Linear programing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Linear programing - Assignment Example The General Manager has also decided to produce 600 units for the current production period. Finally, an ongoing contract with the business distributors requires that at least 150 units have to be distributed through this distribution channel. The problem is to establish the distribution strategy for the radios that will maximize overall profitability of the new radio production. If a change in the marine distributors channel took place and the profit per unit fell to $80, the optimal solution changes and the total maximum profit is reduced. This can be attributed to the fact that $80 is an objective function and thus has an effect on the entire value of profit incurred. Producing two units for the mail order distribution channel results into an increase in the advertising, the sales effort also increases, the production units’ decreases and the business retail restriction increases. The non positive values will be eliminated and hence the scenario described above. If the marketing director changes the Business distributor’s restriction and increases it from 150 units to 300 units, this will increase the cost of advertisement and hence the cost of production but no major increases will result on the final sales. The resulting profits do not increase and in some scenarios losses may be incurred. g) There is a possibility about a new distribution channel. If it has the same personal sales effort and advertising cost of the Mail order, but a profit per unit of $110, would you recommend it? Would the optimal solution change? Why? It would not be recommended that a new distribution channel which has the same personal sales effort and advertising cost of the Mail order. The optimal solution would not change of the number of units’ personal sales per unit sold remains zero. The absence of any value on the personal sales per unit sold has an effect in the optimal solution

Charles Manson Essay Example for Free

Charles Manson Essay Charles Manson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to 16-year-old Kathleen Maddox. Kathleen had run away from home at the age of 15 and spent the next few decades drinking too much, with periods of time spent in jail. Since his mother couldnt take care of him, Charles spent his youth at the homes of various relatives and often at special reform schools and boys homes. By age nine, Charles Manson had already started stealing and soon added burglary and stealing cars to his repertoire. In 1954, at age nineteen, he was released on parole after an unusual bout of good behavior. The next year, he married Rosalie Willis, a waitress, and they had a son together, Charles Manson Jr. (born March 1956). Even while married, Manson had continued making extra money by stealing cars. In April 1956, he was again sent to prison. After Manson had been in prison for a year, his wife found someone new and divorced Manson in June 1957. In 1958, Manson was released from prison. This time he headed to San Francisco where, with a guitar and drugs, he began to get a following. In 1968, he and several followers drove to Southern California. Manson was still hoping for a music career. Through an acquaintance, Manson met and hung out with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys did record one of Mansons songs, which appeared as Never Learn Not to Love on the B-side of their 20/20 album. During this time, Charles Manson and some of his followers moved into the Spahn Ranch. Located northwest of San Fernando Valley the Spahn Ranch had been a popular location to film westerns in the 1940s and 1950s. Once Manson and his followers moved in, it became a cult compound for the Family. Charles Manson was good at manipulating people. He took pieces from various religions to form his own philosophy. When the Beatles released their White Album in 1968, Manson believed their song Helter Skelter predicted an upcoming race war. Helter skelter, Manson believed, was going to occur in the summer of 1969 when blacks were going to rise up and slaughter all the white people. He told his followers that they would be saved because they would go underground, literally, by traveling to an underground city of gold located in Death Valley. However, when the Armageddon that Manson had predicted did not occur, he said he and his followers must show the blacks how to do it. Manson told four of his followers to go to 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles and kill the people inside. This house once belonged to Terry Melcher, the man who had not helped Manson with his music career. However, Melcher no longer lived there; actress Sharon Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski, had rented the house. On August 9, 1969, four of Mansons followers brutally murdered Tate, her unborn baby, and four others who were visiting her (Polanski was in Europe for work). The following night, Mansons followers brutally killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home. Manson was reprieved from the death penalty in 1972 when the California Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty. Charles Manson now serves a lifetime sentence and periodically comes up for parole. Though hes been in prison for over three decades, Charles Manson has received more mail than any other prisoner in the U. S. Charles Manson is currently being held in Californias Corcoran Prison. The who and the why In 1994, Oliver Stone directed a film, using a Quentin Tarantino-written script about a pair of serial killers, (partially using the â€Å"Bonnie and Clyde† theme) entitled â€Å"Natural Born Killers. This film portrayed the main two characters who, at the point between innocent teen-ager and experienced adult, defy society, and get lost in their own little world, killing, and robbing whoever they come across. Although still on Earth, they live by their own morals, beliefs, and at the end of the film, expose the media and the law for its flaws. The truth to this movie is that it was not made to reproduce the Bonnie and Clyde theme, but it was almost an exact parallel to one man, with similar experiences in the late nineteen-sixties; Charles Manson. Oliver Stone stated later, in an interview related to the movie â€Å"The idea was that he could become more like Charles Manson. † (Describing an interview with Mickey Knox, the serial killer in Natural Born Killers. ) The parallels from the film to the most stunning murders in the sixties can be seen from the similarities in the interviews between Manson and Knox, to the setting and time period. The point being that the movie was later considered one of the most daring movies of all time, thus just scraping the surface of the severity of the story behind Charles Manson and his so-called â€Å"family. Charles Manson was born near 1935 to an unknown father and a prostitute. Not much is known about his past, just abstract things. Manson went to a foster home at age three, and his mother later was arrested for robbery. From then to the age of eighteen and past, he was moved around from foster home to foster home, juvenile prison to juvenile prison. His prison record included two counts of forgery, two counts of mail theft, check forgery, probation violation, pimping and GTA. It was around this time in his life that he met the early members in his family. Patricia Krenwinkle was an average girl growing up in the suburbs. She got average grades, and sang in her school’s glee club. She had one sister, a mother, and their father was an insurance agent. At age eighteen, she was a secretary, and had just joined the hippie movement. She met Charles Manson at a party at the house of her sister’s friend. He was playing an original, yet sad song on his guitar. She was drawn to him by his karma, mood, and attitude, which led to their sleeping together that same night. He enticed her, by words of love and happiness, to an extent that she was happy whenever he was around, and never wanted to leave him. Two days after meeting him, they, with others, left for San Francisco. Leslie Van Houten had a similar upbringing. She was a suburbanite who sang in a church choir, and was later the homecoming princess at her high school. Other than the fact that her father left the family when she was young, she had an uneventful early life. At her late teenage years, she wanted more than normal girls had at that time. She heard about Manson, how he had the answers, and how closely he portrayed Christ. She too met with him and with the happiness that he appeared to bring with him. With Manson she later explained her actions â€Å"I followed him because I anticipated a positive change. † Others like Krenwinkle and Van Houten had gotten word of Manson’s unearthly beliefs and prophecies. Charles â€Å"Tex† Watson, once an All-American high school athlete, later became Manson’s biggest believer. Lynette â€Å"Squeaky† Fromme, whose father was an Aeronautical Engineer, was also a follower, and later was the acting head of the family when Manson was not around. These people, and dozens others followed Manson out West, first to San Francisco, and then further South, winding up at a place called Spahn Ranch. Charles Manson would later have a â€Å"family† of these followers, who literally did whatever he asked. They found happiness in his and each other’s presence. It was mainly a piece of the hippie movement; a way to stray from the norm and live opposite of what one was raised to learn. The structure was simple; he was the leader, the Christ, the martyr of the group, and they listened and did what he said. This type of control, however innocent the motives, could be considered a cult, and was later labeled as such. Yet, the main principals behind their family was, and only was, Manson’s will. The Mind and Motives of Charles Manson, and society’s counteractions are best described when his beliefs, his actions to support and uphold these beliefs, and society’s laws to stop him are taken into account. Image, perception, beliefs Manson has been proclaimed by many to be insane. The question of whether or not he is insane is a question of opinion, which cannot have a â€Å"true† right answer. However, his beliefs, which fueled his and his family’s actions between 1968 and 1975 conflicted with society’s morals, around which this country revolves. The severity of Manson and his family’s doings are reasoned behind his beliefs toward himself, his family, nature, other people, and the law. Charles Manson, on many occasions, has compared himself to Jesus Christ. He believed that he was Christ, and the world had made him suffer just as Christ did two thousand years ago. He also had his family believing that he was Christ. He said in an interview, when asked how he got his followers to believe that he was Jesus, â€Å"I was just being myself†¦ all men is Jesus Christ. † He also believed that he was Satan, to come to Earth and start Helter-Skelter, what he called a prophetical Armageddon. His family, he believed, had two main spiritual duties to learn to be him and to act like him, and to also learn and believe in what he did. He and the family lived with each other, living off, what he would consider love, for each other, and the earth. He told them that the happiness is in love. He believed that they should, when necessary, die for him, and not feel remorse. He preached to them that death was not bad, just another high. The family eventually adopted these beliefs, thus putting them at his complete control. Nature, according to Manson, was one of the most precious things in life. He subscribed to the belief that ATWA (Air, Trees, Water, Animals) kept humans alive, and we should treat ATWA with equal respect. He once metaphored that ATWA was a ship, and the humans wastes to the earth, pollution, and forest destruction was like a hole in the bottom of the boat. He, when living and Spahn Ranch, would tell his family to let the scorpions crawl over them, as they were animals, not meant to endanger the family. Helter Skelter Helter Skelter, revenge were part of his beliefs. Humans had corrupted the Earth and ATWA, and had been ignorant about it. Manson had felt that society dumped him and he felt great rage for society, and people, and later found an anthem for his rage. When asked about his actions, many years after the murders, he had said that he is a part of everyone, that he mirrors people, because they shaped him. The Beatles’ â€Å"White Album† included songs (Helter Skelter, Revolution #9, Piggies, and others) that Manson felt documented his rage toward society. When at the ranch, he and the family listened to these songs many times over. Manson thought he had heard his name being said in one of the songs. Their thoughts about Helter Skelter, or the Armageddon, were brought out by these songs. In Revolution #9, he heard machine gun fire, the oinking of pigs, and a man saying, â€Å"rise. † His beliefs would later incite Helter Skelter, using his family as a type of â€Å"army. † Some people believe that he just brutalized people, that the murders were for no cause, and he was just insane. Yet, more than twenty-five years after he and his family were convicted, he still has the same beliefs and still can logically explain his actions. August 9, 1969 and August 10, 1969. These two days carry a dark shadow over them. Two of the first ritual cult-style mass murders in U. S. history. The first of the two changed the mood of the entire population of L. A. for almost a year. These murders were the coming of Manson’s Helter Skelter, the Armageddon of the Earth. Spahn Ranch is a small, run down ranch near L. A. It was owned by George Spahn, who was then a decrepit, eighty-year-old wrangler, whose kids had gone away and whose wife had died. He was depressed near death when a group of hippies came to his door. They agreed to take care of him, and the ranch in exchange for living space. He agreed. The group, otherwise known as Manson’s family, had Squeaky take the most care of George, which included cleaning, cooking, making love to him, and other various tasks. The family, which consisted of twenty-six people, began its cultish life in the desert. â€Å"We played a lot of music, we did a lot of drugs, we loved, we were happy† relies Manson when later asked about life at the ranch. The family did these things, and more. They lost their humanity at the ranch. Life was lived â€Å"now† for â€Å"today. † Manson told them to always â€Å"live today. † The family members never talked about the past, never thought about the past or the future. The initiation of female family members was just that they joined. Male members would pick any woman they wanted and made love to them. Manson’s thoughts on this was that that’s what women are for, to bait the men. The women were not allowed to deny who picked them. They had no watches, to forget time, and society. Manson would walk up to members daily, and have them mirror his actions, to try to be exactly like him. They took hundreds of acid trips, they did marijuana, and during the acid trips, he would have them reenact the crucifixion. During these times he would ask them if they would die for him, if they would â€Å"be him. The members had started to live Manson’s reality. Manson would hear about the discrimination against the blacks in the South, and this was partially where he based his proof that Helter Skelter was near. The members started getting more guns, knives, and other weapons. They had lookouts at the ranch. They also robbed places to get money. Leslie Van Houten even robbed her father to get money for the cause. The crimes By August 8 1969, Manson had already killed a few people for various reasons. These drug dealers, and bums that he did kill are civil compared to the two ritualistic murders, done for Helter Skelter. Manson once tried to get a record contract from a producer, living at 10050 Cielo Dr. In Bel-Air, which later failed. Manson, who had been telling the family for months that they needed to start Helter Skelter themselves, needed money to bail out a member from jail. Near midnight, on August 8, he called a meeting about this. He sent Pat Krenwinkle, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Tex Watson to 10050 Cielo Dr. to get money. He had told the women to do whatever Tex told them and was remembered saying â€Å"I don’t care how you do it, but do it and get it done now! That night, just after midnight, August 9, they pulled up to the driveway. Tex cut the telephone wires, and bypassing the electric gate, the women scaled a fence and climbed up a hill to the yard. This house was no longer occupied by the record producer of Manson’s acquaintance, but instead a beautiful new actress named Sharon Tate. Her lover and soon-to-be husband Roman Polanski, who was a movie director, wa s in London at the time. She was pregnant with their eight-month-old baby. She, Jay Sebring, Voytek Frykowski, and Abigail Folger were at the house for the night. Sebring was a worldwide known hairdresser, owning Sebring International. Folger was the heiress to the Folger coffee fortune. Frykowski was an actor, her lover. Back behind the house in a small shack was William Garretson, who was a caretaker of the house, who would later be an important witness. At the time when the women jumped the fence and were waiting for Tex, they heard four gunshots. He has seen Steven parent driving up to the residence. He was an acquaintance of Garrtetson, coming to visit. He was killed instantly, four shots at point-blank range. Tex then caught up with the women, and walked to the front door. It was locked, so he went through an open window next to the door, leading the women in first. They got the four people into the living room, together. Sebring, who tried to protect Sharon, was bludgeoned in the head once, then shot and stabbed by Tex. The other three people were panicked at this time. Frykowski tried to run out the back door, but was caught up to by Tex. He was clubbed in the head several times, shot, and stabbed. It was later counted that he was stabbed fifty-one times. Before his death, Abigail Folger had been tied up, and now was starting to get free. She ran out the back, pursued by Krenwinkle. She was ran down, and stabbed to death. Krenwinkle later recalled her saying â€Å"I’m already dead†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Later found to have been stabbed twenty-eight times. ) Finally, Sharon Tate, the only one left, was begging for the life of her baby to Tex, who replied, â€Å"Look, I have no mercy for you. † He then stabbed her to death. After these five brutal murders, the killers would up taking only seventy dollars before leaving. When returning to the ranch, Manson was remembered saying only two things, â€Å"Do you have any remorse? and â€Å"Don’t tell anyone. † â€Å"Sharon Tate, four others slain in ritualistic murders. † These were the headlines the following day in the Los Angeles Times. Even the New York Times, which never printed murder cases on the cover page, printed the Tate murders on the cover for almost a week. The night of August 9, 1969, Lenio Labianca and his wife, Rosemary, were driving back from a vacation at Lake Isabella. It was about 3:00 AM, August 10 when they finally arrived back at their house. Manson had picked Krenwinkle, Van Houten, and Tex to go to their house. Manson still needed money, and he said that he went to a party at the neighboring house once before. He had asked Van Houten, â€Å"Can you be me, do you believe enough in me to do this? † This time, Manson came with them in a separate car. They arrived, and walked through the front door. Tex tied up Leno, who was reading the paper in the living room. At this time, Manson had left, leaving no evidence of his presence. The two girls took Rosemary into the bedroom. Manson had told Tex â€Å"Don’t scare them like last time, just kill them. † Leno was stabbed to death while Rosemary was forced to listen. Tex then came in, stabbed her to death. He then handed a knife to Van Houten, who then stabbed Rosemary in the back fifteen times. Pat then went out to the dead body of Leno. She took a fork, and stabbed him on the stomach multiple times, and finally left the fork in him. No money was taken. During the first set of murders, they had written â€Å"Piggies† and â€Å"Helter Skelter† in Tate’s blood on the door. In the second set, they wrote with Leno’s blood â€Å"Rise. † â€Å"Death Pigs,† and â€Å"Helter Skelter† on the walls before they left. These cultish writings were the only things that the police could find in common to the two murders. By 1970, Manson and his followers had killed more people than the victims in the Tate-Labianca murders, but the severity of the two back-to-back slaughters shocked the nation. Nobody had seen killings like these. Unprovoked, unnecessary, and inhuman. Four months after the two murdering, police finally caught up with and arrested Manson and his followers for the murders. The cultish actions and Manson’s control over the family, however, didn’t stop when they were all in custody of the law. It had taken years after the trials for the family to break Manson’s will over them.

Hunting is a Crime, Not a Sport :: English Literature Essays

How many animals will be slaughtered before it is decided too many are dead? Will species die out and fade into obscurity? Isn't it our job to prevent this from occurring? With the large prevalence of hunters in today's world, it is time to define what hunting is. Hunting is not a sport due to the waste of precious animal lives, moral ethics, and its inability to follow the definition of a sport. The dictionary defines a sport as "an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules and often undertaken competitively"(Dictionary.com). Under this definition, hunting is considered a sport, although this definition seems to be lacking a few main points. When surveyed, many people thought that a sport should be fair to both sides. There should always be a chance for the other team to win, otherwise there would not be a point. Also, a sport should be fun for both sides. If it is not, then the sport stops being recreational. A third addition is the fact that people participate in sports by choice. An animal does not choose to be hunted, it is chosen by the hunter. Therefore, looking at the new definition, it would seem that hunting is no longer a sport: it is unfair to the animal, the animal is definitely not having fun and the animal has absolutely no choice about participating. In previous centuries, First Nations peoples hunted animals throughout Canada. When they killed an animal, they would honour its spirit. This was done because they believed that all creatures, including humans, were equal in life. One of the ways they honoured the animal's spirit was to use every portion of the body. They would use the skin for clothing or shelter, the stomach for cooking, the meat for eating and many other portions for various uses. They would waste nothing, and this practice continued for hundreds of years. It still exists today. Many modern day sport hunters do not follow this ideal. A lot of hunters stuff and mount their kills as trophies, or decorations. This is a waste of the animal. Before the dead animal is stuffed, the taxidermist removes the internal organs and scrapes the skin clean. The waste is then dumped into a garbage bin and disposed of. This is an enormous waste of the animal. While some hunters do eat the animals they kill, and use most of it, the majority do not.

Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER FIVE SPEAKER

SPEAKER Trantor! For eight thousand years, it was the capital of a large and mighty political entity that spanned an ever-growing union of planetary systems. For twelve thousand years after that, it was the capital of a political entity that spanned the entire Galaxy. It was the center, the heart, the epitome of the Galactic Empire. It was impossible to think of the Empire without thinking of Trantor. Trantor did not reach its physical peak until the Empire was far gone in decay. In fact, no one noticed that the Empire had lost its drive, its forward look, because Trantor gleamed in shining metal. Its growth had peaked at the point where it was a planet-girdling city. Its population was stabilized (by law) at forty-five billion and the only surface greenery was at the Imperial Palace and the Galactic University/Library complex. Trantor's land surface was metal-coated. Its deserts and its fertile areas were alike engulfed and made into warrens of humanity, administrative jungles, computerized elaborations, vast storehouses of food and replacement parts. its mountain ranges were beaten down; its chasms filled in. The city's endless corridors burrowed under the continental shelves and the oceans were turned into huge underground aquacultural cisterns – the only (and insufficient native source of food and minerals. The connections with the Outer Worlds, from which Trantor obtained the resources it required, depended upon its thousand spaceports, its ten thousand warships, its hundred thousand merchant ships, its million space freighters. No city so vast was ever recycled so tightly. No planet in the Galaxy had ever made so much use of solar power or went to such extremes to rid itself of waste heat. Glittering radiators stretched up into the thin upper atmosphere upon the nightside and were withdrawn into the metal city on the dayside. As the planet turned, the radiators rose as night progressively fell around the world and sank as day progressively broke. So Trantor always had an artificial asymmetry that was almost its symbol. At this peak, Trantor ran the Empire? It ran it poorly, but nothing could have run the Empire well. The Empire was too large to be run from a single world – even under the most dynamic of Emperors. How could Trantor have helped but run it poorly when, in the ages of decay, the Imperial crown was traded back and forth by sly politicians and foolish incompetents and the bureaucracy had become a subculture of corruptibles? But even at its worst, there was some self-propelled worth to the machinery. The Galactic Empire could not have been run without Trantor. The Empire crumbled steadily, but as long as Trantor remained Trantor, a core of the Empire remained and it retained an air of pride, of millennia, of tradition and power and – exaltation. Only when the unthinkable happened – when Trantor finally fell and was sacked; when its citizens were killed by the millions and left to starve by the billions; when its mighty metal coating was scarred and punctured and fused by the attack of the â€Å"barbarian† fleet – only then was the Empire considered to have fallen. The surviving remnants on the once-great world undid further what had been left and, in a generation, Trantor was transformed from the greatest planet the human race had ever seen to an inconceivable tangle of ruins. That had been nearly two and a half centuries ago. In the rest of the Galaxy, Trantor-as-it-had-been still was not forgotten. It would live forever as the favored site of historical novels, the favored symbol and memory of the past, the favored word for sayings such as â€Å"All starships land on Trantor,† â€Å"Like looking for a person in Trantor,† and â€Å"No more alike than this and Trantor.† In all the rest of the Galaxy – But that was not true on Trantor itself! Here the old Trantor was forgotten. The surface metal seas gone, almost everywhere. Trantor was now a sparsely settled world of self-sufficient farmers, a place where trading ships rarely came and were not particularly welcome when they did come. The very word â€Å"Trantor,† though still in official use, had dropped out of popular speech. By present-day Trantorians, it was called â€Å"Hame,† which in their dialect was what would be called â€Å"Home† in Galactic Standard. Quindor Shandess thought of all this and much more as he sat quietly in a welcome state of half-drowse, in which he could allow his mind to run along a self-propelled and unorganized stream of thought. He had been First Speaker of the Second Foundation for eighteen years, and he might well bold on for ten or twelve years more if his mind remained reasonably vigorous and if he could continue to fight the political wars. He was the analog, the mirror image, of the Mayor of Terminus, who ruled over the First Foundation, but how different they were in every respect. The Mayor of Terminus was known to all the Galaxy and the First Foundation was therefore simply â€Å"the Foundation† to all the worlds. The First Speaker of the Second Foundation was known only to his associates. And yet it was the Second Foundation, under himself and his predecessors, who held the real power. The First Foundation was supreme in the realm of physical power, of technology, of war weapons. The Second Foundation was supreme in the realm of mental power, of the mind, of the ability to control. In any conflict between the two, what would it matter how many ships and weapons the First Foundation disposed of, if the Second Foundation could control the minds of those who controlled the ships and weapons? But how long could he revel in this realization of secret power? He was the twenty-fifth First Speaker and his incumbency was already a shade longer than average. Ought he, perhaps, not be too keen on holding on and keeping out the younger aspirants? There was Speaker Gendibal, the keenest and newest at the Table. Tonight they would spend time together and Shandess looked forward to it. Ought he look forward also to Gendibal's possible accession some day? The answer to the question was that Shandess had no real thought of leaving his post. He enjoyed it too much. He sat there, in his old age, still perfectly capable of performing his duties. His hair was gray, but it had always been light in color and he wore it cut an inch long so that the color scarcely mattered. His eyes were a faded blue and his clothing conformed to the drab styling of the Trantorian farmers. The First Speaker could, if he wished, pass among the Hamish people as one of them, but his hidden power nevertheless existed. He could choose to focus his eyes and mind at any time and they would then act according to his will and recall nothing about it afterward. It rarely happened. Almost never. The Golden Rule of the Second Foundation was, â€Å"Do nothing unless you must, and when you must act – hesitate.† The First Speaker sighed softly. Living in the old University, with the brooding grandeur of the ruins of the Imperial Palace not too far distant, made one wonder on occasion how Golden the Rule might be. In the days of the Great Sack, the Golden Rule had been strained to the breaking point. There was no way of saving Trantor without sacrificing the Seldon Plan for establishing a Second Empire. It would have been humane to spare the forty-five billion, but they could not have been spared without retention of the core of the First Empire and that would have only delayed the reckoning. If would have led to a greater destruction some centuries later and perhaps no Second Empire ever The early First Speakers had worked over the clearly foreseen Sack for decades but had found no solution – no way of assuring both the salvation of Trantor and the eventual establishment of the Second Empire. The lesser evil had to be chosen and Trantor had died! The Second Foundatianers of the time had managed – by the narrowest of margins – to save the University/Library complex and there had been guilt forever after because of that, too. Though no one had ever demonstrated that saving the complex had led to the of the Mule, there was always the intuition that there was a connection. How nearly that had wrecked everything! Yet following the decades of the Sack acrd the Mule came the Golden Age of the Second Foundation. Prior to that, for over two and a half centuries after Seldon's death, the Second Foundation had burrowed like moles into the Library, intent only on staying out of the way of the Imperials. They served as librarians in a decaying society that cared less and less for the ever-more-misnamed Galactic Library, which fell into the desuetude that best suited the purpose of the Second Foundationers. It was an ignoble life. They merely conserved the Plan, while out at the end of the Galaxy, the First Foundation fought for its life against always greater enemies with neither help from the Second Foundation nor any real knowledge of it. It was the Great Sack that liberated the Second Foundation – another reason (young Gendibal – who had courage – had recently said that it was the chief reason) why the Sack was allowed to proceed. After the Great Sack, the Empire was gone and, in all the later times, the Trantorian survivors never trespassed on Second Foundation territory uninvited. The Second Foundationers saw to it that the University/Library complex which had survived the Sack also survived the Great Renewal. The ruins of the Palace were preserved, too. The metal was gone over almost all the rest of the world. The great and endless corridors were covered up, filled in, twisted, destroyed, ignored; all under rock and soil – all except here, where metal still surrounded the ancient open places. It might be viewed as a grand memorial of greatness, the sepulcher of Empire, but to the Trantorians – the Hamish people – these were haunted places, filled with ghosts, not to be stirred. Only the Second Foundationers ever set foot in the ancient corridors or touched the titanium gleam. And even so, all had nearly come to nothing because of the Mule. The Mule had actually been on Trantor. What if he had found out the nature of the world he had been standing on? His physical weapons were far greater than those at the disposal of the Second Foundation, his mental weapons almost as great. The Second Foundation would have been hampered always by the necessity of doing nothing but what they must, and by the knowledge that almost any hope of tinning the immediate fight might portend a greater eventual loss. Had it not been for Banta Darell and her swift moment of action. And that, too, had been without the help of the Second Foundation? And then – the Golden age, when somehow the First Speakers of the time found ways of becoming active, stopping the Mule in his career of conquest, controlling his mind at last; and then stopping the First Foundation itself when it grew wary and overcurious concerning the nature and identity of the Second Foundation. There was Preem Palver, nineteenth First Speaker and greatest of them all, who had managed to put an end to all danger – not without terrible sacrifice – and who had rescued the Seldon Plan. Now, for a hundred and twenty years, the Second Foundation was again as it once had been, hiding in a haunted portion of Trantor. They were hiding no longer from the Imperials, but from the First Foundation still – a First Foundation almost as large as the Galactic Empire had been and even greater in technological expertise. The First Speaker's eyes closed in the pleasant warmth and he passed into that never-never state of relaxing hallucinatory experiences that were not quite dreams and not quite conscious thought. Enough of gloom. All would be well. Trantor was still capital of the Galaxy, for the Second Foundation was here and it was mightier and more in control than ever the Emperor had been. The First Foundation would be contained and guided and would move correctly. However formidable their ships and weapons, they could do nothing as long as key leaders could be, at need, mentally controlled. And the Second Empire would come, but it would not be like the first. It would be a Federated Empire, with its parts possessing considerable self-rule, so that there would be none of the apparent strength and actual weakness of a unitary, centralized government. The new Empire would be looser, more pliant, more flexible, more capable of withstanding strain, and it would be guided always – always – by the hidden men and women of the Second Foundation. Trantor would then be still the capital, more powerful with its forty thousand psychohistorians than ever it had been with its forty-five billion – The First Speaker snapped awake. The sun was lower in the sky. Had he been mumbling? Had he said anything aloud? If the Second Foundation had to know much and say little, the ruling Speakers had to know mere and say less, and the First Speaker lead to know mist and say least. He smiled wryly. It was always so tempting to become a Trantorian patriot – to see the whole purpose of the Second Empire as that of bringing about Trantorian hegemony. Seldon had warned of it; he had foreseen even that, five centuries before it could come to pass. The First Speaker had not slept too long, however. It was not yet time for Gendibal's audience. Shandess was looking forward to that private meeting. Gendibal was young enough to look at the Plan with new eyes, and keen enough to see what others might not. And it was not beyond possibility that Shandess would learn from what the youngster had to say. No one would ever be certain how much Preem Palver – the great Palver himself – had profited from that day when the young Kol Benjoam, not yet thirty, came to talk to him about possible ways of handling the First Foundation. Benjoam, who was later recognized as the greatest theorist since Seldon, never spoke of that audience in later years, but eventually he became the twenty-first First Speaker. There were some who credited Benjoam, rather than Palver, for the great accomplishments of Palver's administration. Shandess amused himself with the thought of what Gendibal might say. It was traditional that keen youngsters, confronting the First Speaker alone for the first time, would place their entire thesis in the first sentence. And surely they would not ask for that precious first audience for something trivial – something that might ruin their entire subsequent career by convincing the First Speaker they were lightweights. Four hours later, Gendibal faced him. The young man showed no sign of nervousness. He waited calmly for Shandess to speak first. Shandess said, â€Å"You have asked for a private audience, Speaker, on a matter of importance. Could you please summarize the matter for me?† And Gendibal, speaking quietly, almost as though he were describing what he had just eaten at dinner, said, â€Å"First Speaker, the Seldon Plan is meaningless!† Stor Gendibal did not require the evidence of others to give him a sense of worth. He could not recall a time when he did not know himself to be unusual. He had been recruited for the Second Foundation when he was only a ten-year-old boy by an agent who had recognized the potentialities of his mind. He had then done remarkably well at his studies and had taken to psychohistory as a spaceship responds to a gravitational field. Psychohistory had pulled at him and he had curved toward it, reading Seldon's text on the fundamentals when others his age were merely trying to handle differential equations. When he was fifteen, he entered Trantor's Galactic University (as the University of Trantor had been officially renamed), after an interview during which, when asked what his ambitions were, he had answered firmly, â€Å"To be First Speaker before I am forty.† He had not bothered to aim for the First Speaker's chair without qualification. To gain it, one way or another, seemed to him to be a certainty. It was to do it in youth that seemed to him to be the goal. Even Preem Palver bad been forty-two on his accession. The interviewer's expression had flickered when Gendibal had said that, but the young man already had the feel of psycholanguage and could interpret that flicker. He knew, as certainly as though the interviewer had announced it, that a small notation would go on his records to the effect that he would be difficult to handle. Well, of course! Gendibal intended to be difficult to handle. He was thirty now. He would be thirty-one in a matter of two months and he was already a member of the Council of Speakers. He had nine years, at most, to become First Speaker and he knew he would make it. This audience with the present First Speaker was crucial to his plans and, laboring to present precisely the proper impression, he had. spared no effort to polish his command of psycholanguage. When two Speakers of the Second Foundation communicate with each other, the language is like no other in the Galaxy. It is as much a language of fleeting gestures as of words, as much a matter of detected mental – change patterns as anything else. An outsider would hear little or nothing, but in a short time, much in the way of thought would be exchanged and the communication would be unreportable in its literal form to anyone but still another Speaker. The language of Speakers had its advantage in speed and in infinite delicacy, but it had the disadvantage of making it almost impossible to mask true opinion. Gendibal knew his own opinion of the First Speaker. He felt the First Speaker to be a man past his mental prime. The First Speaker – in Gendibal's assessment – expected no crisis, was not trained to meet one, and lacked the sharpness to deal with one if it appeared. With all Shandess's goodwill and amiability, he was the stuff of which disaster was made. All of this Gendibal had to hide not merely from words, gestures, and facial expressions, but even from his thoughts. He knew no way of doing so efficiently enough to keep the First Speaker from catching a whiff of it. Nor could Gendibal avoid knowing something of the First Speaker's feeling toward him. Through bonhomie and goodwill – quite apparent and reasonably sincere – Gendibal could feel the distant edge of condescension and amusement, and tightened his own mental grip to avoid revealing any resentment in return – or as little as possible. The First Speaker smiled and leaned back in his chair. He did not actually lift his feet to the desk top, but he got across just the right mixture of self-assured ease and informal friendship – just enough of each to leave Gendibal uncertain as to the effect of his statement. Since Gendibal had not been invited to sit down, the actions and attitudes available to him that might be designed to minimize the uncertainty were limited. It was impossible that the First Speaker did not understand this. Shandess said, â€Å"The Seldon Plan is meaningless? What a remarkable statement! Have you looked at the Prime Radiant lately, Speaker Gendibal?† â€Å"I study it frequently, First Speaker. It is my duty to do so and my pleasure as well.† â€Å"Do you, by any chance, study only those portions of it that fall under your purview, now and then? Do you observe it in microfashion – an equation system here, an adjustment rivulet there? Highly important, of course, but I have always thought it an excellent occasional exercise to observe the whole course. Studying the Prime Radiant, acre by acre, has its uses – but observing it as a continent is inspirational. To tell you the truth, Speaker, I have not done it for a long time myself. Would you join me?† Gendibal dared not pause too long. It had to be done, and it must be done easily and pleasantly or it might as well not be done. â€Å"It would be an honor and a pleasure, First Speaker.† The First Speaker depressed a lever on the side of his desk. T here was one such in the office of every Speaker and the one in Gendibal's office was in no way inferior to that of the First Speaker. The Second Foundation was an equalitarian society in all its surface manifestations – the unimportant ones. In fact, the only official prerogative of the First Speaker was that which was explicit in his title he always spoke first. The room grew dark with the depression of the lever but, almost at once, the darkness lifted into a pearly dimness. Both long walls turned faintly creamy, then brighter and whiter, and finally there appeared neatly printed equations – so small that they could not be easily read. â€Å"If you have no objections,† said the First Speaker, making it quite clear that there would be none allowed, â€Å"we will reduce the magnification in order to see as much at one time as we can.† The neat printing shrank down into fine hairlines, faint black meanderings over the pearly background. The First Speaker touched the keys of the small console built into the arm of his chair. â€Å"We'll bring it back to the start – to the lifetime of Hari Seldon – and we'll adjust it to a small forward movement. We'll shutter it so that we can only see a decade of development at a time. It gives one a wonderful feeling of the flow of history, with no distractions by the details. I wonder if you have ever done this.† â€Å"Never exactly this way, First Speaker.† â€Å"You should. It's a marvelous feeling. Observe the sparseness of the black tracery at the start. There was not much chance for alternatives in the first few decades. The branch points, however, increase exponentially with time. Were it not for the fact that, as soon as a particular branch is taken, there is an extinction of a vast array of others in its future, all would soon become unmanageable. Of course, in dealing with the future, we must be careful what extinctions we rely upon.† â€Å"I know, First Speaker.† There was a touch of dryness in Gendibal's response that he could not quire remove. The First Speaker did not respond to it. â€Å"Notice the winding lines of symbols in red. There is a pattern to them. To all appearances, they should exist randomly, as even Speaker earns his place by adding refinements to Seldon's original Plan. It would seem there is no way, after all, of predicting where a refinement can be added easily or where a particular Speaker will find his interests or his ability tending, and yet I have long suspected that the admixture of Seldon Black and Speaker Red follows a strict law that is strongly dependent on time and on very little else.† Gendibal watched as the years passed and as the black and red hairlines made an almost hypnotic interlacing pattern. The pattern meant nothing in itself, of course. What counted were the symbols of which it was composed. Here and there a bright-blue rivulet made its appearance, bellying out; branching, and becoming prominent, then falling in upon itself and fading into the black or red. The First Speaker said, â€Å"Deviation Blue,† and the feeling of distaste, originating in each, filled the space between them. â€Å"We catch it over and over, and we'll be coming to the Century of Deviations eventually.† They did. One could tell precisely when the shattering phonemenon of the Mule momentarily filled the Galaxy, as the Prime Radiant suddenly grew thick with branching rivulets of blue – more starting than could be closed down – until the room itself seemed to turn blue as the lines thickened and marked the wall with brighter and brighter pollution. (It was the only word.) It reached its peak and then faded, thinned, and came together for a long century before it trickled to its end at last. When it was gone, and when the Plan had returned to black and red, it was clear that Preem Palver's hand had been there. Onward, onward â€Å"That's the present,† said the First Speaker comfortably. Onward, onward Then a narrowing into a veritable knot of close-knit black with little red in it. â€Å"That's the establishment of the Second Empire,† said the First Speaker. He shut off the Prime Radiant and the room was bathed in ordinary light. Gendibal said, â€Å"That was an emotional experience.† â€Å"Yes,† smiled the First Speaker, â€Å"and you are careful not to identify the emotion, as far as you can manage to fail to identify it. It doesn't matter. Let me make the points I wish to make. â€Å"You will notice, first, the all-but-complete absence of Deviation Blue after the time of Preem Palver – over the last twelve decades, in other words. You will notice that there are no reasonable probabilities of Deviations above the fifth-class over the next five centuries. You will notice, too, that we have begun extending the refinements of psychohistory beyond the establishment of the Second Empire. As you undoubtedly know, Hari Seldon – although a transcendent genius – is not, and could not, be all-knowing. We have improved on him. We know more about psychohistory than he could possibly have known. â€Å"Seldon ended his calculations with the Second Empire and we have continued beyond it. Indeed, if I may say so without offense, the new Hyper-Plan that goes past the establishment of the Second Empire is very largely my doing and has earned me my present post. â€Å"I tell you all this so that you can spare me unnecessary talk. With all this, how do you manage to conclude that the Seldon Plan is meaningless? It is without flaw. The mere fact that it survived the Century of Deviations – with all due respect to Palver's genius – is the best evidence we have that it is without flaw. Where is its weakness, young man, that you should brand the Plan as meaningless?† Gendibal stood stiffly upright. â€Å"You are right, First Speaker. The Seldon Plan has no flaw.† â€Å"You withdraw your remark, then?† â€Å"No, First Speaker. Its lack of flaw is its flaw. Its flawlessness is fatal!† The First Speaker regarded Gendibal with equanimity. He had learned to control his expressions and it amused him to watch Gendibal's ineptness in this respect. At every exchange, the young man did his best to hide his feelings, but each time, he exposed them completely. Shandess studied him dispassionately. He was a thin young man, not much above the middle height, with thin lips and bony, restless hands. He had dark, humorless eyes that tended to smolder. He would be, the First Speaker knew, a hard person to talk out of his convictions. â€Å"You speak in paradoxes, Speaker,† he said. â€Å"It sounds like a paradox, First Speaker, because there is so much about Seldon's Plan that we take for granted and accept in so unquestioning a manner.† â€Å"And what is it you question, then?† â€Å"The Plan's very basis. We all know that the Plan will not work if its nature – or even its existence – is known to too many of those whose behavior it is designed to predict.† â€Å"I believe Hari Seldon understood that. I even believe he made it one of his two fundamental axioms of psychohistory.† â€Å"He did not anticipate the Mule, First Speaker, and therefore he could not anticipate the extent to which the Second Foundation would become an obsession with the people of the First Foundation, once they had been shown its importance by the Mule.† â€Å"Hari Seldon†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and for one moment, the First Speaker shuddered and fell silent. Hari Seldon's physical appearance was known to all the members of the Second Foundation. Reproductions of him in two and in three dimensions, photographic and holographic, in bas-relief and in the round, sitting and standing, were ubiquitous. They all represented him in the last few years of his life. All were of an old and benign man, face wrinkled with the wisdom of the aged, symbolizing the quintessence of well-ripened genius. But the First Speaker now recalled seeing a photograph reputed to be Seldon as a young man. The photograph was neglected, since the thought of a young Seldon was almost a contradiction in terms. Yet Shandess had seen it, and the thought had suddenly come to him that Stor Gendibal looked remarkably like the young Seldon. Ridiculous? It was the sort of superstition that afflicted everyone, now and then, however rational they might be. He was deceived by a fugitive similarity. If he had the photograph before him, he would see at once that the similarity was an illusion. Yet why should that silly thought have occurred to him now? He recovered. It had been a momentary quaver – a transient derailment of thought – too brief to be noticed by anyone but a Speaker. Gendibal might interpret it as he pleased. â€Å"Hari Seldon,† he said very firmly the second time, â€Å"knew well that there were an infinite number of possibilities he could not foresee, and it was for that reason that he set up the Second Foundation. We did not foresee the Mule either, but tie recognized him once he was upon us and we stopped him. We did not foresee the subsequent obsession of the First Foundation with ourselves, but we saw it when it came and we stopped it. What is it about this that you can possibly find fault with?† â€Å"For one thing,† said Gendibal, â€Å"the obsession of the First Foundation with us is not yet over.† There was a distinct ebb in the deference with which Gendibal had been speaking. He had noted the quaver in the First Speaker's voice (Shandess decided) and had interpreted it as uncertainty. That had to be countered. The First Speaker said briskly, â€Å"Let me anticipate. There would be people on the First Foundation, who – comparing the hectic difficulties of the first nearly four centuries of existence with the placidity of the last twelve decades – will come to the conclusion that this cannot be unless the Second Foundation is taking good care of the Plan – and, of course, they will be right in so concluding. They will decide that the Second Foundation may not have been destroyed after all – and, of course, they will be right in so deciding. In fact, we've received reports that there is a young man on the First Foundation's capital world of Terminus, an official of their government, who is quite convinced of all this. – I forget his name†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Golan Trevize,† said Gendibal softly. â€Å"It was I who first noted the matter in the reports, and it was I who directed the matter to your office.† â€Å"Oh?† said the First Speaker with exaggerated politeness. â€Å"And how did your attention come to be focused on him?† â€Å"One of our agents on Terminus sent in a tedious report on the newly elected members of their Council – a perfectly routine matter usually sent to and ignored by all Speakers. This one caught my eye because of the nature of the description of one new Councilman, Golan Trevize. From the description, he seemed unusually self-assured and combative.† â€Å"You recognized a kindred spirit, did you?† â€Å"Not at all,† said Gendibal, stiffly. â€Å"He seemed a reckless person who enjoyed doing ridiculous things, a description which does not apply to me. In any case, I directed an in-depth study. It did not take long for me to decide that he would have made good material for us if he had been recruited at an early age.† â€Å"Perhaps,† said the First Speaker, â€Å"but you know that we do not recruit on Terminus.† â€Å"I know that well. In any case, even without our training, he has an unusual intuition. It is, of course, thoroughly undisciplined. I was, therefore. Not particularly surprised that he ad grasped the fact that the Second Foundation still exists. I felt it important enough, however, to direct a memo on the matter to your office.† â€Å"And I take it from your manner that there is a new development?† â€Å"Having grasped the fact that we still exist, thanks to his highly developed intuitive abilities, he then used it in a characteristically undisciplined fashion and has, as a result, been exiled from Terminus.† The First Speaker lifted his eyebrows. â€Å"You stop suddenly. You want me to interpret the significance. Without using my computer, let me mentally apply a rough approximation of Seldon's equations and guess that a shrewd Mayor, capable of suspecting that the Second Foundation exists, prefers not to have an undisciplined individual shout it to the Galaxy and thus alert said Second Foundation to the danger. I take it Branno the Bronze decided that Terminus is safer with Trevize off the planet.† â€Å"She might have imprisoned Trevize or had him quietly assassinated.† â€Å"The equations are not reliable when applied to individuals, as you well know. They deal only with humanity in mass. Individual behavior is therefore unpredictable and it is possible to assume that the Mayor is a humane individual who feels imprisonment, let alone assassination, is unmerciful.† Gendibal said nothing for a while. It was an eloquent nothing, and he maintained it just long enough for the First Speaker to grow uncertain of himself but not so long as to induce a defensive anger. He timed it to the second and then he said, â€Å"That is not my interpretation. I believe that Trevize, at this moment, represents the cutting edge of the greatest threat to the Second Foundation in its history – a greater danger even than the Mule!† Gendibal was satisfied. The force of the statement had worked well. The First Speaker had not expected it and was caught off-balance. From this moment, the whip hard was Gendibal's. If he had any doubt of that at all, it vanished with Shandess's next remark. â€Å"Does this have anything to do with your contention that Seldon's Plan is meaningless?† Gendibal gambled on complete certainty, driving in with a didacticism that would not allow the First Speaker to recover. He said, â€Å"First Speaker, it is an article of faith that it was Preem Palver who restored the Plan to its course after the wild aberrance of the Century of Deviations. Study the Prime Radiant and you will see that the Deviations did not disappear till two decades after Palver's death and that not one Deviation has appeared since. The credit might rest with the First Speakers since Palver, but that is improb – â€Å"Improbable? Granted none of us have been Palvers, but – why â€Å"Will you allow me to demonstrate, First Speaker? Using the mathematics of psychohistory, I can clearly show that the chances of total disappearance of Deviation are too microscopically small to have taken place through anything the Second Foundation can do. You need not allow me if you lack the time or the desire for the demonstration, which will take half an hour of close attention. I can, as an alternative, call for a full meeting of the Speaker's Table and demonstrate it there. But that would mean a loss of time for me and unnecessary controversy.† â€Å"Yes, and a possible loss of face for me. – Demonstrate the matter to me now. But a word of warning.† The First Speaker was making a heroic effort to recover. â€Å"If what you show me is worthless, I will not forget that.† â€Å"If it proves worthless,† said Gendibal with an effortless pride that overrode the other, â€Å"you will have my resignation on the spot.† It took, actually, considerably more than half an hour, for the First Speaker questioned the mathematics with near-savage intensity. Gendibal made up some of the time by his smooth use of his MicroRadiant. The device – which could locate any portion of the vast Plan holographically and with required n either wall nor desk sized console – had come into use only a decade ago and the First Speaker had never learned the knack of handling it. Gendibal was aware of that. The First Speaker knew that he was. Gendibal hooked it over his rigth thumb and manipulated it with his four fingers, using his hand deliberately as though it were a musical instrument. (Indeed, he had written a small paper on the analogies.) The equations Gendibal produced (and found with sure ease) moved back and forth snakily to accompany his commentary. He could obtain definitions, if necessary; set up axioms; and produce graphics, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional (to say nothing of projections of multidimensional relationships). Gendibal's commentary was clear and incisive and the First Speaker abandoned the game. He was won over and said, â€Å"I do not recall having seen an analysis of this nature. Whose work is it?† â€Å"First Speaker, it is my own. I have published the basic mathematics involved.† â€Å"Very clever, Speaker Gendibal. Something like this will put you in line for the First Speakership, should I die – or retire.† â€Å"I have given that matter no thought, First Speaker – but since there's no chance of your believing that, I withdraw the comment. I have given it thought and I hope I will be First Speaker, since whoever succeeds to the post must follow a procedure that only I see clearly.† â€Å"Yes,† said the First Speaker, â€Å"inappropriate modesty can be very dangerous. What procedure? Perhaps the present First Speaker may follow it, too. If I am too old to have made the creative leap you have, I am not so old that I cannot follow your direction.† It was a graceful surrender and Gendibal's heart warned, rather unexpectedly, toward the older man, even as he realized that this was precisely the First Speaker's intention. â€Å"Thank you, First Speaker, for I will need your help badly. I cannot expect to sway the Table without your enlightened leadership.† (Grace for grace.) â€Å"I assume, then, that you have already seen from what I have demonstrated that it is impossible for the Century of Deviations to have been corrected under our policies or for all Deviations to have ceased since then.† â€Å"This is clear to me,† said the First Speaker. â€Å"If your mathematics is correct, then in order for the Plan to have recovered as it did and to work as perfectly as it seems to be working, it would be necessary for us to be able to predict the reactions of small groups of people – even of individuals – with some degree of assurance.† â€Å"Quite so. Since the mathematics of psychohistory does not allow this, the Deviations should not have vanished and, even more so, should not have remained absent. You see, then, what I meant when I said earlier that the flaw in the Seldon Plan was its flawlessness.† The First Speaker said, â€Å"Either the Seldon Plan does possess Deviations, then, or there is something wrong in your mathematics. Since I must admit that the Seldon Plan has not shown Deviations in a century and more, it follows that there is something wrong with your mathematics – except that I detected no fallacies or missteps.† â€Å"You do wrong,† said Gendibal, â€Å"to exclude a third alternative. It is quite possible for the Seldon Plan to possess no Deviations and yet for there to be nothing wrong in my mathematics when it predicts that to be impossible.† â€Å"I fail to see the third alternative.† â€Å"Suppose the Seldon Plan is being controlled by means of a psychohistorical method so advanced that the reactions of small groups of people – even perhaps of individual persons – can be predicted, a method that we of the Second Foundation do not possess. Then, and only then, my mathematics would predict that the Seldon Plan should indeed experience no Deviations?† For a while (by Second Foundation standards) the First Speaker made no response. He said, â€Å"There is no such advanced psychohistorical method that is known to me or, I am certain from your manner, to you. If you and I know of none, the chance that any other Speaker, or any group of Speakers, has developed such a micropsychohistory – if I may call it that – and has kept it secret from the rest of the Table is infinitesimally small. Don't you agree?† â€Å"I agree.† â€Å"Then either your analysis is wrong or else micropsychohistory is in the hands of some group outside the Second Foundation.† â€Å"Exactly, First Speaker, the latter alternative must be correct.† â€Å"Can you demonstrate the truth of such a statement?† â€Å"I cannot, in any formal way; but consider. – Has there not already been a person who could affect the Seldon Plan by dealing with individual people?† â€Å"I presume you are referring to the Mule.† â€Å"Yes, certainly.† â€Å"The Mule could only disrupt. The problem here is that the Seldon Plan is working too well, considerably closer to perfection than your mathematics would allow. You would need an Anti-Mule – someone who is as capable of overriding the Plan as the Mule was, but who acts for the opposite motive – overriding not to disrupt but to perfect.† â€Å"Exactly, First Speaker. I wish I had thought of that expression. What was the Mule? A mutant. But where did he come from? How did he come to be? no one really knows. Might there not be more?† â€Å"Apparently not. The one thing that is best known about the Mule is that he was sterile. Hence his name. Or do you think that is a myth?† â€Å"I am not referring to descendants of the Mule. Might it not be that the Mule was an aberrant member of what is – or has now become – a sizable group of people with Mulish powers who – for some reason of their own – are not disrupting the Seldon Plan but supporting it?† â€Å"Why in the Galaxy should they support it?† â€Å"Why do we support it? We plan a Second Empire in which we – or, rather, our intellectual descendants – will be the decision makers. If, some other group is supporting the Plan even more efficiently than we are, they cannot be planning to leave the decision – making to us. They will make the decisions – but to what end? Ought we not try to find out what kind of a Second Empire they are sweeping us into?† â€Å"And how do you propose to find out?† â€Å"Well, why has the Mayor of Terminus exiled Golan Trevize? By doing so, she allows a possibly dangerous person to move freely about the Galaxy. That she does it out of motives of humanity, I cannot believe. Historically the rulers of the First Foundation have always acted realistically, which means, usually, without regard for ‘morality.' One of their heroes – Salvor Hardin – counseled against morality, in fact. No, I think the Mayor acted under compulsion from agents of the Anti-Mules, to use your phrase. I think Trevize has been recruited by them and I think he is the spearhead of danger to us. Deadly danger.† And the First Speaker said, â€Å"By Seldon, you may be right. But how will we ever convince the Table of this?† â€Å"First Speaker, you underestimate your eminence.†

The Effectiveness Of The Implementation Of Performance Management

Purpose – The intent of this paper is to supply an overview of the manner the public presentation direction system is being implemented for Educators in State Secondary Schools in Mauritius, to measure its effectivity as a tool to better public presentation in secondary instruction in the populace sector and to do recommendations to policy shapers on countries necessitating betterment. Design/methodology/approach – Datas were obtained from studies of secondary school Educators in educational zone 3 of Mauritius ( n=245 ) . The research workers used chi-square trial, Pearson correlativity and factor analysis in order to measure whether the new system was carry throughing its intent and to associate apprehension of Performance Management System ( PMS ) to its effectivity in secondary schools. Findingss – The findings indicate that pedagogues in Education Zone 3 believe in the importance of the PMS to better quality of instruction. They agree that it is a good planned procedure up to the concluding assessment phase. There is a weak relationship between the sentiment of Educators on effectivity of the PMS and its really taking to school betterment. Career development programs did non organize portion of the PMS. They view the PMS as undependable to mensurate public presentation, drawn-out and clip devouring with no follow up on public presentation spreads and for developing demands of the appraised. PMS is implemented merely as another bureaucratic tool. Originality/Value – Bing the first research of its sort in the secondary instruction sector in Maurtius, this research might be of value to the Ministry of Education, every bit good as to Managers of Private Secondary Schools who wish to utilize the public presentation direction system as a tool to measure and better the public presentation of pedagogues and thereby take at ‘quality of instruction for all ‘ . Limitation – As merely secondary schools of zone 3 are in their 2nd twelvemonth of PMS, our sample was restricted to that zone merely. Cardinal words: Educators, Performance Management, Performance direction system, public presentation steps, State Secondary Schools, Mauritius.IntroductionGlobalization together with a competitory universe environment and developments in engineering have made it imperative for all sectors in the economic system to supply better services to their clients and secondary schools are no exclusion. The Government of Mauritius realized that human capital is an of import resource with which Mauritius has been endowed, and that optimal usage demands to be made of this resource in all sectors and the instruction sector was no exclusion. Being cognizant that public officers working in schools ( both primary and secondary ) need to be dynamic, proactive, vivacious, frontward looking, advanced, effectual, executing and consequences oriented, it became imperative to set in topographic point a system which would let non merely to measure the public presentation of Educators working in these schools but besides to analyse their preparation demands. In 1976, the authorities introduced free secondary instruction for one and all and in 2005, made instruction compulsory for all kids up to the age of 16 old ages. Since so, it has become the duty of the Educators working in secondary schools to bring forth citizens with the needed accomplishments and competences needed by the economic system. Bearing in head that the one-year budget for Performance Management for secondary instruction is Rs.1.2 million, it becomes imperative that authorities ensures that public financess are being decently used in order to run into the outlooks of the citizens. The vision of the Ministry of Education is ‘to provide Quality Education to All ‘ . To accomplish this vision it is of import that those who deliver the service in the instruction system execute to the best of their ability. Thus it becomes necessary non merely to measure the forces working in our secondary schools, but besides to look into their preparation demands. The PMS can let to function this double intent which was non being achieved through the present Performance Appraisal system i.e. the Confidential Reporting System in the Civil Service in Mauritius which dates back to colonial times. Confidential Reporting has been in topographic point since 1963 and amended twice since so in 1973 and 1979. However, as ment ioned above it is no longer functioning its intent due to its legion failings viz. , it is a cosmopolitan one tantrum system for all public officers, there is no engagement of the appraised and he is non made aware of his strengths and failings, therefore doing the system unjust and inconsistent, it has no yardstick to mensurate the grade of public presentation of assorted facets of the occupation as there are no fit professional criterions, all standards are assigned the same evaluation, thereby doing no difference between most of import and least of import standards, subjectiveness, prejudice and bias are ineluctable in this system of describing as it does non follow a scientific attack and the system is used merely for publicity and does non place the preparation demands of the officers in the visible radiation of ascertained public presentation. The restrictions of the Confidential Reporting System gave rise to the demand for better system whereby both valuator and appraisee would be taken on board. An effort was made to present a new public presentation assessment strategy in the mid-1990s but it failed likely due to its bad selling, which led to resistance from both Trade Unions and Public officers. Against this background, a Task Force on Performance Management was set up which created a Framework for all Departments/Ministries to follow corporate strategic planning and step accomplishment of organisational aims and divisional work marks against established public presentation indexs. The Draft Performance Management Framework stipulated that the assessment of employees should get down with a public presentation understanding based on a preset work program, continued with regular reappraisals and completed with a general reappraisal of public presentation, appraisal of development demands and acknowledgment of public presentation. In line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Performance Management, the Pay Research Bureau ( PRB ) study 2008 recommended inter alia that all Ministries/Departments should measure and reexamine sporadically their public presentation in relation to established marks ; they should follow and implement a Performance Review Scheme as an built-in portion of Performance Management on a uninterrupted footing ; and the Ministry of Civil Service and Administrative Reforms should move as a coordinating Ministry, responsible to spearhead the debut of the Performance Management System and instill a Performance orientated civilization in the Public Service. Furthermore, the PRB 2008 in its study recommends that as from fiscal twelvemonth 2011-2012: ( I ) increases may be granted three months before for employees who perform beyond the acceptable criterions systematically for a period of one twelvemonth and nine months ; and ( two ) more than one increase may be granted at a spell, say two increases, for uninterrupted outstanding public presentation for three back-to-back old ages. The PMS is still in its babyhood in State Secondary Schools being introduced in the educational system merely in 2008. Mauritius is divided into four educational zones and the navigation in secondary schools was done in all schools of educational zone 3 during the twelvemonth 2009 and in this current twelvemonth they are in their 2nd PMS rhythm whereas the secondary schools of the other 3 educational zones ( 1, 2 and 4 ) are in their first PMS rhythm. It is hence of import to analyze whether all stakeholders have the necessary cognition and apprehension of the Performance Management System, the nature of the current Performance Management agreements, the Performance Management Process, the Performance Measures in order to mensurate its effectivity in State Secondary Schools in Mauritius.1.1 Knowledge and apprehension of PMSThere are legion definitions of Performance Management, from the general position, as a agency for an organisation to recognize its aspiration ( IDeA, 2001 ) to th e more specific one, aiming at single employees, directing and heightening their public presentation, therefore bettering organisational effectivity ( Williams, 2002 ) . However, the common characteristic of all definitions lies in the accomplishment of the organisations ‘s ends or aims: It is the procedure of bettering the quality and measure of work done and conveying all activity in line with an administration ‘s aims ( Bruno walters, 1995 ) . Harmonizing to the Local Government Improvement and Development, UK public presentation direction is ; taking action in response to existent public presentations to do results for users and the populace better than they would otherwise be. All these definitions merely give the intents of the Performance Management system. ( Armstrong and Baron, 2004 ) have stressed that public presentation direction is a tool to guarantee that directors manage efficaciously ; that they guarantee the people or squads they manage know and understa nd what is expected of them, have the accomplishments and ability to present on these outlooks, are supported by the organisation to develop the capacity to run into these outlooks, are given feedback on their public presentation and have the chance to discourse and lend to single and squad purposes and aims. It is besides approximately guaranting that directors themselves are cognizant of the impact of their ain behaviour on the people they manage and are encouraged to place and exhibit positive behavior. Execution of a Performance Management System will assist to obtain better consequences from persons, squads and the organisation as a whole as both valuator and appraisee understand and manage public presentation as per an agreed model for planned ends, aims, criterions and competences. This appears to be a more comprehensive definition of Performance Management as it gives all the of import phases in public presentation direction but does non speak on placing public presentation spreads and supplying the necessary professional development. ( Armstrong, 1999 ) identifies the chief extra characteristics of public presentation direction as: the engagement of all members within the organisation as spouses in the procedure, concern with inputs ( competencies and accomplishments ) every bit good as end products, based upon understandings refering answerability and duty, concern with squad public presentation every bit good as single public presentation, uninterrupted procedure and non reliant on an one-year reappraisal, personal reappraisals focus on constructive patterned advance, betterment and development, recognizes the demand for preparation and dressed ores on ‘self managed ‘ larning ‘ , feedback is every bit much spontaneous as possible and non reliant on luxuriant signifiers. ( Engelmann & A ; Roesch 1996 ) identified negative effects of ill designed and ill administered strategies as: hapless motive and ego regard because employees receive unequal feedback on their work public presentation, small o r no focussed communicating about public presentation between directors and employees ; inefficient usage of directors ‘ clip and judicial proceeding over alleged prejudiced actions.The Performance Management Procedure:Performance direction means a shared committedness to high public presentation. It helps to concentrate attending on more effectual instruction and monitoring to raise the quality of learning and to profit students, instructors and the school. It means supplying appropriate and effectual personal preparation and development to guarantee occupation satisfaction, a high degree of expertness and patterned advance of staff in their chosen profession1. Performance Management is an on-going, synergistic procedure between an employee and his/her supervisor. It involves the undermentioned phases: Pre-appraisal – Planning and holding on Performance: The valuator discusses and records precedences and aims with each of the instructors in his/her squad and discusses how advancement will be monitored through a two manner communicating between valuator and appraisee. A work program is developed and agreed upon by both parties. Mid-appraisal – Pull offing Performance: At mid term of the stage, the appraisee is called upon to transport out a self rating of the accomplishments and public presentation spreads as per the work program, following which the valuator conducts a formal interview with the appraisee to reexamine and enter advancement made on the public presentation understanding and to inform him of the countries that need betterment. Final Appraisal – Reviewing Performance. At the terminal of the one twelvemonth rhythm, the valuator reappraisal, evaluates and paperss the public presentation of the appraisee during the appraisal period. The appraisee is called upon to one time once more self evaluate his/her public presentation against the work program agreed upon during the pre-appraisal phase. The valuator carries out a concluding interview to give the appraisee specific public presentation information in respect to good public presentation and to 1. [ Online ] available at hypertext transfer protocol: //www.burford.oxon.sch.uk/policy/performancemanagementpolicy.htm [ Accessed on 13 November 2010 ] supply any pertinent suggestions for betterment, and action programs are developed in audience with both parties for lacking countries. This type of communicating and certification allows chance for an appraisede to adhere to the expected consequences for the station during the following appraisal twelvemonth.1.3 Nature of current Performance Management SystemEffective public presentation direction requires consistently determinant and pass oning what needs to be done ( purposes, aims, precedences and marks ) , a program for guaranting that it happens ( betterment, action or service programs ) , some agencies of measuring if this has been achieved ( public presentation steps ) and information making the right people at the right clip ( public presentation coverage ) so determinations are made and actions taken2. The PMS ‘s function can be classified into three chief classs: ( a ) Strategic: consist the functions of pull offing scheme execution and ambitious premises ; ( B ) Com munication: comprises the function of cheque place, following with the non negotiable parametric quantities, pass oning way, supplying feedback and benchmarking ; ( three ) Motivational: comprises the function of measuring and honoring behaviour and encouraging betterment and acquisition 1.3.1. Performance Management System in United Kingdom: Findingss of ( Andrew Brown, 2005 ) in ‘Implementing public presentation direction in England ‘s primary schools ‘ showed that considerable fluctuation exists among primary schools as to how they are implementing public presentation direction. This was due to confusion and uncertainness on the portion of all stakeholders refering the significance and intent of public presentation direction. He concludes that factors that influence the effectivity of public presentation direction in any one primary school are the extent to which: ( a ) the caput, instructors, governors and public presentation direction advisor have a common apprehension refering the significance of public presentation direction and the intents of presenting the enterprise into schools ; ( B ) all relevant stakeholder groups are suitably and sufficiently good trained to implement the enterprise ; ( degree Celsius ) the school ‘s organisational civilization is such that the determination to present a system of public presentation 2. [ Online ] available at hypertext transfer protocol: //www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do? pageId=4405770 [ Accessed on 13 November 2010 ] direction is perceived by the school ‘s caput, instructors and governors to be an appropriate and worthwhile one ; ( vitamin D ) the public presentation direction aims which the caput and instructors receive are sufficiently specific, mensurable, relevant and ambitious ; ( vitamin E ) the methods and indexs adopted to mensurate the public presentation direction aims of the caput and instructors are considered to be sufficiently varied and just ; ( degree Fahrenheit ) the construct of â€Å" overall public presentation † is sufficiently good defined, mensurable and accepted by both the valuators and appraisee ; ( g ) sufficient resources are available to implement instructors ‘ single professional development programs ; ( H ) the associated wage and wages systems are perceived to be both just and feasible. In short, England has a good established Performance system including Performance Thresholds, nevertheless, there is no consensus on whether fiscal inducements wo uld actuate instructors in advancing good instruction ( Croxson,2001 ) . 1.3.2 Performance Management System in New Zealand: Effective public presentation direction involves sharing an apprehension of what needs to be achieved and so pull offing and developing people in a manner that enables such shared aims to be achieved ( Dransfield, 2000 ) . In New Zealand, since 1997 public presentation assessment is compulsory for all instructors who are appraised against nine Professional Standards which include: professional cognition, professional development, learning techniques, pupil direction, motive of pupils, publicity of Te Reo Maori linguistic communication, effectual communicating, support for and cooperation with co-workers and part to wider school activities. These professional criterions aid to guarantee that employer and direction outlooks are clear and consistent across each school. Based on these criterions public presentation indexs are developed which require the school to place cardinal facets of public presentation ( that can be verified ) , fi nd what information is needed to measure public presentation against each of the professional criterions, make up one's mind how public presentation is to be assessed ( the appraisal method/s ) , design methods for roll uping the public presentation information. Performance indexs are reviewed from clip to clip to guarantee they are still relevant and appropriate. The public presentation assessment is carried out which focuses on the nine professional criterions and leads to a written appraisal study for treatment and audience with the instructor. This public presentation assessment includes readying of a statement of aims which are discussed and agreed upon at the beginning of the public presentation direction rhythm. Then there is an interim assessment, the intent of which is to supervise advancement against professional criterions and to foreground success and turn to any concerns. It besides provides an chance to discourse and enter any alteration to the agreed public presentati on outlooks. The reappraisal may affect observation of instruction, an interview and readying of an interim study. The following phase is the Final Appraisal whereby the valuator and appraisee meet to discourse the instructor ‘s public presentation over the twelvemonth based on professional criterions and indexs. The valuator informs the appraisee of the accomplishments and discusses what needs to be addressed in the undermentioned twelvemonth in footings of farther professional development. Teacher public presentation may besides include equal assessment, parent feedback, pupil feedback, pupils ‘ public presentation consequences and documental grounds such as lesson programs, appraisal records and resources used. Once instructors have met the appropriate degree of professional criterions they entree the 2nd tranche of salary rates ( Ozga, 2003 ) . Principals may postpone patterned advance for instructors who have non met the professional criterions at the appropriate de gree during the assessment period but so they must set in topographic point a plan for support and development to help the instructor to run into the criterions. If a instructor disagrees with the recess of the salary increase the instructor may, within 14 working yearss of being notified of the deferral seek a review3. However, ( Carol Cardno, 1999 ) states that in New Zealand the public presentation direction system has non good started and has non improved the public presentation of instructors and pupils. The New Zealand policy resembles closely our Mauritanian system, whereby the primary intent is to supply a model for bettering quality of learning. There the school board is responsible for seting in topographic point an assessment procedure with appropriate professional development orientation ( Cardno, 1999 ) . ( Rohento, 1992 ) found that instructors supported the debut of pecuniary inducements, and believed that a performance-related wage strategy would increase their attempt and have a positive consequence on student attainment. Harmonizing to some caputs, although the public presentation direction was non used to penalize hapless executing instructors, it was a utile agencies of placing and turn toing countries of failings with instructors ( Burgess et al, 2001 ) . 3.Draft National Guidelines for Performance Management in Schools, Ministry of Education, 1995.1.3.3 Performance Management System in Malaysia and CanadaMalaysia has adopted a Result-based Management Approach ( RBM ) , which focuses on systematic and structured public presentation direction, whereby, the Intergrated Performance Management Framework ( IPMF ) helps in being results-oriented in plan planning and delivery4. Canada is in its early phase on public presentation direction which has replaced the â€Å" Supporting Teaching Excellence † which was the instructor public presentation assessment policy. The policy model for pull offing people is effectual as of July 2010. It applies to the nucleus public disposal and is said to necessitate sustained leading and investing of clip and money5.1.3.4 Performance Management System in MauritiusIn the Mauritian context small research has been done as the PMS is still in its early phase. The lone research on the effectivity of Performance Management System has been carried out by ( Chittoo and Ramphul, 2006 ) in the Health Sector where they claim that Performance Management in the instance of Mauritanian infirmaries is still a implausible thought because irrespective of how good a technique it is, there is a fright to implement it due to swerve deficit of s taff who still have to fulfill the clients to the ‘extent possible ‘ . The execution of public presentation direction may do affairs worse in the present state of affairs. The failings and prejudices that can do the PMS to neglect include absence of engagement, organisation civilization, low dignity, high outlooks and inaccurate evaluations ( Lukheenarain, ( 2009 ) . Published in a imperativeness article, caput instructors and school principals are said to be kicking about an overload of paperwork. Performance Management is seen as a good thing where instructors can hold their say in their public presentation assessment, nevertheless, tonss of administrative work coming with the system, can be a hurdle6.Effectiveness and Efficiency( Anthony and Young, 1994 ) argue that efficiency and effectivity are the two key standards for judging public presentation. Effectiveness is seen as the relationship between an organisation ‘s end product and its aims ( results or conseq uences ) and efficiency as the ratio of end products to inputs ( e.g. disbursals ) , or the sum of end product per unit of input. In add-on, ‘Economy ‘ ( i.e. inputs ) is frequently added to finish what is normally referred to as the ‘Three Es ‘ of public presentation measuring ( Hyndman & A ; Anderson, 1997, Boland and Fowler, 2000 ) . To enable the rating of economic system, efficiency and effectivity, it is necessary to mensurate inputs, end products and results ( or consequences ) . However, in public sector organisations which frequently have multiple, long term non-financial aims focused on social impact, it can turn out hard to mensurate the ‘three Es ‘ and hence hard to measure public presentation ( Hyndman & A ; Anderson, 1997 ) . ( Neely, Kennerley and Martinez, 2004 ) reported that there has been much prescription sing the design of PMS but really small consideration of whether such systems really work ( Neely et all, 2004 ; France & A ; Bourne, 2003 ) . It is deserving observing that Speckbacher et Al ( 2003 ) have reported that 8 % of 174 German talking states decided non to implement a Performance Measurement System because they could non see the advantages or ‘positive impact ‘ particularly given the attempt required to implement such systems. The above literature reappraisal raises a figure of inquiries that are relevant to this survey. In peculiar whether public presentation direction in schools leads to improved public presentation or merely answerability. It is merely through a farther research on the effectivity of public presentation direction for pedagogues in State Secondary that it would be possible to convey out the strengths and failings of the system and aid to do recommendations to the governments on how to better the system so every bit to carry through the vision of the Ministry of Education of ‘Quality instruction for All ‘ and besides do it sustainable in all province secondary schools in the hereafter.HypothesisThe Performance Management System for Educators in State Secondary Schools, if decently understood and implemented will assist to better School Effectiveness in footings of both pupil and instructor public presentation.Methodology2.1 Purpose of the surveyThe research paper has assorted aims. First given the increased accent on public presentation direction in Mauritius following the defects of the Confidential Reporting system, the paper examines the extent to which both Educators and Curates have a cognition and apprehension of the Performance Management System. Second it provides an overview of how the current public presentation direction system is being implemented in secondary schools in Education Zone 3 in Mauritius. Third it looks into how assorted standards used in the measuring of single public presentation in schools are related to teacher attitudes and perceptual experiences. It probes into the strengths and weaknesses/problems and troubles being encountered both by valuator and appraisee in the execution of the system. Last it makes an attempt to measure the effectivity of the Performance Management System as it is presently implemented in province secondary schools and do an effort at explicating recommendations to policy shapers on the betterments ne eded to do this system sustainable in secondary schools in the hereafter. The usage of multiple methods in a survey secures in-depth apprehension of the phenomenon in inquiry because it adds energy, comprehensiveness and deepness to the probe ( Cresswell, 1994:174 ; Denzin & A ; Lincoln, 1998:163 ; Salomon, 1991: 10 ) . Therefore, both quantitative and qualitative informations aggregation techniques were used. Research Design: The research documented in this paper relied on informations obtained from both primary and secondary beginnings. Survey Questionnaire: The quantitative attack involved a questionnaire study, because it helps to garner informations at a peculiar clip with the purpose of depicting the nature of bing conditions ( Cohen & A ; Manion, 1995:83 ) . Questionnaires were used for both Educators and Rectors and included chiefly closed inquiries and three unfastened ended inquiries. For the closed inquiries the Likert graduated table was used. The questionnaire foremost asked for demographic informations such as age, gender, station held and old ages of experience in the station. Then respondents were asked inquiries on their cognition and apprehension of the Performance Management System. Next, respondents were asked their positions on the nature of the current Performance Management System agreements at their school, the Performance Management procedure and the standards used in the measuring of single public presentation. Open ended inquiries related to the strengths and failings of the current Performa nce Management System at their school and the betterments they would wish to see in the present system. The questionnaires were designed in a logical and specific mode to accomplish the necessary consequences. The subsequent stairss were pursued in the undermentioned order: Shaping ends and aims, planing the methodological analysis, finding feasibleness, developing the instruments, choosing a sample, carry oning a pilot trial, revising the instruments, carry oning the research, analysing the information and devising recommendations. Questions for both classs were dispensed on a pilot footing in one school and necessary amendments were made. Interviews: In add-on to questionnaires, qualitative information was collected through semi structured interviews with Curates and the Zone Director in order to acknowledge their perceptual experiences on the effectivity of the Performance Management System in Secondary Schools in Zone 3 and notes were taken. The notes consisted of statements and remarks made by the interviewees which were identified as being important and of import. Triangulation: While questionnaires and interviews were the primary methods of informations aggregation, the secondary methods of informations aggregation included survey of statistics from the Ministry of Education and other relevant paperss such as the Performance Management Guide by the Ministry of Civil Service Affairs, the Pay Research Bureau Report 2008 and the Confidential Reporting system.2.3 ParticipantsIn Mauritius, there are 3439 Educators ( appraisee ) and 63 Curates ( valuators ) in State Secondary Schools over the island. For the intent of this research the mark population consisted of 660 Educators ( appraised ) and 12 Curates ( Appraisers ) working in State Secondary Schools in Zone 3 as they are the lone secondary schools which are finishing their 2nd PMS rhythm, the first one holding been completed on a pilot footing in 2009. Zones 1, 2 and 4 have non yet completed a full Performance Management rhythm. Questionnaires were administered to 280 Educators and Curates fr om 8 province secondary schools, who formed the sample population. 245 Educators and all 8 Curates responded favorably. Semi-structured interviews were held with the 8 Curates and the Zone Director who is by and large responsible for the overall direction of different schools in this Zone.2.4 Analysis TechniquesChi square trial, Pearson correlativity and Factor analysis are carried. The consequences are used to mensurate the cognition and apprehension of both Educators and Rectors of the current Performance Management System, its procedure, the importance of its different standards in the measuring of the public presentation of persons, respondents ‘ attitudes and perceptual experiences on the public presentation steps, the strengths and failings of present Performance Management System and the betterments they deemed necessary. These findings are so related to the literature findings. They are analyzed in order to judge the efficiency of the present system so as to explicate necessary recommendations for policy shapers to do it more effectual and sustainable as a agency of mensurating public presentation of all Educators in Secondary schools in Mauritius.Datas AnalysisQuestionnaire informations were computerized utilizing SPSS package. Open ended inquiries were categorized harmonizing to the response. For the structured interviews, qualitative informations, forms and classs were identified and described. Validity was ensured through triangulation whereby study informations from pedagogues were verified with study informations from curates and farther supplemented by the interviews of the Rectors and the Zone Director.3. FindingssThe perceptual experiences of the effectivity of the execution of PMS in our State Secondary schools are discussed and linked with the literature harmonizing to the undermentioned classs: cognition and apprehension of PMS ; nature of current PMS agreements ; Performance Management Process ; public presentation steps ; and PMS from an administrative point of position. Educators who responded to the questionnaire have a average age of 36.4 ( SD=0.889 ) , an mean old ages of 8.2 ( SD=1.48 ) old ages of learning experience, 58.5 % of whom were female and 18.3 % held place of duty as caput of section. They were all appraised by their curate.3.1 Knowledge and apprehension of PMSFigure 1. Knowledge and apprehension of PMSQuestions were framed harmonizing to literatu re findings as referred to in Figure 1. The survey has revealed that more than 50 % of pedagogues believe in the importance of PMS for set uping a high public presentation civilization, concentrating on end product and procedures of accomplishing consequences and bettering the procedure of instruction and acquisition. As Walter ( 1995 ) stated, PMS is the procedure of bettering the quality and measure of work done and conveying all activity in line with an administration ‘s aims.3.2 Nature of current PMS agreementsAn analysis of the public presentation direction procedures and activities in the school provides an apprehension of the execution of PMS. 74.5 % of pedagogues believe that PMS is a good planned procedure. One of the purposes of PMS in to better public presentation of schools. Harmonizing to Jenny Ozga ( 2003 ) , the nucleus premises of public presentation direction are that public presentation degrees in the public sector can be raised, that is to do the schools on Scotland more efficient and effectual than in Finland. Reliance on mark scene and monitoring as a cardinal component of the direction of instructors rises concern about the possible distorting effects of marks on relationship between instructors and directors, and on instructors ‘ definition of their nucleus undertaking. Teachers and caputs experience under force per unit area to show good public presentation. This position was besides reflected in our survey, the sentiment of pedagogues on effectivity of PMS in their school and whether current PMS agreement leads to betterment in public presentation of school have been analysed utilizing cross tabular matter and Chi-square ( I†¡2 ) trial to happen out if there is an association between these two variables. The formulated hypothesis is H0, there is no association between sentiment on effectivity of PMS and PMS really taking the betterment in public presentation and H1, there is an association between sentiment on effectiv ity of PMS and PMS really taking the betterment in public presentation. Table 1 shows that bulk of pedagogues do non hold that PMS leads to betterment ( 33.1 % ) and are decrepit linked to school effectivity ( 40 % ) . I†¡2 50.248 with grades of freedom 8. Probability ( 0 ) is 5 % . Therefore at 5 % degree of signifigance H0 is rejected and we accept H1. Cramer ‘s V value being 0.320 shows weak relationship between the two.Table 1. PMS arrangement – betterment in school public presentation * Opinion of PMS as appraisee CrosstabulationOpinion of PMS as appraisee Entire Not effectual Reasonably uneffective Neither effectual nor uneffective Reasonably effectual really effectual Disagree Count 11 11 26 11 1 60 Expected Count 5.9 5.9 19.8 24.2 4.2 60.0 Neither agree nor disagree Count 12 12 33 44 3 104 Expected Count 10.2 10.2 34.4 42.0 7.2 104.0 Agree Count 1 1 22 44 13 81 Expected Count 7.9 7.9 26.8 32.7 5.6 81.0 Entire Count 24 24 81 99 17 245 Expected Count 24.0 24.0 81.0 99.0 17.0 245.0 In the survey on â€Å" Implementing public presentation direction in England † s primary school † , ( Brown, 2005 ) , 24 out of 30 headteachers considered the public presentation direction preparation which they have received as unsatisfactory and most of the instructors stated that there was no formal preparation in public presentation direction. Merely 20 % of curates ( 8 in all ) and 25 % of pedagogues ( 247 in all ) agree that sufficient preparation was given before execution of PMS, and they believe that the preparation was non effectual and excessively brief ( based to open ended inquiries and interview ) . Training on PMS is believed to be deficient, there has been no farther preparation or follow up and new recruits are non offered any signifier of preparation or briefing. PMS, so far, has non helped to better school effectivity or pupil public presentation. They are non confident about the success and sustainability of PMS. Once the PMS rhythm is over, there is no coverage and follow up and pedagogues are non offered developing harmonizing to their demands. The biggest job they are confronting is clip restraint, to follow single pedagogue and transport out one to one interview. Interviews carried out with curates gave farther penetrations into the execution of PMS. All curates believe that PMS is an of import tool for estimating public presentation and guaranting answerability. PMS is seen as really much adapted to the new direction paradigm, quality confidence and undertaking based budgeting ( PBB ) . It is being implemented without major jobs, all staff are join forcesing, there is no job with the work program, midterm assessment and terminal of twelvemonth assessment. Everything is being done satisfactorily and curates find PMS better than the â€Å" confidential study † . They view PMS as bettering collegiality and believe that with clip it will further better. However, it is done automatically because they all know that they have to follow.3.3 Performance Management ProcessHarmonizing the survey on ‘Teacher perceptual experience of the effectivity of instructor assessment in Botswana ‘ ( Monyatsi, 2006 ) , bulk of respondents ( 44.7 % ) agreed that assessment procedure in Botswana motivates instructors. However, in our survey on the province secondary schools in zone 3 merely 20 % of pedagogues find PMS utile and the bulk ( 66 % ) are apathetic to public presentation direction but go through the gestures. 52 % of the respondents agree that the valuator invites self-appraisal and uses congratulations to actuate pedagogues. Confidentiality and trust issues, particularly in relation to appraisal coverage and who has entree to the information was one on the participants concern, ( Cardno, 1999 ) . 57.2 % of the pedagogues responded positively when asked whether they trust PMS procedure in their school and 75 % feel that confidentiality is maintained throughout the PMS procedure. This shows that confidentiality and trust is non an issue in our schools. An analysis of discrepancy ( ANOVA ) is used to compare current PMS taking to betterment in public presentation of pedagogues to the existent assessment procedure is given in table 2 below. As the homogeneousness of discrepancy trial ( .000, .001, .019 ) is & lt ; .05, the ANOVA tabular array was constructed as shown in table 2. The significance value being & lt ; 0.05, we reject the void hypothesis and accept that there is a difference between the current PMS agreements taking to betterment in public presentation of pedagogue and the assessment mechanism carried out by the curate as promoting for pedagogues.Table 2. ANOVA to compare current PMS taking to betterment in pedagogue public presentation and the existent assessment mechanism by utilizing congratulations, discuss public presentation and non personality and encourages self-appraisal.Sum of Squares ( combined ) df Mean Square F Sig. Curates use congratulations to do motivate pedagogues 46.599 2 23.300 19.481 .000 Curates discuss public presentation non personality 35.246 2 17.623 15.834 .000 Rector invites self assessment 45.989 2 22.995 24.768 .000 Brown ( 2005 ) besides investigated how PMS would assist to better professional development of instructors. The positions of both caputs and instructors were assorted. On the positive side, some instructors felt that a formal one-year reappraisal, to reflect on assorted facets of their public presentation enabled them and their leader to jointly explicate a extremely individualized development program. However, it was reported that even though an appropriate program had been formulated, it had non been implemented due to shortage of clip and resources. One of the premier importance of PMS is staff development. Khim Ong Kelly et Al ( 2007 ) stated that there are important challenges in efficaciously measuring the aptitude of instructors for different calling paths and in measuring what constitutes good public presentation. In England primary schools, ( Brown,2005 ) , the positions of both caputs and instructors about public presentation direction assisting to better professional devel opment of instructors are assorted. The boxplot ( Figure 2 ) show a normal unskewed distribution with 32 % response as impersonal, same applies for public presentation reappraisal being a preparation program for each pedagogue. This shows that the same uncertainness applies to our system.Table 3. Rotated Component MatrixComponent 1 Problem work outing accomplishments .787 Duty .756 Versatilty .755 Leadership .739 Planing .730 Strategic thought .710 Technical cognition .703 1 Strongly disagree-15 % 2 somewhat disagree-14 % 3 neither agree nor disagree34 % 4 somewhat agree-32 % 5 strongly agree-4 %3.4 Performance stepsOne ground for replacing the confidential study is because it has no yardstick to mensurate the grade of public presentation of assorted facets of the occupation as there are no fit professional criterions. Furthermore, there is general consensus from all the research conducted that the ends of public presentation direction system or assessment are to better quality and answerability. In their survey, Chittoo and Ramphul ( 2006 ) , referred to the systems attack with the 3e ‘s – economic system, efficiency and effectivity. However, the extent to which this mark is achieved remains blurred due to restraints such as clip, fiscal resources and staff. The great bulk ( around 80 % ) of respondents agree that the standards in the measuring of single public presentation ( student focal point, competency, attending and promptness, communicating accomplishments and others ) are of import or critical. Factor analysis was carried out to happ en out which PMS measures pedagogues see to be more of import. The 26 PMS steps rated by the respondents were considered in this trial which is applicable as the determiner ( 1.11 ) is greater than 1A-10-5. Table 3 shows the revolved constituent matrix with some PMS steps in footings of precedence as seen by the pedagogues. It is interesting to observe that the first three steps are related to personality traits and accomplishments. However, 60-70 % pedagogues believe that PMS is undependable to mensurate public presentation, is drawn-out and clip consuming, with excessively much paper work and that there has non been follow up for the preparation demands identified during assessments. These findings are confirmed utilizing bivariate correlativity trial. At 1 % degree of significance ( two-tailed ) , there is a weak but negative correlativity ( Pearson Coefficient ( R ) is -0.002 ) between the standards to be assessed and the manner of appraisal in PMS.3.5 PMS from an Administrative point of positionThis survey confirms information published in local imperativeness article, that is PMS is seen as a good thing but tonss of administrative work coming with the system can be a hurdle. The Zone Director monitors the execution of PMS in the schools. She confirmed that all schools in zone 3 are implementing PMS as instructed. Curates do kick about PMS being clip devouring but they all managed to finish the procedure. However, she is non satisfied with the execution of PMS, accent is laid on measure, guaranting that PMS is implemented in all schools, but there is no quality, no clip for analysis of public presentation, rating and proper coverage. The Ministry is concerned with the completion and entry of the PMS, but there is no construction for follow up and developing. As Lukheenarain ( 2009 ) stated, certain failings and prejudices can do PMS to neglect, some of them as revealed by our survey are: no analysis, no follow up and deficiency of support from higher gove rnments, no clear guidelines of what to make after one PMS rhythm, deficiency of forces and clip restraints. The strength of PMS is that pedagogues and curates are cognizant of what that are supposed to make harmonizing to their work program, they hence make the necessary attempt to accomplish their cardinal consequence countries by executing the cardinal undertakings. The Zone Director is unable to state if some schools are making better than others because of PMS as there is no analysis done, but she believes that if done decently with an appropriate mechanism for analysis, preparation and coverage, PMS is traveling to be fruitful. The whole PMS needs reappraisal, harmonizing to her it has to be seamster made for instruction sector and should be user friendly and attractive for both valuator and appraisee. To do PMS sustainable, at the terminal of each rhythm there should be a mechanism for coverage, analysis and forming preparation Sessionss to make full in the public presentatio n spreads identified. Furthermore, some pedagogues proposed the debut of wage related public presentation in order to actuate and promote them to follow the system. We would wish to thank Mrs R. Koomar for her valuable aid and back up throughout this research paper.CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.The intent of this paper, as stated at the beginning, has been to look at the effectivity of the execution of public presentation direction system for pedagogues in province secondary schools of educational zone 3. All schools in Zone 3 are implementing PMS as instructed by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources. The bulk of pedagogues believe that execution of PMS can be good as it will set up a high public presentation civilization in the instruction system. However, the bulk of pedagogues in Zone 3 are apathetic to PMS but merely follow with another bureaucratic standard. Analysis has shown that execution of PMS is non linked to effectiveness in the sector. This survey shows that all those involved should possess the cognition and apprehension of its intents, procedures and step, if the whole procedure is to be effectual. There is a deficit of work force to work on public presentation direction system in schools and therefore it is seen as an extra undertaking. Curates and pedagogues likewise in Zone 3 believe that execution of public presentation direction system has resulted in more paper work instead than concrete action. There is no proper staff development follow up in topographic point and as a consequence pedagogues and curates feel PMS has non produced the coveted results. Allotment of financess and proper preparation are non in topographic point to run into the demands of pedagogues and curates likewise. Emphasis is laid on completion of the public presentation direction rhythm and the results are kept in shortss and no proper actions taken to rectify any failings or reward those who are executing to the satisfaction of the top direction. Bearing in head the benefits which the public presentation direction system can convey to bettering the effectivity of services in province secondary schools, the undermentioned steps should be looked at and set in topographic point. Curates and pedagogues should be given more appropriate preparation on public presentation direction system which is tailored to the demands of instruction. It should be related to pay ; extrinsic wages can assist to better pedagogues ‘ public presentation. Educators who are executing outstandingly should be rewarded with another increase on the wage spinal column that is the pedagogue can leap two graduated tables on the wage ladder. There should be more committedness from the top degree of disposal ; the Ministry of Education should be committed non merely to measure ( figure of schools who have completed the rhythm ) but besides to quality of the results. It will add drift and motivate staff to take public presentation direction more earnestly. The Ministry should look into geting more financess for formal and on-going preparation. Professional development of the staff should be given due consideration so that pedagogues can profit from it and happen the exercising of public presentation direction system fruitful. Protected clip should be given to the valuator and appraise likewise so that they both can give due consideration PMS. Regular update should be held at regular intervals during the twelvemonth so that all freshly recruited pedagogues and curates are acquainted with the system. PMS should be reviewed, updated at sensible periods so as to aline it with the vision of the Ministry of Education of â€Å" Quality instruction for All ‘ . Further research on the topic should be encouraged by the Mauritius Research Council, the University of Mauritius, the University of Technology, Mauritius and other third establishments through the Student Research Grant Scheme as proposed in the Budget for 2011 and recommendatio ns made should be studied and implemented where executable. Professional Standards for Educators should be worked out in coaction with this cell because it is good known in direction that if the person/s who are traveling to be affected by policy determinations are taken on board in the treatment phase, they feel a committedness to the determination and will seek to stay by them and make the ends set. Those non making the set marks should non be regarded as ‘ failures ‘ , instead they should be given in service and professional development classs to assist make full the public presentation spreads identified during the execution phase. Use of engineering can be of aid in cut downing the excess paperwork.