Bank One and LaSalle Bank Comparison Essay -- essays research papers

cuss OneIn 1929, Commercial National and City National lingo of Commerce of Columbus, Ohio, merged to form City National Bank and Trust. City National offered the first Visa honorable mention card outside of California in 1966 it also created the first drive-up camber, and was one of the first banks to use ATMs. A holding company called First Bank Group of Ohio was formed and it became Bank One in 1979. As interstate barriers to banking fell, the bank moved into Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Wisconsin. The First National Bank of Chicago and Bank One merged on October 2, 1998. The merger among Bank One Corporation and First Chicago NBD Corporation created what became known as Bank One, Chicagos largest bank (one of the largest in the Midwest and nation). Bank One Corporation and its stock was traded under the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol One. This merger created the nations 5th largest Bank with assets of to a greater extent than than $240 billion. Bank One is a m ajor corporate bank nationally and in selected international markets in 11 foreign countries, the nations largest credit card company which also is a leading retail bank in eight states, the leading business bank in the Midwest and Arizona, and the largest bank mutual fund company. With assets of more than $270 billion shortly, Bank One Corporation is one of the nations largest financial services companies. Bank One currently serves more than 53 million credit card customers nationwide as well as 7 million companies in 14 states. It also manages more than $149 billion of assets for investors. The bank has 74,000 employees at 2000 branches in 14 states. On July 1, 2004 Bank One became a part of the new JP Morgan Chase. The mergers of the credit card companies, broker/ trader and lead banks will be completed over the next nine months. JP Morgan gives Bank One scale and size. However, the Bank One brand continues to be utilize in the marketplace.Bank One provides several services to i ts customers, some of which include, retail services, Commercial Banking, Card Services, Investment management group. The retail service is broken prevail over into, checking and savings accounts, consumer lending, Small business Banking, Debit/ATM Cards, Investment Accounts, Credit Cards, Insurance, Auto loans and leases, Online Banking and Home loans. The Investment Management Gr... ...processors of ATM transactions in the country. Clearly, consolidating in the sector is increasingly common. Bank One and J.P Morgan ar together now able to rival Citigroup in retail, commercial, and investment management. This is a task that would have been impractical without a merger between the 2 organizations. J.P. Morgan (JPM stock ticker) has a buy rating on the stock by Standard & Poors, which one of the most honorable providers of independent financial research in the world. While LaSalle Bank and Bank One compete for Chicago area retail banking business, their overall business strateg ies are quite different and do not overlap considerably outside of basic retail banking. While the growth rate of J.P. Morgan is not expectedly lower delinquent to the size of the organization and the industry as a whole, the growth is similar to that of the companys key competitor, Citigroup. The future for J.P. Morgan is likely to be filled with supererogatory mergers and acquisitions. It remains to be seen how the company will compete from an operational and service standpoint with Citigroup however, it will be a protracted battle between the two stable behemoth financial services firms.

A Comparison of the Quest for Enlightenment in Candide and Dream of the

Quest for Enlightenment in Candide and Dream of the Red Chamber Seventeenth-century Europe saw the end of the Renaissance and ushered in the neoclassical era. During this period, which is also called the Enlightenment and The Age of Reason, society advocated rationalism and urged the restraint of emotion. Writers modeled their works after the Greco-Roman satires and picaresque novels. At around the same while in China, the author of Dream of the Red Chamber explores a different kind of enlightenment, whose roots are in religion. Buddha is called The Enlightened One, and one of the major concerns of Buddhism is wherefore do we suffer and feel pain? Candide by Voltaire and Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xuegin introduce characters and motifs that pass on become illustrations of the quest for enlightenment. Candide, in the tactile property of the European Enlightenment, is a satire on philosophy and religion. Voltaire uses this work to candidly criticize irrational optimism and thought control. Interestingly, the word candid even makes up a part of Candides name, and Voltaire uses hyperbole to contribute to his concept of extremes. After existence kicked out of his home, Candide wanders and drags himself toward the neighboring town . . . dying of hunger and fatigue. Later, he embraced the Baron and Pangloss a light speed times. Pangloss, Candides tutor, teaches a strange subject called metaphysico-theologo-cosmolo-nigology, and one of the towns Candide visits is named Valdberghoff-trarbk-dikdorff. It is these details that accentuate Voltaires criticism of irrational behavior. He further stresses his point with the characters rationalization of hardship as being everything is for the best. regardless of how ... ...eam of the Red Chamber is also related to the happiness material things can bring. Chen Shih-yin gives up his material possessions and begins a journey to enlightenment. While both author seem to renounce or denounce the world, they also appe ar to espouse the seize the day philosophy, so that one will not have regrets. Works Cited Voltaire. Candide or Optimism. Trans. Donald M. Frame. The HarperCollins World referee The Modern World. Ed. Mary Ann Caws and Christopher Prendergast. New York HarperCollins, 1994. 1933-1997. Other versions have also been consulted. Cao Xuegin. Dream of the Read Chamber. An excerpt and adaptation. Trans. Chi-Chen Wang. The HarperCollins World Reader The Modern World. Ed. Mary Ann Caws and Christopher Prendergast. New York HarperCollins, 1994. 1469-1478. Other versions, including the original, have also been consulted.

Anthrax Prevention :: Anthrax Vaccine

Aside from treatments of the disease, there is also another way to fight splenic fever an splenic fever vaccine. For some time now, a vaccine to protect animals from anthrax has been available. It wasnt until 1970, when a human vaccine was licensed called Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed (AVA) (Joellenbeck). It was licensed for workers at high risk for occupational pictorial matter to anthrax. The vaccine is a cell-free filtrate containing protective antigen as the principal immunogen (Joellenbeck). The vaccine also was install to be 93% effective in preventing both cutaneous and inhalation anthrax (CDC). Starting in the 1990s, the U.S. military created a vaccination program that necessary all active duty members to receive the anthrax vaccine due to the threat of infection in the battlefield as well as development a biological weapon in warfare. The vaccination involved a series of six shots within 18 months, followed by yearly boosters. For the Persian disconnect War, 150,000 America s oldiers were inoculated with the anthrax vaccine in 1991 (Joellenbeck). In 1998, the FDA halted production at its manufacturers facility due to safety violations. It wasnt until 2002, when the manufacturer of the anthrax vaccine was finally able to meet all FDA production and licensing requirements and was permitted to continue full-scale vaccine production (Darling). Even though the vaccine is being produced, it is not available to the general public. The closest thing to the anthrax vaccine the CDC has offered was part of an investigational new drug (IND) protocol in response to the bioterrorism events in 2001. Currently, the lone(prenominal) allowed people to receive the vaccination are those who work with animal tissue imported from areas where anthrax is endemic, military personnel deployed to areas with a high risk of exposure during an attack, and persons who work directly with the organism in a laboratory (CDC). This is due to a low exactly significant chance of side effec ts from exploitation the vaccine as well as a short supply of it. Many groups claim that the vaccine was somewhat responsible for Gulf War Syndrome but a study done on it found that the available evidence from studies with humans and animals, coupled with reasonable assumptions of analogy, showed that AVA as licensed is an effective vaccine for the vindication of humans against anthrax, including inhalational anthrax caused by any type of engineered strain of B. anthracis (Joellenbeck). This comes as good news considering the ever-increasing fear of bioterrorism prevalent in the world.

Detroit Riots :: essays research papers

Many civil disorders have erupted across the United States. Racial tensions were at a highpoint in the 1960s with riots and looting passim the major cities in the United States. This was not such a problem in the rural areas but the urban areas had serious racial problems among black and white slew. Throughout the 1960s blacks and whites clearly demonstrated that they had many problems living segregated in the urban areas. It was a civil explosion that you drop clearly see from the Detroit riots in 1967. Detroit experienced the worst civil disorder of any American city in the 20th century. Prior to July 23, 1967 Detroit had managed to avoid riots that had erupted in other major cities such as Harlem, Cleveland, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Day 1At 345 a.m. on Sunday July 23, 1967 twelve officers did a routine fall apart in a Blind Pig on 12th street. There were 82 people arrested. As the last squad car was loading with prisoners, a crowd of about 200 people gathered. They made thre ats towards the police and incited the crowd that had gathered. The squad car began to leave and the crowd began to throw bottles and rocks, which shattered the back window of the squad car. This started off the worst riot of the 20th century.Shortly after 5 a.m. stores were being broken into, rocks and bricks were smashing through windows. By 11 a.m. a crowd of about a thousand people were surrounding a smaller crowd of about a hundred or so people that were swarming the streets taunting the police and firemen. After that the looting began to take off in different spots all over the entire city.Day 2In the second day of rioting the Mayor issued a curfew. All people had to be off the streets between 9 p.m. and 530 a.m. and no downpour beverages were to be sold or possessed which was not followed the rioters. At 1225 the first death was reported. A 45 year-old white male flavour was claimed when he was shot by a white store owner who claimed the man was looting his store. This was only the beginning for the many more fatalities that continued throughout the riots.The burning and looting continued throughout the night. An entire block was reported on fire in the area of Dexter and Davison. This was just one of the nigh 1,680 fires that would be set during the riots and looting.

Dr. Faustus Essay: Faustus Changing Relationship with the Audience

Doctor Faustus Changing Relationship with the Audience Any good drama will have interesting and multi-faceted characters virtually go a step further by developing some of those characters throughout the story, using the events of the plot to change them in various ways. The audience (in the character reference of a play) follows the characters throughout, watching as they move away from their originally crafted personalities and become something different. Naturally, during this period, the audiences opinion of the characters will change, as will their sympathies. In the case of Doctor Faustus, it is more thanover Faustus character that has a large enough part in the play to change perceptibly the other characters are either incidental characters, existing rigorously for the sake of the plot and ongoing story (in particular, most of the characters from the middle section of the play, from the scenes that restrain place in the courts of Rome and Germany), or mythological charact ers, such as Mephostophilis, who are traditional morality play characters and, consequently, are constrained by their accepted dramatic roles. The character of Faustus, however, changes greatly throughout the play, mainly with regard to his opinions of hell and repentance. Perhaps more important than the changes his character undergoes are the situations in which he finds himself the audiences shifting sympathy is due as much to his personal developments as well as his ever-changing circumstances. At he very beginning of the play, we are introduced to Faustus in a very clinical, objective fashion. In the Prologue, the Chorus briefly describes his past and then hints roughly the events to come (His waxen wings did mount above his reach, / And, melting, heavens conspird his o... ...hip between Faustus and the audience, as he fully accepts his own mistake and does not blame it just on Lucifer or his parents or any other person. Scene XX serves to remind us that Faustus was once a normal human macrocosm and that he will end his life, after a fashion, as a human being, as the scholars vow to give his mangled limbs due burial. At various times during the play we are exasperated by Faustus, endeared to him, laugh with him and, at the end, we feel great pity for him. It is to Marlowes great credit that he manages to take us on such a long journey with the character and gain our sympathy at the end, despite Faustus effectively being an agent of evil. whole works CitedMarlowe, Christopher. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Eds. M.H. Abrams et. al. New York W.W. Norton and Co, 1993.

Dr. Faustus Essay: Faustus Changing Relationship with the Audience

Doctor Faustus Changing Relationship with the Audience Any good drama leave behind have interesting and multi-faceted temperaments some go a step further by developing some of those characters throughout the story, using the events of the speckle to change them in various ways. The audience (in the case of a play) follows the characters throughout, reflexion as they move away from their originally crafted personalities and become something different. Naturally, during this period, the audiences opinion of the characters will change, as will their sympathies. In the case of Doctor Faustus, it is only Faustus character that has a large enough part in the play to change perceptibly the other characters are either incidental characters, existing purely for the sake of the plot and ongoing story (in particular, most of the characters from the middle section of the play, from the scenes that take place in the courts of Rome and Germany), or mythological characters, such as Mephostophi lis, who are handed-down morality play characters and, consequently, are constrained by their accepted dramatic roles. The character of Faustus, however, changes greatly throughout the play, mainly with regard to his opinions of hell and repentance. Perhaps more important than the changes his character undergoes are the situations in which he finds himself the audiences shifting sympathy is due as much to his personal developments as well as his changing circumstances. At he very beginning of the play, we are introduced to Faustus in a very clinical, objective fashion. In the Prologue, the Chorus briefly describes his past and then hints about the events to come (His impressible wings did mount above his reach, / And, melting, heavens conspird his o... ...hip between Faustus and the audience, as he fully accepts his own mistake and does not blame it solely on lucifer or his parents or any other person. Scene XX serves to remind us that Faustus was once a normal human being and that he will end his life, after a fashion, as a human being, as the scholars vow to give his mangled limbs due burial. At various propagation during the play we are exasperated by Faustus, endeared to him, laugh with him and, at the end, we feel great pity for him. It is to Marlowes great credit that he manages to take us on such a long journey with the character and gain our sympathy at the end, despite Faustus effectively being an agent of evil. Works CitedMarlowe, Christopher. The Tragical narrative of Doctor Faustus. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Eds. M.H. Abrams et. al. New York W.W. Norton and Co, 1993.

Change Speech -Kite Runner, Poem, Article Essay

One corporation perceive transpose within themselves in various s back talkway and finished various mediums. Today I stand before you, ladies and gentleman to discuss with you three significant Changing Self texts I believe, strongly plug in in their own ways with the Representations of Changing Self expo. Change can be an immediate process or it can be a series of events over a prolonged period of cartridge holder like it is in Hosseinis novel The kite Runner, published in 2003. However, using different texts The Kite Runner and perhaps a poem, like The Door, by Miroslar Holub for example, can represent change of self not only in a different format, simply also connecting minds that change can be triggered by a certain event or experience in history which can leave a lasting impact on the present and future. At times we need to be coached or pushed into change, however in other instances we are called to embrace the prospect as it arises.Sometimes we come across change un knowingly, by innocence or fear of circumstances as of a true story of an Indian boy named Saroo who unknowingly was driven through the process of change. Changing Self can be a very difficult process to acknowledge and to accept. This idea is significant in The Kite Runner a deep moving novel demonstrates how a horrific experience of angiotensin converting enzyme unforeseen event can change the present and future of a young life. amir slowly develops realisation with age that another change is required to bring about a new beginning or a way to be good once more, as Rahim Khan said presented as a one time opportunity . As discussed in the beginning of the novel we are revealed with a component of the past(a) which reflects the choice of future emeer is faced with.The result of Amirs dreadful experience of watching his servant friend, or not-so-much friend, Hassan being raped and the fact that he didnt do anything about it, or yard in and fight Asef before any commotion began f ills Amir with unsound guilt and remorse which he proved unable to hide away from, it was my past of untatoned sins as quoted. This guilt is too powerful for him to acknowledge, so much so that he takes the course of trying to change the way things ran around his home, by getting rid of Hassan from his life. Amir runs away, metaphorically and literally from the environment and surrounds in hope to seek a better mind and reality. Using the literal running from Afghanistan to the States to seek safety, he does this metaphorically as he tries to run away from the guilt he cannot let go of.The symbolic use of the cleft lip is a significant detail in the novel used to classify that a person can be identified through specific events and choices, irrefutable or negative. By this whereas Hassan had a cleft lip as a child, this same scenario is changed around as Amir embraces the opportunity to become good again and part with Sohrab, Hassans son, and Amirs own nephew, from Asef. Amir chan ges his old cowardice to courage, stepping fourth to fight a losing battle with Asef, a noted, cathartic experience, relieving himself from inconvenience, with pain from the blows of Asef, leaving Amir with a cleft lip also. Only to be saved by Sohrab with the repeated symbolic use of the slingshot, this was also used to save Amir from Asef by Hassan years before. Amir feels as though he has positively changed for the better by embracing opportunity and new attribute of courage, make full in the gaps of his stained past. Changing self may be presented as a door of opportunity or experience we may be called to unmortgaged.The Door, an influential, to that extent daring poem by Miroslar Holub emphasises in an imperative tone of exhortncy and pushiness that any change is better than no change at all. Therefore, one must embrace any change as the opportunity presents itself. The symbol of the door is an indicator of opportunities, and the need for them to be open, just as Rahim Kha n was a door of opportunity for Amir to open and experience the drought or movement of change willing to take place, good or bad. The words, if there is a fog, it will clear demonstrates how this presented opportunity for Amir to relieve his life of guilt with be finally removed with action of opening the door.The repetition of go and open the door is not only encouraging but coaching and emphasising that if all doors are opened and even if so many are negative, there will still be a positive movement because the door was opened and at least there will be a draught, or rather, at least you will have tried to do something about an awful event or experience with an unseen future and not remain in the same position, dealing with the guilt and regret, which cannot escape. As long as the door remains shut, the air will remain stuffy and uncomfortable to breathe in, so coming fourth and opening the door will let fresh air and new opportunities to evolve.The writer explains the positives o f change which is used to entice or urge the reader to want to experience a new change of air. Changing circumstances in ones life can erratically change and impact ones life within a series of events contained by a short span of time. This concept is stand for in the deeply touching true story of an Indian boy, named Saroo which was published in the Sydney Morning Herald back in March this year. Throughout 25 years, young Saroo went through an array of unforseen events which lead him away from lifelong poverty and his mother to where he is today, amongst the rich living in Australia. Just as the Herald Sun writes, Australias very own, slum dog millionaire Why was this so? Many say it occurred because of fate. When Saroo, whom at the time was only five years old- awoke alone and very frightened at one of Indias very many train stations very late in the evening after he had fallen dormant waiting for his brother to return.At this part of Saroos life, he had very little and was une ducated. Was it fear or was it God or a mixture of the two who persuaded young Saroo to pursue looking for his brother in the closest train simply because, he might be in there. This simple childs thought shunted and altered his life away from anything he ever knew one unforseen event, encouraged by fear, taking the opportunity to open the doors which lead to a train, almost leaving to go to Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald describes this event as the night his young lifes course was altered forever. This change of self is represented by the innocence of a young boy. This concept is characterised by Saroo explaining how the reality of trying to get home became a dead end, just like, all the trains he road, to try and reach home, only to meet with another dead end.Various aspects of Saroos life were in fact dead ends but when it came to his life depending on it, just as Amir depended on the opportunity from Rahim Khan, as unforseen at the time as it was both boys embraced their opportunities to find something, whether a brother or uphold chance. They opened the door. Saroos door opened eventually to a family from Australia whom adopted him, suddenly and strangely out of his life course, he landed himself in Hobart. In conclusion, we can gather that changing self can be a difficult process, yet also an unforseen process which may take place over a series of events.These three researched texts have shown connecting and similar views that we must make use of experience and opportunity of change as it arises. Through these views, we are challenged that finally it is up to ourselves via thoughts or actions or a mixture of both to decide the course of change we are willing to take. In the Kite Runner, it is up to Amir to choose to put himself in danger to make up for his guilty past, The Door commands us to take opportunities, and yet in the Sydney Morning Heralds feature Story illustrates that with physical experience change is forever impacting. Each of the se demonstrates in their own way how change can somewhat be hale upon a person and ultimately deliver them into a new direction.

Proton Vehicles

1. Background of the order It all began in 1979 when Malaysias Father of Modernisation, Tun Mahathir Mohamad, mooted the idea of establishing an automotive assembling and manufacturing industry in our country. It was Tun Mahathirs inspi balancen to accelerate Malaysias industrialisation capabilities to match those of developed races. His dream became i step closer to reality when the Cabinet approved the National Car swan in 1982. The dream was fulfil take when PROTON was officially incorporated on May 7, 1983. Our very source pose, the Proton Saga was commercially launched on July 9, 1985.The name Saga was chosen by Ismail Jaafar a retired military changeier and derived from saga (Adenantherapavonlna) a type of seed commonly raise in Malaysia. The first saucy-made food merchandise for the Proton Saga was Singapore, right across the Straits of Johor. In 1986, bargonly a socio-economic class afterward the first railroad gondola was launched, celebrated the official ro llout of the 10000th Proton Saga. The fol gloomying yr, launched the Proton Saga 1. 5l saloon and Aeroback models. By then, over 50,000 units of the Proton Saga had been produced and sold in Bangladesh, Brunie, parvenu Zealand, Malta and Sri Lanka.Soon after, PROTON cars were distrisolelyed in the united Kingdom. In 1988, PROTON debuted at the British International forceshow, walking away success skilfuly with three prestigious awards for calibre, coachwork and ergonomics. PROTON progressed towards in-house engine operations in 1989. In quest to rear our technological prowess, a Transmission Assembly Plant was in addition cook up in Shah Alam. In 1996, 1 millionth car was produced. This achievement was buoyed by several signifi stubt advanced model launches including the Proton Tiara, Proton Wira 2. Diesel and the two-door Proton Putra, in addition to existing root up of the Proton Wira, Proton Satria and Proton Perdana. In the same year, acquired a controlling s book in G roup Lotus. Even as the new millennium dawned, PROTON showed no signs of slowing tidy sum. In 2000, unveiled prototype CamPro engine at the Lotus factory in Norwich, United Kingdom. The CamPro engine is aimed to show PROTONs ability to contain their own engines that produce good advocate output and foregather newer emission standards. In 2009, PROTON EdarSdn. Bhd. nd EdaranOtomobilNasionalBerhad entered into a new Master Dealership Agreement to rationalise the sales and services network of vehicles, to ensure a to a greater extent efficient nationwide distribution system. In January 2010, Petronas became official sole lubricant supplier, in a 10 year agreement that covers all markets in which cars atomic number 18 sold. In 2008, launched the latest iteration of PROTON logo, in conjunction with the rollout of 3 millionth cars. PROTON top mark retained its diamond shape although the tiger motif and semblance scheme were changed to reflect the PROTONs new focus.To further ceme nt successes, launched new harvest-timeion models including the new Saga, Waja CPS, Gen 2 CPS and the Persona Special Edition. PROTON brand is the slightly valuable asset for all the companies in PROTON radical. It embodies a unique set of perceptions closely products and services that are triggered in the minds of our public by how separates judge what we do, how we pretend and what we say. 1. Proton Ideology Audacious Goal Driving Malaysias transformation into a global bearer in technology and quality. Vivid Description Deliver in advance(p) and superior quality products and services.PROTON brands inspire confidence and pride. Purpose Passionate group of plenty working(a) together, creating exhilarating products and services for global markets, synonymous with great styling, insertion and leading technology. 2. Proton Core Values Each PROTON employee practices in the Companys regiond determine to guide their behaviour with each other and PROTON guests. These preci ous values form the foundation of how they work and conduct melodic line as follows Quality Ensure continuous quality improvements for customers by lay offing products that are positively conceptualised and manufactured.Customer Focus Customers ride out priority at PROTON. PROTON deliver on promises to customers satisfaction. Innovation Challenge the convention, always seeking new and better ways to do things. View changes as opportunities. Teamwork PROTON trust, reckon and treat knowledge to foster teamwork at the workplace. Speed PROTON perplex a can-do attitude and provide not rest until the problem is solved. PROTON invite an inborn sense of urgency in everything PROTON do. Caring As a responsible corporate citizen, PROTON invest in recourse, health and the environment. Honesty Lets be transparent and take responsibility for own actions. 3. Proton Vision Proton strives to become a successful Malaysian machinemotive Manufacturer globally by being customer orien ted and producing competitively priced and innovative quality products. Since inception, PROTON assimilate gained a material international presence bringing PROTON to 27 countries across South- tocopherol Asia to the Middle-East, China, South Africa, Australia and the United Kingdom. Over the geezerhood PROTON have increased cost-efficiency, realibility and quality with the use of automation and robotics in manufacturing processes.The launch of Research and Development facilities has contributed a almost censorious activity, innovation in design and creative engineering methods. Consumers can now gestate PROTON to deliver to a greater extent unique, stylish and attractively priced cars. 4. The Proton Personality PROTON have repugn but unique opportunities to change peoples perceptions of what stand for by asserting a legislate brand personality founded on a set of brand attributes that should guide all our activities and communications. Proud Although relatively brief, PRO TON company history is one of the remarkable achievements of which PROTON proud.In PROTON pride lies the vital energy that drives us forward and forces PROTON to take on new challenges. Reliable PROTON committed to providing quality products and services. More important, however is receiving recognition for such(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) quality from customers, business associates and shareholders who need to trust our ability to deliver on PROTON promise of quality Innovative PROTON ability to innovate is to a fault geared at developing collaborative relationships with other national projects to assist in the development of indigenous products able to contest in the international markets.Knowledgeable PROTON is committed to the acquisition of intellectual capability in design and technology, which forget propel the nation to achieve the status of an industrialised nation. Caring PROTON responsible corporate citizen, commited to building a friendly organisation centr ed on personal touch and sensitivity to customers need, with clear communications leading to mutual understanding. 2. Consumer Behaviour of the Target Market Proton Holding Berhad 1. Definition on Consumer BehaviourConsumer behaviour is the issue of how individuals, groups, and organizations select, buy, use, and dispose of goods, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants. Consumers are exposed to a myriad of trade and other external stimuli on a daily basis for which the marketer has to consider consumer characteristics and consumer psychology to successfully position a product or service. Consumer characteristics include culture, social and personal factors and consumer psychology include motivation, perception, learning and memory. . Consumer Behaviour on Proton Research conducted by Hossein Nezakati1*, KemOon Kok2 and Omid Asgari3 subdivision of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Economics & Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) MBA disciple, Graduate school of Management (GSM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Founder & CEO, Delta Consulting Group (DCG), Tehran, Iran. The title of research is Do Consumer based-factors influence consumer acquire behavior in automotive industry? (Malaysia Evidence). 3. Research MethodUsing primary and supportary data as come up as sampling technique. The target tribe on this study consists of consumers from theatrical role of Klang Valley. Most of the respondents were Malay where contributing 98 respondents, followed by Chinese were 56 respondents, Indian were 35 respondents and others races were 21 respondents. Majority of the respondents were aged 18 to 28 years old and most of them in the highest fosterage aim were bachelor degree. Some of the respondents were still student where they are attending class as part-time students.The income level, some of the respondents were below RM1,800 but most of the respondents were average monthly income were RM1,800 to RM3,000. From the relia bility results, it was found that majority respondents was mental pictures them self about the quality of the car before they made closing to purchase. Factors influencing consumer behavior on local car ilk Proton are as follows- a) Price consciousness- consumers will enormous search info and see the monetary functioning before acquiring automobile. ) Value consciousness- consumers seems to be equivalently beliefs them self regarding perceptive of the import car, meaning that they purchase car based on the experience from the past where they belief which car will suitable for them. They in any case act like a consumer seeker whereby they will keep forward looking for the new design of the import car. Some of the consumer beliefs which car they are prefer to drive and which car they are not prefer or dislike. ) Price-quality inference Most of the respondent believed that merchandise car were made by high quality material in term of interior design, more quality in term of en gine coifance and overly more towards science and technology. In this results show that Malaysia consumers are concern on the value that they receive when they purchase imported car. To be intention to purchase imported car, they will consider how far the price and quality they concern. d) Risk Awareness- In this study, we also found that most of the respondent beliefs that imported car were more safety to drive collectible to test safety before launching new model.Other than that, they also believe imported car were made by high quality material in term of interior design, more quality in term of engine performance and also more towards science and technology. To successfully compete in the Malaysia and international market, PROTON must emphasize the quality of the products in order to gain competitive advantages in the market. PROTON and its group of companies must remember quality is the factors that will influences consumers beliefs and also will influence the intention to pu rchase.PROTON is also should increase their product quality in order to increase the consumers beliefs about the products by maintaining the quality to gain competitive advantage. 4. SWOT Analysis On Proton The SWOT analysis is an extremely useful tool for understanding and decision. The SWOT analysis is an extremely useful tool for understanding and decision-making for all sorts of situations in business and organizations. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.The SWOT analysis headings provide a good framework for reviewing dodge, position and direction of a company or business proposition, or any other idea. Use SWOT analysis for business planning, strategic planning, competitor evaluation, marketing, business and product development and research reports. To enable this to happen cleanly and clearly, and from a logical point of view anyway when completing a SWOT analysis in most business and marketing situations, Strengths and Weaknesses are regard ed distinctly as internal factors, whereas Opportunities and Threats are regarded distinctly as external factors. Strengths Weaknesses Strong brand image operose Operations Received various 8 awards, lately, i. eFrost & Sullivan Malaysia Although Proton has expended to other international regions, it Excellence Awards 2011. (Value-for-Money Car of the Year (1. L and still depends on the Malaysia market for majority of its above), Auto Industry Awards 2011, Best Peoples Car for the Saga FL revenue. andBest Value-for-Money Family Car for the Inspira. Declining profit trend Strong recognition PBT rightd by 17% for FY2011.These mainly ascribable to economic Gives it competitive advantage compared to its other competitors. slowing down and increase in its production cost. Strong focus on R & D fringy increase in revenue PROTON TechnologyAdvisory Council (PTAC) in 2011 and PROTON Technology gross sales increased by marginally at 9% for FY2011.This roadmap (PTR) s erves as a blueprint for the Company in shaping PROTONs performance was the result of encouraging sales recorded by the car of the future. three core models the Saga, Persona and Exora. This is forcing PROTON to re destine its strategy to optimize plant Strong management team utilization and if possible minimize spare required Had strong management in terms of qualifications and leadership, lead by investment. Dato Sri haji Syed ZainalAbidin B Syed Mohamed Tahir. Most of the directors have collectively 25 to 40 years of experience in their Declining market shares respective field. Proton also arrested the decline at 24% in 2010 and gradually increased the same to just below 30% for FY 2011. Encouraging continuous learning PROTON Critical Mass Scheme-increasing the ratio of PhD and Master Holders in the company. Various types of models Through the years the PROTON Group has collectively realized over 24 various models. Strong staff strength fit staff strength close to 12,000 employees Worldwide. Strong cashflows PROTONs cash and cash equivalentsare maintained above the RM1 billion. Opportunities Threats Strategic alliance Intense Competition Entering into strategic agreements, acquiring assets or organizations to Proton faces intense competition from local manufacturer further strengthen its position in the industry. . e Lotus Engineering i. ePerodua as well as international manufacturer, i. eToyata and Honda, which customers perceive better value for their cash Collaboration with other country in terms of quality and safety. Iran SAIPA, Iran to explore Iran and Middle East market. Strong government support Economic slowing down and volatile global market In 2009-Second Stimulus Plan. Current global economies slow down and the uncertainties that 2010- Economic & Government Transformation program and 10th Malaysia Plancurrently prevail, especially in Europe, Japan and the USA. and attract ive loan package. This shows government participations on the process and sustainability of PROTON. Other country rules and regulation Proton has to abide with the other countries regulation in Accelerate Strategy into China market order to penetrate the market. PROTON will upgrade the current Representative Office in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province to a Wholly Owned exotic Entity (WOFE) in Shanghai Increase fuel price which will be operational by end 2011. The automotive industry is highly affected by fluctuation in WOFE will allow PROTON to conduct business and pursue new opportunities the fuel price. When the fuel price increases significantly in China. people would choose other economical public transport i. e rail and monorail/LRT. Technology transfer PROTON has worked on a feasibility study programme with King Abdulaziz city for Science and Technology (KACST), to develop the plan to achieve full automotive development and manufacturing capability in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 3. Situational Analysis 1. Basis of Segmentation A market subdivision consists of a group of customers who share a similar set of needs and wants. The marketers task is to identify the appropriate number and nature of market segments and decide which one(s) to target.They are investigator define segments by looking at descriptive characteristics such as geographic, demographic, and psychographic. Other researchers try to define segments by looking at behavioral considerations, such as consumer responses to benefits, usage occasions, or brands. The major segmentation variables are geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral segmentation. a) Geographic Segmentation Geographic segmentation divides the market into geographical units such as nations, dry lands, regions, counties, cities, or neighborhoods. The company can operate in one or a few areas, or it can operate in all but pay attention to local variations.In that way it can tailor marketing programs to the needs and wants of local customer groups in commerce areas, neighborhoods, even individual stores. In a growing trend called grassroots marketing, such activities concentrate on getting as close and personally relevant to individual customers as possible. b) demographic Segmentation In demographic segmentation, we divide the market on variables such as age, family size, family life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, race, times, nationality, and social class. One reason demographic variables are so popular with marketers is that theyre often associated with consumer needs and wants. Another is that theyre easy to measure.Even when we describe the target market in non-demographic terms (say, by personality type), we may need the link back to demographic characteristics in order to estimate the size of the market and the media we should use to reach it efficiently. c) Psychographic Segmentation Psychographics is the science of using ps ychology and demographics to better understand consumers. In psychographic segmentation, buyers are divided up into assorted groups on the basis of psychological/personality traits, lifestyle, or values. People within the same demographic group can exhibit very different psychographic profiles. One of the most popular commercially available classification systems based on psychographic measurements is Strategic railway line Insights (SBI) VALS framework. d) Behavioral SegmentationIn behavioral segmentation, marketers divide buyers into groups on the basis of their knowledge of, attitude toward, use of, or response to a product. Below are the criteria to evaluate market segments a) Identifiable The differentiating attributes of the segments must be measurable so that they can be identified b) Accessible The segments must be reachable through communication and distribution channels c) Substantial The segments should be sufficiently large to warrant the resources required to target them d) Unique needs In order to justify separate offerings, the segments must respond differently to the different marketing meldes e) DurableThe segments should be relatively stable to minimize the cost of frequent changes An ideal market segment meets all of the following criteria a) It is internally homogeneous bring upr the potential customers in the same segment prefer the same product qualities b) It is externally heterogeneous means the potential customers from different segments have basically different quality preferences c) It responds similarly to a market foreplay d) It can be cost-efficiently reached by market intervention. Proton Holdings Berhad (Proton) uses demographic segmentation as their market segmentation a) Age Consumer needs and wants change with age. The marketing mix may therefore need to be adapted depending on which age segment or segments are being targeted. Proton Holdings Berhad (Proton) is targeting their customer age ranging from 18 years onward s.It is due to the affordable price, categorisation of car models such as Proton Exora, Proton Saga FL, Proton Persona, Proton R3 Satria neo, and Proton Inspira, variety of promotional installment package offered by Proton Edar as a Proton dealer. Basically Proton cars model are suitable for teenagers to an adult. b) Gender It involves dividing a market into different groups based on sex. Proton realizes that the acquire power of women and men nearly the same. either the marketing campaigns through motorsport exhibition and advertisement done via media electronic, such as television, radio receiver and internet had attract both gender, women and men to purchase Proton cars. With the attractive interior design, current technology such as GPS navigator install at Proton Exora and variety color schemes had attract both gender to purchase.Besides that Proton emphasize on safety factors of their car manufacture which is desired to market their cars to women, as well as men. c) Family surface For Proton Saga and Proton Satria Neo model, the car model is suitable for weeny family size whereby the family consist of 2 adults and 2 children. For medium size family whereby the family member consist 4 to 5 members, Proton Persona is suitable for them and for big family size whereby it consist of 6 to 8 members in the family, Proton Exora is suitable for them. d) deportment Cycle Stage Market can de divided into different groups based on customer life-cycle. People change the goods and services they want and need over their lifetime.Life cycle stage of customer can be categorized as Bachelor Stage whereby the customer is young, still single and not living with their parents. Most of them just finished studied each at university, college or school leaver Newly espouse Couples whereby they still young with no children and just enter marriage life Married couples with dependent children Married couples with no children living with them Married couples and they h ad retired with no children living with them They had retired and still un hook up with Proton cars model is suitable for every life cycle either the customer is bachelor or an adult or the customer had retired. Their car model can cater every life stage needs and wants.For example, Proton Gen-2 had a modern design, masculine and sporty character in term of design and interior styling and also performance. The car is suitable for bachelor stage and newly married couple who loves very particular about style. Proton Exora is suitable for consumer who has a family member with size of 3 to 6 members. The price of the car is affordable and competitive. Besides that Proton Exora is also suitable for retiree. a) Generation Proton cars model has been in the automotive sector for 25 years. Proton Holdings Berhad (Proton) has produced over a dozen car models to attend that have sold more than 3 million units and has exported to more than 25 countries. Proton Saga was the first Proton model. It rolled off the Shah Alam assembly line for the first time in family 1985. The 100,000th Proton Saga was produced in January 1989. The second protons car model is Proton Wira which was produced in the year 1993 followed by Proton Satria in the year 1995, Proton Putra in the year 1995, Proton Perdana in the year 1995, Proton Tiarain the year 1996 t, Proton Perdana V6 in the year 1999, Proton Juara in the year 2001, Proton Waja in the year 2000, Proton Arena in the year 2002, Proton Gen-2 in the year 2004, Proton Savvyin the year 2005, Proton Satria Neo in the year 2006, Proton Personain the year 2007, Proton Saga FL in the year 2008 and Proton Inspira in the year 2010.Until today, Proton cars model still in demand with new development of the car design, up-to-date technology and car features. loting to Dato Sri Haji Syed ZainalAbidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, Group Managing Director of PROTON Holdings Berhad during the launching Proton Saga FL 1. 6 on 25th May 2011 said that the Proton Saga FL is suitable for younger generation of purchaser and car owner because the car has more attractive design, affordable price, cost-effective and powerful alternative. b) Income Income segmentation involves dividing a market into different income groups. Marketers of products and services found that income segmentation very useful. Companies with luxury goods and convenience services target well off consumers.Income segmentation is also employ to identify and target lower-income groups, so that they can be approached with appropriate products, prices and distribution outlets. Proton Holdings Berhad (Proton) targeted their customer with monthly salary of RM 2,000 and above. The price of the car is affordable and value for money. Proton model is targeted for people who just enter the working world whereby they need car as a mode of transportation beside public transport such as public bus, evaluatei, Putra LRT, Commuter or trail LRT. Below is the price of Protons car models. P roton Car Model Price Starting From Proton Exora RM 59. 48 Proton Inspira RM 78,549 Proton Gen-2 RM 54,538 Proton Persona RM 46,499 Proton Saga FLX RM 38,148 Proton Satria Neo RM 57,313 Proton R3 Satria Neo RM 79,797 Proton Savvy RM 39,693. 68 Proton Waja RM 56,888 (Souces www. proton-edar. com. my) c) Life Style It involves classifying people according to their values, beliefs, opinions, and interests. There is no one standardized lifestyle segmentation model.Market research firms and advertising agencies are constantly devising new categories, which will exceed(p) help target possible consumers of their clients products. As for Protons customer, each of their car models is targeted to different life style of customer. For example, Proton Satria Neo is suitable for your generation who love style and sporty looks. The had an interactive interior design and built-in technology that attract young generation especially college and university student to owned it. d) Social Class Is the single most used variable for research purposes, and divides the population into groups based on their type of occupation as such it can be seen as a socio-economic scale.Description of occupation can be categorized into Higher managerial, administrative or professional Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional Supervisory, clerical, junior administrative or professional Skilled manual workers Semi and unskilled manual workers State pensioners with no other income, widows, casual and lowest grade earners As for Proton Holdings Berhad (Proton), they will not separate their car model purchaser according to social class. The most important element in buying the proton car model is the affordability of the customer to pay down payment and monthly installment. e) Religion Malaysia is multicultural and multiconfessional. The dominant religion in Malaysia is Islam. The large Chinese population in Malaysia practices a mix of beliefs, with infl uences from traditional Chinese religions such as Buddhism and Daoism.Hinduism is practiced by the majority of Malaysian Indians. Christianity has realized itself in some communities, especially in East Malaysia. It is not tied to any specific ethnic group. Other religions, such as the Bahai Faith and Sikhism also have adherents in Malaysia. All the worlds major religions have substantial representation in Malaysia. The Population and Housing Census 2010 figures show approximately these proportions of the population following these religions 61. 3% Islam 19. 8% Buddhism 9. 2% Christianity 6. 3% Hinduism 1. 3% Confucianism, Taoism and other traditional Chinese religions 0. 7% Atheist 1. % Other religions or no information The majority of Malaysian Malay people are Muslim. Most Malaysian Chinese follow a combination of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and ancestor-worship. Statistics from the 2010 Census indicate that 83. 6% of Malaysias ethnic Chinese identify as Buddhist, with significant numbers of adherents following Taoism (3. 4%) and Christianity (11. 1%). Christianity is the predominant religion of the non-Malay Bumiputra community (46. 5%) with an additional 40. 4% identifying as Muslims. Many indigenous tribes of East Malaysia have converted to Christianity, although Christianity has made fewer inroads into Peninsular Malaysia.Proton car model is suitable for all religion. There is separation in the midst of religions in order to own the car. The most important element to purchase the car is the affordability and the interest of the features of the Proton cars model. f) Education Level of education that purchase protons car can be categorized as customer who had obtain education until secondary school and who had obtain tertiary education in universities or colleges. Basically customers with tertiary education are more detailed in analyzing the car model from the car design, car features, the function of the car and the technology installed in th e car. Usually the will study before deciding to purchase the car.Basically Proton cars is suitable for everybody either the customer is educated or just finished the secondary school level such SijilPelajaran Malaysia. The cars model has not separated in term of level of education. The most important things in purchasing the Proton cars model is knowing to read and write. It is because the manual book will be given to all customer in order for them to know more about the cars model such as the technology built-in, features and the function of the car. g) Ethnicity The population of Malaysia consists of four main ethnic groups which are malays, chinese, Indians and other ethnic group in Sabah and Sarawak.Malays and other indigenous groups are cognise as Bumiputras. Non-Malay indigenous tribes constitute about half of Sarawaks residents the largest indigenous group consists of the Sea Dayaks, or Ibans, followed by the Land Dayaks, or Bidayuh. The majority of Sabahs population consis ts of indigenous peoples, principally Kadazans, Bajaus, and Muruts. The balance is dominated by Chinese. Basically as for Proton Holdings Berhad (Proton), ethnic will not breeze an important role in targeting purchaser of proton car. Every ethnic group in Malaysia has the opportunity to purchase proton car models regardless where they come from in the state in Malaysia.The most important thing is they attract to the design, features and the technology built-in to the car. 2. Target Market The target market is the part of the qualified available market the company decides to pursue. The Malaysian automotive market is certainly one of the more significant markets in Asia Pacific. It is estimated that over 21. 25 million vehicles have been registered in Malaysia to date with every 3 in 10 Malaysians owning a vehicle. Uniquely, Malaysia is one of the few countries in Asia Pacificto have its own national carmakers, further adding spice and sapidity to this market. Malaysia is also one of the few right- hand- drive ( RHD ) markets in the world.The Top 50 best selling cars in Malaysia for the year of 2011 ( Up until October 2011 ) Rank Car match sold 1 PeroduaMyvi 65,783 2 Proton Saga 63,615 3 Perodua Viva 49,636 4 Proton Persona 40,666 5 PeroduaAlza 30,398 6 Toyota Vios 25,485 7 Proton Exora 18,165 8 Toyota Hilux 18,015 9 Nissan Grand Livina 10,620 10 Honda city 10,470 11 Proton Inspira 8,028 12 Mitsubishi Triton 6,974 13 Toyota Camry 6,679 14 Toyota Avanza 6,660 15 Honda Civic 6,121 16 Toyota Corolla Altis 5,178 17 Isuzu D-MAX 4,871 18 Naza ( Kia ) Forte 4,783 19 Honda Insight 4,085 20 Honda Accord 4,058 21 Honda CR-V 4,007 22 Suzuki Swift 3,962 23 Nissan Teana 3,876 24 Ford Fiesta 3,753 25 Toyota Innova 3,735 26 Proton Satria Neo 3,367 27 Nissan Navara 3,122 28 Hyundai Sonata 2,605 29 Nissan Sylphy 2,385 30 CheryEastar 2,251 31 Proton Waja 2,159 32 Hyundai i10 2,115 33 Toyota Rush 1,988 34 Ford Ranger 1,900 35 Mercedes- Benz E- Class 1,857 36 Mercedes- Benz C- Class 1,823 37 Hyundai Tucson 1,757 38 Peugeot 308 1,732 39 BMW 5- Series F10 1,723 40 Toyota Prius 1,640 41 Volkswagen Golf TSI 1,633 42 Mazda 2 1,591 43 Naza ( Kia ) Citra 1,575 44 Mazda 3 1,555 45 Toyota Hiace 1,550 46 BMW 3- Series Sedan 1,513 47 Nissan Urvan 1,447 48 Toyota Fortuner 1,376 49 Volkswagen Polo TSI 1,298 50 Peugeot 207 Sedan 1,282 Source Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) 3. Target market for Proton Holdings Berhad The Proton Persona had won the Frost & Sullivan for the Best Value of Monet Car of Year 2011 with quantity sales of 4,000 units per month. For the year 2011, there are 156,487 units of Proton Persona already on the road.Proton Persona is one of the top selling cars in the domestic market. According to the Dato Sri Haji Syed ZainalAbidin, Proton Holdings Berhad (Proton) competition is in the domestic market is so competitive. Proton is trying to take advantage these opportunities by introducing var iety of new Proton cars model in order to give variety of Proton cars for their customer to choose. In Malaysia, PROTON ranked second in terms of market share at 26%. With proper sales and marketing strategy combined with product launches of the Exora MC, Saga FL and Inspira, the performance in FY 10/11 was 3% higher at 162,012 units compared to 157,170 units in FY09/10.The launch of the latest addition, Proton Inspira, to the family, has allowed PROTON to produce more customers from different segments. The new sporty sedan contributed 6% to our monthly sales, the fourth largest contributor after the Saga, Persona and Neo. Saga remained the strongest contributor making up 45% of sales, continuing this multi award winning cars reign as the most preferred amongst PROTON models especially after the introduction of the Saga FL. The introduction of Exora MC has also enabled PROTON to maintain their MPV sales performance while offering their customers a fresher look and feel. Besides tha t PROTON also had export their car to the international market such as China, Australia and Middle East Region.For the year 2011, the five top performing markets were Thailand, Australia, Indonesia, Egypt and Syria. In Thailand, Proton models were gaining higher acceptance gauging from various feedback from the customers, dealers, motorshows and mass media. The Exora accredited accolades as one of the Top Ten Passenger Cars 2010 in the Bangkok point. The introduction of Saga FL and improvement initiatives at dealer network will be a hopeful flowing for PROTON to achieve greater success. In Indonesia, PROTON has established itself as the 12th top brand in the market and managed to increase hoi polloi by 23% in 2010, in which the Exora has again been the best selling model and has remained the core product for PROTON Indonesia.With the current outlook and barring any unforeseen circumstances, PT PEI is expected to perform better in the new fiscal year. In 2010 China continued to r ecord robust growth with 18. 1 million vehicles sold which represent a 33% increase over 2009. The growth was mainly powered by favorable government incentives, urban economic development and Chinas stimulus package to boost the economy. PROTON expect Chinas long-term growth to remain intact and continue in the next few years due to the current low motorization rate and buoyant economy. CAAM (China Association of Automotive Manufacturers) expects Chinas TIV to reach 20 million units in 2011.To accelerate PROTONs strategy into China and serve the market better, PROTON will upgrade the current Representative Office in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province to a Wholly Owned Foreign Entity (WOFE) in Shanghai which will be operational by end 2011. The WOFE will allow PROTON to conduct business and pursue new opportunities in China. The Satria Neo, Artiga judgment Car and Lotus Europa were displayed during the Shanghai Motor Show in April 2011 to enable PROTON to gauge market acceptance and pursue future opportunities for these products. Currently, PROTON cars are being sold under the Youngman brand through 100 appointed dealers throughout China.Thailands automotive industry in 2010 showed a significant increase of 46% against 2009 scorn domestic political instability. The remarkable growth in the Thai automotive industry is due in part to the reduction in excise duties for small passenger cars. This reduced the prices of cars and the added advantage of credit availability was instrumental in increasing demand. The rise in petroleum prices did little to dampen the automotive market growth in Thailand. PROTON continues to make headway in the Thai market with our strategy of practical designs at affordable prices. The Proton Exora which was introduced in December 2009 was voted as a Top 10 model by Bangkok Post for the year 2010.In 2010 PROTON also saw the introduction of Saga FL in the market, competing heads on with Eco cars. Currently, through PROTON Thailand distributor, Phranakorn Auto Sales Co. Ltd (PAS), PROTON has a network of 40 dealers (all 3S outlets) throughout Thailand. The current in service models consist of Savvy, Saga FL, Neo, Neo CPS, Gen. 2, Persona and Exora. PT Proton Edar Indonesia (PT PEI) was established on 16 stately 2002 but commenced full operations on 16 March 2007, as part of PROTONs brand expansion and AMLO strategies to mobilize out its presence intensely and dynamically. PT PEI till end 2010 offered the Indonesian market seven attractive models to target the different segments.The models are Savvy, launched in July 2007, that received 2 Awards for Best City Car from Majalah Mobil Motor and Auto Bild Indonesia the Gen. 2 and Neo (also launched in 2007), with the more sporty and stylish outlook within the hatchback categories and not forgetting the highly wanton and functional mini sedan class, the Gen. 2 Persona, and Waja (launched July 2007) and the Saga (launched March 2009). Saga has won the 2009 Best Budget Sedan, awarded by Indonesia Otomotif Awards. In a country where there is a large preference for MPVs, the Proton Exora gathered the most accolades. This model has become the biggest sales contributor to PT PEI since its launch and debut at the Indonesian International Motor Show in 2009.Exora has been awarded by Indonesia Otomotif Awards the 2011 Best Budget MPV. On the dealer network aspect as of 31st March 2011, PT PEI has appointed 17 sales outlets and 30 after-sales service centres or authorized workshops throughout Indonesia and PT. PEI is looking at expanding its sales coverage to 25 outlets in FY 2011/2012. Over this period the Australian industry volume increased by 10. 5% compared to the front year. Improved economic conditions and heavy promotion by industry competitors lead to an overall volume of 1. 035 million sales. The sales result was the second highest annual volume recorded in the Australian market. Proton Cars Australia recorded a 16. % increase in sales on the back of the improved trading environment. The main sales increase came from the successful launch of the S16 (Saga) which was overwhelmingly accepted by the Australian public 4. Proton Financial Aspects 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 tax income 4687. 3 5621. 6 6486. 6 8226. 9 8969. 9 Profit/(Loss) before tax income -618. 1 144. 3 -319. 2 260. 9 214. Profit/(Loss) after taxation -589. 5 184. 6 -301. 8 218. 9 155. 6 Retained earnings attributable to shareholders 4319. 2 4476. 2 4174. 5 4372. 8 4526. 4 Dividend paid -27. 5 - -20. 6 - -82. 4 Retained earnings carried forward 4291. 7 4476. 2 4153. 9 4372. 8 4444 Table 1. 1 Table of Financial Summary & Highlights pic represent 1. 1 Graph of Sales in 5 years pic Graph 1. Graph of Net Income/Loss in 5 years In the financial year 2007, the weakened industry state of affairs and the cumulative impact of various legacy issues had adversely affected PROTON during the financial year under review. national sales volume for the period declined by 4 6. 8% to 88,635 units in comparison to the 166,656 units recorded in the previous financial year. PROTONs market share in Malaysia also declined to 29. 7% during the financial year compared to 39. 1% in the previous year, due to persistent competitive pressures within the automotive sector. Such conditions and circumstances have led PROTON to a net loss after tax of RM590 million on a turnover of RM4. billion, as compared to the previous years results of a net profit after tax of RM46 million on a turnover of RM7. 8 billion. The Groups losses for this financial year were also accentuated by various provisions, which included right-sizing costs incurred by a foreign subsidiary, higher component and raw material costs as well as the impact of legacy issues such as additional expenditure recognized in respect of vendor claims for previous years project development costs and settlement of onerous contractual obligations previously committed. In addition, accounting adjustments to PROTO Ns deferred tax assets also adversely impacted the financial results. Accordingly, for the financial year ended 31 March 2009, PROTON recorded a loss after tax of RM301. million albeit on the back of improved revenue of RM6. 5 billion. This decline was largely due to the one-off exceptional provision for the impairment of property, plant and equipment and inventory write down for certain models impacted by declining demand. Additionally, PROTONs financial performance for the second half of the financial year was also adversely affected by the accelerate amortization of dies and jigs for certain models as well as higher commodity prices, increased costs of components and raw materials which arose from higher foreign currency exchange rates, particularly, the Nipponese Yen and the US Dollar, coupled with allowance for doubtful debts.During the financial year 2011, the Group recorded a net profit of RM156 million (2010 RM219 million) which was lower than the previous financial year. The decrease was substantially due to higher losses from Lotus Group International Limited (LGIL) whilst better contribution from the Proton cars business partly ball carrier the decline. Growth in domestic sales volume, as well as introduction of models with better profit margins mainly accounted for the improved performance of Proton cars. In line with its transformation plans, LGIL incurred higher branding, marketing and restructuring costs in the rebuilding of the brand and improving production capabilities respectively. PROTON ranked second in terms of market share at 26%.With proper sales and marketing strategy combined with product launches of the Exora MC, Saga FL and Inspira, the performance in FY 10/11 was 3% higher at 162,012 units compared to 157,170 units in FY09/10. In terms of Service Marketing, more intense activities are being carried out to capture the after warranty customers in order to promote their visits to Proton EdarSdnBhd (PESB) service centres. Better val ues for money packages have been introduced to boost the said segment. In addition, tactical campaigns are also implemented every quarter to festinate the element of surprise and enhance a feel good sentiment among our customers. 5. Marketing Mix StrategiesIn Malaysia for the last 10 years, the car industry was practically interpreted over by Proton brand. 70 percent of vehicle sold are Proton sales. Some 25 other manufacturers compete for the remaining 30 percent. The previous best selling car like Nissan Sunny was totally wipe out almost overnight since Proton huge takeover in market sales more than 10 years ago. A marketing mix consists of four items or the four basic marketing mix tools that is product, price, place and promotion. This tools make up the marketing or advertising programs a company uses to entice consumers into purchasing specific types of products. Successful strategies typically maximize each piece of the marketing mix.Many people think a product is tangible, b ut a product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need, including physical goods, services, experiences, events, person, places, properties, organizations, information and ideas, (Kotler , 2012). In PROTONcontex, product refers to cars that Proton produce like Proton Saga, Proton Iswara, Proton Wira, Proton Satria, Proton Perdana, Proton Tiara, Proton Putra, Proton Savvy, Proton Gen2, Proton Persona, Proton Exora and Proton Inspira. PROTON offer unquestionably the best warranty package of any manufacturer and the most important part being the power train warranty, which guarantees the engine and transmission assemblies against failure for six years.The PROTON Invention and Innovation Competition (PICC) which was established in 2009 is an annual events which enables PROTON staff to generate new ideas and interest in creating next generation cars and also for employee to feel that their ideas and contribution are valued by the company. In marketing mix, pri ce is the amount of money charged for each item. Before the product is developed, the marketing strategy is formulated, including target market selection and product positioning. There usually is a tradeoff between product quality and price, so price is an important variable in positioning. Because of inherent tradeoffs between marketing mixelements, pricing will depend on other product, distribution and promotion decisions.PROTON car has varieties types of car price according to their models offered. Generally consumers feel that the prices of PROTONs products are affordable as compared with other brands in the family with which it compete. Pricing for PROTON car will eventually affects other marketing mix elements such as product features, distribution channel decisions and the aggressively promotion held nationwide. station is the location at which customer purchases the product, including stores and websites. Proton has two distribution channels which are PROTON EDAR and EON. With this two distribution channels all prospect customer can substantially accessible as it can be reached in all major towns in Malaysia.Besides that PROTON also opened a branch at another countries like China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia and United Kingdom. China In 2010, China continued to record robust growth with 18. 1 million vehicles sold which represent 33% increase over 2009. The growth was mainly powered by favourable government incentives, urban economic development and Chinas stimulus package to boost the economy. PROTON expect Chinas long term growth to remain intact and continue in the next few years due to the current low motorisation rate and buoyant economy. CAAM (China Association of Automotive Manufacturers) expects Chinas TIV to reach 20 milion units in 2011. Thailand PROTON continues to make headway in the Thai market with strategy of practical design at affordable prices.The Proton Exora which was introduced in December 2009 was voted as a Top 1 0 model by Bangkok Post for the year 2010. In 2010, PROTON also saw the introduction of Saga FL in the market, competing heads on with Eco cars. Currently, through PROTON Thailand distributor, Phranakorn Auto Sales Co. , Ltd (PAS), PROTON has network of 40 dealers (all 3S outlets) throughout Thailand. Indonesia PT Proton Edar Indonesia (PT PEI) was established on 16 August 2002 but commenced full operations on 16 March 2007, as part of PROTONs brand expansion and AMLO strategies to spread out its presence intensely and dynamically. PT PEI till end 2010 offered the Indonesian market seven attractive models to target the different segments.The models are Savvy, launched in July 2007, that received 2 Awards for Best City Car from Majalah Mobil Motor and Auto Bild Indonesia, the Gen-2 and Neo also launched in 2007 with the more sporty and stylish outlook within the hatchback categories and not forgetting the highly comfortable and functional mini sedan class, the Gen-2, Persona and Waja launched July 2007 and the Saga launched March 2009. Saga has won the 2009 Best Budget Sedan awarded by Indonesia Otomotif Awards. Singapore The new car market in Singapore is regulated by the Certificate of Entitlement quota (CEO) which is issue by the Land Transport Authority (LTA). TIV has consistently outgrown the road property development which leads the LTA to introduce a drastic change in the formulation of quota supply.This new measure has created a drastic decline of quota supply and as a S$18,502 to S$47,604) within the year 2010 which is a ten year record high. Australia Over this period the Australian industry volume increased by 10. 5% compared to the previous year. Improved economic conditions and heavy promotion by industry competitors lead to an overall volume of 1. 035 million sales. The sales result was the second highest annual volume recorded in the Australian market. PROTON Cars Australia recorded a 16. 1% increase in sales on the back of the improved trading environment. The main sales increase came from the successful launch of the S16 (Saga) which was overwhelmingly accepted by the Australian public. United KingdomThe retail buyer segment saw a 7% decrease in sales and this would have been significantly lower had it not been supported by the government scrappage scheme which ended in the first half of 2010. High fuel prices and economic factors drove demand for smaller more fuel-efficient cars, with B segment (Supermini) vehicles accounting for 37% market share and diesel vehicles increased consumer demand for these models. Promotion is the communication method companies use to inform customers about goods and services. The very first promotion Proton used was to organize the car appointment contest, and it was from here that a certain brand belonging patriotism towards Proton SAGA name was instill among Malaysian.The government itself also relentlessly pursue the promotion of Proton car on a nationwide scale with the Prime Minister launching almost every new model category in the Proton car lineage. This itself has been widely cover in all major newspaper for the benefit of market brand awareness. As in recently the Prime Minister as a native mover in promoting PROTON cars have launched numerous world events namely the World Cup Golf 99, and Le Tour De Langkawi, awarding a Proton car to its winners. The recent achievement of Malaysian athletes who had set and broken records in Kuala Lumpur 98XVI Commonwealth Games was also not forgotten, as the athletes were each awarded a Proton PERDANA.Besides this Proton through its marketing arm EON, have also been sponsoring world events to promote the car namely, FIFA/Coca Cola IXth World Youth Club, 34th International Youth Skill Olympics, Motor Rallying Activities and the Malaysia doubting Thomas Cup team to restore the badminton glory. These intensive promotions especially at world function have nevertheless promoted Proton Proton cars to a vast majority of people in Malaysia as well as overseas. Marketing mix strategies concern either one item or the entire group. For example, product strategies may consist of selling brand new items or substituting goods for item already in the market. Prices can be extremely high to create a sense of cliquishness or inexpensive. The place may be in-store or at special location, with wide ranging promotion using multiple methods. All four pieces of the marketing mix helps companies set the price for their goods and services.In economic term, the best price is at equilibrium, or the price at which consumers will buy the most products and the company will make the most profit. 6. Forecasting for the Near Future To say that a lot has happened recently to the world of automotive marketing and CRM would be an understatement. Since the days when marketing managers were schooled in the marketing mix of the four Ps Product, Price, Place and Promotion practitioners have applied these fundamentals in time- and battle -tested ways, ever honing their craft. Marketing as we have known it is under overtaking a radical transformation as the internet plays an ever-increasing role in consumers lives. For consumers, the internet has become the primary research tool used to determine the best car to purchase.And for Proton, it is now the path to reach and learn from these consumers providing automotive professionals with a vastly better way to quantify and qualify the most important aspects of consumer attitudes, shop behaviors, vehicle demand and the conversion of demand to sales. The internet has enabled customer acquisition techniques and efficiencies that were never before possible. Furthermore, it has enhanced the quality of intelligence and accelerated its availability. Given the power that these changes have ushered in, we can no longer rely on the traditional Ps, lest we fall victim to what marketing guru Ted Levitt referred to as marketing myopia. The fundamentals are no longer adequate to eff ectively win and keep consumers and, as such, a powerful new entrant a fifth P has emerged in the marketing model Process.Process calls for grounding tactical and strategic marketing decisions in the insights that can be drawn from online consumer data and leveraged across the predecessor Ps. With Process, online data regarding consumer preferences and shopping behavior is used to precisely pinpoint, measure and analyze consumer activity and build more effective marketing programs that cost-effectively increase sales and profit per vehicle. With more than two-thirds of new vehicle buyers going online to research purchases before buying a new vehicle, insights derived from these data can be used to develop highly customized marketing programs geared toward consumers specific purchasing behavior.In short, Process, powered by online data, enables companies to quickly optimize the return on their marketing investments and drive overall marketing efficiency. It is no longer enough to p lace a product and price and promote it instead, marketers must connect the dots and utilize data to its fullest advantage to transform the way they identify and reach potential buyers. There

Spirit Bound Chapter Twenty-one

THERE WAS LITTLE MORE MIKHAIL and I could say to each other after that. I didnt desire him to stick around in trouble for what hed done, and I let him lead us kayoed of the withstanders building in silence. As we emerged outside, I could see the chuck purpling in the east. The sun was nearly up, signaling the middle of our wickedness. Briefly flipping into Lissas mind, I read that the Death Watch had fin ally ended, and she was on her way back to her inhabitworried virtually me and still annoyed that Christian had shown up with Mia.I followed Lissas example, wondering if sleep might ease the agony that Dimitri had left in my heart. in all probability not. Still, I thanked Mikhail for his help and the risk hed taken. He merely nodded, like thither was nothing to thank him for. It was ex comely what he would brook wanted me to do for him if our roles had been transposed and Ms. Karp had been the one behind bars.I feel into a heavy sleep back in my bed, scarcely my dreams we re troubled. Over and over, I unbroken hearing Dimitri distinguish me he couldnt love me anymore. It beat into me over and over, smashing my heart into little pieces. At one point, it became more than a dreamlike beating. I heard accredited beating. Someone was pounding on my door, and slowly, I dragged myself out of my awful dreams.Bleary-eyed, I went to the door and found Adrian. The scene was almost a mirror of last night when hed come to invite me to the Death Watch. Only this time, his face was much grimmer. For a second, I thought hed heard about my visit to Dimitri. Or that maybe hed gotten in a lot more trouble than wed realized for sneaking half of his friends into a arcanum funeral.Adrian this is early for you. I glanced over at a clock, discovering that Id in reality slept in pretty late.Not early at all, he confirmed, face still serious. Lots of stuff press release on. I had to come tell you the news before you heard it whateverwhere else.What news?The Councils v erdict. They finally passed that big re resultant role theyve been debating. The one you came in for.Wait. Theyre done? I recalled what Mikhail had said, that a mystery issue had been retentivity the Council busy. If it was finished, then they could move on to something elsesay, like, officially declaring Dimitri a dhampir again. Thats great news. And if this actually was tied into when Tatiana had had me come describe my skills well, was there really a chance I might be named Lissas guardian? Could the faerie progress to really come through? Shed seemed friendly enough last night.Adrian regarded me with something Id never seen from him pity. You have no idea, do you?No idea about what?Rose He gently rested a tump over on my shoulder. The Council just passed a decree lowering the guardian age to sixteen. Dhampirsll graduate when theyre sophomores and then go out for assignments.What? Surely Id misheard.You know how panicked theyve been about protection and not having enough gua rdians, obligation? He sighed. This was their solution to increasing your numbers. nevertheless theyre too young I cried. How can anyone think sixteen-year-olds ar ready to go out and fight?Well, said Adrian, because you testified that they were.My mouth dropped, everything freeze around me. You testified that they were No. It couldnt be possible.Adrian gently nudged my arm, trying to shake me out of my stupor. Come on, theyre still wrapping up. They made the announcement in an open session, and some people are a little upset.Yeah, Ill say. He didnt strike to tell me twice. I immediately juted to follow, then realized I was in my pajamas. I promptly changed and brushed my hair, still scarcely able to believe what hed just said. My preparation solely took five minutes, and then we were out the door. Adrian wasnt overly athletic, but he kept a pretty good pace as we headed toward the Councils hall.How did this happen? I asked. You dont really mean that that what I said played a role? Id meant my lyric to be a demand, but they came out with more of a pleading note.He lit a cigarette without breaking stride, and I didnt bother chastising him for it. Its patently been a hot topic for a while. It was a pretty close vote. The people pushing for it knew theyd need to show a lot of evidence to win. You were their august prize a teen dhampir slaying Strigoi left and in good order, long before graduation.Not that long, I muttered, my fury benignling. Sixteen? Were they serious? It was ludicrous. The fact that I had been inadvertently use to support this decree made me sick to my stomach. Id been a fool, thinking theyd all ignored my rule breaking and had simply paraded me in to praise me. Theyd used me. Tatiana had used me.When we reached it, the Council hall was in as much chaos as Adrian had implied. True, I hadnt spent a lot of time in these kinds of meetings, but I was pretty sure that people standing up in clusters and yelling at each other wasnt normal. The Councils herald probably didnt usually scream himself strapping trying to bring order to the crowd either.The only espy of calm was Tatiana herself, sitting patiently in her seat at the center of the table, just as Council etiquette dictated. She looked very pleased with herself. The rest of her colleagues had lost all sense of propriety and were on their feet like the audience, arguing amongst themselves or anyone else ready to pick a fight. I stared in amazement, unsure what to do in all this disorder.Who voted for what? I asked.Adrian studied the Council members and ticked them off on his fingers. Szelsky, Ozera, Badica, Dashkov, Conta, and Drozdov. They were against it.Ozera? I asked in surprise. I didnt know the Ozera princessEvettevery well, but shed always seemed pretty stiff and unpleasant. I had new respect for her now.Adrian nodded over to where Tasha was furiously addressing a large group of people, eyes flashing and arms wave wildly. Evette was persuaded by some of her family members.That made me smile too, but only for a moment. It was good that Tasha and Christian were being acknowledged amongst their clan again, but the rest of our bother was still alive and kicking. I could deduce the rest of the names.So Prince Ivashkov voted for it, I said. Adrian shrugged by way of apology for his family. Lazar, Zeklos, Tarus, and Voda. That the Voda family would vote for extra protection wasnt entirely a surprise, considering the juvenile slaughter of one of their members. Priscilla wasnt even in her grave yet, and the new Voda prince, Alexander, seemed clearly unsure what to do with his sudden promotion.I gave Adrian a sharp look. Thats only five to six. Oh. Realization dawned. Shit. Royal tiebreaker.The Moroi voting system had been set up with twelve members, one for each family, and then whoever the reigning king or butt was. True, it often meant one group got two votes, since the monarch rarely voted against his or her own family. It had been known to happen. Regardless, the system should have had thirteen votes, preventing ties. Except a recent problem had developed. There were no Dragomirs on the Council anymore, meaning ties could occur. In that rare event, Moroi uprightness dictated that the monarchs vote carried extra weight. Id heard that had always been controversial, and yet at the same time, there wasnt much to be done for it. Ties in the Council would mean nothing ever got settled, and since monarchs were elected, many took it on faith that they would act in the shell interests of the Moroi.Tatianas was the sixth, I said. And hers swayed it. Glancing around, I saw a bit of anger on the faces of those from the families who had voted against the decree. Apparently, not everyone believed Tatiana had acted in the best interest of the Moroi.Lissas presence sang to me through the bond, so her arrival a some moments later was no surprise. News had spread fast, though she didnt yet know the fine details. Adrian and I waved her over. She was as dumbfounded as we were.How could they do that? she asked.Because theyre too afraid that someone might fudge them learn to defend themselves. Tashas group was getting too loud.Lissa shook her head. No, not just that. I mean, why were they even in session? We should be in mourning after what happened the other daypublicly. The whole Court, not just some secret fracture of it. One of the Council members even died Couldnt they wait for the funeral? In her minds eye, I could see the images from that grisly night, where Priscilla had died right before Lissas eyes.But was easily replaceable, a new articulatio said. Christian had joined us. Lissa took a few steps away from him, still annoyed about Mia. And actually, its the perfect time. The people who wanted this had to jump at their chance. every(prenominal) time theres a big Strigoi fight, everyone panics. Fearll make a lot of people get on board with this. And if any Council members were candid before this, that battle probably pushed them over.That was pretty wise reasoning for Christian, and Lissa was impressed, despite her troubled feelings for him right now. The Councils herald finally managed to make his portion heard over the shouts of the audience. I wondered if the group would have quieted down if Tatiana herself had started yelling at them to shut up. But no. That was probably beneath her dignity. She was still sitting there calmly, like nothing unusual was going on.Nonetheless, it took several moments for everyone to settle down and take their seats. My friends and I hurriedly grabbed the first ones we could find. With peace and quiet achieved at last, the weary-looking herald yielded the floor to the faery.Smiling grandly at the assembly, she addressed them in her most imperious illustration. Wed like to thank everyone for coming today and expressing your opinions. I know some are still unsure about this decision, but Moroi law has been followed herelaws that have b een in place for centuries. We will have another session soon to listen to what you have to say in an orderly fashion. Something told me that was an empty gesture. People could talk all they wanted she wouldnt listen. This decisionthis verdictwill benefit the Moroi. Our guardians are already so excellent. She gave a implike nod toward the ceremonial guardians standing along the rooms walls. They wore typically neutral faces, but I was guessing that, like me, they probably wanted to punch half the Council. They are so excellent, in fact, that they train their students to be ready to defend us at an early age. We will all be safer from tragedies like that which recently occurred.She move her head a moment in what must have been a show of grieving. I recalled last night when shed choked up over Priscilla. Had that been an act? Was her best friends death a convenient way for Tatiana to push forward with her own agenda. Surely surely, she wasnt that cold.The queen lifted her head and c ontinued. And again, were happy to listen to you history your opinions, although by our own laws, this matter is settled. Further sessions will have to wait until an adequate period of mourning has passed for the unfortunate departed.Her tone and body language implied that this was thusly the end of the discussion. Then, an impertinent voice suddenly broke the rooms silence.My voice.Well, Id kind of like to register my opinion now.Inside my head, Lissa was shouting Sit down, sit down But I was already on my feet, moving toward the Councils table. I halt at a respectful distance, one that would let them notice me but not get me tackled by guardians. And oh, they noticed me. The herald flushed bright red at my rule breaking.You are out of line and in violation of all Council protocol Sit down right now before you are removed. He glanced over at the guardians, like he expected them to come charging forward right then. None of them moved. Either they didnt perceive me as a threat, o r they were wondering what I was going to do. I was also wondering this.With a small, delicate hand gesture, Tatiana waved the herald back. I daresay theres been so much breach of protocol today that one more incident wont make a difference. She intractable me with a kind smile, one that was apparently intended to make us look like friends. Besides, Guardian Hathaway is one of our most valuable assets. Im always interested in what she has to say.Was she really? Time to find out. I addressed my words to the Council.This thing youve just passed is utterly and totally insane. I considered it a great feat on my part that I didnt use any swear words there because I had some adjectives in mind that were much more fitting. Who said I didnt see to it Council etiquette? How can any of you sit there and think its okay to send sixteen-year-olds out to risk their lives?Its only two years difference, said the Tarus prince. Its not like were send ten-year-olds.Two years is a lot. I thought for a moment about when Id been sixteen. What had happened in those two years? Id run off with Lissa, watched friends die, traveled around the world, fallen in love. You can live a lifetime in two years. And if you want us to keep being on the summit lineswhich most of us willingly do when we graduatethen you owe us those two years.This time, I glanced back at the audience. The reactions were mixed. Some clearly concord with me, nodding along. Some looked as though nothing in the world would change their minds about the decree being just. Others wouldnt meet my eyes. Had I swayed them? Were they undecided? Embarrassed at their own selfishness? They might be the keys.Believe me, I would love to see your people enjoy their youth. This was Nathan Ivashkov speaking. But right now, thats not an pick we have. The Strigoi are closing in. Were losing more Moroi and guardians every day. Getting more fighters out there will stop this, and really, were just letting those dhampirs skills go to w aste by waiting a couple years. This plan will protect both our races.Itll kill mine off faster I said. Realizing I might start shouting if I lost control, I took a deep breath before going on. They wont be ready. They wont have all the training they need.And that was where Tatiana herself made her victor play. Yet, by your own admission, you were certainly prepared at a young age. You killed more Strigoi before you were eighteen than some guardians kill their entire lives.I fixed her with a narrow-eyed look. I, I said coldly, had an excellent instructor. One that you currently have locked up. If you want to talk about skills going to waste, then go look in your own jail.There was a slight stirring in the audience, and Tatianas were pals face grew a little cold. That is not an issue we are addressing today. Increasing our protection is. I believe you have even commented in the past that the guardian ranks are lacking in numbers. My own words, thrown back at me from last night. They need to be filled. Youand many of your companionshave proven youre able to defend us.We were exceptions It was egotistical, but it was the truth. Not all novices have reached that level.A hard glint appeared in her eye, and her voice grew silky smooth again. Well, then, perhaps we need more excellent training. Perhaps we should send you to St. Vladimirs or some other academy so that you can reform your young colleagues education. My understanding is that your upcoming assignment will be a permanent administrative one here at Court. If you wanted to help make this new decree successful, we could change that assignment and make you an instructor instead. It might speed up your return to a bodyguard assignment.I gave her a dangerous smile of my own. Do not, I warned, try to threaten, bribe, or blackmail me. Ever. You wont like the consequences.That might have been going too far. People in the audience exchange startled looks. Some of their expressions were disgusted, as though they could expect nothing better of me. I recognized a few of those Moroi. They were ones Id overheard talking about my relationship with Adrian and how the queen hated it. I also suspected a number of royals from last nights ceremony were here too. Theyd seen Tatiana lead me out and no doubt thought my enlargement and disrespect today were a type of revenge.The Moroi werent the only ones who reacted. Regardless of whether they shared my opinions, a few guardians stepped forward. I made sure to stay exactly where I was, and that, along with Tatianas lack of fear, kept them in place.Were getting weary of this conversation, Tatiana said, switching to the royal we. You can speak moreand do so in the meet mannerwhen we have our next meeting and open the floor to comments. For now, whether you like it or not, this resolution has been passed. Its law.Shes letting you off Lissas voice was back in my head. sticker away from this before you do something thatll get you in real trouble. Argue la ter.It was ironic because Id been on the verge of exploding and letting my full rage out. Lissas words stopped mebut not because of their content. It was Lissa herself. When Adrian and I had discussed the results earlier, Id noted one piece of faulty logic.It wasnt a fair vote, I declared. It wasnt legal.Are you a lawyer now, Miss Hathaway? The queen was amused, and her dropping of my guardian title now was a blatant lack of respect. If youre referring to the monarchs vote carrying more weight than others on the Council, then we can assure you that that has been Moroi law for centuries in such situations. She glanced at her fellow Council members, none of whom raised a protest. Even those whod voted against her couldnt find fault with her point.Yeah, but the entire Council didnt vote, I said. Youve had an empty spot in the Council for the last few yearsbut not anymore. I turned and pointed at where my friends were sitting. Vasilisa Dragomir is eighteen now and can fill her familys s pot. In all of this chaos, her birthday had been overlooked, even by me.The eyes in the room turned on Lissasomething she did not like. However, Lissa was used to being in the public eye. She knew what was expected of a royal, how to look and carry herself. So, rather than cringing, she sat up straight and stared ahead with a cool, regal look that said she could walk up to that table right now and demand her birthright. Whether it was that magnificent attitude alone or maybe a little spirit charisma, she was almost impossible to look away from. Her spectator had its usual luminous quality, and around the room, a lot of the faces held the same awe for her that Id observed around Court. Dimitris transformation was still an enigma, but those who believed in it were indeed regarding her as some kind of saint. She was becoming larger than life in so many peoples eyes, both with her family name and mysterious powersand now the alleged ability to posit Strigoi.Smug, I looked back at Tati ana. Isnt eighteen the legal voting age? Checkmate, bitch.Yes, she said cheerfully. If the Dragomirs had a quorum.I wouldnt say my stunning victory exactly shattered at that point, but it certainly lost a little of its luster. A what?A quorum. By law, for a Moroi family to have a Council vote, they must have a family. She does not. Shes the only one.I stared in disbelief. What, youre saying she needs to go have a kid to get a vote?Tatiana grimaced. Not now, of course. Someday, Im sure. For a family to have a vote, they must have at least two members, one of whom must be over eighteen. Its Moroi lawagain, a law thats been in the books for centuries.A few people were exchanging confused and surprised looks. This was clearly not a law many were familiar with. Of course, this situationa royal line reduce to one personwasnt one that had occurred in recent history, if it had ever occurred at all.Its true, said Ariana Szelsky reluctantly. Ive read it.Okay, that was when my stunning victor y shattered. The Szelsky family was one I trusted, and Ariana was the honest-to-god sis of the guy my mom protected. Ariana was a pretty bookish kind of person, and seeing as shed voted against the guardian age change, it seemed unlikely shed offer this piece of evidence if it werent true.With no more ammunition, I resorted to old standbys.That, I told Tatiana, is the most fucked-up law I have ever heard.That did it. The audience broke into shocked chatter, and Tatiana gave up on whatever pretense of friendliness shed been clinging to. She beat the herald to any orders he might have given.Remove her shouted Tatiana. Even with the rapidly growing noise, her voice rang clearly through the room. We will not tolerate this sort of vulgar behaviorI had guardians on me in a flash. Honestly, with how often Id been dragged away from places lately, there was almost something comfortably familiar about it. I didnt fight the guardians as they led me to the door, but I also didnt let them take me without a few parting words.You could change the quorum law if you wanted, you sanctimonious bitch I yelled back. Youre twisting the law because youre selfish and afraid Youre making the worst mistake of your life. Youll repent it Wait and seeyoull wish youd never done itI dont know if anyone heard my tirade because by then, the hall was back to the chaos it had been in when I entered. The guardiansthree of themdidnt let go of me until we were outside. Once they released me, we all stood around awkwardly for a moment.What now? I asked. I tried to keep the anger out of my voice. I was still furious and worked up, but it wasnt these guys fault. Are you going to lock me up? Seeing as it would bring me back to Dimitri, it would almost be a reward.They only said to remove you, one of the guardians pointed out. No one said what to do with you after that.Another guardian, old and grizzled but still fierce looking, gave me a wry look. Id take off while you can, before they really have a chance to punish you.Not that they wont find you if they really want to, added the first guardian.With that, the three of them headed back inside, leaving me confused and upset. My body was still revved for a fight, and I was filled with the frustration I always experienced whenever I was faced with a situation I felt powerless in. All that yelling for nothing. Id accomplished nothing.Rose?I shifted from my churning emotions and looked up at the building. The older guardian hadnt gone inside and still stood in the doorway. His face was stoic, but I thought I saw a twinkle in his eye. For what its worth, he told me, I thought you were fantastic in there.I didnt feel much like smiling, but my lips betrayed me. Thanks, I said.Well, maybe Id accomplished one thing.