Human Resources in Sri Lankas IT Sector

Human Resources in Sri Lankas IT Sector CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION For an organization to survive and expand in the rapidly competitive environment dominated by several players, it is paramount for an organization to perform. The organization performance would be measure according to several variables such profitability, sales, production quality and market share, however, few organizations give prominence for the most important factors which is human resources performance. According to HRM commentators retention and development of the organization employees are pivotal for organization performance. The overall purpose of human resource management is to ensure that the organization is able to achieve their success through people. Ulrich and Lake (1990) states that: ‘HRM systems can be the source of organizational capabilities that allow firms to learn and capitalize on new opportunities. But in the other hand HRM has an ethical dimension as well, which means it should also concern the rights and needs of people in an organization. With the increased competition, globalization, boundless technological advances, -companies are forced to think about the factors like HRM, environment†¦etc to run the extra mile ahead of the others. Therefore nowadays employers consider investments on the HRM functions are very significant and effective, rather than seeing it as just a cost. As it shown above, HRM should be incorporated with each and every function with in an organization. Starting from the recruitment process to the training and development, performance appraisal, performance incentives, promotion system , design of work and working environment†¦etc should aligned with effective HRM practices as it will reduce the direct indirect employee grievances which results in a highly motivated and pleased workforce, which in turn influences on the overall organization performances. When considering the structure of the Human resource management, there are two categories; 1. Managerial Functions 2. Operative functions Functions of HRM Managerial Functions Operative Functions Planning Employment Organising Human Resource Directing Development Controlling Compensation Human relations Recent trend in HRM 1. Managerial functions It include Planning, organizing, directing and controlling.  · Planning is the main activity that a manager has to consider. The management has to decide what to do and how to do to achieve the objective of the organization. Management uses this process to plan the future of the company, decide what actions they are going to make to avoid difficult problems etc. (Bateman, Snell, 2007).  · Organizing is established in the internal structure of the organization. It mainly concerns the flow of information within the company, division and coordination. Manager has to know what the subordinates can do and what kind of training they need. To achieve the objectives set in the planning process there should be a proper organization of work. In here the management set the tasks, responsibilities and authorities to the employees. The manager has to discuss the tasks with the employees and has to clarify what to do, how to do and make them understand about the job (Allen, G, 1998). Then it is easy to achieve the objective.  · Directing is the next stage after completing planning and organizing. This is to execution of the plan. It influences the people to achieve the objectives in a correct way through motivation, communication, and leadership. The proper direction of employees will affect the achievement of the objectives. The manager has to have a proper relationship with the employees in the company, and then they can easily direct the employees to achieve the target.  · Controlling involves checking, verifying and comparing of the actual with the plan that the company set. Actions and operations are adjusted to identified plans and standards through control. The training programs, conducting interviews, analyzing labor turnover details are some of the controlling functions that a manager can work out. Controlling allows setting the performance standards within the groups and to do the proper communication. 2. Operative functions These activities are related to specific activities such as, employment, human resources development, compensation, human relations and recent trends in human resource management.  · Employment This means securing and employing the people with the relevant qualifications to achieve the organizational objectives. The functions include in employment are, Job analysis, human resource planning, recruitment, selection, placement and induction.  · Human resource development This is the process of improving skills, knowledge, attitudes, aptitudes, commitment etc. depending on the organizational requirements. The functions include in human resource development are; Performance appraisal, training, management development, career planning and development, promotion, demotion and change and organization development.  · Compensation This is the process of providing sufficient, equal and fair reward to all employees. The functions include in compensation are; Job evaluation, incentives, wage and salary, bonus, fringe benefits, social security and measures.  · Human Relations It is the process of interaction between people. The management can practice different human resource policies to interact with the people. Good relationship will motivate people to do a better job In the organization. The functions in human relations include; Motivating the employees, developing the communication skills, developing leadership skills, providing comfortable work environment to the people, improving quality of work life of employees and boosting employee morale.  · Recent trend in human resource management This area is always developing. It is advancing at a fast rate. The recent trends in human resource management is; Quality of work life, recent techniques of Human resource management and total quality in human resources. In 1989 David Guest describes a human resource model according to what he thought. . This model consists of four elements; Human resource policies and practices Human resource outcomes Organizational outcomes Leadership 1. Human resource policies and practices when an organization is introduced there are many policies available in a company. They are; Organization and job design Management of change Recruitment, selection and socialisation Appraisal, training and development Reward systems Communication According to this model human resource policies are design to achieve the four key human resource outcomes which explains as the second element of this model. 2. Human resource outcomes The model include followings; Commitment Quality Flexibility Strategic integration Quality is not only concern about the quality of manufacturing product or the services provided by the company, it includes the quality of the workforce, the management of the workforce and the human resource policies used in the company. Flexibility is the facility to change the jobs people are doing, working arrangement such as number of hours they are working and the nature of employees contract. Strategic integration is the link between human resource strategy and business strategy. Guest explains that integration requires an organizational culture where managers work or share. The commitments have a direct relationship with valued business consequences. He says that commitment is confused and that the relationship between commitment and the performance is difficult to establish. When an employee commitment is higher means that employee is satisfied about the facilities and the way the company treat to employees. When they are satisfied performance will be automatically higher in the organization. 3. Organizational outcomes The organizational outcomes include following; High job performance High problem solving High innovation Low turnover, absence High cost effectiveness 4. Leadership Leadership is the most important element to make all these outcomes success. With the understanding of importance of the involvement of HRM for the betterment of an organization, this paper is about the effect of HRM development to the IFS business success. 1.1 Aims and objectives of the study During the recent years IT sector began to bloom and many leading IT professionals fortified the future of their companies by investing in Sri Lanka. Within few years it begins to expand and now a days it has become a major business sector which support the economy and which provides enormous career opportunities to the younger generation. Latest s show that, over 175 software developments companies are actively operating in Sri Lanka, which are originated from both national and international grounds and they are providing services for both the export and domestic markets. Some of these companies and their products are already well recognized and performing extremely well in the IT sector by competing with other foreign markets. Among these, companies like,Millennium Information Technologies- who not only turned the Colombo stock exchange in Sri Lanka into the worlds first ever event-driven exchange but with their versatile automated trading system have powered the Boston stock exchange among several other clients in the United States, as well as exchanges in Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa;Virtusa Corporation- one of the fastest growing software services firms in the US with seven years of consecutive growth and the largest technology center based in Sri Lanka and; Informatics- a local company whose telecom product is in operation at the regional sites of some of the worlds leading telecom operators, such as Cable Wireless of UK and Millicom of Luxembourg, are leading the way, marking the name of Sri Lanka in the world. Furthermore international names likeIFSfrom Sweden have set up their research and development center employing over 700 people and recently MicrosoftandOraclehave also opened offices in Sri Lanka. graph1 This is an effort to find out the involvement of human resource to the success of Sri Lankan IT sector and how well they are managed for them to get ready to face the future challenges in ever changing world. Taking the IFS Sri Lanka Ltd as the Reference point, the research will focus on interpreting the influence of Human Resource Management on the companys success. Research as a whole, is a process to find an answer to a specific question. The initial objectives of this study are to formalize the necessary procedures and questions to be answered, in order to gather the intended information, which will be desirable in finding an answer to the core research question. To achieve the above objectives, following are the outline of the information that will try to gather, to be used in developing proper evaluations conclusions. Actions taken to motivate the employees. Established procedures on providing job satisfaction to the employees. The process of developing employee skill and how the company utilize it. How strong is the employee-employer relationship Level of performance of the company and how the employees contribute its success. 1.2 Company Background IFS, is one of the worlds leading providers of component-based business software developed using open standards. Since 1983, IFS has been a provider of business applications focused on meeting the needs of selected industries. Basically, IFS operates in two areas: lifecycle management, where asset and product lifecycle management are critical issues, and mid market ERP (Enterprise resource planning), which covers distribution and manufacturing in midsize companies. Mainly company operates in Europe, the US, the UK, Australia and Asia with the head office situated in Linkoping, Sweden and having the employs about 2,723. Today, IFS is a global software company that helps leading enterprises improve efficiency, cut costs, react swiftly to market conditions, and take advantage of new business opportunities. IFS Applications, IFS suite of more than 60 web-based components, is the only true component-based business solution on the market, allowing deploying the software step by step as companys needs and budget dictate. Using open standards, IFS makes it easier to stay up-to-date with technology and integrate with legacy systems. And only IFS offers total lifecycle management, enabling their customers to maximize profitability over the lifecycles of your products, customers, and assets. IFS superior technology, functionality, and Industry focus have won praise from some of the worlds leading analyst firms. Gartner recognizes IFS as either a visionary or a leader in all four of its ERP and asset management Magic Quadrants. Most important, IFS legendary commitment to customer service has never wavered. Tod ay, IFS has an impressive roster of satisfied customers, ranging from mid-size companies to global industry leaders such as PepsiCo, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, DuPont, Volvo, BMW, Deere Co., and Rockwell Automation. Since the day, IFS was founded, they have given a greater importance for the customer service. Therefore today, IFS has become the only enterprise software provider that offers a global product for the mid-market together with local support. IFS has support centres in each country in which it operates, ensuring that you will receive the best customer support anywhere in the world. IFS keep track of your unique component configuration; patch levels, and customizations, ensuring that the information is available globally to all IFS support centres. Therefore it has become the huge network of all the information required to solve the customer issues without any unnecessary delays. Within the huge IFS network, office in Sri Lanka has a major importance, as it is one of the two IFS R D centres in world and major part of software development is done there, with having more than 700 employees in two local country offices. The focus group for the study is mainly taken from Sri Lankan offices and depending on the opportunities employees from the other locations were involved in the study. 1.2.1 Financial Highlights Based on the IFS Annual report 2008, it illustrate that the company is having growth in every section. Mid 2008, IFS has announced long-term financial targets entailing that, in the next five years, product revenue will double through organic growth and acquisitions, the operating margin will increase to15 percent, the dividend will rise to 50 percent of earnings after tax and surplus liquidity will be used to repurchase shares. Furthermore, report says that IFS has signed 10 largest license agreements during the year had an aggregate value of SKr 141 million where as the corresponding for 2007 was SKr 103 million. A total of 20 license agreements valued at more than US$ 0.5 million each were signed. And In all, 215 (177 in 2007) new customers were added, and 760 (778 in 2007) customers either upgraded or expanded their existing solutions. Annual Net Revenue Annual Earnings Before Interest Tax (EBIT) Value Net Debt In order to summarize the success I have extracted the above three from the report which explains the key factors of companys growth. Net revenue (: 7) amounted to SKr 2,518 million (2,356 in 2007), an increase of 7 percent, which is the highest revenue the company achieved per year for the last 4 years. EBIT (Earnings before Interest Tax) value turns out to be Skr, million 154, which is a great turn over compared to the value, SKr million -128 in 2004. Furthermore, as the : 9 shows, IFS have succeeded in diminishing their debts. They have being able to reduce the debts from Skr, million 363 to Skr, million 3, which is a sole evidence for the success of the company. Variation of Total Assets Number of employees While concerned of their financial growth, IFS seems dedicated to the expansion of the company. From 2004 to 2008, their asset, as well as number of employees has increased continuously in a similar rate. 1.3 Significance of the research Success and development of any company is depends on the level of human resource involvement. Therefore it is most important to maintain motivated and satisfied workforce to obtain the very best results of its investment. Skill development, employer employee relationship, grade pay structure employee benefits are some of the key factor which directly related with the motivation of the work force. Purpose of study is to find out how well the importances of above factors are absorbed in the Sri Lankan IT sector; within IFS Sri Lanka Ltd. The research will try to extract the information related to the specific factors and analyze them with the every aspect of the companys performances. 1.4 Structure of the Research work With having the text divided in to the several sections, the dissertation starts with an introduction, which provides the basic understanding of HRM and its functions. It concludes with an overview of the whole thesis including the information helpful for the reader to understand the topic and related facts, we are going to discuss about. The next section is the literature review, which explains relevant theories that will help to support the topic and it is followed by the research methodology which explains the research approach, and how the aims and objectives are planned to achieved. Moreover it, clearly explain the methods that used to collect the relevant data and explained the reasons why there are chosen. The result section provides the actual results I have obtained, carrying out the research, and within the analysis section, it exploits the information gathered, and structured a comprehensive analysis. Conclusion and Recommendation sections conclude the research with interp reting the gathered data and results obtained in Analysis section, along with the aims and objectives discussed at the beginning and provide the necessary recommendations based on the live facts and exhibit the virtue of the research. 1.5 Limitations of research The main limitation of this research is getting the access to the employees within the selected company. The results would be much meaningful if the researcher is succeeded in involving many individuals as possible. Therefore it would be a greater challenge to formalize an easy and simple method to acquire the relevant information from the employees, to make sure that they dont feel it as an extra burden. Time can be considered as the other major issue since I have to formalize the whole process with in a very short time period and to make sure it has grasp many individuals as possible. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is one of the most important aspects related to the employee management as it is directly related to the performance of an organization. Because of humans tends to listen to the feelings deep in their thoughts, its not enough to full fill every other things, if the employee is not satisfied with what he/she does. Job satisfaction is not same as the motivation but it linked. Job design is aimed to enhance job satisfaction and performance by using different design methods such as Job rotation, job enlargement, job enrichment etc. Job satisfaction can be viewed as â€Å"a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job experience† (Lock 1976). When someone is satisfied with his/her job that is job satisfaction, or when any job is fulfilled ones expectation that is job satisfaction. Job satisfaction mainly considers the attitudes and feelings that people have about the work. The Guion (1958) defines morale as ‘the extent to which an individuals needs are satisfied and the extent to which the individual perceives that satisfaction as stemming from his total work situation. However there are some features of job satisfaction identified by Paul Spectors (1985) such as, Pay- amount and fairness or equity of salary, Promotion-opportunities and fairness of promotion, Supervision-fairness and competence at managerial tasks by ones supervisor, Benefits- insurance, vacation, and fringe benefits, Contingent procedures-sense of respect, recognition and appreciation. According to While Luthan (1998) there are three important views to job satisfaction; Job satisfaction is an emotional thing related to a job that cannot measure. It is determined by how well outcome is achieved or exceeds expectations It shows some attitudes which can be used to identify how employees think about their job and how they achieve their targets. The factors that affect the job satisfaction of an employee can be divided in to three main areas; Internal factors External factors Individual factors Internal, external and individual factors which affect to the job satisfaction are listed in the table. Internal factors are the factors that linked to work but those are not the only factors affecting job satisfaction. External factors are related to work or to the working environment and individual factors mainly consider a person and the persons family and network of friends. Job satisfaction factors Description Internal Factors  · Job variety Number of skills and depth of knowledge required to do the job  · Autonomy The freedom that the employee get to control their own work  · Goal determination The freedom that the employees get to set their own targets and the criteria to achieve those targets  · Feedback and recognition The private and public comments that they achieve for their performance External Factors  · Achievement The persons success on their job. The trainings, improved equipments, proper education may be the way to increase the achievement and the job satisfaction.  · Role ambiguity and role conflicts Knowing the position of the work place, responsibilities and agreement between roles. Clarifying the tasks in the job, and the position in the organization. When reduce role ambiguity it lead to job satisfaction  · Opportunity The opportunities with the current and the other employers. If employees feel they have fewer opportunities in the current position, then job satisfaction decrease.  · Job security The assurance that employees get to their job  · Social interaction The way they deal with the others. The quality and the quantity of the interaction.  · Supervision Herzberg explain this as a hygiene factor. The quality of management is affect to the job satisfaction. If the quality is lower, worker can become dissatisfied.  · Organizational culture Culture and management style can increase/decrease job satisfaction.  · Work schedules Match between work schedule and the employees schedule. Flexitime may increase the job satisfaction by allowing employee to interface between work life and personal life  · Seniority The time duration that a person has held a position. When people are respect to the seniority, it will increase job satisfaction  · Compensation The rewards and the role of money Individual Factors  · Commitment This is the dedication that a person is doing to his/her job. If the actions of researching, selecting and the way he/she doing the job is visible to friends and others, then the person is satisfied.  · Expectations Every person has some expectation. Basically what people expect in return for work.  · Job involvement How important a job in someones life. More the person involved more satisfaction.  · Effort / reward ratio This is the balance between the amount they worked and rewards received  · Comparisons How a person can rate the job with someone else jobs. If a person has a good job compared to others they are satisfied.  · Age How old someone, the people who old have more work experience, they understand what are the best thing to do, but sometimes they cannot satisfy with their job. Younger people have no previous experience which to compare with the current job. So they are satisfied. Table 1 There are two main theories of job satisfaction, Variance theory and the model of job characteristics. According to Hackman and Oldham (1975) the variance theory explains that if you want X from your work then you are satisfied to the extent that it provides you with X. The second model explains the causes of job satisfaction are objective characteristics. When the employees are satisfied with their work they tend to work more, they are become more committed to the organization, and they are more productive than previous, they try to achieve their targets in a better way. (Bravendam Research Incorporated, 2002). However job satisfaction association with organizational commitment that was not mentioned in most of the studies was noted by Elangovan (2001). A negative association between the job satisfaction, stress and commitment was indicated in his study. According to his study, higher stress leads to lower job satisfaction and this in turn results in lower commitment. Petty et al, ( 1984) explains that there are three possible links between performance and job satisfaction. 1. Satisfaction generates performance 2. Performance generates satisfaction 3. Satisfaction and performance link indirectly 1. Satisfaction generates performance When designing the job it should aim to produce job satisfaction. Then it will optimize worker performance. 2. Performance generates satisfaction When a person perform well that achievement generates job satisfaction. He/ she feel to do more for their job. So the effort should be made to improve performance then it will increase job satisfaction. 3. Satisfaction and performance link indirectly These two are linked but under certain conditions. Apart from the above theories, there are successful studies proving the importance and impact of maintaining a satisfied workforce. The analysis by Vroom (1964) covered 20 studies, in each of which one or measures of job satisfaction or employee attitudes were correlated with one or more criteria of performance. Low salaries, lack of status and social security affect the motivation. When the motivation is low, job satisfaction is low. Lack of job satisfaction is a sign of turnover in an organization. The salaries and benefits which employees can achieve are related to job satisfaction. Motivation â€Å"Management is nothing more than motivating other people†, is one of the most popular proven principle followed within any kind of organization. Motivation is concerned with the strength and direction of behaviour and the factors that influence individuals to behave in certain ways. Individuals are motivated to perform in a specific method based on their perception of the situation. Motivation primarily concerned with what energizes human behaviour, what direct or channels such behaviour, how this behaviour is maintained. Motivation concerns energy, persistence and direction. According to Arnold et al (1991) there are three components of motivation, 1. Direction -what a person is trying to do 2. Effort how hard a person is trying 3. Persistence how long a person keeps on trying According to the diagram felt need creates tension for people. Tensions motivate people to avoid it. The environment will influence to shape people needs and expectations influence the effort. Management can influence employees expectations in a different ways, by offering incentives and setting them specific goals. The persons effort and results can influence the level of performance. The rewards / outcomes are the results achieved. Outcome can come from internal / external environment. Outcomes are always not positive; it can be negative as well. If it is negative, they tend to result in employee dissatisfaction / de motivation. There are number of motivation theories which are complementary to one another. The content models in motivation mainly focus on the needs that individuals are trying to satisfy in a situation. The process models focus on how managers can change the situation in a better way to tie satisfaction to performance. Reinforcement theory is as developed by Hull (1951) suggests that successes, in achieving goals and rewards act as positive incentives and reinforce the successful behaviour, which is repeated the next time a similar need emerges which is coincided with the theory by Taylor (1911), who wrote: â€Å"It is impossible, through any longer period of time, to get workmen to work much harder than the average men around them unless they are assured a large and permanent increase in their pay†. In this theory there are four principal techniques available, 1. Positive reinforcement If someone encourages the people when they done something they are utilising positive reinforcement. 2. Escape/avoidance reinforcement (Negative Reinforcement) This is a form of a reinforcement. It increases the behaviour of a person by taking away something bad. The negative reinforcement is not same as punishment. It is not a form of a punishment. 3. Extinction (repeated non reinforcement) Elimination of behaviour 4. Punishment Most of the people are not expected to take this kind of an experience. The main idea of punishment is to withhold rewards. Motivation is only likely when a clearly perceived and usable relationship exists between performance and outcome, and the outcome is seen as a means of satisfying needs. This theory was developed by Porter and Lawler (1968) in to a model that follows Vrooms ideas by suggesting that there are two factors determining the effort people put in to their jobs. First the value of the rewards to individuals that they satisfy their needs for security, social esteem, autonomy and self actualization, and the second is that rewards depend on effort, as perceived by individuals. According to Latham and Locke (1979) motivation and performance are higher when individuals are set specific goals, when goals are difficult but accepted, and when there is feedback on performance. Abraham Maslow developed the Hierarchy of needs model in 1940s and still it valid today to understand motivation, management training and personal development. This model explains the responsibility of employers to provide the work place environment which is encourages employees to fulfill their requirements. At the same time he explains needs are interrelated with some other needs that are less understood. Those are, Knowledge needs, understanding needs and aesthetic needs. The relationship of Maslows other needs The need for knowledge is defined as the desire to build up facts and s. The need for understanding is an extension of the need for knowledge. This involves search for the relationships between things and what they know and it includes the search for meaning. The aesthetic needs are the beautiful things need to be surrounded. According to Maslow all these need

Analysis: The Study of Perfect Competition and Monopoly

In perfect competition, the market consists of a huge number of buyers and sellers and hence, a single buyer or seller, however large, can not influence the market price of a product by changing his own demand / supply of the product. All the firms produce and sell homogeneous products. The products are supposed to be identical in terms of quality, variety, color, design, packing, and other selling conditions whatsoever. There are no barriers to entry or exit in the market. Firms have complete freedom to move in or move out of any industry without any obstacle. The factors of production can be moved in and out of the market easily and effortlessly. Goods, services and labor are perfectly mobile between firms and consumers. In a perfect competitive market, buyers and sellers are supposed to possess perfect knowledge about the prevailing market conditions. Firms do not have to incur any cost on transportation of goods from one part of the market to another. There are hardly any Govt. interventions in the business of the farms. Due to all these factors, in perfect competition, firms can only earn normal profits From the above mentioned characteristics, it is beyond any doubt that no such market can exist in the real world. The assumption of large number of sellers and product homogeneity imply that all individual firms in perfect competition are price takers, the demand curve being infinitely elastic which means that firms can sell any amount of product at the prevailing price. Product  homogeneity is totally an unrealistic concept. There are always certain barriers to entry and exit for the firms in any market. Factors of production can not be perfectly mobile between firms and transportation cost always exists in every market. ‘Perfect knowledge’ never exists among all buyers and sellers and there is hardly any market where the government is devoid of any power to control it. Direct and indirect taxes are common in every part of the world. Monopoly Monopoly, being the exact opposite of the perfectly competitive market, consists of only one seller of a product. The products are not homogeneous in nature and hence, there is no close substitute for them. Moreover, barriers of entry are high and the firms can either fix the price or control the supply of a product. A monopolist applies price discrimination (different prices are charged for the same product from different customers); thereby earning super-normal profits. Pure monopoly is also rare in today’s market structure. There are always some close substitutes for every product or service. Thus while the National Railways may be termed a monopoly, the Road Transport Corporation provides a close substitute for the services provided by the former. Even a few decades ago, in developing countries like India, the National Airlines and TV channel, Electricity Boards etc. But with the globalization & liberalization act in 1992, a large number of private players from across the world entered the market and gained considerable market share. De Beers was considered as one of the most effective natural monopolist in the world holding slightly less than 90 percent of market share in the mid-1980s, but still it was not the single player in the diamond market. Thus, although there may be certain markets which closely resemble some conditions of perfect and monopoly competitions, but considering the definition and characteristics of both these two types of markets, it can easily be concluded that the existence of such markets in the present age, is only a fictitious concept. References Economics for Managers, ICFAI Center for Management & Research (ICMR) Publications, chapter: 6 – 7                                                

Spirit Bound Chapter Sixteen

I DIDN'T HAVE A PRECISE count of how many Strigoi were with Dimitri's group. So much of what I'd seen through Lissa had been blurred with confusion and terror. The guardians, knowing we were expected, had simply had to make a best guess about how many to send. Hans had hoped overwhelming force would make up for us losing the element of surprise. He'd dispatched as many guardians as he could reasonably clear from the Court. Admittedly, the Court was protected by wards, but it still couldn't be left entirely undefended. Having the new grads there had helped. Most of them had been left behind, allowing the seasoned guardians to go on our hunting party. That left us with forty or so. It was as unusual as large groups of Strigoi banding together. Guardians were usually sent out in pairs, maybe groups of three at most, with Moroi families. This large of a force had the potential to bring about a battle rivaling that of the Academy attack. Knowing that sneaking through the dark wouldn't work, Hans stopped our convoy a little ways from the warehouse the Strigoi were holed up at. The building was situated on a service road cutting off from the highway. It was an industrial area, hardly a deserted path in the woods, but all the businesses and factories were shut down this late at night. I stepped out of the SUV, letting the warm evening wrap around me. It was humid, and the moisture in the air felt especially oppressive when I was already smothered with fear. Standing beside the road, I felt no nausea. Dimitri hadn't posted Strigoi this far, which meant our arrival was still–kind of–a surprise. Hans walked over to me, and I gave him the best estimate I could on the situation, based on my limited information. â€Å"But you can find Vasilisa?† he asked. I nodded. â€Å"As soon as I'm in the building, the bond will lead me straight to her.† He turned, staring off into the night as cars sped by on the nearby highway. â€Å"If they're already waiting outside, they'll smell and hear us long before we see them.† Passing headlights briefly illuminated his face, which was lined in thought. â€Å"You said there are three layers of Strigoi?† â€Å"As far as I could tell. There are some on Lissa and Christian, then some outside.† I paused, trying to think what Dimitri would do in this situation. Surely I knew him well enough, even as a Strigoi, to calculate his strategy. â€Å"Then another layer inside the building–before you get to the storage room.† I didn't know this for certain, but I didn't tell Hans. The assumption was made on my own instincts, drawn from what I would do and what I thought Dimitri would do. I figured it would be best if Hans planned for three waves of Strigoi. And that's exactly what he did. â€Å"Then we go in with three groups. You'll lead the group going in for the extraction. Another team will accompany yours and eventually split off. They'll fight whoever's right inside, letting your group head for the captives.† It sounded so†¦ militaristic. Extraction. Captives. And me†¦ a team leader. It made sense with the bond, but always in the past, they'd simply used my knowledge and left me on the sidelines. Welcome to being a guardian, Rose. At school, we'd conducted all sorts of exercises, running as many different Strigoi scenarios as our instructors could dream up. Yet, as I stared up at the warehouse, all of those drills seemed like playacting, a game that could in no way measure up to what I was about to face. For half a second, the responsibility of it all seemed daunting, but I quickly shoved aside such concerns. This was what I had been trained to do, what I had been born to do. My own fears didn't matter. They come first. Time to prove it. â€Å"What are we going to do since we can't sneak up on them?† I asked. Hans had a point about the Strigoi detecting us in advance. An almost mischievous smile flickered on his face, and he explained his plan to the group while also dividing us into our teams. His approach tactic was bold and reckless. My kind of plan. And like that, we were off. An outsider analyzing us might have said we were on a suicide mission. Maybe we were. It honestly didn't matter. The guardians wouldn't abandon the last Dragomir. And I wouldn't have abandoned Lissa even if there were a million Dragomirs. So, with sneaking having been ruled out, Hans opted for a full-on attack. Our group loaded back into the eight SUVs and tore off down the street at illegal speeds. We took up the entire width of the road, gambling on no oncoming traffic. Two SUVs led the charge side by side, then two rows of three. We shot to the end of the road, came to a halt with screeching tires at the front of the warehouse, and spilled out of our cars. If slow stealth wasn't an option, we'd gain surprise by going fast and furious. Some of the Strigoi were indeed surprised. Clearly, they'd seen our approach, but it had happened so fast that they'd had only a little time to react. Of course, when you were as fast and deadly as Strigoi, a little time was all you needed. A group of them surged at us, and Hans's â€Å"outside team† charged back, those guardians putting themselves between my group and the other going inside. The Moroi fire users had been assigned to the outside group, for fear of setting the building on fire if they went inside. My team moved around the battle, inevitably running into a few Strigoi who hadn't fallen to the first team's distraction. With well-practiced determination, I ignored the nausea sweeping through me from being this close to Strigoi. Hans had strictly ordered me not to stop unless any Strigoi were directly in my path, and he and another guardian were beside me to cover any threats that might come at me. He wanted nothing to delay me from leading them to Lissa and Christian. We fought our way into the warehouse, entering a dingy hall blocked by Strigoi. I'd been right in my guess that Dimitri would have layers of security. A bottleneck formed in the small space, and for a few moments things were chaotic. Lissa was so close. It was like she was calling to me, and I burned with impatience as I waited for the hall to clear. My team was in the back, letting the other group do the fighting. I saw Strigoi and guardians alike fall and tried not to let it distract me. Fight now, grieve later. Lissa and Christian. I had to focus on them. â€Å"There,† said Hans, tugging my arm. A gap had formed ahead of us. There were still plenty of Strigoi, but they were distracted enough that my companions and I slipped through. We took off down the hall, which opened into a large empty space that made up the warehouse's heart. A few pieces of trash and debris were all that was left of the goods once stored here. Doors led off of the room, but now I didn't need the bond to tell me where Lissa was. Three Strigoi stood guard outside a doorway. So. Four layers of security. Dimitri had one-upped me. It didn't matter. My group had ten people. The Strigoi snarled, bracing in anticipation as we charged them. Through an unspoken signal, half of my group engaged them. The rest of us busted down the door. Despite my intense focus on reaching Lissa and Christian, one tiny thought had always been dancing in the back of my brain. Dimitri. I hadn't seen Dimitri in any of the Strigoi we'd encountered. With my full attention on our attackers, I hadn't slipped into Lissa's head to verify the situation, but I felt totally confident that he was still inside the room. He would have stayed with her, knowing I would come. He would be waiting to face me. One of them dies tonight. Lissa or Dimitri. Having reached our goal, I no longer needed extra protection. Hans pulled out his stake on the first Strigoi he encountered, pushing past me and jumping into the fray. The rest of my group did likewise. We poured into the room, and if I thought there'd been chaos earlier, it was nothing compared to what we faced. All of us–guardians and Strigoi–just barely fit inside the room, which meant we were fighting in very, very close quarters. A female Strigoi–the one Dimitri had slapped earlier–came at me. I fought on autopilot, barely aware of my stake piercing her heart. In this room, full of shouting and death and colliding, there were only three people in the world that mattered to me now: Lissa, Christian, and Dimitri. I'd found him at last. Dimitri was with my two friends against the far wall. No one was fighting him. He stood with arms crossed, a king surveying his kingdom as his soldiers battled the enemy. His eyes fell on me, his expression amused and expectant. This was where it would end. We both knew it. I shoved my way through the crowd, dodging Strigoi. My colleagues pushed into the fray beside me, dispatching whom-ever stood in my way. I left them to their fight, moving toward my objective. All of this, everything happening, had led to this moment: the final showdown between Dimitri and me. â€Å"You're beautiful in battle,† said Dimitri. His cold voice carried to me clearly, even above the roar of combat. â€Å"Like an avenging angel come to deliver the justice of heaven.† â€Å"Funny,† I said, shifting my hold on the stake. â€Å"That is kind of why I'm here.† â€Å"Angels fall, Rose.† I'd almost reached him. Through the bond, I felt a brief surge of pain from Lissa. A burning. No one was harming her yet, but when I saw her arms move out of the corner of my eye, I realized what had happened. Christian had done what she'd asked: He'd burned her ropes. I saw her move to untie him in return, and then my attention shifted back to Dimitri. If Lissa and Christian were free, then so much the better. It would make their escape easier, once we cleared out the Strigoi. If we cleared out the Strigoi. â€Å"You've gone to a lot of trouble to get me here,† I told Dimitri. â€Å"A lot of people are going to die–yours and mine.† He shrugged, unconcerned. I was almost there. In front of me, a guardian battled a bald Strigoi. That lack of hair was not attractive with his chalk white skin. I moved around them. â€Å"It doesn't matter,† said Dimitri. He tensed as I approached. â€Å"None of them matter. If they die, then they obviously aren't worthy.† â€Å"Prey and predator,† I murmured, recalling what he'd said to me while holding me prisoner. I'd reached him. No one stood between us now. This was different from our past fights, where we'd had lots of room to size each other up and plan our attacks. We were still crammed into the room, and in keeping our distance from the others, we'd closed the gap between us. That was a disadvantage for me. Strigoi outmatched guardians physically; extra room helped us compensate with more maneuverability. I didn't need to maneuver quite yet, though. Dimitri was trying to wait me out, wanting me to make the first move. He kept a good position, though, one that blocked me from getting a clear shot on his heart. I could do some damage if I cut him elsewhere with the stake, but he would likely get a hit in on me that would be packed with power in this proximity. So I tried to wait him out as well. â€Å"All this death is because of you, you know,† he said. â€Å"If you'd let me awaken you†¦ let us be together†¦ well, none of this would have happened. We'd still be in Russia, in each other's arms, and all of your friends here would be safe. None of them would have died. It's your fault.† â€Å"And what about the people I'd have to kill in Russia?† I demanded. He'd shifted his weight a little. Was that an opening? â€Å"They wouldn't be safe if I–â€Å" A crashing sound off to my left startled me. Christian, now freed, had just slammed his chair into a Strigoi engaged with a guardian. The Strigoi shrugged Christian off like a fly. Christian flew backward, slamming into a wall and landing on the floor with a slightly stunned look. In spite of myself, I spared him a glance and saw Lissa running to his side. And so help me, she had a stake in her hand. How she'd managed that, I had no idea. Maybe she'd picked it up from a fallen guardian. Maybe none of the Strigoi had thought to search her when she came in. After all, why on earth would a Moroi be carrying a stake? â€Å"Stop it! Stay out of the way!† I yelled at them, turning back to Dimitri. Letting those two distract me had cost me. Realizing Dimitri was about to attack, I managed to dodge without even seeing what he was doing. It turned out he'd been reaching for my neck, and my imprecise evasion had spared me the full damage. Still, his hand caught me on the shoulder, knocking me back almost as far as Christian had gone. Unlike my friend, though, I had years of training that had taught me to recover from something like that. I'd honed a lot of balance and recovery skills. I staggered only a little, then quickly regained my footing. I could only pray Christian and Lissa would listen to me and not do anything stupid. My attention had to stay on Dimitri, or I'd get myself killed. And if I died, Lissa and Christian died for sure. My impression while fighting our way inside had been that the guardians outnumbered the Strigoi, though that meant little sometimes. Still, I had to hope my colleagues would finish our foes off, leaving me to do what I had to do. Dimitri laughed at my dodge. â€Å"I'd be impressed if that wasn't something a ten-year-old could do. Now your friends†¦ well, they're also fighting at a ten-year-old level. And for Moroi? That's actually pretty good.† â€Å"Yeah, well, we'll see what your assessment is when I kill you,† I told him. I made a small feint to test how much he was paying attention. He sidestepped with hardly any notice at all, as graceful as a dancer. â€Å"You can't, Rose. Haven't you figured that out by now? Haven't you seen it? You can't defeat me. You can't kill me. Even if you could, you can't bring yourself to do it. You'll hesitate. Again.† No, I wouldn't. That's what he didn't realize. He'd made a mistake bringing Lissa here. She increased the stakes–no pun intended–on everything. She was here. She was real. Her life was on the line, and for that†¦ for that, I wouldn't hesitate. Dimitri must have grown tired of waiting for me. He leapt out, hand again going for my neck. And again I evaded, letting my shoulder take the brunt of the hit. This time he held on to my shoulder. He jerked me toward him, triumph flaring in those red eyes. In the sort of space we were in, this was probably all he needed to kill me. He had what he wanted. Apparently, though, he wasn't the only one who wanted me. Another Strigoi, maybe thinking he'd help Dimitri, pushed toward us and reached for me. Dimitri bared his fangs, giving the other Strigoi a look of pure hatred and fury. â€Å"Mine!† Dimitri hissed, hitting the other Strigoi in a way that he had clearly not expected. And that was my opening. Dimitri's brief distraction had caused him to loosen his grip on me. That same close proximity which made him so lethal to me now made me just as dangerous. I was by his chest, by his heart, and I had my stake in hand. I'll never be able to say for sure just how long the next series of events took. In some ways, it felt like only one heartbeat passed. At the same moment, it was as though we were frozen in time. Like the entire world had stopped. My stake was moving toward him, and as Dimitri's eyes fell on me once more, I think he finally believed I would kill him. I was not hesitating. This was happening. My stake was there– And then it wasn't. Something hit me hard on my right side, pushing me away from Dimitri and ruining my shot. I stumbled, barely avoiding hitting anyone. While I always tried to be vigilant regarding all things around me in a fight, I'd let my guard down in that direction. The Strigoi and guardians were on my left. The wall–and Lissa and Christian–were on my right. And it was Lissa and Christian who had shoved me out of the way. I think Dimitri was as astonished as I was. He was also equally astonished when Lissa came toward him with that stake in her hand. And like lightning through the bond, I read what she had very, very carefully kept from me the last day: She had managed to charm the stake with spirit. It was the reason she'd been so keyed up during her last stake-practice session with Grant and Serena. Knowing she had the tool she needed had fueled her desire to use it. Her hiding all of that information from me was a feat on par with charming the stake. Not that it mattered right now. Charmed stake or no, she couldn't get near Dimitri. He knew it too, and his surprise immediately changed to delighted amusement–almost indulgent, like the way one watches a child do something adorable. Lissa's attack was awkward. She wasn't fast enough. She wasn't strong enough. â€Å"No!† I screamed, leaping toward them, though pretty certain I wasn't going to be fast enough either. Suddenly, a blazing wall of heat and flame appeared before me, and I barely had the presence of mind to back up. That fire had shot up from the floor, forming a ring around Dimitri that kept me from him. It was disorienting, but only for a moment. I knew Christian's handiwork. â€Å"Stop it!† I didn't know what to do, if I should attack Christian or leap into the fire. â€Å"You'll burn us all alive!† The fire was fairly controlled–Christian had that much skill–but in a room this size, even a controlled fire was deadly. Even the other Strigoi backed away. The flames were closing in on Dimitri, growing tighter and tighter. I heard him scream, could see the look of agony, even through the fire. It began to consume his coat, and smoke poured out from the blaze. Some instinct told me I needed to stop this†¦ and yet, what did it matter? I'd come to kill him. Did it matter if someone else did it for me? And that's when I noticed Lissa was still on the offensive. Dimitri was distracted, screaming as the flames wrapped around him. I was screaming too†¦ for him, for her†¦ it's hard to say. Lissa's arm shot through the flames, and again, pain surged through the bond–pain that dwarfed the earlier singe from Christian burning her ropes. Yet she kept going, ignoring the fiery agony. Her alignment was right. She had the stake aimed at the heart. The stake went in, piercing him. Well, kind of. Just like when she'd practiced with the pillow, she didn't quite have the strength to get the stake where it needed to go. I felt her steel herself, felt her summon up every ounce of strength she had. Throwing her full weight into it, she shoved again, using both hands. The stake went in further. Still not enough. This delay would have cost her her life in a normal situation. This was not a normal situation. Dimitri had no means to block her, not with the fire slowly eating him. He did manage a small struggle that loosened the stake, undoing what little progress she'd made. Grimacing, she tried again, pushing the stake back to its former position. Still, it wasn't enough. I came to my senses then, knowing I needed to stop this. Lissa was going to burn herself up if she kept trying to stake him. She lacked the skill. Either I needed to stake him or we just needed to let the fire finish him off. I moved forward. Lissa caught sight of me in her periphery and sent out a blast of compulsion at me. No! Let me do this! The command hit me hard, an invisible wall that made me come to a halt. I stood there dazed, both from the compulsion itself and the realization that she'd used it on me. It only took a moment for me to shake it off. She was too distracted to put her full power into the order, and I was pretty compulsion-resistant anyway. Yet, that slight delay had stopped me from reaching her. Lissa seized her last chance, knowing she'd get no other. One more time, fighting through the fire's searing pain, she threw everything she had into shoving the stake all the way into Dimitri's heart. Her strike was still awkward, still requiring a little more wiggling and pushing than the clean hit a trained guardian would make. Clumsy or not, the stake finally made it. It pierced his heart. And as it did, I felt magic flood our bond, the familiar magic I'd felt so many times when she performed a healing. Except†¦ this was a hundred times more powerful than anything I'd ever felt before. It froze me up as neatly as her compulsion had. I felt as though all of my nerves were exploding, like I'd just been struck by lightning. White light suddenly burst out around her, a light that dwarfed the fire's brightness. It was like someone had dropped the sun into the middle of that room. I cried out, my hand rising instinctively to shield my eyes as I stepped backward. From the sounds in the room, everyone else was having a similar reaction. For a moment, it was as if there was no bond anymore. I felt nothing from Lissa–no pain, no magic. The bond was as colorless and empty as the white light filling the room. The power she'd used had over-flooded and overwhelmed our bond, numbing it. Then the light simply disappeared. No fade-out. Just†¦ gone in an eye blink. Like a switch had been flipped. There was silence in the room, save for a few murmurings of discomfort and confusion. That light must have been toxic to sensitive Strigoi eyes. It was hard enough for me. Starbursts danced in my sight. I couldn't focus on anything as the afterimage of that brilliance burned across my vision. At last–with a little squinting–I could vaguely see again. The fire was gone, though black smudges on the wall and ceiling marked its presence, as did some lingering smoke. By my estimation, there should have been a lot more damage. I could spare no time for that miracle, though, because there was another one taking place in front of me. Not just a miracle. A fairy tale. Lissa and Dimitri were both on the floor. Their clothes were burned and singed. Angry red and pink patches marked her beautiful skin from where the fire had hit hardest. Her hands and wrists were particularly bad. I could see spots of blood where the flames had actually burned some of her skin away. Third-degree burns, if I was recalling my physiology classes correctly. Yet she seemed to feel no pain, nor did the burns affect her hands' movement. She was stroking Dimitri's hair. While she sat in some semblance of an upright position, he was in an ungainly sprawl. His head rested in her lap, and she was running her fingers through his hair in a gentle, repetitive motion–like one does to comfort a child or even an animal. Her face, even marred with the fire's terrible damage, was radiant and filled with compassion. Dimitri had called me an avenging angel, but she was an angel of mercy as she gazed down at him and crooned soothing, nonsense words. With the state of his clothes and what I'd seen in the fire, I'd expected him to be burned to a crisp–some sort of blackened, skeletal nightmare. Yet when he shifted his head, giving me my first full view of his face, I saw that he was completely unharmed. No burns marked his skin–skin that was as warm and tanned as it had been the first day I'd met him. I caught only a glimpse of his eyes before he buried his face against Lissa's knee. I saw endless depths of brown, the depths I'd fallen into so many times. No red rings. Dimitri†¦ was not a Strigoi. And he was weeping.

Neoliberalism A New Concept Of Economics - 3118 Words

Neoliberalism in Germany As a new concept of economics, Neoliberalism has been spread in a global range. Many countries, nowadays, have been affected by such form of economy. Germany, one of the countries of which economy has been flourishing and climbing to the top of the group, including the strong and old capitalist countries -- European Union, can be considered as one of the classical case explaining the effects caused from Neoliberalism. After World War II, Germany had been split into two separate countries, Based on Yalta Conference and Potsdam Agreement, the rebuilding and revival were limited strictly to England, US, France and Soviet Union. Until the year 1990, East and West Germany announced to get united. After that, the form of economy successfully transferred to neoliberalism which named as a social market economy in Germany. 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