Hip hop music

Hip hop music Muziekstijl 20e eeuw HIPHOP Voorwoord Ik heb voor de muziekstijl hiphop gekozen omdat ik vind dat hier de laatste tijd de meeste aandacht naar uitgaat. Ik wil graag weten hoe de hiphop, rappers en alles eromheen was ontstaan en hoe dat is uitgegroeid tot de hiphop die we nu kennen. Geschiedenis van Hiphop. DJ Kool Herc Het hiphop verhaal begint met Kool Herc, een immigrant van Jamaicaanse afkomst. Op buurtfeesten (blockparties) intorduceerde hij het Toasting. Hij rijmde over de reggae muziek heen. Hij gebruikte hierbij twee draaitafel waarmee hij wisselde tussen verschillende liedjes, een heel ander geluid ontstond hierdoor. Het rijmen kreeg een naam: MCing, dit staat voor Master of Ceremony. Het DJ-en beviel Kool Herc wel en hij liet het rappen totaal over aan Coke Ja Rock en Clark Kent. Het eerste rapteam was geboren en ze kregen de naam: Kool Herc and the Herculoids. Kool Herc was de grondlegger van de rapmuziek, maar hij was niet de uitvinder van het scratchen. Hierbij wordt een plaat in de tegengestelde richting gedraaid en dit geeft een typisch krassend geluid wat veel wordt gebruikt in de rapmuziek. Het verhaal gaat dat Grand Wizard Theodore het scratchen per ongeluk heeft uitgevonden. Toen zijn moeder hem riep dat de muziek te hard stond, hield hij de draaiende plaat tegen en hierbij hoorde hij het scratchende geluid dat de plaat maake Evolutie van hiphop Sugarhill gang RUN DMC heeft ook nog een twee primeur op zijn naam staan, ze waren de eerste die samen een song componeerde met een rockgroep, aerosmith. Dit nummer is vrij bekend: walk this way. Hierna ging het snel met de rapmuziek, sterren volgden elkaar op en eind jaren 80 kwam er een nieuwe stijl op de markt. Het geluid was minder ruw en er werd gebruikt gemaakt van samples. Een sampler is een apparaat waarmee een stukje muziek zoals een baslijn of een drumritme apart kan worden opgenomen. In die tijd ontstonden er ook copyrights. Artiesten klaagden andere artiesten aan omdat er stukjes van hun muziek werden gebruikt. Begin jaren 90 word door velen het creatief hoogtepunt genoemd. Er ontstaan veel nieuwe groepen met een nieuwe sound. Hierbij gebruikten ze veel samples uit oude soul-, funk-, en jazzplaten, dit gaf hun producties een rustiger en artistieker geluid. Tegenwoordig is de rapmuziek een muzieksoort waarin miljarden dollars per jaar worden omgezet. Er valt veel geld te verdienen in deze industrie en daarom proberen veel nieuwe artiesten door te breken! Tegenwoordig worden veel stijlen gemixt, zoals Rap met RB of heavy metal. Sommigen vinden dat dit ten koste gaat van de muziek, omdat zij de muzieksoort liever underground houden en vinden dat de huidige hiphopcultuur niks meer te maken heeft met graffiti en breakdance. Anderen zien in de huidige en nieuwe rapmuziek een nieuwe commercià «le muziekstroming die gewoon lekker in het gehoor ligt. Waarden en normen van hiphop vroeger Orgineel is hiphop begonnen als een underground sfeer die altijd moest opboksen tegen het onbegrip van de media. Hiphoppers waren in die tijd zeer op zichzelf aangewezen. Hierdoor was het voor buitenstaanders in die tijd heel moeilijk om de hiphoppers te begrijpen. De hiphop werd praktisch door elke radiostation geweigerd en dit zorgde voor een bang tussen de hiphoppers onderling. Hiphop bevat ook altijd een boodschap, deze was meestal niet al te kleurrijk want het schetste meestal een beeld van de uitzichtloze toestand waarin de mensen in de zwarte gettos in leefden. Orginaliteit is ook een belangrijk element in de hiphop, je kan bepaalde elementen overnemen van andere artiesten, maar zorg ervoor dat je altijd je eigen stijl eraan toevoegd. Waarden en normen van hiphop nu Hiphop heeft een enorme opmars gemaakt, dankzij de commercià «le wereld is hiphop groot geworden. Hiphop werd vroeger genegeerd, maar tegenwoordig is het niet meer weg te denken uit de hitlijsten. Dit is wel ten koste gegaan van de oorspronkelijke waarden die de hiphop zo interessant maakten. De orginele band die hiphoppers met elkaar hadden, heeft plaatst moeten maken voor geld. Hiphoppers passen zich tegenwoordig vaak aan aan de consument. De oorspronkelijke waarden hebben moeten wijken voor het geld. Maatschappij In de hiphop van nu hoor je niets meer van de oorspronkelijke waarden. De teksten zijn in tegenstelling tot de eerdere hiphop inhoudsloos en de deuntjes zijn troef. Orginele nummers worden niet meer gedraaid want alles gaat op kijk- en/of luistercijfers en niet op echtheid. De nummers die duidelijke maatschappelijke meningen of zwarte statement bevatten worden achterwege gelaten, terwijl dit de hoofdwaarde van de hiphop is. Uiterlijke kenmerken van hiphop Gedrag In de hiphop draait het vooral om respect. Niet alleen respect voor jezelf, maar ook voor anderen. Dit krijg je door je skills, goed rappen of dansen, gewaagde graffiti te maken, veel van je muziek te weten of de juiste kleding te dragen. Maar ook je houding is erg belangrijk. Cool zijn, echt zijn, rustig blijven en stoer doen. Hiphop draait om originaliteit, je mag best dingen kopià «ren, maar dan moet je je eigen draai eraan geven. Je moet jouw manier van denken en verwerken in je muziek, graffiti, breakdance of iets anders. Je moet je eigen ding doen en geen kopie zijn van een ander. Het spelen met woorden, het anders dan anderen zijn. Een hiphopper is maatschappijkritisch hij heeft respect voor anderen, maar hij maakt zich niet zo druk over wat anderen van hem denken. De allereerste hiphoppers waren heel clean. Drugsgebruik en sigaretten waren taboe onder breakdancers. Maar hiphop komt van de straat en drugs raken vooral de jaren negentig snel geÃÆ' ¯ntegreerd in de scà ¨ne. Veel hiphoppers gaan blowen en drinken alcohol. Voor veel jongeren is de hiphop een leerschool. Door hiphop ontwikkelen ze hun eigen identiteit en krijgen ze zelfvertrouwen. Hiphop geeft je de ruimte jezelf te ontdekken. Wie je bent, wat je voelt, maakt niet uit. Hiphop gebruikt wijsheden, over het leven, over de maatschappij. Het ideaal van veel hiphoppers is om van hun hiphopactiviteiten te kunnen leven. Die activiteiten kosten vaak veel tijd en energie waardoor niet zelden school en werk op een tweede plaats komen te staan. Religie Religie neemt geen bijzondere plek in binnen hiphop. Een bescheiden aantal rappers draagt wel een religieuze boodschap uit, maar het komt vaker voor dat een spirituele, oosterse denkwijze in de teksten verweven zit. Taalgebruik en muziek Hiphop is een levensstijl, een sub- en straatcultuur waarbij rap de taal van de straat is. Hiphoppers en rappers gaan creatief met taal om. Rappers, DJs en producers bedenken bijnamen en hiphoppers creà «ren met een mix van Amerikaans en Nederlands taalgebruik hun eigen ding. Hiphop word ook gekenmerkt door de grote hoeveelheid woorden die in een nummer zit. Dit heeft ervoor gezorgd dat de inhoud van raps in de media terechtkwamen. Daarbij ging het om de opschepperij over zichzelf, of bijvoorbeeld door de schockerende teksten die op de platen te horen was. Hiphop gaat nog steeds vaak over woede, vergeldig, het zware leven, seks, relaties en de samenleving. Kleding Vanaf de begin jaren 80 dragen hiphoppers al sportschoenen, honkbalpetter, trainingsbroeken in felgekleurde stoffen met de bijbehorende kettingen. Hierbij is de hophopcultuur de eerste jongerencultuur die het traingspak omarmt. Als hiphop na 1985 aan terrein wint, verandert ook de hiphopmode. De glimmende, kleurige trainingspakken maken geleidelijk plaats voor strakke spijkerbroeken, leren baseballjacks, sweaters met capuchon, sportschoenen van Adidas en baseballpetten. Begin jaren negentig dragen hiphoppers wijde broeken, houthakkersblouses, T-shirts, sweaters met capuchon en sportschoenen. Ook dunne en dikke bodywarmers zijn populair. Nadat de hiphopscà ¨ne begin jaren negentig een vermainstreaming ondergaat, raakt het uiterlijke vertoon van luxe artikelen in een opmars. In clips voeren regelmatig grote autos, geld, dure merkkleding en gouden kettingen de boventoon. Rappers hebben iets bereikt en willen dat laten zien. Veel hiphoppers gaan van authentieke straatkleding over op het dragen van steeds duurdere merken. Veel rappers hebben tegenwoordig hun eigen kledingmerk. Inmiddels zijn de wijde oversized broek, (sport)schoenen (Nike, Adidas, Timbaland), T-shirts, sweaters met capuchon en een baseballpet in trek. De kleding is dus over het algemeen oversized, gemakkelijk zittend en veel bewegingsruimte toelatend. Het kapsel is over het algemeen kort. Kapsels die populair zijn, zijn onder andere dreadlocks en grote krullen. Voor meisjes was het ook populair om gekleurde plukken in hun haar te doen en hun haar te ontkroesen Doordat hiphop in de loop der jaren is veranderd en aan populariteit heeft gewonnen, is ook de kledingstijl veranderd. De gedachte dat je origineler moet zijn dan de ander maakt dat tevens de kledingstijl regelmatig veranderd. Kleding is om op te vallen, het kopià «ren van een stijl is fout binnen hiphop. Het gaat om het ontwikkelen van je eigen stijl en identiteit. De basis van hiphopkleding is om rebellie en being different uit te drukken. Instrumenten De instrumenten die werden gebruikt in de hiphop waren vooral de draaitafel, de drumcomputer en samples. Maar het allerbelangrijkst, vooral in de vroegere hiphop was dat je muziek kon maken zonder instrumenten. Met meerdere mensen kon je een hele goede beat maken. De een beatboxde, de andere deed aparte beatjes erbij, weer een andere deed de bas met zijn stem en de ander rapte. 4 onderdelen van de hiphop 1. DJ Turntablism Turntablism vat alles samen wat met turntables (draaitafels) te maken heeft. De turntablist (dj) maakt gebruik van twee turntables en probeert daar het maximale uit te halen aan geluiden, ritmes en beats. Alhoewel djs oorspronkelijk alleen de MCs begeleidden zijn er ook veel djs die zich alleen bezig houden met het creà «ren van de instrumentale vorm van rapmuziek. Er worden jaarlijks grote battles (wedstrijden) gehouden waarin de djs met de beste skills worden gekozen. De meest toonaangevende toernooien zijn de ITF (International Turntable Federation) en DMC battles waaraan djs uit de hele wereld deelnemen. De meeste Turntablists maken deel uit van collectieven. Enkele bekende collectieven zijn: X-ecutioners, The Allies, Beat Junkies, 5th Platoon en The invisble Skratch Piklz. Enkele termen zijn: Beat juggling Hierbij wordt een continu ritme gecreà «erd door de beats van twee verschillende platen af te wisselen. De snelheid kan aangepast worden waardoor een nieuwe beat ontstaat. Het handmatig op en neer draaien van een plaat waardoor een scratchend krassend geluid ontstaat. Er zijn met het mengpaneel verschillende geluidseffecten te maken terwijl wordt gescratched. In Turntable battles is het de kunst zo origineel mogelijk te zijn in het creà «ren van nieuwe geluiden, ritmes en effecten. Een jury bepaalt wie de winnaar is. De jongste winnaar van alle toonaangevende battles Is DJ A-Trak uit Canada. Op zijn vijftiende won hij zijn eerste wereldtitel. A-Trak zat toen nog gewoon op de middelbare school en versloeg alle turntable-grootheden. Tegenwoordig zit hij bij The Allies en is nog steeds een van de beste Turntablists. Dat mag ook wel, hij oefent zon 4 a 5 uur per dag. 2. Graffiti. Sinds het begin der tijden hebben mensen op muren geschilderd. De Neanderthaler deed het de Egyptenaren deden het, de Romeinen deden het enzovoort. In WOII werd er veel gekalkt, het was een vorm van verzet en daarom ook levensgevaarlijk. Na de oorlog werd er minder op de muren geschreven. In de jaren 50 bakende Amerikaanse jongerenbendes hun territorium af met op de muren gekalkte merktekens te zetten. In de jaren 60 werd het mode zijn politieke keuzes op allerlei gebouwen te zetten. Groepen jongeren wilden de maatschappij duidelijk maken dat opvattingen en verhoudingen aan vernieuwing en verandering toe waren. Dankzij de technische ontwikkeling werden er naast krijt ook spuitbussen en viltstiften gebruikt. Graffiti is à ©Ãƒ ©n van de 4 pijlers van de hiphopbeweging en het verspreide zich samen met de hiphop over de hele wereld. Maar jammer genoeg is niet alle graffiti legaal, hier en daar komen er legale zones waar de graffitispuiters hun gang kunnen gaan, maar op de meeste plaatsen blijft graffiti nog illegaal. Zo is er een nieuw graffitibeleid aangekondigd, zodat de daders voortaan op gevangenisstraffen kunnen rekenen. Ondanks alles groei de acceptatie van de kunstvorm. Steeds meer mensen komen tot de conclusie dat graffiti niet alleen maar ongecontroleerd kladwerk is. De meeste houden er na een vrij korte tijd mee op, niet zelden na een dure ervaring met het gerecht. Diegenen die het wel volhouden en het nodige talent hebben, ontwikkelen een eigen stijl en maken na verloop van tijd werken die het bekijken waard zijn. Rizon uit Antwerpen is zo iemand, hij staat bekend om zijn spectaculaire 3D-werken. Andere termen van GRAFFITI BALLONLETTERS: dit zijn letters waar geen hoeken aan zitten en dus door ronde vormen zijn opgebouwd OUTLINEN: de letters of de tekening terug omlijnen HIGHLIGHTS: een soort glans die je ziet als je het werk van ver bekijkt TOY: beginner WRITER: artiest KING: volleerde spuiter Redenen voor GRAFFITI soms alleen maar uit verveling om de kick, het opwindende gevoel iets te doen dat niet mag, omdat het illegaal is omdat de kunstwerken in het openbaar gemaakt worden, hierdoor krijg je bekendheid om het straatbeeld of stadsbeeld te veranderen, vrolijker, kleuriger en minder saai TAG: de naam of het herkenningsteken van een graffitispuiter, men noemt het ook wel een gestileerde handtekening. Het bestaat ui een met kleur gespoten woord, naam, figuurtje, of soms zelfs alleen maar een letter, het dient als herkenningspunt voor de andere spuiters of voor diegene die hem kenen. Het is bijna altijd een schuilnaam, dit zet je meestal onder een kunstwerk. THROW UP: dit is een word of een simpele tekening. Het is meestal met 2, soms 3 kleuren gespoten, deze soort werd ontwikkeld doordat graffiti verboden werd. De graffitispuiters moesten sneller werken en konden dus niet meer als 2 of 3 kleuren veroorloven STAMP: dit is een geà «volueerde vorm van de throw up. Deze stijl maakt gebruik van letters die een driedimensionaal effect veroorzaken. Dit kan d.m.v. schaduwen of lichtere kleuren lijntjes binnen het werk. Deze vorm maakt meestal gebruik van 3 of 4 kleuren PIECE: dit is meestal een groot geheel en er is de tijd voor genomen. Alles wordt hierin erg goed uitgewerkt en er wordt met veel kleuren gewerkt. Er wordt gebruik gemaakt van een omlijning, schaduw en dergelijke. Er is een ongeschreven graffitiwet dat je nooit over een ander piece heen mag spuiten. 3. Breakdance Breakdance wordt in de VanDale beschreven als acrobatische danse waarbij de danser zich ook liggend en draaiend op de grond beweegt. Ik vind dit persoonlijk een vrij eenvoudige beschrijving van breakdance, want in werkelijkheid is het veel meer. Ik denk niet dat het alleen een manier van dansen is, maar vooral een manier van jongeren om zich te uiten. Breakdance wordt ook vaak gebruikt om met en tegen elkaar te dansen. Afkomst Breakdance is ontstaan in Amerika, breakdance is ingevoerd door Afro-Amerikanen die het oorspronkelijk als een tijdverdrijf toepasten. Daarom zijn de eerste bekende breakdancers bijna allemaal zwarte Amerikanen. Breakdance heeft allerlei bewegingen overgenomen uit de traditionele Afrikaanse dans, de Braziliaanse vechtsport en de Chinese vechtsporten ook capoiera genoemd. Breakdance is de lichaamstaal van het hiphoppen, daarbij is het een mix van grond-, vechtsport-, acrobatische en dansbewegingen. Onderdelen breakdance: Powermoves. Dit zijn snelle acrobatische bewegingen die vrij veel kracht vereisen. Voorbeelden hiervan zijn de spins. Headspin(zie rechts), backspin, kneespin, hierbij draai je snel rond op je hoofd, rug of knieà «n. Deze bewegingen zijn het belangrijkste onderdeel van breakdance, het is dus belangrijke dat je deze goed onder de knie hebt. Electrics. Deze kun je weer verdelen in 2 onderdelen. Je kunt mensen de illusie laten wekken dat je heel soepel bent, het lijkt dan net of je geen botten hebt. Een ander onderdeel is dat je heel schokkerig beweegt, je probeert het zelfde effect te creà «ren als bij een robot.   Freezes. Dit zijn stilstaande moves, waarbij je in een keer stilstaat in een powermover. Het is pas een freeze als je langer dan 2 seconden stilstaat. Battles. Als 2 breakdancers tegen elkaar gaan dansen dan spreekt men van een battle. Daarbij probeert men elkaar steeds te overtreffen en wie de moeilijkste moves kan vertonen wint de battle. Battles gebeuren vooral in groep, dan gaan 2 groepen tegenover elkaar staan en gaan alle leden zo moeilijk mogelijke moves laten zien om zo de andere groep te overtreffen. Maar dikwijls hangt het niet alleen af van de moves want het publiek beslist wie de battle wint. Dus de groep die het publiek het beste kan entertainen wint meestal de battle ongeacht of ze nu de beste moves hebben vertoont. Daarom proberen de groepen elkaar te imponeren door te bluffen en verbaal geweld te gebruiken. Er worden in verschillende landen heel veel grote battles georganiseerd zoals battle of the Benelux of freestyle sessions in Amerika. Elk jaar wordt er in Duitsland ook het onofficià «le wereldkampioenschap gehouden dit evenement noemt the battle of the year. 4. Rappen Rappen is 1 van de vier belangrijkste elementen van de hiphopcultuur, naast DJ-en, graffiti en breakdance. Rappen wordt ook wel MCen genoemd en is een vorm van rijmend praten en zingen. De letterlijke vertaling van rappen is slap auwehoeren of er uit flappen. Meestal gebeurt het rappen in samenwerking met een dj die via zijn draaitafels (turntables) voor een beat zorgt. MC staat voor Master of ceremony in de hip hop,de rol van de MC is de platen van de DJ aan elkaar te praten door te rappen.De beste MCs zijn degenen die razendsnel een tekst kunnen improviseren. Er worden MC-battles (wedstrijden) gehouden, waarbij het de bedoeling is dat twee MCs elkaar verbaal proberen in te maken. De MCer gebruikt meestal de hulp van de human beatboxer dat letterlijk staat voor menselijke drummachine. Beatboxers doen met hun mond een drummachine na en maken zo een ritme waarop de rapper kan rappen. Sommige zien beatboxers als het vijfde element van de hip hop. Dankzij de human beatboxer heeft de rapper geen dure apparatuur nodig en kan hij zonder problemen op elke hoek van de straat een show opvoeren. Nawoord Ik vond het heel interessant om dit werkstuk over hiphop te doen. Ik ben dingen tegengekomen die ik niet wist. Interessante dingen over bijvoorbeeld het breakdancen en hoe de hiphop is ontstaan. Ik vind het een mooie stijl, persoonlijk hou ik meer van de oudere hiphop omdat daar meer diepgang in zit. Het feit dat de rappers het daar hebben over het moeilijke leven en hoe ze zich wouden afzetten tegen de maatschappij spreekt mij erg aan. Ik vind het erg jammer dat de hiphop de laatste jaren om geld, vrouwen en status gaat. De oudere hiphop was veel puurder. 2

McDonalds Cross-Cultural Analysis Essay

Introduction The Internet has made the world a smaller place, especially when it comes to online business – it’s now just as easy for a company to attract customers in Nairobi as it is in Nevada. This technological globalization doesn’t translate to cultural homogeneity, though–while you might be able to find a McDonalds in nearly every city on earth now, that doesn’t mean that every city eats and thinks and shops in the same way. Every national and cultural group in the world retains its own language, its own metaphors, its own identity, and thus, its own way of shopping. At about the same pace as the popularity of the Internet increased, visions flourished of the World Wide Web as a tool for bringing the world together. The marketing world in particular quickly embraced the Internet as an ideal medium for reaching beyond domestic markets in order to disseminate products to foreign markets. By understanding how communication styles may be reflected on websites, we come a step further towards identifying, and subsequently realizing the potentials of, the interactive nature of the Internet. This would be rewarding not only from the marketing perspective, but also for those organizations that are working on bringing the world closer together through dialogue. Intercultural communication competence, as Chen and Starosta [1] note, is imperative for human progress, and it is by studying communication  styles and understanding how to use them that we may be able to communicate more clearly, and promote dialogue between â€Å"us† and â€Å"them.† The interactive and global nature of the Internet has fostered many visions of mutual understanding among cultures, although the means for achieving this are still at a very early, exploratory stage. A number of studies on the relationship between website design and cultural dimensions have been conducted. Studies like Marcus and Gould [2] and Sheridan [3] analyzed both commercial and non-commercial websites in an effort to identify relationships between Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and visual presentation on the. In this work also were used Hofsted’s researches[4, 5], mainly his typology of cultures that is the most widely accepted and frequently cited theories. Also Hall’s description of some cultural dimensions was used [1, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Kluckhohn’s and Strodtbeck’s ‘Variations in value orientations’[11], Gudykunst’s [12] and Lewis’s [13] researches devoted to cultural specifics of different countries are mentioned in this study. In this work we will try to analyze the effectiveness of communication between company and customers on current websites of McDonald’s in the next five countries: Ukraine, Russia, Germany, America and Canada; and make some recommendations how to improve them according to their cultural specifics. 1 Theoretical Issues and Ideas 1.1 Website as Method of Communication between Company and Its Customers The Internet becomes more and more popular all over the world. People use it for communication, business or just to look for the information they need. The Internet is a truly global thing. Growing importance of Internet is making communication through websites between companies and customers more and more significant. The Internet environment is not only a simple tool to promote a business, but it also offers opportunities to supply information; it is an efficient platform to communicate with the clients. It’s great opportunity for companies to get feedback from their customers; attract them and improve the vision of the company. Significant result of effective communication is improved branding. If the message or purpose of the company is communicated effectively to visitors, it will leave an impression on them  that will help form their image of the company. Branding is important online and off, and the messages being sent are a major factor. Website is cost effective, pa per free communication. Using website, company can reach the wider audience and it’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so it can distribute information internally within the organization, as well as to share information with business partners, clients and suppliers. New customers will be able to locate company and company’s information and will always know where to contact the company. [14]] Company can inform customers about changes, sales, bonus campaigns, etc.; gain valuable market research, to build trust and finally reduce printing and mailing costs. A professional-looking site can help company to be taken seriously and build credibility and trust. Many consumers search for information online before purchasing at a physical store; company’s site can make a good first impression on a potential customer. At the same time customers can express their attitude towards company, their wishes and judgments about different campaigns or products proposed by the company. Developing a web-site makes it possible a very good communication with the clients and this leads, finally, to a constant adaptation of the company’s offer to the continuously changing customers’ requests. The most efficient web-site is the one that is integrated into company’s informatics system. By creating its own website, a company gets the possibility to influence in a positive way, the evolution of its activity. This way, the company becomes more efficient, with a more flexible internal functionality, more careful with the customers’ needs and expectations.[15] 1.2 McDonald’s Corporation McDonald’s Corporation is the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries, and there is the same number of websites nowadays. Currently 1.7 million people work for Brand McDonald’s. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948 they reorganized their business as a hamburger stand using production line principles. Businessman Ray Kroc joined the company as a franchise agent in 1955. He subsequently purchased the chain  from the McDonald brothers and oversaw its worldwide growth. A McDonald’s restaurant is operated by either a franchisee, an affiliate, or the corporation itself. The corporation’s revenues come from the rent, royalties and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. McDonald’s primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburger s, chicken, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, shakes and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes, the company has expanded its menu to include salads, wraps, smoothies and fruit. McDonald’s has a charity organization Ronald McDonald House Charities which functions in 52 countries. Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an independent organization whose mission is to create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children across the world. Programs are grass-roots driven to enable the Charity to offer help where children need it most—right in their own communities. RMHC has three core programs: the Ronald McDonald House, Ronald McDonald Family Room and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile. McDonald’s started its global diversity journey by creating the Global Women’s Initiative in 2009. This initiative is active in all of McDonald’s operating areas of the world and is sponsored globally by Don Thompson, McDonald’s COO. In each part of the world, this initiative supports the recruitment, development, and advancement of women at all levels of the company while creating a culture where wome n have the opportunity to succeed and grow. In 2011, the Catalyst organization recognized the Global Women’s Initiative as an innovative and systemic means through which women can thrive in the McDonald’s system and awarded the company the prestigious Catalyst Award. As a result of the global concentration, women’s business networks have been formed and have quickly grown. McDonald’s has for decades maintained an extensive advertising campaign. In addition to the usual media (television, radio, and newspaper), the company makes significant use of billboards and signage, sponsors sporting events ranging from Little League to the Olympic Games, and makes coolers of orange drink with its logo available for local events of all kinds. Nonetheless, television has always played a central role in the company’s advertising strategy. ‘I’m lovin’ it’ is an international branding campaign by McDonald’s Corporation. It was created by Heye & Partner, a longtime McDonald’s agency based in Unterhaching, Germany. It was the company’s first global advertising campaign and was launched in  Munich, Germany on September 2, 2003, under the German title ‘ich liebe es’. The English part of the campaign was launched in Australia on September 21, 2003, the UK on September 17, 2003, and in the USA on September 29, 2003 with the music of Tom Batoy and Franco Tortora and vocals by Ju stin Timberlake, in which the slogan appears. In 2007, after a public casting call which received 15,000 submissions, McDonald’s selected 24 people to appear as part of the campaign. Images of those chosen, who had submitted a story and digital photograph which â€Å"captured †¦ themes of inspiration, passion and fun,† appeared on McDonald’s paper bags and cups worldwide [16]. 1.3 Analysis’s Criteria In this study is used the collectivism versus individualism dimension, which was proposed by Geert Hofstede. Individualism is the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. On the individualist side we find societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. Values in collectivistic cultures include training, physical condition and the use of skills whereas in individualistic cultures values are personal time, freedom and challenge. Another of Hofstede’s dimensions is power distance. This dimension expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The fundamental issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people. People in societies exhibiting a large degree of power distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. In societies with low power distance, people strive to equalize the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power [17]. In F. Trompenaar’s interpretation there are the next cultural factors: equality and hierarchy. Equality corresponds with low power distance and hierarchy with high power distance. Equality is about all people having equal status. It assumes we all have equal rights,  irrespective of birth or other gift. Hierarchy is about people being superior to others. It assumes that order happens when few are in charges and others obey through the scalar chain of command [18]. One more dimension is uncertainty avoidance. According to G. Hofstede uncertainty avoidance deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man’s search for Truth. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, and different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by stric t laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; ‘there can only be one Truth and we have it’ . The next criterion used in analysis is high and low context of culture, which was found by E. Hall. Hall observed that â€Å"meaning and context are inextricably bound up with each other† [19], and suggested that to understand communication one should look at meaning and context together with the code (i.e., the words themselves). By context, we refer to the situation, background, or environment connected to an event, a situation, or an individual. When communication is high-context, it is not only the non-verbal and para-verbal communication that comes into play. High-context communication draws on physical aspects as well as the time and situation in which the communication takes place, not to mention the relationship between the interlocutors. The closer the relationship, the more high-context the communication tends to be, drawing on the shared knowledge of the communicating parties. Gudykunst identified high-context communication to be indirect, ambiguous, maintaining of harmony, reserved and understated. In contrast, low-context communication was identified as direct, precise, dramatic, open, and based on feelings or true intentions. The next Hall’s cultural factor used is time. There are two types of time: monochronic time and polychronic time. Monochronic, as he called it M-Time, means doing one thing at a time. It assumes careful planning and scheduling and is a familiar Western approach that appears in disciplines such as ‘time management’. Monochronic people tend also to be low context. In Polychronic cultures, human interaction is valued over time and material things, leading to a lesser concern for ‘getting things done’ – they do get done, but more  in their own time. Aboriginal and Native Americans have typical polychronic cultures, where ‘talking stick’ meetings can go on for as long as somebody has something to say. Polychronic people tend also to be high context. According to Richard Lewis we can divide all cultures in three groups: monoactive, polactive and reactive. Monoactive cultures – it is cultures, where activity complies with clear planning and organized in definite orded, they do not approve distractions to other tasks and percept the time linearly. Polyactive cultures are people-oriented, talkative and communicative, can make several actions at ones. In reactive cultures activity depends on changing situation and appears to be a reaction on these changes. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck did some germinal work in drawing up a conceptual map which tried to include the complete range of values which it is possible for human beings to hold in relation to five key issues about which all human beings hold opinions. Orientation Postulated range of variations Human nature evil neutral mix of good and evil good changeable unchangeable changeable unchangeable changeable unchangeable Man-nature subjugation to nature harmony with nature mastery over nature Time past present future Activity being being in becoming doing Relational lineality collaterality individualism 2 Communicative Effectiveness of the Company Website in Various Countries 2.1 McDonald’s Site for Ukrainian Customers Ukrainian culture is more likely to be high-context than low context. By Hall high-context communication involves â€Å"more of the information in the physical context or internalized in the person†, that is why this cultures usually use more imagery and less text, people are expected to read between the lines and greater confidence is placed in the non-verbal aspects of communication. These features are notably represented on the ‘Ukrainian’ website: one can view the process of preparing food in stage by stage pictures with minimum accompanying text. One more example is a list of suppliers shown as a table of logotypes of these companies. Also the main page contains illustrations of dishes moving through the screen; links to other pages are given as small pictures connected with their content, for example if you want to go to the page where you can find more about quality of milk you should click the picture of a cow. So this site communicates by means of links a nd information stated in a limited amount of text with illustrations. This gives not very transparent overview of the content in the website and often requires that the user finds out the information placing the cursor over the link to reveal more content before finally clicking this link. The term transparency is borrowed from the usability field. Basing on the â€Å"Variations in Value Orientations† Ukrainians perceive an individual as a mixture of bad and good features. According to Terri  Morrison the level of trust is rather low: the Ukrainians are suspicious of other people and along with it they are likely to rely on objective factual information , based on their own experience [20]. There are a large amount of information devoted to the quality of milk and each component of food such as its composition and great diversity of food quality certificates. One more interesting feature is presence of variety of graphs which reflect the results of polls after Doors Open Day (DOD). But people in our country do not believe this information, they think it can be falsified and that the company deceives them just to gain profit. This part of content doesn’t work effectively. By Marcus & Gould strong focus on expertise, authority, certifications, official st amps or logos can be explained by high power distance. In addition the site contains a special section which describes you how to apply for participation in DOD and provides you with a video of the previous excursions. These features may appeal to relatively high level of uncertainty avoidance in Ukraine. 2.2 McDonald’s Site for Russian Customers Russia is collectivistic culture – it’s one of dimensions found be Geert Hofstede, which is characterized by tight social frameworks in which people distinguish between groups. The site promotes collectivistic values; it is reflected in the imagery of the website, such as images of the groups of people who involved in various activities like dancing, singing, coffee drinking and doing some sports. Values in collectivistic cultures include training and physical condition. ‘Russian’ website includes special section called ‘be active’, which offers different physical exercises for boys and girls and contains sets of photographs of competitions navigated in various cities. Russian culture is relatively high-context which according to E. Hall means that the most of the information is already in the person, while very little is in the explicit, transmitted part of the message. Using this feature towards website a lot of animations and pictures are ex pected, and we can find a lot of them on the ‘Russian’ site. Animation effects are represented almost on each page and a lot of photos and bright, eye catching images are also placed. The power distance dimension offered by G. Hofstede is apparent in hierarchical structure of the website. According to Marcus  and Gould high power distance is reflected in tall hierarchical website structures, either through the implementation of many pages with unstructured layout, or the opening of new browser windows for new pages, instead of the same browser window. This description completely depicts the structure of ‘Russian ’site: there are many sidebars and menus, new browser window opens for each new page. The homepage features a large collection of links, and describes clearly what lays behind them though the use of headings, subheadings and illustrations. This makes it possible for the visitor to find what he or she interested in immediately, navigation schemes intended to prevent users from becoming lost. These features may appeal to two different parameters: high uncertainty avoidance proposed by G. Hofstede to explain a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; and by Lewis R.D. polyactivity – impatience and willingness to act quickly. 2.3 McDonald’s Site for German Customers German culture is more likely to be individualistic culture than collectivistic one, according to Geert Hofstede it means that individuals expected to be independent of others and look after themselves. We can see that pictures on the site promote individualistic values like personal time and freedom: individuals shown alone, enjoying themselves and usually products are placed with them. Individualistic culture is inclined to make a direct connection between the individual and the product. We can explain this effect by referring to Marcus and Gould, who suggested that the individualism and collectivism may influence the importance given to individuals versus products shown by themselves or in groups and that in individualism images demonstrated through materialism and consumerism. German is very low-context culture and as it explained by E. Hall more explanation is needed and very little is taken for granted in this cultures. As we can see the ‘German’ website is full of text information and large amount of wordage is used on each page, whilst only two pages have animated effects and on some pages the imagery is very poor. ‘German’ website can be described as a very transparent site, which may also appeal to the low context of this culture; so it provides a detailed overview of the rest of the site on the homepage and each subheading has a small picture  corresponding with the content of relevant page. It can also be explained by high uncertainty avoidance – there are attempts to reveal or forecast the results of implications of actions before users act. Navigation through the site is linear and new pages constantly open in the same browser window – this appeals to monoactivity of German culture, which by R. Lewis means that it can make only one action during definite time. In German time is monochronic and special attention devoted to the speed of actions; websit e with the structure mentioned above is not goal-oriented and users are expected to be willing to explore the site and seek for information. Social roles are not used to organize the information it means that all sections are obvious to all users and not sealed off from them; prominence given to customers and employees – these features may appeal to the relatively low power distance. 2.4 McDonald’s Site for American Customers In contrast to Ukrainian American is low-context culture. M. Hall described low-context cultures as those in which â€Å"the mass of information is vested in the explicit code† that is why these cultures are identified, direct, precise, dramatic, open, and basing on feelings or true intentions, people don’t communicate with gestures, the meaning depends on content and the spoken word, what means a verbal communication. These features are represented on the ‘American’ website: one can read a lot of information about different kinds of hamburgers, which is presented with text and with fewer occurrences of animations. Website is kept as practical as possible and has direct sources of information, for example additional information about components contained in food is placed below the page as boxes in which you can see the process of growth of this components and an information about it, and when you click this box a new page opens and the information appear a s text without illustrations. One more example is that only the main page consists of heavy images, pop-up effects, moving elements which accompanied by scaring music; this is one more proof of the low-context of American culture. On the ‘American’ website there is a promotion tab, when you click on it a new page opens as a game, this is a fast message for people. By Halls fast message are adept at creating quick  contacts, but may also be perceived as superficial. Based on the work of Kaplan [21] and Chen and Starosta, Choe [22] low-context culture tend to emphasize logic and rationality, based on the belief that there is always an objective truth that can be reached through linear processes of discovery. Choe said â€Å"thought patterns refer to forms of reasoning and approaches to problem solution and can differ from culture to culture†. ‘American’ website implies linear navigation throughout the site, with a consistent layout throughout the pages of the site. The website per forms the explorative function. 2.5 McDonald’s Site for Canadian Customers Canada is low-context culture. According to M. Hall cultural dimensions, in low-context cultures very little are taken for granted. Whilst this means that more explanation is needed, it also means there is less chance of misunderstanding particularly when visitors are present. Many overt and explicit messages that is simple and clear, outer locus of control and blame of others for failure; visible, external, outward reaction; flexible and open grouping patterns, changing as needed; fragile bonds between people with little sense of loyalty; low commitment to relationship (task more important than relationships); time is highly organized; product is more important than process. These features are represented on the ‘Canadian’ website: all pages are rich of text, especially a category Food Quality. Based on the work of Geert Hofstede low-context culture is more likely to be individualistic one, where emphasis is put on the goals and accomplishments of the individual rather than the group. Individuals are expected to be independent of others and look after themselves. When accomplishing goals, consideration of others is limited to include only oneself and one’s immediate family. Personal values include personal time, freedom, and challenge. For example on the ‘Canadian’ website there are some information that is family oriented. There is a section called Community in which one can find a subsection called Ronald McDonald House Charities which provide families of sick children a home-away-from-home or a place of peace and calm within a hospital. By Hall, perception of time is one more peculiarity of culture. Canada belongs to monochromic culture, where time is viewed as an  important, almost tangible phenomenon. People of such cultures are oriented towards planning and scheduling, so as to perform efficiency. As an example on the ‘Canadian’ website there is a category Restaurant Location, where you can put your address and site will show you the nearest restaurant. 3 Recommendations for Improvement of McDonald’s Websites 3.1 Cultural awareness in Web Design Nowadays a website is not just a collection of text; it is a conglomerate of images, multimedia, interactive features, animated graphics, and sounds. Cross-cultural web design nowadays requires dealing with design issues that include culture-specific color connotations, preferences in layout, animation, sounds, and other effects that are characteristic of today’s generation of websites. Formatting and navigation of the website also help attracting users’ attention and interest them in using the website. In order to do this successfully, the target group of the website must be studied. Research into how your target market’s culture affects their consumer behavior should be done. Conducting an ethnographic investigation — visiting the country, viewing how they shop and what they like, studying products which have been successful in the market and seeing how these strategies can be adopted is an important step for creating a multicultural website. Market rese arch can be done by surveying potential customers from the target market and interviewing cultural experts. While user participation is ideal in the designing process, a study of the design elements prevalent in the culture may also provide the web designer with some useful guidelines. Values and behavior indoctrinated through cultural influences may be reflected in design practices. Every national and cultural group in the world retains its own language, its own metaphors, its own identity, and thus, its own way of shopping Keeping abreast of cultural and current affairs in each of the target markets is one of the key factors, as a change in circumstances may necessitate changes to the site. Research has shown that certain colors have distinct connotations in different cultures. The implications should therefore be considered when choosing the palette for the website. Similarly to the impact of color, the appropriateness of the images across various cultures should be considered. Other symbols and  images just may not be culturally relevant in other areas of the world. Studies carried out into the impact of new technologies show that users show resistance to products with Western metaphors in favour of products localized according to their cultural customs and idioms. Choosing appropriate images for the site accordingly or being prepared to use different images in separate versions of the website can be useful while creating an effective one.[23] 3.2 Potential Improvements for the McDonald’s Websites of Particular Countries Before giving recommendations we would like to mention that we can assume that a successful and globe-spanning company such as McDonald’s has done extensive focus group testing of their website and consequently customized almost each website to appeal to its user group in each target culture, to ensure that product communication is as effective as possible. As a result it won’t be easy to recommend significant changes, but still there are some cultural issues that can be improved. Ukrainian website contains a lot of imagery, but taking into account the high context of this culture, it would be better to add more animation, because the site seems to be too constant. Taking into account that Ukrainian culture is collectivistic one not only logos of McDonald’s suppliers might be on the site; some images which corresponds with its values like family, physical condition and training could be used. Importance must be given to the products shown by themselves or with groups, not to the individuals. Also stress on the Ukrainian history and traditions should feature the site to attract users’ attention. In Ukrainian culture we can see high power distance, so the strong focus on expertise and certification might have been effective, but it’s not. This culture is suspicious about people so it is better to avoid too high concentration on this information; otherwise the site is unattractive and can arouse the suspicions. On the whole it can cause negative perception of the company; people may think that McDonald’s just trying to pool the wool over their customers’ eyes. One more important thing to be considered is opening of new page. On Ukrainian website new pages open in the same window but according to Marcus & Gould study for cultures with high power distance it is more convenient to use pages, which open in the new window of browser.  To match high uncertainty avoidance the site should be structured better: more sidebars and menus can be added to simplify the navigation across the site and to prevent the user from becoming lost. It is also important because of polyactivity of Ukrainian culture; people are unwilling to seek for information and to explore the site, they need to get the clear information quickly. On the Russian website more animation can be added, for example animation of moving people is really suitable for high-context culture and also some musical support on the main page is appropriate. Information should be organized according to social roles, for example there can be special section for managers or potential investors. Thi s can be effective because of high power distance inherent to Russian culture. Also according to these feature significant emphasis should be made on the social and moral order and its symbols like national colors or traditions. To correspond with high level of uncertainty avoidance in Russia the next improvements may be efficient: addition of tiny windows which will reveal more content information when placing a cursor over a link before clicking it, in other words forecast of the results or implications of acting before users act. Russian culture is relatively feminine it means that attention to the content of the site can be attracted by usage of poetry, common idioms, visual aesthetics and appeals to unifying values. German website contains a vast animation on the main page. It’s not the best choice for low-context culture like this one; it can bewilder people and decrease the attractiveness of the site. Low power distance also dictates some important characteristics: we can find a huge section devoted to the quality of food but for German culture it ’s advised to weaken the focus on the expertise, logos and certificates. Taking into account that German is individualistic culture we can say that more prominence should be given to youth and action, the section devoted to the employment can be expanded. Individualistic cultures are expected to be willing to provide personal information, so different employees can share their experience with those who want to start a job in McDonald’s. Emphasis might be done on what is new, unique and available only in this particular company. American website contains huge amount of animation on the main page, but for the low-context country it would be better if the site contains fewer amount of digital data, less-highly structured information, minor and infrequent emphasis on the  social and moral order (e.g., nationalism or religion) and its symbols, weak focus on expertise, authority, experts, certifications, official stamps, or logos. As an individualistic country the site should contain more information or pictures to maximize motivation of people, some i mages of success: demonstrated through materialism and consumerism. Also it’s good to use rhetorical style: controversial or argumentative speech and tolerance or encouragement of extreme claim. An important thing is to give prominence to youth and action. In American culture we can see low uncertainty avoidance, so to match this fact website should simplify the complexity with maximal content and choices (do more descriptions for quicker decisions). People from country with low uncertainty avoidance accept wandering and risk, so it would be good to do some quizzes online. Canadian website, as it is also low context culture, should give more prominence to citizens, customers, or employees. There should be no restrictions or barriers to access on the site; it should be transparent, integrated, implicit freedom to roam must be present. Taking into account that Canadian culture is individualistic one they should give importance for individuals, make an emphasis on truth and what is new and unique (on the Canadian site it is hard to understand which information is fresh, all articles are mixed and undated, so it is difficult to find something new. On the Canadian website here are no graphics, sound, and animation, but for masculine country it would be good for utilitarian purposes. Also it could contain game and competitions, because an attention gained through these features. The navigation should be oriented to exploration and control. Canada is a long-term oriented country, so in fact information on the site should be focused on truth and certainty of beliefs. It could contain some rules as a source of information and credibility, because the Canadian website is made a little freely, for example, when you what to return to the previous page the site let you on the other page, which you didn’t open and sometimes it hard to find what you saw before. Conclusion In the terms of globalized ways of satisfying people’ needs, there is a trend of gradual replacement of the companies’ market-orientation with the customer-orientation. Companies’ customer-orientation implies a continuous  and detailed process of analysis regarding the potential clients’ expectations, in this way, a strong connection between customers’ needs and the quality of offered products and services being assured. Learning the cultural differences in particular countries it’s easy to understand how to attract the customers and make their researching more productivity, funny and simple. When you understand the personal, national or organizational culture, then you can seek to align with them and hence gain greater influence. Hofstede notes that some cultural relativism is necessary: it is difficult to establish absolute criteria for what is noble and what is disgusting. There is no escaping bias; all people develop cultural values bas ed on their environment and early training as children. Not everyone in a society fits the cultural pattern precisely, but there is enough statistical regularity to identify trends and tendencies. These trends and tendencies should not be treated as defective or used to create negative stereotypes but recognized as different patterns of values and thought. In a multi-cultural world, it is necessary to cooperate to achieve practical goals without requiring everyone to think, act, and believe identically. By creating its own website, a company gets the possibility to influence in a positive way, the evolution of its activity. This way, the company becomes more efficient, with a more flexible internal functionality, more careful with the customers’ needs and expectations. But still, when creating a website, all features of particular countries must be considered to make clear appeal and improve the communication between company and customers. List of References 1 Chen, G., & Starosta, W. (1998). Foundations of Intercultural Communication. Boston: Allyn and Bacon 2 Marcus, A., & Gould, E. W. (2000). Cultural dimensions and global web user-interface design: What? So What? Now What? Proceedings of the 6th Conference on Human Factors and the Web. Austin, Texas.2 3 Sheridan, E. F. (2001). Cross-cultural web site design: Considerations for developing and strategies for validating locale appropriate on-line content. MultiLingual Computing & Technology #43,12 (7).3 4 Hofstede, G. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1997.4 5 Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s  Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.5 6 Hall, E.T., The Hidden Dimension, Anchor Books/ Doubleday, New York, 1990. (Reissue of 1965.)6 7 Hall, E.T. (1976). Beyond Culture, New York: Doubleday7 8 Hall, E.T. (1983). The Dance of Life, The Other Dimension of Time, New York: Doubleday8 9 Hall, E.T. (1985). Hidden Differences: Studies in International Communication, Hamburg: Grunder and Jahr9 10 Hall, E.T. (1990). Understanding Cultural Differences, Germans, French and Americans, Yarmouth: Intercultural Press10 11 Kluckhohn, F. R., & Strodtbeck, F. L. (1961). Variations in value orientations. Evanston, Illinois: Row, Peterson.11 12 Gudykunst, W. B., Matsumoto, Y., Ting-Toomey, S., Nishida, T., Kim, K., & Heyman, S. (1996). The influence of cultural individualism-collectivism, self-construals, and individual values on communication styles across cultures. Human Communication Research, 22 (4), 510-543.12 13 Richard D. Lewis When Cultures Collide. Managing Successfully Across Cultures. NB Publishing, 2000 13 14 Feher, A.; Towell, E. (1997)- Business Use of the Internet, Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy; 15 Granger, M.J.; Schroeder, D.L. (1996) †“ Integrating the Internet into the business environment, Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy; 16 McDonald’s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s 16 17 Hofstede’s, G. official website 17 18 Trompenaars, F. and Hampden-Tuner, C. 1997 Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business. UK: Wiley and Sons.18 19 Hall, E. T. (2000). Context and meaning. In L. A. Samovar & R. E. Porter (Eds.), Intercultural Communication: A Reader, 9th ed. (pp. 34-43). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co. 20 Christian Arno, 2010. Four Steps For Effective Cross-Cultural Website Design < http://aext.net/2010/03/effective-cross-cultural-website-design/ >19 21 Morrison, T. and Conaway, W.A. (2006) Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: The Bestselling Guide to Doing Business in More Than 60 Countries. Adams Publishing Group. 20 22 Kaplan, R. (1966). Cultural thought patterns in intercultural education. Language Learning, 16, 1-20.21 23 Choe, Y. (2001). Intercultural conflict patterns and intercultural training implications for Koreans. Paper presented at the 16th Biennal World Communication Association Conference, Cantabria, Spain22

Part Two Chapter VII

VII Once the first impulse of spite had worn off, Samantha bitterly regretted inviting Gavin and Kay to dinner. She spent Friday morning joking with her assistant about the dreadful evening she was bound to have, but her mood plummeted once she had left Carly in charge of Over the Shoulder Boulder Holders (a name that had made Howard laugh so hard the first time he had heard it that it had brought on an asthma attack, and which made Shirley scowl whenever it was spoken in her presence). Driving back to Pagford ahead of the rush hour, so that she could shop for ingredients and start cooking, Samantha tried to cheer herself up by thinking of nasty questions to ask Gavin. Perhaps she might wonder aloud why Kay had not moved in with him: that would be a good one. Walking home from the Square with bulging Mollison and Lowe carrier bags in each hand, she came across Mary Fairbrother beside the cash-point machine in the wall of Barry's bank. ‘Mary, hi †¦ how are you?' Mary was thin and pale, with grey patches around her eyes. Their conversation was stilted and strange. They had not spoken since the journey in the ambulance, barring brief, awkward condolences at the funeral. ‘I've been meaning to drop in,' Mary said, ‘you were so kind – and I wanted to thank Miles – ‘ ‘No need,' Samantha said awkwardly. ‘Oh, but I'd like – ‘ ‘Oh, but then, please do – ‘ After Mary had walked away, Samantha had the awful feeling that she might have given the impression that that evening would be a perfect time for Mary to come round. Once home, she dropped the bags in the hall and telephoned Miles at work to tell him what she had done, but he displayed an infuriating equanimity about the prospect of adding a newly widowed woman to their foursome. ‘I can't see what the problem is, really,' he said. ‘Nice for Mary to get out.' ‘But I didn't say we were having Gavin and Kay over – ‘ ‘Mary likes Gav,' said Miles. ‘I wouldn't worry about it.' He was, Samantha thought, being deliberately obtuse, no doubt in retaliation for her refusal to go to Sweetlove House. After she had hung up, she wondered whether to call Mary to tell her not to come that evening, but she was afraid of sounding rude, and settled for hoping that Mary would find herself unequal to calling in after all. Stalking into the sitting room, she put on Libby's boy band DVD at full volume so that she would be able to hear it in the kitchen, then carried the bags through and set to work preparing a casserole and her fall-back pudding, Mississippi mud pie. She would have liked to buy one of Mollison and Lowe's large gateaux, to save herself some work, but it would have got straight back to Shirley, who frequently intimated that Samantha was over-reliant on frozen food and ready meals. Samantha knew the boy band DVD so well by now that she was able to visualize the images matching the music blaring through to the kitchen. Several times that week, while Miles was upstairs in his home study or on the telephone to Howard, she had watched it again. When she heard the opening bars of the track where the muscular boy walked, with his shirt flapping open, along the beach, she went through to watch in her apron, absent-mindedly sucking her chocolatey fingers. She had planned on having a long shower while Miles laid the table, forgetting that he would be late home, because he had to drive into Yarvil to pick up the girls from St Anne's. When Samantha realized why he had not returned, and that their daughters would be with him when he did, she had to fly around to organize the dining room herself, then find something to feed Lexie and Libby before the guests arrived. Miles found his wife in her work clothes at half-past seven, sweaty, cross and inclined to blame him for what had been her own idea. Fourteen-year-old Libby marched into the sitting room without greeting Samantha and removed the disc from the DVD player. ‘Oh, good, I was wondering what I'd done with that,' she said. ‘Why's the TV on? Have you been playing it?' Sometimes, Samantha thought that her younger daughter had a look of Shirley about her. ‘I was watching the news, Libby. I haven't got time to watch DVDs. Come through, your pizza's ready. We've got people coming round.' ‘Frozen pizza again?' ‘Miles! I need to change. Can you mash the potatoes for me? Miles?' But he had disappeared upstairs, so Samantha pounded the potatoes herself, while her daughters ate at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Libby had propped the DVD cover against her glass of Diet Pepsi, and was ogling it. ‘Mikey's so lush,' she said, with a carnal groan that took Samantha aback; but the muscular boy was called Jake. Samantha was glad they did not like the same one. Loud and confident Lexie was jabbering about school; a machine-gun torrent of information about girls whom Samantha did not know, with whose antics and feuds and regroupings she could not keep up. ‘All right, you two, I've got to change. Clear away when you're done, all right?' She turned down the heat under the casserole and hurried upstairs. Miles was buttoning up his shirt in the bedroom, watching himself in the wardrobe mirror. The whole room smelt of soap and aftershave. ‘Everything under control, hon?' ‘Yes, thanks. So glad you've had time to shower,' spat Samantha, pulling out her favourite long skirt and top, slamming the wardrobe door. ‘You could have one now.' ‘They'll be here in ten minutes; I won't have time to dry my hair and put on make-up.' She kicked off her shoes; one of them hit the radiator with a loud clang. ‘When you've finished preening, could you please go downstairs and sort out drinks?' After Miles had left the room, she tried to untangle her thick hair and repair her make-up. She looked awful. Only when she had changed did she realize that she was wearing the wrong bra for her clinging top. After a frantic search, she remembered that the right one was drying in the utility room; she hurried out onto the landing but the doorbell rang. Swearing, she scuttled back to the bedroom. The boy band's music was blaring out of Libby's room. Gavin and Kay had arrived on the dot of eight because Gavin was afraid of what Samantha might say if they turned up late; he could imagine her suggesting that they had lost track of time because they were shagging or that they must have had a row. She seemed to think that one of the perks of marriage was that it gave you rights of comment and intrusion over single people's love lives. She also thought that her crass, uninhibited way of talking, especially when drunk, constituted trenchant humour. ‘Hello-ello-ello,' said Miles, moving back to let Gavin and Kay inside. ‘Come in, come in. Welcome to Casa Mollison.' He kissed Kay on both cheeks and relieved her of the chocolates she was holding. ‘For us? Thanks very much. Lovely to meet you properly at last. Gav's been keeping you under wraps for far too long.' Miles shook the wine out of Gavin's hand, then clapped him on the back, which Gavin resented. ‘Come on through, Sam'll be down in a mo. What'll you have to drink?' Kay would ordinarily have found Miles rather smooth and over-familiar, but she was determined to suspend judgement. Couples had to mix with each other's circles, and manage to get along in them. This evening represented significant progress in her quest to infiltrate the layers of his life to which Gavin had never admitted her, and she wanted to show him that she was at home in the Mollisons' big, smug house, that there was no need to exclude her any more. So she smiled at Miles, asked for a red wine, and admired the spacious room with its stripped pine floorboards, its over-cushioned sofa and its framed prints. ‘Been here for, ooh, getting on for fourteen years,' said Miles, busy with the corkscrew. ‘You're down in Hope Street, aren't you? Nice little houses, some great fixer-upper opportunities down there.' Samantha appeared, smiling without warmth. Kay, who had previously seen her only in an overcoat, noted the tightness of her orange top, beneath which every detail of her lacy bra was clearly visible. Her face was even darker than her leathery chest; her eye make-up was thick and unflattering and her jangling gold earrings and high-heeled golden mules were, in Kay's opinion, tarty. Samantha struck her as the kind of woman who would have raucous girls' nights out, and find stripograms hilarious, and flirt drunkenly with everyone else's partner at parties. ‘Hi there,' said Samantha. She kissed Gavin and smiled at Kay. ‘Great, you've got drinks. I'll have the same as Kay, Miles.' She turned away to sit down, having already taken stock of the other woman's appearance: Kay was small-breasted and heavy-hipped, and had certainly chosen her black trousers to minimize the size of her bottom. She would have done better, in Samantha's opinion, to wear heels, given the shortness of her legs. Her face was attractive enough, with even-toned olive skin, large dark eyes and a generous mouth; but the closely cropped boy's hair and the resolutely flat shoes were undoubtedly pointers to certain sacrosanct Beliefs. Gavin had done it again: he had gone and picked another humourless, domineering woman who would make his life a misery. ‘So!' said Samantha brightly, raising her glass. ‘Gavin-and-Kay!' She saw, with satisfaction, Gavin's hangdog wince of a smile; but before she could make him squirm more or weasel private information out of them both to dangle over Shirley's and Maureen's heads, the doorbell rang again. Mary appeared fragile and angular, especially beside Miles, who ushered her into the room. Her T-shirt hung from protruding collarbones. ‘Oh,' she said, coming to a startled halt on the threshold. ‘I didn't realize you were having – ‘ ‘Gavin and Kay just dropped in,' said Samantha a little wildly. ‘Come in, Mary, please †¦ have a drink †¦' ‘Mary, this is Kay,' said Miles. ‘Kay, this is Mary Fairbrother.' ‘Oh,' said Kay, thrown; she had thought that it would only be the four of them. ‘Yes, hello.' Gavin, who could tell that Mary had not meant to drop in on a dinner party and was on the point of walking straight back out again, patted the sofa beside him; Mary sat down with a weak smile. He was overjoyed to see her. Here was his buffer; even Samantha must realize that her particular brand of prurience would be inappropriate in front of a bereaved woman; plus, the constrictive symmetry of a foursome had been broken up. ‘How are you?' he said quietly. ‘I was going to give you a ring, actually †¦ there've been developments with the insurance †¦' ‘Haven't we got any nibbles, Sam?' asked Miles. Samantha walked from the room, seething at Miles. The smell of scorched meat met her as she opened the kitchen door. ‘Oh shit, shit, shit †¦' She had completely forgotten the casserole, which had dried out. Desiccated chunks of meat and vegetables sat, forlorn survivors of the catastrophe, on the singed bottom of the pot. Samantha sloshed in wine and stock, chiselling the adhering bits off the pan with her spoon, stirring vigorously, sweating in the heat. Miles' high-pitched laugh rang out from the sitting room. Samantha put on long-stemmed broccoli to steam, drained her glass of wine, ripped open a bag of tortilla chips and a tub of hummus, and upended them into bowls. Mary and Gavin were still conversing quietly on the sofa when she returned to the sitting room, while Miles was showing Kay a framed aerial photograph of Pagford, and giving her a lesson in the town's history. Samantha set down the bowls on the coffee table, poured herself another drink and settled into the armchair, making no effort to join either conversation. It was awfully uncomfortable to have Mary there; with her grief hanging so heavily around her she might as well have walked in trailing a shroud. Surely, though, she would leave before dinner. Gavin was determined that Mary should stay. As they discussed the latest developments in their ongoing battle with the insurance company, he felt much more relaxed and in control than he usually did in Miles and Samantha's presence. Nobody was chipping away at him, or patronizing him, and Miles was absolving him temporarily of all responsibility for Kay. ‘†¦ and just here, just out of sight,' Miles was saying, pointing to a spot two inches past the frame of the picture, ‘you've got Sweetlove House, the Fawley place. Big Queen Anne manor house, dormers, stone quoins †¦ stunning, you should visit, it's open to the public on Sundays in the summer. Important family locally, the Fawleys.' ‘Stone quoins?' ‘Important family, locally?' God, you are an arse, Miles. Samantha hoisted herself out of her armchair and returned to the kitchen. Though the casserole was watery, the burnt flavour dominated. The broccoli was flaccid and tasteless; the mashed potato cool and dry. Past caring, she decanted it all into dishes and slammed it down on the circular dining-room table. ‘Dinner's ready!' she called at the sitting-room door. ‘Oh, I must go,' said Mary, jumping up. ‘I didn't mean – ‘ ‘No, no, no!' said Gavin, in a tone that Kay had never heard before: kindly and cajoling. ‘It'll do you good to eat – kids'll be all right for an hour.' Miles added his support and Mary looked uncertainly towards Samantha, who was forced to add her voice to theirs, then dashed back through into the dining room to lay another setting. She invited Mary to sit between Gavin and Miles, because placing her next to a woman seemed to emphasize her husband's absence. Kay and Miles had moved on to discussing social work. ‘I don't envy you,' he said, serving Kay a large ladle full of casserole; Samantha could see black, scorched flecks in the sauce spreading across the white plate. ‘Bloody difficult job.' ‘Well, we're perennially under-resourced,' said Kay, ‘but it can be satisfying, especially when you can feel you're making a difference.' And she thought of the Weedons. Terri's urine sample had tested negative at the clinic yesterday and Robbie had had a full week in nursery. The recollection cheered her, counterbalancing her slight irritation that Gavin's attention was still focused entirely on Mary; that he was doing nothing to help ease her conversation with his friends. ‘You've got a daughter, haven't you, Kay?' ‘That's right: Gaia. She's sixteen.' ‘Same age as Lexie; we should get them together,' said Miles. ‘Divorced?' asked Samantha delicately. ‘No,' said Kay. ‘We weren't married. He was a university boyfriend and we split up not long after she was born.' ‘Yeah, Miles and I had barely left university ourselves,' said Samantha. Kay did not know whether Samantha meant to draw a distinction between herself, who had married the big smug father of her children, and Kay, who had been left †¦ not that Samantha could know that Brendan had left her †¦ ‘Gaia's taken a Saturday job with your father, actually,' Kay told Miles. ‘At the new cafe.' Miles was delighted. He took enormous pleasure in the idea that he and Howard were so much part of the fabric of the place that everybody in Pagford was connected to them, whether as friend or client, customer or employee. Gavin, who was chewing and chewing on a bit of rubbery meat that was refusing to yield to his teeth, experienced a further lowering in the pit of his stomach. It was news to him that Gaia had taken a job with Miles' father. Somehow he had forgotten that Kay possessed in Gaia another powerful device for anchoring herself to Pagford. When not in the immediate vicinity of her slamming doors, her vicious looks and caustic asides, Gavin tended to forget that Gaia had any independent existence at all; that she was not simply part of the uncomfortable backdrop of stale sheets, bad cooking and festering grudges against which his relationship with Kay staggered on. ‘Does Gaia like Pagford?' Samantha asked. ‘Well, it's a bit quiet compared to Hackney,' said Kay, ‘but she's settling in well.' She took a large gulp of wine to wash out her mouth after disgorging the enormous lie. There had been yet another row before leaving tonight. (‘What's the matter with you?' Kay had asked, while Gaia sat at the kitchen table, hunched over her laptop, wearing a dressing gown over her clothes. Four or five boxes of dialogue were open on the screen. Kay knew that Gaia was communicating online with the friends she had left behind in Hackney, friends she had had, in most cases, since she had been in primary school. ‘Gaia?' Refusal to answer was new and ominous. Kay was used to explosions of bile and rage against herself and, particularly, Gavin. ‘Gaia, I'm talking to you.' ‘I know, I can hear you.' ‘Then kindly have the courtesy to answer me back.' Black dialogue jerked upwards in the boxes on the screen, funny little icons, blinking and waggling. ‘Gaia, please will you answer me?' ‘What? What do you want?' ‘I'm trying to ask about your day.' ‘My day was shit. Yesterday was shit. Tomorrow will be shit as well.' ‘When did you get home?' ‘The same time I always get home.' Sometimes, even after all these years, Gaia displayed resentment at having to let herself in, at Kay not being at home to meet her like a storybook mother. ‘Do you want to tell me why your day was shit?' ‘Because you dragged me to live in a shithole.' Kay willed herself not to shout. Lately there had been screaming matches that she was sure the whole street had heard. ‘You know that I'm going out with Gavin tonight?' Gaia muttered something Kay did not catch. ‘What?' ‘I said, I didn't think he liked taking you out.' ‘What's that supposed to mean?' But Gaia did not answer; she simply typed a response into one of the scrolling conversations on the screen. Kay vacillated, both wanting to press her and afraid of what she might hear. ‘We'll be back around midnight, I expect.' Gaia had not responded. Kay had gone to wait for Gavin in the hall.) ‘Gaia's made friends,' Kay told Miles, ‘with a girl who lives in this street; what's her name – Narinder?' ‘Sukhvinder,' said Miles and Samantha together. ‘She's a nice girl,' said Mary. ‘Have you met her father?' Samantha asked Kay. ‘No,' said Kay. ‘He's a heart surgeon,' said Samantha, who was on her fourth glass of wine. ‘Absolutely bloody gorgeous.' ‘Oh,' said Kay. ‘Like a Bollywood film star.' None of them, Samantha reflected, had bothered to tell her that dinner was tasty, which would have been simple politeness, even though it was awful. If she wasn't allowed to torment Gavin, she ought at least to be able to needle Miles. ‘Vikram's the only good thing about living in this godforsaken town, I can tell you,' said Samantha. ‘Sex on legs.' ‘And his wife's our local GP,' said Miles, ‘and a parish councillor. You'll be employed by Yarvil District Council, Kay, are you?' ‘That's right,' said Kay. ‘But I spend most of my time in the Fields. They're technically in Pagford Parish, aren't they?' Not the Fields, thought Samantha, Oh, don't mention the bloody Fields. ‘Ah,' said Miles, with a meaningful smile. ‘Yes, well, the Fields do belong to Pagford, technically. Technically, they do. Painful subject, Kay.' ‘Really? Why?' asked Kay, hoping to make conversation general, because Gavin was still talking in an undertone to the widow. ‘Well, you see – this is back in the fifties.' Miles seemed to be embarking on a well-rehearsed speech. ‘Yarvil wanted to expand the Cantermill Estate, and instead of building out to the west, where the bypass is now – ‘ ‘Gavin? Mary? More wine?' Samantha called over Miles. ‘ – they were a little bit duplicitous; land was bought without it being very clear what they wanted it for, and then they went and expanded the estate over the border into Pagford Parish.' ‘Why aren't you mentioning Old Aubrey Fawley, Miles?' asked Samantha. She had, at last, reached that delicious point of intoxication where her tongue became wicked and she became disengaged from fear of consequences, eager to provoke and to irritate, seeking nothing but her own amusement. ‘The truth is that Old Aubrey Fawley, who used to own all those lovely stone quoits, or whatever Miles was telling you about, did a deal behind everyone's backs – ‘ ‘That's not fair, Sam,' said Miles, but she talked over him again. ‘ – he flogged off the land where the Fields are built, pocketed, I don't know, must have been a quarter of a mill or so – ‘ ‘Don't talk rubbish, Sam, back in the fifties?' ‘ – but then, once he realized everyone was pissed off with him, he pretended he hadn't known it would cause trouble. Upper-class twit. And a drunk,' added Samantha. ‘Simply not true, I'm afraid,' Miles said firmly. ‘To fully understand the problem, Kay, you need to appreciate a bit of local history.' Samantha, holding her chin in her hand, pretended to slide her elbow off the table in boredom. Though she could not like Samantha, Kay laughed, and Gavin and Mary broke off their quiet conversation. ‘We're talking about the Fields,' said Kay, in a tone intended to remind Gavin that she was there; that he ought to be giving her moral support. Miles, Samantha and Gavin realized simultaneously that the Fields was a most tactless subject to raise in front of Mary, when they had been such a bone of contention between Barry and Howard. ‘Apparently they're a bit of a sore subject locally,' said Kay, wanting to force Gavin to express a view, to rope him in. ‘Mmm,' he replied, and turning back to Mary, he said, ‘So how's Declan's football coming on?' Kay experienced a powerful stab of fury: Mary might be recently bereaved, but Gavin's solicitousness seemed unnecessarily pointed. She had imagined this evening quite differently: a foursome in which Gavin would have to acknowledge that they really were a couple; yet nobody looking on would imagine that they enjoyed a closer relationship than acquaintanceship. Also, the food was horrible. Kay put her knife and fork together with three-quarters of her helping untouched – an act that was not lost on Samantha – and addressed Miles again. ‘Did you grow up in Pagford?' ‘Afraid so,' said Miles, smiling complacently. ‘Born in the old Kelland Hospital along the road. They closed it in the eighties.' ‘And you? – ‘ Kay asked Samantha, who cut across her. ‘God, no. I'm here by accident.' ‘Sorry, I don't know what you do, Samantha?' asked Kay. ‘I've got my own busi – ‘ ‘She sells outsize bras,' said Miles. Samantha got up abruptly and went to fetch another bottle of wine. When she returned to the table, Miles was telling Kay the humorous anecdote, doubtless intended to illustrate how everyone knew everyone in Pagford, of how he had been pulled over in the car one night by a policeman who turned out to be a friend he had known since primary school. The blow-by-blow re-enactment of the banter between himself and Steve Edwards was tediously familiar to Samantha. As she moved around the table replenishing all the glasses, she watched Kay's austere expression; evidently, Kay did not find drink-driving a laughing matter. ‘†¦ so Steve's holding out the breathalyser, and I'm about to blow in it, and out of nowhere we both start cracking up. His partner's got no idea what the hell's going on; he's like this' – Miles mimed a man turning his head from side to side in astonishment – ‘and Steve's bent double, pissing himself, because all we can think of is the last time he was holding something steady for me to blow into, which was nigh on twenty years ago, and – ‘ ‘It was a blow-up doll,' said Samantha, unsmiling, dropping back into her seat beside Miles. ‘Miles and Steve put it in their friend Ian's parents' bed, during Ian's eighteenth-birthday party. Anyway, in the end Miles was fined a grand and got three points on his licence, because it was the second time he'd been caught over the limit. So that was hysterically funny.' Miles' grin remained foolishly in place, like a limp balloon forgotten after a party. A stiff little chill seemed to blow through the temporarily silent room. Though Miles struck her as an almighty bore, Kay was on his side: he was the only one at the table who seemed remotely inclined to ease her passage into Pagford social life. ‘I must say, the Fields are pretty rough,' she said, reverting to the subject with which Miles seemed most comfortable, and still ignorant that it was in any way inauspicious within Mary's vicinity. ‘I've worked in the inner cities; I didn't expect to see that kind of deprivation in a rural area, but it's not all that different from London. Less of an ethnic mix, of course.' ‘Oh, yes, we've got our share of addicts and wasters,' said Miles. ‘I think that's about all I can manage, Sam,' he added, pushing his plate away from him with a sizeable amount of food still on it. Samantha started to clear the table; Mary got up to help. ‘No, no, it's fine, Mary, you relax,' Samantha said. To Kay's annoyance, Gavin jumped up too, chivalrously insisting on Mary's sitting back down, but Mary insisted too. ‘That was lovely, Sam,' said Mary, in the kitchen, as they scraped most of the food into the bin. ‘No, it wasn't, it was horrible,' said Samantha, who was only appreciating how drunk she was now that she was on her feet. ‘What do you think of Kay?' ‘I don't know. She's not what I expected,' said Mary. ‘She's exactly what I expected,' said Samantha, taking out plates for pudding. ‘She's another Lisa, if you ask me.' ‘Oh, no, don't say that,' said Mary. ‘He deserves someone nice this time.' This was a most novel point of view to Samantha, who was of the opinion that Gavin's wetness merited constant punishment. They returned to the dining room to find an animated conversation in progress between Kay and Miles, while Gavin sat in silence. ‘†¦ offload responsibility for them, which seems to me to be a pretty self-centred and self-satisfied – ‘ ‘Well, I think it's interesting that you use the word â€Å"responsibility†,' said Miles, ‘because I think that goes to the very heart of the problem, doesn't it? The question is, where exactly do we draw the line?' ‘Beyond the Fields, apparently.' Kay laughed, with condescension. ‘You want to draw a line neatly between the home-owning middle classes and the lower – ‘ ‘Pagford's full of working-class people, Kay; the difference is, most of them work. D'you know what proportion of the Fields lives off benefits? Responsibility, you say: what happened to personal responsibility? We've had them through the local school for years: kids who haven't got a single worker in the family; the concept of earning a living is completely foreign to them; generations of non-workers, and we're expected to subsidize them – ‘ ‘So your solution is to shunt off the problem onto Yarvil,' said Kay, ‘not to engage with any of the underlying – ‘ ‘Mississippi mud pie?' called Samantha. Gavin and Mary took slices with thanks; Kay, to Samantha's fury, simply held out her plate as though Samantha were a waitress, her attention all on Miles. ‘†¦ the addiction clinic, which is absolutely crucial, and which certain people are apparently lobbying to close – ‘ ‘Oh, well, if you're talking about Bellchapel,' said Miles, shaking his head and smirking, ‘I hope you've mugged up on what the success rates are, Kay. Pathetic, frankly, absolutely pathetic. I've seen the figures, I was going through them this morning, and I won't lie to you, the sooner they close – ‘ ‘And the figures you're talking about are †¦?' ‘Success rates, Kay, exactly what I said: the number of people who have actually stopped using drugs, gone clean – ‘ ‘I'm sorry, but that's a very naive point of view; if you're going to judge success purely – ‘ ‘But how on earth else are we supposed to judge an addiction clinic's success?' demanded Miles, incredulous. ‘As far as I can tell, all they do at Bellchapel is dole out methadone, which half of their clients use alongside heroin anyway.' ‘The whole problem of addiction is immensely complicated,' said Kay, ‘and it's naive and simplistic to put the problem purely in terms of users and non †¦' But Miles was shaking his head, smiling; Kay, who had been enjoying her verbal duel with this self-satisfied lawyer, was suddenly angry. ‘Well, I can give you a very concrete example of what Bellchapel's doing: one family I'm working with – mother, teenage daughter and small son – if the mother wasn't on methadone, she'd be on the streets trying to pay for her habit; the kids are immeasurably better off – ‘ ‘They'd be better off away from their mother, by the sound of it,' said Miles. ‘And where exactly would you propose they go?' ‘A decent foster home would be a good start,' said Miles. ‘Do you know how many foster homes there are, against how many kids needing them?' asked Kay. ‘The best solution would have been to have them adopted at birth – ‘ ‘Fabulous. I'll hop in my time machine,' retorted Kay. ‘Well, we know a couple who were desperate to adopt,' said Samantha, unexpectedly throwing her weight behind Miles. She would not forgive Kay for the rude outstretched plate; the woman was bolshy and patronizing, exactly like Lisa, who had monopolized every get-together with her political views and her job in family law, despising Samantha for owning a bra shop. ‘Adam and Janice,' she reminded Miles in parenthesis, who nodded; ‘and they couldn't get a baby for love nor money, could they?' ‘Yes, a baby,' said Kay, rolling her eyes, ‘everybody wants a baby. Robbie's nearly four. He's not potty-trained, he's developmentally behind for his age and he's almost certainly had inappropriate exposure to sexual behaviour. Would your friends like to adopt him?' ‘But the point is, if he'd been taken from his mother at birth – ‘ ‘She was off the drugs when he was born, and making good progress,' said Kay. ‘She loved him and wanted to keep him, and she was meeting his needs at the time. She'd already raised Krystal, with some family support – ‘ ‘Krystal!' shrieked Samantha. ‘Oh my God, are we talking about the Weedons?' Kay was horrified that she had used names; it had never mattered in London, but everyone truly did know everyone in Pagford, it seemed. ‘I shouldn't have – ‘ But Miles and Samantha were laughing, and Mary looked tense. Kay, who had not touched her pie, and had managed very little of the first course, realized that she had drunk too much; she had been sipping wine steadily out of nerves, and now she had committed a prime indiscretion. Still, it was too late to undo that; anger overrode every other consideration. ‘Krystal Weedon is no advert for that woman's mothering skills,' said Miles. ‘Krystal's trying her damnedest to hold her family together,' said Kay. ‘She loves her little brother very much; she's terrified he'll be taken away – ‘ ‘I wouldn't trust Krystal Weedon to look after a boiling egg,' said Miles, and Samantha laughed again. ‘Oh, look, it's to her credit she loves her brother, but he isn't a cuddly toy – ‘ ‘Yes, I know that,' snapped Kay, remembering Robbie's shitty, crusted bottom, ‘but he's still loved.' ‘Krystal bullied our daughter Lexie,' said Samantha, ‘so we've seen a different side of her to the one I'm sure she shows you.' ‘Look, we all know Krystal's had a rough deal,' said Miles, ‘nobody's denying that. It's the drug-addled mother I've got an issue with.' ‘As a matter of fact, she's doing very well on the Bellchapel programme at the moment.' ‘But with her history,' said Miles, ‘it isn't rocket science, is it, to guess that she'll relapse?' ‘If you apply that rule across the board, you ought not to have a driving licence, because with your history you're bound to drink and drive again.' Miles was temporarily baffled, but Samantha said coldly, ‘I think that's a rather different thing.' ‘Do you?' said Kay. ‘It's the same principle.' ‘Yes, well, principles are sometimes the problem, if you ask me,' said Miles. ‘Often what's needed is a bit of common sense.' ‘Which is the name people usually give to their prejudices,' rejoined Kay. ‘According to Nietzsche,' said a sharp new voice, making them all jump, ‘philosophy is the biography of the philosopher.' A miniature Samantha stood at the door into the hall, a busty girl of around sixteen in tight jeans and a T-shirt; she was eating a handful of grapes and looking rather pleased with herself. ‘Everyone meet Lexie,' said Miles proudly. ‘Thank you for that, genius.' ‘You're welcome,' said Lexie pertly, and she swept off upstairs. A heavy silence sank over the table. Without really knowing why, Samantha, Miles and Kay all glanced towards Mary, who looked as though she might be on the verge of tears. ‘Coffee,' said Samantha, lurching to her feet. Mary disappeared into the bathroom. ‘Let's go and sit through,' said Miles, conscious that the atmosphere was somewhat charged, but confident that he could, with a few jokes and his habitual bonhomie, steer everyone back into charity with each other. ‘Bring your glasses.' His inner certainties had been no more rearranged by Kay's arguments than a breeze can move a boulder; yet his feeling towards her was not unkind, but rather pitying. He was the least intoxicated by the constant refilling of glasses, but on reaching the sitting room he realized how very full his bladder was. ‘Whack on some music, Gav, and I'll go and get those choccies.' But Gavin made no move towards the vertical stacks of CDs in their sleek Perspex stands. He seemed to be waiting for Kay to start on him. Sure enough, as soon as Miles had vanished from sight, Kay said, ‘Well, thank you very much, Gav. Thanks for all the support.' Gavin had drunk even more greedily than Kay throughout dinner, enjoying his own private celebration that he had not, after all, been offered up as a sacrifice to Samantha's gladiatorial bullying. He faced Kay squarely, full of a courage born not only of wine but because he had been treated for an hour as somebody important, knowledgeable and supportive, by Mary. ‘You seemed to be doing OK on your own,' he said. Indeed, the little he had permitted himself to hear of Kay and Miles' argument had given him a pronounced sense of deja vu; if he had not had Mary to distract him, he might have fancied himself back on that famous evening, in the identical dining room, when Lisa had told Miles that he epitomized all that was wrong with society, and Miles had laughed in her face, and Lisa had lost her temper and refused to stay for coffee. It was not very long after, that Lisa had admitted that she was sleeping with an associate partner at her firm and advised Gavin to get tested for chlamydia. ‘I don't know any of these people,' said Kay, ‘and you haven't done one damn thing to make it any easier for me, have you?' ‘What did you want me to do?' asked Gavin. He was wonderfully calm, insulated by the imminent returns of the Mollisons and Mary, and by the copious amounts of Chianti he had consumed. ‘I didn't want an argument about the Fields. I don't give a monkey's about the Fields. Plus,' he added, ‘it's a touchy subject around Mary; Barry was fighting on the council to keep the Fields part of Pagford.' ‘Well, then, why couldn't you have told me – given me a hint?' He laughed, exactly as Miles had laughed at her. Before she could retort, the others returned like the Magi bearing gifts: Samantha carrying a tray of cups, followed by Mary holding the cafetiere, and Miles, with Kay's chocolates. Kay saw the flamboyant gold ribbon on the box and remembered how optimistic she had been about tonight when she had bought them. She turned her face away, trying to hide her anger, frantic with the desire to shout at Gavin, and also with a sudden, shocking urge to cry. ‘It's been so nice,' she heard Mary say, in a thick voice that suggested she, too, might have been crying, ‘but I won't stay for coffee, I don't want to be late back; Declan's a bit †¦ a bit unsettled at the moment. Thanks so much, Sam, Miles, it's been good to, you know †¦ well, get out for a bit.' ‘I'll walk you up the – ‘ Miles began, but Gavin was talking firmly over him. ‘You stay here, Miles; I'll see Mary back. I'll walk you up the road, Mary. It'll only take five minutes. It's dark up the top there.' Kay was barely breathing; all her being was concentrated in loathing of complacent Miles, tarty Samantha and fragile, drooping Mary, but most of all of Gavin himself. ‘Oh, yes,' she heard herself saying, as everybody seemed to look towards her for permission, ‘yep, you see Mary home, Gav.' She heard the front door close and Gavin had gone. Miles was pouring Kay's coffee. She watched the stream of hot black liquid fall, and felt suddenly, painfully alive to what she had risked in overthrowing her life for the man walking away into the night with another woman.

Share Price Movement Analysis - 2412 Words

Banner ID: B00149402 MODULE ACCT08003 Module: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Module Leader: Steven Leonard Word Count: 1756 1. Introduction The London Stock Exchange lists the FTSE 100 which is a share index of stocks of 100 companies showing the highest market capitalisation. This will be completed by discussing the movement of the company’s share during the time period. The companies will also be compared to the movement of the shares against each other, against FTSE 100 and against its industry sector. The records and comparisons will be all in context of Stock Market Efficiency. Stock Market allows a company to be aware of the trade with shares and finance which is at an agreeable price. 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