The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

John le Carre: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold This book is a spy story, about bluffs between the British Secret Service and the German Democratic Republic. I found it very difficult to understand. The stroy occurs during the Cold War, in the 1950s and 1960s. The main character is Alec Leamas, a british agent in charge of East German espionage. He is recalled to the Circus, because there are no agents left. Control asks him to ’stay in the cold’. That means one last mission for him, his job is providing false information to the East German Communists.During his job in the libary he fells in love with his co-worker, a Jewish woman, Liz Gold. She is at the Communist Party in Britain. Leamas goes to jail because he assaults a civilian. He goes to Netherlands, then to East Germany, to the Intelligence Srvice. At the same time, George Smiley and Peter Gulliam travel to Liz Gold’s house, and have many questions about Alec. Leamas meets Fiedler, an East German spy, Mu ndt’s lieutenant, who joined the Communists and remained an anti-Semite. Mundt ordains the torturing and arresting of Fiedler and Leamas.Than it is a little complicated, becase Fiedler reports Mundt at the same day. I also find it hard to understand the situation from different eyes. We can get to know many characters thoughts. Sometimes I cannot decide which is the good side and the bad. It is very exciting and complicated, sometimes confusing. Fiedler discovers that Mundt is a double agent, and he was arrested before, but allowed to escape if he agreeing to work. Liz Gold’s apartment is paid by George Smiley and she promises Leamas to not to look for him after his leaving.Mundt gets to know these thing, and that those things happened before the murdering. Liz is sent to the jail with Leamas, and they are taken in a car together. Many things become clear. Liz gets to know that the British Intelligence intended to kill Fiedler. The end of the story is outrageous. Perso nally I waited for a happy end after many complicated and confounded situations. Liz and Leamas wanted to break the wire on the Berlin Wall, to escape to West Berlin. Leamas climbs up to the Wall and when he touches Liz’s hands, she is shot.Smiley tells him to jump down from the West side, but he climbs back. He is shot dead as well. I think he realised that he was a fool, he was manipulated and he had that chance to flee, but it did not work, so he gave up. I have never read such a story before, I have a sense that I have to read it once more, because there are many things I did not clearly understand. It is so lifelike and realistic that I can imagine it has happened in reality during the Cold War.

Operation Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Operation Management - Essay Example The performance of a company includes both operational and financial aspects of a company and the characteristics of the five objectives of performance management are concerned with both the aspects. The operations strategies of a company primarily focus on meeting the expectations of its customers but it can also be used to identify strengths and weaknesses of a company. The companies make strategies to improve their identified weaknesses to be competitive in the market (Al-Darrab, 2000). The five characteristics of performance objectives The five characteristics of performance objectives are: Speed: it is concerned with the delivery of product or service by the company. Quality: it is concerned with meeting the perceptions of the customers about the quality of the product or the service of the company. Cost: it is concerned with the price of the product or the service for the customers and the internal cost of production involved. Dependability: it is concerned with the stability o f the processes involved in delivering products and services on time. Flexibility: it is concerned with the ability of the company in reacting towards the changes in demand and requirement of both – the customers and the business. ... while external cost applies to price of the product to customers (Slack, 2010). McDonald’s operations strategy and five characteristics of performance objectives Since 2001, many significant changes have been introduced in operations strategy of McDonald’s and it evolved primarily around four characteristics of performance objectives - speed, dependability, cost and quality. Though it cannot be said that the flexibility was ignored by the company, it was only less preferred. Externally, McDonald’s ensured fast delivery of its quality products at affordable cost to its customers and internally it made strategies to ensure a dependable delivery system, reducing labor and operation costs to make the products cost effective without compromising with the quality. McDonald’s evaluates its performance in speed on the parameters such as the query time of customers, lead-time of orders, delivery- frequency and the time required for throughput. McDonald’s als o ensures the dependability by evaluating its performance on the parameters such as number of orders not delivered on time, average deviation time from the scheduled arrival time, the ratio of stock of products and average time of late delivery of orders. The cycle time operations strategy of the company depends on efficient HR resources and it has ensured it by adhering to the principle ‘The result is done by a man†. The company believes that strength of an organization depends on its human resources and the performance of the organization can only improve with the improved performance of its human resource (Bertrand and Fransoo, 2002). KFC’s operations strategy and five characteristics of performance objectives Being the largest chain of chicken

Business Strategy of Associated British Foods Assignment

Business Strategy of Associated British Foods - Assignment Example In relation to the study the company which has been selected is Associated British Foods, an international public limited company that has its headquarters in London. The company was established in 1935 and is the leading British supermarket chain as far as production of sugar and baker’s yeast is concerned. The company has five strategic business units: Sugar, Agriculture, Retail, Grocery and Ingredients. The grocery division stocks both branded and own label products. Brands that fall under its grocery division include Mazola, Ovaltine, Ryvita, Jordans and Twinings, Silver Spoon, Tip Top and Kingsmill. The company’s retail division (called Primark in UK and Penneys in Ireland) has a global presence with over 215 stores covering a total area of 6.9 million square feet. The retail division’s outlets are located in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK. In 1963, the company acquired the British supermarket giant, Fine Fare which it sold later in 1986 in order to acquire British sugar. As of 2009, British Sugar fulfills the sugar requirements of more than half of UK. Finally, in 2007 ABF acquired an Indian food business. The company provides employment to more than 97,000 people and operates in more than 44 countries. UK contributes to around half of the company’s sales and profits. ABF has been rigorously diversifying into other markets than Sugar since early 2000s which is a crucial aspect of its strategy. ABF acquired ‘Twinings’ in 1964 to broaden the range of national and international marketing resources available. (Whittington, R. and Mayer, M., 2002). To date Twinings has been an asset in the company’s portfolio as it enjoys strong brand loyalty and has had a pull effect which has increased sales of other brands within ABF’s portfolio (Whittington, R. and Mayer, M., 2002).ABF further diversified into the food business with the intention of providing one-stop convenience shopping to customers; the company had realized that customer buying habits and trends were changing (Whittington, R. and Mayer, M., 2002). One of the most important reasons however was the instability of earnings from sugar sector due to its seasonal nature, coupled with the anticipated EU reform (Bertin, O., 2002). Another crucial aspect of ABF’s strategy has been its diversification and growth strategy. The company has, over the years, expanded to sectors beyond sugar which is a conscious and well-thought out strategy based on strong reasoning. Firstly, the highly debated EU sugar reform intended to cut surplus in sugar beet production by slashing prices by an exorbitant 43% which would adversely affect the company’s earnings (Bertin, O., 2002). Secondly, sales from the sugar business were subject to seasonal fluctuations which had to be recovered from non-seasonal businesses so the diversification to other lines such as retail, ingredient and grocery was well just ified for ABF. (Bertin, O., 2002).Thirdly, world markets had become very unstable especially in the years following 2000 because of which its sugar line was capable of being harshly affected (Cherney and Elena, 2001). Furthermore, its sugar industry was highly dependent on the local UK economy for raw materials and output which made it undesirable for the company due to the country’s history of slow recovery from economic recessions so its diversification was justified. (Cherney and Elena, 2001). Therefore, it is evident from the reasons mentioned above that the company was formally employed in the sugar industry; however, it spread its operations to other unrelated sectors such as grocery, retail and ingredients (Austen and Ian, 2007). A key aspect of ABF’s diversification strategy has been its geographic diversification. In 2006, it got hold of Illovo; a South Africa based company which it has used as a means of penetrating deeper into the South African sugar market and could

The New Labour party and Childhood Education Research Proposal

The New Labour party and Childhood Education - Research Proposal Example The main body of the essay would examine the early years' education and care policy development before 1997 and deduce the main limitations and shortcomings of the existing system. The research would proceed to examine the changes in the New Labour party and the coalition government and produce an evaluation and synthesis of the policies they put in place in relation to childhood and education. The policies would be critiqued and analyzed in-depth and the strengths and weaknesses of the systems would be identified and examined. The main body of the essay would examine the early years' education and care policy development before 1997 and deduce the main limitations and shortcomings of the existing system. The research would proceed to examine the changes in the New Labour party and the coalition government and produce an evaluation and synthesis of the policies they put in place in relation to childhood and education. The policies would be critiqued and analyzed in-depth and the stre ngths and weaknesses of the systems would be identified and examined. Contextualization of Education and Child Care Policy This section would examine the very essence of education policy and how it affects governments and fundamental stakeholders in British society. It would involve the examination of the concept of policy and how it affects life in society. â€Å"Policy is a statement by the government of what it intends to do such as law, regulation, ruling, decision or a combination of these. The lack of such statements may also by an implicit statement† (Birkland, 2009: p9). This means that policy involves all the plans and the aspirations of a government that forms the blueprint of what they intend to do during their tenure in office. There is also another view of policy. This is a more general view of policy which is â€Å"... an intentional course of action followed by a government institution or official for resolving an issue of public concern† (Eisener, 2011: p4). In other words, a policy is more of a conscious and direct approach that guides institutions in order to attain some ends that is relevant to society as a whole.

Classifying Chihuahuas and Saint Bernards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Classifying Chihuahuas and Saint Bernards - Essay Example Bernard breeds are of the same species. Artificial selection, which involves cross breeding different dogs, has led to the many and different dog breeds seen today. The Saint Bernard and Chihuahua are good examples of the big difference created as they are extremely different in terms of looks and size. This great difference is only phenotypical and does not affect their gene pool. Phenotypical variation is evident in many animals of the same species and is also evident in humans. Therefore, the difference in look and size between the Saint Bernard and Chihuahua does not prove that they are different species. Galibert, Quignon, Hitte and Andrà © (2011), point out that the need for dogs to perform different tasks was a strong impetus towards artificial selection and the creation of more breeds. This creation, although leading to different phenotype characteristics as evident in the Saint Bernard and Chihuahua, does not change the fact that the dogs are still in the same gene pool. And can therefore, interbreed and have offspring. In conclusion, although having many phenotypical differences and great visible variations, the Chihuahua and the Saint Bernard are still in the same gene pool and are classified in the same species group, canis

Love, Sex, and Lies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Love, Sex, and Lies - Essay Example However his selfish thrive towards the riches and the comfort gets him arrested and finally his tragic end. The second movie, An Affair to Remember narrates the story of Nickie Ferrant (played by Cary Grant) and Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) who fall in love on a ship despite their individual engagements. It is a remake of the 1939’s movie Love Affair by McCarey. The movie was remade more than once. The story is about the union of the lovers despite Terry becoming disabled from an accident. Love, sex and lies play their role in both the movies and help in giving them a shape. In the melodramatic film A Place in the Sun, romance has a strong place especially while depicting the relationship between George and Angela. Initially he dates Al (Shelley Winters), a poor girl who works at the factory of his uncle, against the norms of the company. She is mesmerized by George and being inexperienced, falls in love with him. It is hard to determine who George actually loves because he is more drawn to the light promised by the wealth and luxury he traces in the life of his uncle and the hope of which he finds in his life with Angela, a socialite whom he meets during his outing with Al. However despite his actual intentions, some of the most intense scenes are shot between Angela and George. In one of the cases George says: â€Å"I love you. Ive loved you since the first moment I saw you. I guess maybe Ive even loved you before I saw you†. However it is Al who has fallen in love with George and when she gets pregnant forces him to marry her. Despite his sugg estion for abortion she is poised on her decision and threatens to reveal everything if he does not marry her. It is difficult to gauge whose love is for real because while one runs after money the other is even ready to inflict harm on her lover if he betrays. Angela is perhaps the one who loves George truly and manages to convince her father about their marriage. As the movie unravels one

Article2 Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Article2 - Article Example World societies are becoming more and more diverse. Liberal values applied to public sector leaders call for equal opportunities, recognition and respect of all people. Growing amount of diverse expectations and demands results in expanded roles of leaders in public sectors. They become responsible for the policy of inclusion in various public organization and community in general. This challenge of global diversity is, perhaps, the biggest and the most problematic issue of contemporary public sector organizations. Different changes emerge every day and public sector leaders are expected to keep their policies up to date in order to be effective. In many cases, changes in public sector are implemented too slowly to be efficient. Growing expectations and increased importance of public sector leadership forces leaders to learn how to implement changes better and faster (Fernandez & Rainey, 2006). Flexible and adaptive thinking is required from public sector leaders if they want to make their solutions widely applicable and effective. Technological development challenges public sector leaders to modernize their organization by implementing advanced technologies. New technologies give many opportunities for public sector development in all spheres, but it often requires more resources than it is available. This financial pressure is typical for public sector where cuts and deficits are usual. Innovation in public sector is often treated sarcastically. However, public sector leaders are required to be innovative in order to keep organizations effective. Only innovative leaders can find the right paths to balance limited budget and the need in new technologies implementation. According to Borins (2002), innovation has to touch upon governmental responses to crisis, redistribution of power to front-line servants and middle managers and education. Rosenbaum (2003) stresses the importance of education in