Villanger, 2008). These affiliates are likely to be followed by service industry firms (following their domestic clients) into these foreign markets (Qian and Delios 2008) thereby creating a virtuous circle for increased FDI and M activity. These countries are FDI poster boys in their respective regions and are M attractive by virtue of being FDI attractive. A distinct group of countries emerged as country level M leaders in the PC analysis and as the members of clusters 1 and 4. These comprise an interesting and eclectic mix of countries which include amongst others Mauritius, Burkina Faso, Bulgaria, Panama, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Croatia, Ukraine, Colombia, Yemen and Azerbaijan. They are not regional FDI leaders but 22 attracted a greater amount of M activity than greenfield activity. In these countries, M attractiveness is not distorted by the regional leader effect and associated FDI attractiveness; hence M host location attractiveness can be studied in a purer form. Differences exist between the regional leader group and the country level leader groups which make these groups unique. The Cluster 4 and top ranked country level M attractive economies must possess some interesting locational features considering that these are smaller economies which do not comprise the largest markets in the sample. Given that M are more frequently used as a mode of entry in developed countries, location features may exist in the country level attractive group which mimic certain developed market conditions. M attractiveness at the country level may be a marker for development. The cluster 2 and regional leader groups whilst attracting large volumes of M activity within a region were not attracting a greater number of M deals internally. Greenfield deals continue to dominate these markets. In other words, it is partly true that these countries were M attractive by virtue of being FDI attractive. Examining however the PC analysis at the country level of M attraction and the cluster 4 countries in the cluster analysis, we are able to identify true M attractive economies i. e. economies attracting a greater ratio of M activity to greenfield investments. It can now be stated that FDI attractiveness does not automatically mean M attractiveness as the analysis has isolated clear groups of countries which are FDI attractive and which attract more greenfield activity and those which are M attractive. Lipsey comments on the absence in the literature of the effects which FDI may have on a country’s consumers. Mergers and acquisitions may result in the consolidation of industries increasing the monopoly power of firms with resulting higher prices (Haller, 2008; Nocke and 23 Yeaple, 2007). Greenfield operations would have the opposite effect by reducing the power of local producer monopoly positions and increasing local competition. At the same time superior technology and innovation brought in by the acquiring firms may improve local production efficiencies thereby lowering the local cost of goods (Lipsey, 2002). The dissimilar spillover effects of greenfield versus M is a clear motivation for the two modes of entry to be analysed and understood as distinct entities, even though much of the literature on the developmental role of FDI treats FDI as a single entity (Dunning & Narula, 1996; Dunning 2001; Rugman & Li, 2007). The effects of M investment into developing regions, local linkages and their impact on growth and development in the host may also be areas of great interest especially to policy makers. Future research directions would be to identify exactly what the macro-economic markers of development are which attract M to certain developing economies. 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(2008) Do multinationals really prefer to enter culturally distant countries through greenfields rather than through acquisitions? The role of parent experience and subsidiary autonomy, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol 39, No 3, p 472-490 Tong, T. W. , Alessandri, T. M. , Reur, J. and Chintakananda, A. (2008) How much does country matter? An analysis of firms’ growth options, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol 39, No 3, p 387-405 UNCTAD (2008) World Investment Report 2008, Transnational Corporations and the Infrastructure Challenge, Chapter 1 Global Trends, p 7-9 27 TABLE 1: REGIONAL DIVISIONS OF 117 ECONOMIES No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Regional Divisions North Africa West Africa Central Africa East Africa Southern Africa South America No. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Regional Divisions Central America Middle East (West Asia) South Asia South-East Asia Southeast Europe CIS (Transition economies) 8 TABLE 2: EXPLANATION OF VARIABLES Variables for the Cluster Analysis Value Based or Volume Explanation of Variable Distinction A – Country level attractiveness variables 1 – M deals per country as a % of total number of country deals 2 – MA sales as % of GDP avg 2004-2006 volume based Examines the volume of per country M deals relative to the total number of FDI deals entering that country. The int ra- country proportion of M to FDI in terms of volume. Examines the value of per country M deals relative to the GDP of the same country. An intra-country measure of the proportion of M to GDP in terms of value. Examines the volume of per country M deals relative to the M deal volume of countries in the region. An inter-country but intra-regional measure. Examines the volume of per country M deals relative to the volume of total FDI deals (greenfield & M) of countries in the region. An inter-country but intraregional measure. Examines the value in $'s of per country M sales relative to the value of all FDI inflows into the region showing the country's share or proportion of M sales value in the region. Examines which country in a region attracts the most FDI deals in total (greenfield & M) to show regional FDI leader. value based in US $'s B – Regional level attractiveness variables 1 – M deals per country as a % of total regional M's 2004-2006 2 – no of per country MA deals as a % of all regional deals 2004-2006 3 – M sales per country as a % of total regional FDI inflow ( US$ millions) 20042006 no of deals per country as % of total regional deals 20042006 volume volume value in US $'s C – Overall FDI attractiveness variable volume 29 TABLE 3: PRINCIPAL COMPONENT VARIABLES Level attraction Country level of Combined Country Level And Regional Level Variables In Order To Create Component Attractiveness Values At The Country Level And At The Regional Level M sales per country as a % of FDI inward stock per country (US $millions) 2004 -2006 MA sales as % of GDP average 2004-2006 M deals per country as a % of total regional M's 2004-2006 no of per country MA deals as a % of all regional deals 2004-2006 M sales per country as a % of total regional FDI inflow ( US$ millions) 20042006 Regional level 30 Table 1: profiles of cluster means for a 4 cluster solution 31 Table 5: CLUSTER COUNTRY MEMBERS Cluster 1 Belize Brunei Daruss Burkina Faso Congo Guatemala Kyrgyzstan Libya Macedonia, Mozambique Nicaragua Paraguay Qatar Rwanda Swaziland Zimbabwe Cluster 2 Brazil India Indonesia Malaysia Mexico Romania Russian Fed South Africa Thailand Turkey UAE Cluster 4 Armenia Bulgaria Colombia Croatia Ghana Mauritius Panama Ukraine Cluster 3 Albania Algeria Angola Argentina Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Belarus Bolivia Bosnia & Herz Botswana Cambodia Cameroon Chile Congo, DRC Costa Rica Cote d' Ivoire Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Cluster 3 Ethiopia Gabon Georgia Guinea Guyana Honduras Iran Iraq Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kuwait Lao PDR Lebanon Madagascar Mali Mauritania Moldova Morocco Myanmar Namibia Nepal Cluster 3 Nigeria Oman Pakistan Peru Philippines Saudi Arabia Senegal Sierra Leone Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Syria Tajikistan Tunisia Turkmenistan Uganda Tanzania Uruguay Uzbekistan Venezuela Viet Nam Yemen, Zambia 32 Table 6: Results of PC Analysis Level Of Attraction Country level Regional level Combined Country Level And Regional Level Variables In Order To Create Component Attractiveness Values At The Country Level And At The Regional Level. M sales per country as a % of FDI inward stock per country (US $millions) 2004 -2006 MA sales as % of GDP average 2004-2006 M deals per country as a % of total regional M's 20042006 no of per country MA deals as a % of all regional deals 20042006 M sales per country as a % of total regional FDI inflow ( US$ millions) 2004-2006 Expl. Var Regional Attractiveness Factor 1 Intra-Country Attractiveness Factor 2 %Variance Explained Components by -0. 015066 0. 857492 0. 085347 0. 847898 0. 936657 0. 036875 0. 962411 0. 013174 0. 864350 2. 558174 0. 051764 1. 458437 80. 3 % 33 Table7: REGIONAL LEVEL ATTRACTIVENESS- most attractive ranking Regional Level M Attractiveness Quartile 4 -Most Attractive Rank Regional Attractiveness M Attractiveness Value Above Average India South Africa Brazil Russian Federation Turkey Mexico Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Romania Argentina UAE Egypt Bulgaria Ukraine Chile Colombia Peru Pakistan Philippines 87 86 85 84 83 82 81 80 79 78 77 76 75 74 73 72 71 70 69 68 4. 47456 3. 59947 3. 11423 2. 70295 2. 18032 2. 10503 1. 96844 1. 83932 1. 50218 1. 00295 0. 95504 0. 71507 0. 58127 0. 49219 0. 48130 0. 41931 0. 40345 0. 13893 0. 12567 0. 10631 34 Table 8: Regional level attractiveness- least attractive east attractive Regional Level M Attractiveness Quartile 1Least Attractive Rank Regional M Attractiveness Attractiveness Value Below Average Regional Level M Attractiveness Quartile 1Least Attractive2 Rank Regional M Attractiveness 2 Attractiveness Value Below Average 2 Burkina Faso Yemen Albania Tajikistan Belize Turkmenistan Lao PDR Gabon Sri Lanka Botswana Guinea Kuwait Cote d' Ivoire Kyrgyzst an Iran Swaziland Sierra Leone Mali Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Mauritania Armenia Algeria Bolivia Cambodia Moldova, Republic of Belarus Macedonia, TFYR Lebanon Nicaragua Congo, Republic of Angola Congo Democratic 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 -0. 81391 -0. 62301 -0. 59695 -0. 58134 -0. 56980 -0. 56586 -0. 55855 -0. 54206 -0. 53908 -0. 53824 -0. 53655 -0. 53403 -0. 53331 -0. 52797 -0. 52388 -0. 51088 -0. 51028 -0. 50993 -0. 50966 -0. 50856 -0. 50707 -0. 50669 -0. 50637 -0. 50389 -0. 50075 -0. 49762 -0. 49691 -0. 49085 -0. 48372 -0. 48345 -0. 48291 -0. 48068 Costa Rica El Salvador Rwanda Madagascar Syrian Republic Bangladesh Uzbekistan Georgia Iraq Viet Nam Bosnia Herzegovina Tanzania Kenya Mozambique Namibia Oman Bahrain Saudi Arabia Zimbabwe Zambia Ecuador Uganda Panama Sudan Venezuela Kazakhstan Mauritius Ghana Tunisia Nigeria Jordan Croatia and Arab 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 -0. 46264 -0. 46137 -0. 46100 -0. 45911 -0. 45391 -0. 45035 -0. 44220 -0. 42553 -0. 42284 -0. 41269 -0. 41006 -0. 40278 -0. 37712 -0. 37626 -0. 36841 -0. 35828 -0. 35541 -0. 35395 -0. 35140 -0. 34751 -0. 31359 -0. 31281 -0. 31113 -0. 30115 -0. 25848 -0. 22807 -0. 21374 -0. 21133 -0. 17359 -0. 13017 -0. 12656 -0. 09001 35 Uruguay Guatemala 33 34 -0. 46757 -0. 6471 Morocco 67 -0. 07754 Table 9: Country level M attractiveness- most attractive countries Country Level M Attractiveness Quartile 4 Most Attractive Rank Attractiveness Value Above Average Mauritius Burkina Faso Bulgaria Panama Ghana Kyrgyzstan Armenia Croatia Ukraine Colombia Yemen Romania Turkey Sudan Tunisia Uzbekistan Mauritania Peru Ecuador Indonesia Lao PDR South A frica Macedonia Pakistan Belize Kuwait 87 86 85 84 83 82 81 80 79 78 77 76 75 74 73 72 71 70 69 68 67 66 65 64 63 62 5. 44211 4. 67217 2. 45823 2. 04796 1. 89195 1. 06603 0. 90303 0. 87151 0. 82457 0. 81623 0. 78430 0. 77845 0. 71227 0. 65421 0. 2570 0. 36499 0. 32190 0. 26612 0. 24742 0. 23859 0. 20139 0. 10116 0. 04362 0. 04359 0. 03089 0. 01879 36 Table 10: Country level attractiveness- least attractive Country level M attractive Q1- least attractive UA E Tanzania Saudi Arabia Angola Libya Belarus Sri Lanka Algeria Guinea Iraq Iran Sierra Leone Mali Zimbabwe Cote d' Ivoire Viet Nam Mozambique Bahrain Madagascar Oman Tajikistan Cambodia Congo Turkmenistan Mexico Zambia Lebanon Venezuela Congo Swaziland Rank Attractiveness value below average -0. 69652 -0. 68043 -0. 68009 -0. 67564 -0. 67419 -0. 66567 -0. 66410 -0. 66351 -0. 66076 -0. 66060 -0. 64409 -0. 3906 -0. 62707 -0. 62270 -0. 62038 -0. 61471 -0. 61461 -0. 59631 -0. 58028 -0. 57740 -0. 57596 -0. 56811 -0. 56112 -0. 55555 -0. 55058 -0. 54445 -0. 53035 -0. 51967 -0. 50304 -0. 48027 Country level M attractive Q1- least attractive2 Rwanda Russian Fed Guatemala Philippines Gabon Brazil Bangladesh Uruguay Costa Rica Botswana India Moldova Bolivia Egypt Nigeria Argentina Thailand Namibia Albania Bosnia & Herzeg Malaysia Kazakhstan Kenya Georgia Morocco Chile Uganda Nicaragua Jordan Syria El Salvador Rank2 Attractiveness value below average2 -0. 46953 -0. 46579 -0. 46387 -0. 45862 -0. 43042 -0. 40607 -0. 39852 -0. 8454 -0. 38399 -0. 33595 -0. 31087 -0. 30362 -0. 28460 -0. 28442 -0. 28428 -0. 25341 -0. 23769 -0. 22207 -0. 22091 -0. 22082 -0. 21129 -0. 18592 -0. 18396 -0. 16633 -0. 14784 -0. 09800 -0. 06308 -0. 03914 -0. 03806 -0. 01932 -0. 00700 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 37 Figure 1: M attractiveness axes -regional/country 38 Figure 2: REGIONAL LEVEL ATTRACTIVENESS C OUNTRIES PLOTTED ON ‘Y' AXIS; COUNTRY LEVEL M ATTRACTIVE COUNTRIES PLOTTED ON ‘X’ AXIS. 39 APPENDIX 1-EXCLUDED DATA In addition to the developed economy data, the following economies were also excluded from the study: Caribbean and Oceania economies (many of these island economies were very small, atypical and had missing data); China (over 48 % of the total number of deals for South and SouthEast Asian region were concluded in China in order to avoid skewing the findings for the rest of the region, Chinese data was excluded); Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Korea (these economies exhibit higher levels of development and sophistication than the rest of the sample and exhibit FDI levels higher than the typical developing countries of the sample group of this study); St Helena, Guinea Bissau, Mayotte, Reunion, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Palestinian Territory, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Timor Leste (these

Microsoft Network Operating System Essay

Windows server 2008 comes in different versions for the different users, not all users need all the same features. The versions are web edition, standard edition, enterprise edition, and datacenter edition. The significance of them are WE 1 OS Is permitted, 32-bit 4GB 64-bit 32GB, maximum number of CPUs 4. SE hyper-V included, plus 1 virtual instance, terminal server ,network access protection, and CALs. EE plus 4 virtual instance, 32-bit 32GB 64-bit 2TB, CPUs 8, cluster service yes 16 nodes per cluster. DE unlimited number of OS, CPUs 64, hot swap ram and cpus yes. Some of the new features or enhancements are the server manager, installation options, active directory, dns server role. Windows server 2008 differs from server 2003 with its new features like RODC, WDS,32and 64bit,and group policy editor. Some of the advantages of 64-bit architecture is more process address space, easily memory-mapped files over 4GB, and programs such as encoders, decoders, and encryption software benefit from 64-bit. Some of the new features of server 2008 are server core, PowerShell, and virtualization. Server core is a minimal installation option provides an environment for running the server roles. Some of the roles are DHCP server, DNS server, file services, and print server. The three ways you can benefit from the installation are by reducing the software maintenance required, reducing the management required, and reducing the attack surface. Virtualization provides software infrastructure and basic management tools that you can use to create and manage a virtualized server computing environment. This can help by Reduce the costs of operating and maintaining physical servers by increasing your hardware utilization, and Improve server availability without using as many physical computers. And PowerShell is Microsoft’s task automation framework, consists of command-line, and scripting language. It provides access to COM and WMI. Read-only domain controller is a new type of that organization can easily deploy a domain in locations where physical security cannot be guaranteed. RODC will improve security, faster logon time, and a more efficient access to resources on the network.

Irony on the Contrary essays

Irony on the Contrary essays Irony lives in all our days. Hour after hour we experience irony and coincidence. A well-produced shift can accent the smaller things and make them larger than life. As for the Holocaust, the biggest trick that Hitler ever accomplished was banking on the ignorance of the masses. Rather than keeping his actions within the realm of sanity, he chose to insanely create the destruction of millions of innocent lives. Irony is that Hitler had Jewish heritage. Was Hitler a troubled man, yes but not insane. No man of sound mind and body would choose to hate so much. Instead, I will assume that Hitler was just entirely to motivated. His goal was world domination and he saw the Jewish community as an easy target. Having already been ridiculed by masses, it only took Hitler a matter of a few speeches to gain the confidence of a nation in the hatred of Jews. This was his 2nd move. He united the masses and now had the control to influence a nation in much need of a leader. If being in the right place at the right time is irony then Hitler needs to go ahead and take credit for that one. Half of any accomplishments are deciding what you want to achieve. The other half is finishing what you start. As many times as I read about nations trying desperately to take over the world, I have never actually heard of it being accomplished. History teaches always stress the past so that we will not repeat it, that makes me feel a little less comfortable in that world domination has yet to happen. Perhaps that we as a people have evolved enough to sustain a matter of checks and balances, thus keeping a feel of comfort and rest. Some people fear change while others embrace it, but the enigma is not to leave it up to fate instead, create. Rather than allowing possibility, expect to fall and be great full for the chance to get up. Leave irony for the laughter and only feel guilt when you know you could have made a difference. ...

A Game of Thrones Chapter Nine

Something about the howling of a wolf took a man right out of his here and now and left him in a dark forest of the mind, running naked before the pack. When the direwolf howled again, Tyrion shut the heavy leatherbound cover on the book he was reading, a hundred-year-old discourse on the changing of the seasons by a long-dead maester. He covered a yawn with the back of his hand. His reading lamp was flickering, its oil all but gone, as dawn light leaked through the high windows. He had been at it all night, but that was nothing new. Tyrion Lannister was not much a one for sleeping. His legs were stiff and sore as he eased down off the bench. He massaged some life back into them and limped heavily to the table where the septon was snoring softly, his head pillowed on an open book in front of him. Tyrion glanced at the title. A life of the Grand Maester Aethelmure, no wonder. â€Å"Chayle,† he said softly. The young man jerked up, blinking, confused, the crystal of his order swinging wildly on its silver chain. â€Å"I’m off to break my fast. See that you return the books to the shelves. Be gentle with the Valyrian scrolls, the parchment is very dry. Ayrmidon’s Engines of War is quite rare, and yours is the only complete copy I’ve ever seen.† Chayle gaped at him, still half-asleep. Patiently, Tyrion repeated his instructions, then clapped the septon on the shoulder and left him to his tasks. Outside, Tyrion swallowed a lungful of the cold morning air and began his laborious descent of the steep stone steps that corkscrewed around the exterior of the library tower. It was slow going; the steps were cut high and narrow, while his legs were short and twisted. The rising sun had not yet cleared the walls of Winterfell, but the men were already hard at it in the yard below. Sandor Clegane’s rasping voice drifted up to him. â€Å"The boy is a long time dying. I wish he would be quicker about it.† Tyrion glanced down and saw the Hound standing with young Joffrey as squires swarmed around them. â€Å"At least he dies quietly,† the prince replied. â€Å"It’s the wolf that makes the noise. I could scarce sleep last night.† Clegane cast a long shadow across the hard-packed earth as his squire lowered the black helm over his head. â€Å"I could silence the creature, if it please you,† he said through his open visor. His boy placed a longsword in his hand. He tested the weight of it, slicing at the cold morning air. Behind him, the yard rang to the clangor of steel on steel. The notion seemed to delight the prince. â€Å"Send a dog to kill a dog!† he exclaimed. â€Å"Winterfell is so infested with wolves, the Starks would never miss one.† Tyrion hopped off the last step onto the yard. â€Å"I beg to differ, nephew,† he said. â€Å"The Starks can count past six. Unlike some princes I might name.† Joffrey had the grace at least to blush. â€Å"A voice from nowhere,† Sandor said. He peered through his helm, looking this way and that. â€Å"Spirits of the air!† The prince laughed, as he always laughed when his bodyguard did this mummer’s farce. Tyrion was used to it. â€Å"Down here.† The tall man peered down at the ground, and pretended to notice him. â€Å"The little lord Tyrion,† he said. â€Å"My pardons. I did not see you standing there.† â€Å"I am in no mood for your insolence today.† Tyrion turned to his nephew. â€Å"Joffrey, it is past time you called on Lord Eddard and his lady, to offer them your comfort.† Joffrey looked as petulant as only a boy prince can look. â€Å"What good will my comfort do them?† â€Å"None,† Tyrion said. â€Å"Yet it is expected of you. Your absence has been noted.† â€Å"The Stark boy is nothing to me,† Joffrey said. â€Å"I cannot abide the wailing of women.† Tyrion Lannister reached up and slapped his nephew hard across the face. The boy’s cheek began to redden. â€Å"One word,† Tyrion said, â€Å"and I will hit you again.† â€Å"I’m going to tell Mother!† Joffrey exclaimed. Tyrion hit him again. Now both cheeks flamed. â€Å"You tell your mother,† Tyrion told him. â€Å"But first you get yourself to Lord and Lady Stark, and you fall to your knees in front of them, and you tell them how very sorry you are, and that you are at their service if there is the slightest thing you can do for them or theirs in this desperate hour, and that all your prayers go with them. Do you understand? Do you?† The boy looked as though he was going to cry. Instead, he managed a weak nod. Then he turned and fled headlong from the yard, holding his cheek. Tyrion watched him run. A shadow fell across his face. He turned to find Clegane looming overhead like a cliff. His soot-dark armor seemed to blot out the sun. He had lowered the visor on his helm. It was fashioned in the likeness of a snarling black hound, fearsome to behold, but Tyrion had always thought it a great improvement over Clegane’s hideously burned face. â€Å"The prince will remember that, little lord,† the Hound warned him. The helm turned his laugh into a hollow rumble. â€Å"I pray he does,† Tyrion Lannister replied. â€Å"If he forgets, be a good dog and remind him.† He glanced around the courtyard. â€Å"Do you know where I might find my brother?† â€Å"Breaking fast with the queen.† â€Å"Ah,† Tyrion said. He gave Sandor Clegane a perfunctory nod and walked away as briskly as his stunted legs would carry him, whistling. He pitied the first knight to try the Hound today. The man did have a temper. A cold, cheerless meal had been laid out in the morning room of the Guest House. Jaime sat at table with Cersei and the children, talking in low, hushed voices. â€Å"Is Robert still abed?† Tyrion asked as he seated himself, uninvited, at the table. His sister peered at him with the same expression of faint distaste she had worn since the day he was born. â€Å"The king has not slept at all,† she told him. â€Å"He is with Lord Eddard. He has taken their sorrow deeply to heart.† â€Å"He has a large heart, our Robert,† Jaime said with a lazy smile. There was very little that Jaime took seriously. Tyrion knew that about his brother, and forgave it. During all the terrible long years of his childhood, only Jaime had ever shown him the smallest measure of affection or respect, and for that Tyrion was willing to forgive him most anything. A servant approached. â€Å"Bread,† Tyrion told him, â€Å"and two of those little fish, and a mug of that good dark beer to wash them down. Oh, and some bacon. Burn it until it turns black.† The man bowed and moved off. Tyrion turned back to his siblings. Twins, male and female. They looked very much the part this morning. Both had chosen a deep green that matched their eyes. Their blond curls were all a fashionable tumble, and gold ornaments shone at wrists and fingers and throats. Tyrion wondered what it would be like to have a twin, and decided that he would rather not know. Bad enough to face himself in a looking glass every day. Another him was a thought too dreadful to contemplate. Prince Tommen spoke up. â€Å"Do you have news of Bran, Uncle?† â€Å"I stopped by the sickroom last night,† Tyrion announced. â€Å"There was no change. The maester thought that a hopeful sign.† â€Å"I don’t want Brandon to die,† Tommen said timorously. He was a sweet boy. Not like his brother, but then Jaime and Tyrion were somewhat less than peas in a pod themselves. â€Å"Lord Eddard had a brother named Brandon as well,† Jaime mused. â€Å"One of the hostages murdered by Targaryen. It seems to be an unlucky name.† â€Å"Oh, not so unlucky as all that, surely,† Tyrion said. The servant brought his plate. He ripped off a chunk of black bread. Cersei was studying him warily. â€Å"What do you mean?† Tyrion gave her a crooked smile. â€Å"Why, only that Tommen may get his wish. The maester thinks the boy may yet live.† He took a sip of beer. Myrcella gave a happy gasp, and Tommen smiled nervously, but it was not the children Tyrion was watching. The glance that passed between Jaime and Cersei lasted no more than a second, but he did not miss it. Then his sister dropped her gaze to the table. â€Å"That is no mercy. These northern gods are cruel to let the child linger in such pain.† â€Å"What were the maester’s words?† Jaime asked. The bacon crunched when he bit into it. Tyrion chewed thoughtfully for a moment and said, â€Å"He thinks that if the boy were going to die, he would have done so already. It has been four days with no change.† â€Å"Will Bran get better, Uncle?† little Myrcella asked. She had all of her mother’s beauty, and none of her nature. â€Å"His back is broken, little one,† Tyrion told her. â€Å"The fall shattered his legs as well. They keep him alive with honey and water, or he would starve to death. Perhaps, if he wakes, he will be able to eat real food, but he will never walk again.† â€Å"If he wakes,† Cersei repeated. â€Å"Is that likely?† â€Å"The gods alone know,† Tyrion told her. â€Å"The maester only hopes.† He chewed some more bread. â€Å"I would swear that wolf of his is keeping the boy alive. The creature is outside his window day and night, howling. Every time they chase it away, it returns. The maester said they closed the window once, to shut out the noise, and Bran seemed to weaken. When they opened it again, his heart beat stronger.† The queen shuddered. â€Å"There is something unnatural about those animals,† she said. â€Å"They are dangerous. I will not have any of them coming south with us.† Jaime said, â€Å"You’ll have a hard time stopping them, sister. They follow those girls everywhere.† Tyrion started on his fish. â€Å"Are you leaving soon, then?† â€Å"Not near soon enough,† Cersei said. Then she frowned. â€Å"Are we leaving?† she echoed. â€Å"What about you? Gods, don’t tell me you are staying here?† Tyrion shrugged. â€Å"Benjen Stark is returning to the Night’s Watch with his brother’s bastard. I have a mind to go with them and see this Wall we have all heard so much of.† Jaime smiled. â€Å"I hope you’re not thinking of taking the black on us, sweet brother.† Tyrion laughed. â€Å"What, me, celibate? The whores would go begging from Dorne to Casterly Rock. No, I just want to stand on top of the Wall and piss off the edge of the world.† Cersei stood abruptly. â€Å"The children don’t need to hear this filth. Tommen, Myrcella, come.† She strode briskly from the morning room, her train and her pups trailing behind her. Jaime Lannister regarded his brother thoughtfully with those cool green eyes. â€Å"Stark will never consent to leave Winterfell with his son lingering in the shadow of death.† â€Å"He will if Robert commands it,† Tyrion said. â€Å"And Robert will command it. There is nothing Lord Eddard can do for the boy in any case.† â€Å"He could end his torment,† Jaime said. â€Å"I would, if it were my son. It would be a mercy.† â€Å"I advise against putting that suggestion to Lord Eddard, sweet brother,† Tyrion said. â€Å"He would not take it kindly.† â€Å"Even if the boy does live, he will be a cripple. Worse than a cripple. A grotesque. Give me a good clean death.† Tyrion replied with a shrug that accentuated the twist of his shoulders. â€Å"Speaking for the grotesques,† he said, â€Å"I beg to differ. Death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities.† Jaime smiled. â€Å"You are a perverse little imp, aren’t you?† â€Å"Oh, yes,† Tyrion admitted. â€Å"I hope the boy does wake. I would be most interested to hear what he might have to say.† His brother’s smile curdled like sour milk. â€Å"Tyrion, my sweet brother,† he said darkly, â€Å"there are times when you give me cause to wonder whose side you are on.† Tyrion’s mouth was full of bread and fish. He took a swallow of strong black beer to wash it all down, and grinned up wolfishly at Jaime, â€Å"Why, Jaime, my sweet brother,† he said, â€Å"you wound me. You know how much I love my family.† A Game of Thrones Chapter Nine Something about the howling of a wolf took a man right out of his here and now and left him in a dark forest of the mind, running naked before the pack. When the direwolf howled again, Tyrion shut the heavy leatherbound cover on the book he was reading, a hundred-year-old discourse on the changing of the seasons by a long-dead maester. He covered a yawn with the back of his hand. His reading lamp was flickering, its oil all but gone, as dawn light leaked through the high windows. He had been at it all night, but that was nothing new. Tyrion Lannister was not much a one for sleeping. His legs were stiff and sore as he eased down off the bench. He massaged some life back into them and limped heavily to the table where the septon was snoring softly, his head pillowed on an open book in front of him. Tyrion glanced at the title. A life of the Grand Maester Aethelmure, no wonder. â€Å"Chayle,† he said softly. The young man jerked up, blinking, confused, the crystal of his order swinging wildly on its silver chain. â€Å"I’m off to break my fast. See that you return the books to the shelves. Be gentle with the Valyrian scrolls, the parchment is very dry. Ayrmidon’s Engines of War is quite rare, and yours is the only complete copy I’ve ever seen.† Chayle gaped at him, still half-asleep. Patiently, Tyrion repeated his instructions, then clapped the septon on the shoulder and left him to his tasks. Outside, Tyrion swallowed a lungful of the cold morning air and began his laborious descent of the steep stone steps that corkscrewed around the exterior of the library tower. It was slow going; the steps were cut high and narrow, while his legs were short and twisted. The rising sun had not yet cleared the walls of Winterfell, but the men were already hard at it in the yard below. Sandor Clegane’s rasping voice drifted up to him. â€Å"The boy is a long time dying. I wish he would be quicker about it.† Tyrion glanced down and saw the Hound standing with young Joffrey as squires swarmed around them. â€Å"At least he dies quietly,† the prince replied. â€Å"It’s the wolf that makes the noise. I could scarce sleep last night.† Clegane cast a long shadow across the hard-packed earth as his squire lowered the black helm over his head. â€Å"I could silence the creature, if it please you,† he said through his open visor. His boy placed a longsword in his hand. He tested the weight of it, slicing at the cold morning air. Behind him, the yard rang to the clangor of steel on steel. The notion seemed to delight the prince. â€Å"Send a dog to kill a dog!† he exclaimed. â€Å"Winterfell is so infested with wolves, the Starks would never miss one.† Tyrion hopped off the last step onto the yard. â€Å"I beg to differ, nephew,† he said. â€Å"The Starks can count past six. Unlike some princes I might name.† Joffrey had the grace at least to blush. â€Å"A voice from nowhere,† Sandor said. He peered through his helm, looking this way and that. â€Å"Spirits of the air!† The prince laughed, as he always laughed when his bodyguard did this mummer’s farce. Tyrion was used to it. â€Å"Down here.† The tall man peered down at the ground, and pretended to notice him. â€Å"The little lord Tyrion,† he said. â€Å"My pardons. I did not see you standing there.† â€Å"I am in no mood for your insolence today.† Tyrion turned to his nephew. â€Å"Joffrey, it is past time you called on Lord Eddard and his lady, to offer them your comfort.† Joffrey looked as petulant as only a boy prince can look. â€Å"What good will my comfort do them?† â€Å"None,† Tyrion said. â€Å"Yet it is expected of you. Your absence has been noted.† â€Å"The Stark boy is nothing to me,† Joffrey said. â€Å"I cannot abide the wailing of women.† Tyrion Lannister reached up and slapped his nephew hard across the face. The boy’s cheek began to redden. â€Å"One word,† Tyrion said, â€Å"and I will hit you again.† â€Å"I’m going to tell Mother!† Joffrey exclaimed. Tyrion hit him again. Now both cheeks flamed. â€Å"You tell your mother,† Tyrion told him. â€Å"But first you get yourself to Lord and Lady Stark, and you fall to your knees in front of them, and you tell them how very sorry you are, and that you are at their service if there is the slightest thing you can do for them or theirs in this desperate hour, and that all your prayers go with them. Do you understand? Do you?† The boy looked as though he was going to cry. Instead, he managed a weak nod. Then he turned and fled headlong from the yard, holding his cheek. Tyrion watched him run. A shadow fell across his face. He turned to find Clegane looming overhead like a cliff. His soot-dark armor seemed to blot out the sun. He had lowered the visor on his helm. It was fashioned in the likeness of a snarling black hound, fearsome to behold, but Tyrion had always thought it a great improvement over Clegane’s hideously burned face. â€Å"The prince will remember that, little lord,† the Hound warned him. The helm turned his laugh into a hollow rumble. â€Å"I pray he does,† Tyrion Lannister replied. â€Å"If he forgets, be a good dog and remind him.† He glanced around the courtyard. â€Å"Do you know where I might find my brother?† â€Å"Breaking fast with the queen.† â€Å"Ah,† Tyrion said. He gave Sandor Clegane a perfunctory nod and walked away as briskly as his stunted legs would carry him, whistling. He pitied the first knight to try the Hound today. The man did have a temper. A cold, cheerless meal had been laid out in the morning room of the Guest House. Jaime sat at table with Cersei and the children, talking in low, hushed voices. â€Å"Is Robert still abed?† Tyrion asked as he seated himself, uninvited, at the table. His sister peered at him with the same expression of faint distaste she had worn since the day he was born. â€Å"The king has not slept at all,† she told him. â€Å"He is with Lord Eddard. He has taken their sorrow deeply to heart.† â€Å"He has a large heart, our Robert,† Jaime said with a lazy smile. There was very little that Jaime took seriously. Tyrion knew that about his brother, and forgave it. During all the terrible long years of his childhood, only Jaime had ever shown him the smallest measure of affection or respect, and for that Tyrion was willing to forgive him most anything. A servant approached. â€Å"Bread,† Tyrion told him, â€Å"and two of those little fish, and a mug of that good dark beer to wash them down. Oh, and some bacon. Burn it until it turns black.† The man bowed and moved off. Tyrion turned back to his siblings. Twins, male and female. They looked very much the part this morning. Both had chosen a deep green that matched their eyes. Their blond curls were all a fashionable tumble, and gold ornaments shone at wrists and fingers and throats. Tyrion wondered what it would be like to have a twin, and decided that he would rather not know. Bad enough to face himself in a looking glass every day. Another him was a thought too dreadful to contemplate. Prince Tommen spoke up. â€Å"Do you have news of Bran, Uncle?† â€Å"I stopped by the sickroom last night,† Tyrion announced. â€Å"There was no change. The maester thought that a hopeful sign.† â€Å"I don’t want Brandon to die,† Tommen said timorously. He was a sweet boy. Not like his brother, but then Jaime and Tyrion were somewhat less than peas in a pod themselves. â€Å"Lord Eddard had a brother named Brandon as well,† Jaime mused. â€Å"One of the hostages murdered by Targaryen. It seems to be an unlucky name.† â€Å"Oh, not so unlucky as all that, surely,† Tyrion said. The servant brought his plate. He ripped off a chunk of black bread. Cersei was studying him warily. â€Å"What do you mean?† Tyrion gave her a crooked smile. â€Å"Why, only that Tommen may get his wish. The maester thinks the boy may yet live.† He took a sip of beer. Myrcella gave a happy gasp, and Tommen smiled nervously, but it was not the children Tyrion was watching. The glance that passed between Jaime and Cersei lasted no more than a second, but he did not miss it. Then his sister dropped her gaze to the table. â€Å"That is no mercy. These northern gods are cruel to let the child linger in such pain.† â€Å"What were the maester’s words?† Jaime asked. The bacon crunched when he bit into it. Tyrion chewed thoughtfully for a moment and said, â€Å"He thinks that if the boy were going to die, he would have done so already. It has been four days with no change.† â€Å"Will Bran get better, Uncle?† little Myrcella asked. She had all of her mother’s beauty, and none of her nature. â€Å"His back is broken, little one,† Tyrion told her. â€Å"The fall shattered his legs as well. They keep him alive with honey and water, or he would starve to death. Perhaps, if he wakes, he will be able to eat real food, but he will never walk again.† â€Å"If he wakes,† Cersei repeated. â€Å"Is that likely?† â€Å"The gods alone know,† Tyrion told her. â€Å"The maester only hopes.† He chewed some more bread. â€Å"I would swear that wolf of his is keeping the boy alive. The creature is outside his window day and night, howling. Every time they chase it away, it returns. The maester said they closed the window once, to shut out the noise, and Bran seemed to weaken. When they opened it again, his heart beat stronger.† The queen shuddered. â€Å"There is something unnatural about those animals,† she said. â€Å"They are dangerous. I will not have any of them coming south with us.† Jaime said, â€Å"You’ll have a hard time stopping them, sister. They follow those girls everywhere.† Tyrion started on his fish. â€Å"Are you leaving soon, then?† â€Å"Not near soon enough,† Cersei said. Then she frowned. â€Å"Are we leaving?† she echoed. â€Å"What about you? Gods, don’t tell me you are staying here?† Tyrion shrugged. â€Å"Benjen Stark is returning to the Night’s Watch with his brother’s bastard. I have a mind to go with them and see this Wall we have all heard so much of.† Jaime smiled. â€Å"I hope you’re not thinking of taking the black on us, sweet brother.† Tyrion laughed. â€Å"What, me, celibate? The whores would go begging from Dorne to Casterly Rock. No, I just want to stand on top of the Wall and piss off the edge of the world.† Cersei stood abruptly. â€Å"The children don’t need to hear this filth. Tommen, Myrcella, come.† She strode briskly from the morning room, her train and her pups trailing behind her. Jaime Lannister regarded his brother thoughtfully with those cool green eyes. â€Å"Stark will never consent to leave Winterfell with his son lingering in the shadow of death.† â€Å"He will if Robert commands it,† Tyrion said. â€Å"And Robert will command it. There is nothing Lord Eddard can do for the boy in any case.† â€Å"He could end his torment,† Jaime said. â€Å"I would, if it were my son. It would be a mercy.† â€Å"I advise against putting that suggestion to Lord Eddard, sweet brother,† Tyrion said. â€Å"He would not take it kindly.† â€Å"Even if the boy does live, he will be a cripple. Worse than a cripple. A grotesque. Give me a good clean death.† Tyrion replied with a shrug that accentuated the twist of his shoulders. â€Å"Speaking for the grotesques,† he said, â€Å"I beg to differ. Death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities.† Jaime smiled. â€Å"You are a perverse little imp, aren’t you?† â€Å"Oh, yes,† Tyrion admitted. â€Å"I hope the boy does wake. I would be most interested to hear what he might have to say.† His brother’s smile curdled like sour milk. â€Å"Tyrion, my sweet brother,† he said darkly, â€Å"there are times when you give me cause to wonder whose side you are on.† Tyrion’s mouth was full of bread and fish. He took a swallow of strong black beer to wash it all down, and grinned up wolfishly at Jaime, â€Å"Why, Jaime, my sweet brother,† he said, â€Å"you wound me. You know how much I love my family.†