Night World : Huntress Chapter 8

I can't lose this fight. Suddenly that was the only thought in Jez's mind. She couldn't afford to be hurt or scared-or stupid. There was too much riding on it. And since Morgead had the advantages of telepathy and strength on her at the moment, she was going to have to come up with some clever way to beat him. It only took a moment to come up with a plan. And then Jez was carrying it out, every ounce of her concentration focused on tricking him. She stopped backing up and took a step sideways, deliberately putting herself in a position where she could make only a clumsy block. Then she gave him an opening, holding her stick awkwardly, its tip toward him but drooping too far down. You see-it's my elbow, she thought to him, knowing he couldn't hear her, but willing him to take the bait. My elbow hurts too much; I'm distracted; the stick is no longer an extension of me. My right side is unprotected. She was as good at it as any mother bird who pretends to have a broken wing to lure a predator away from her nest. And she could see the flash of triumph in Morgead's eyes. That's it; don't waste time injuring me anymore †¦ come in for the kill. He was doing it. He'd stopped trying to get her into a corner. With his handsome face intent, his eyes narrowed in concentration, he was maneuvering for a single decisive strike; a takedown to end the combat. But as he raised his fighting stick to make it, Jez pulled her own stick back as if she were afraid to block, afraid of the jarring contact. This was the moment. If he caught on now, if he realized why she was positioning her stick this way, he'd never make the move she wanted him to. He'd go back to disarming her. I'm too hurt to block properly; my arm's too weak to raise, she thought, letting her shoulders droop and her body sway tiredly. It wasn't hard to pretend. The pain in various parts of her body was real enough, and if she let herself feel it, it was very nearly disabling. Morgead fell for it. He made the strike she wanted; straight down. At that instant Jez slid her leading foot back, shifting just out of range. His stick whistled by her nose-missing. And then, before he could raise it again, while he was unguarded, Jez lunged. She put all the power of her body behind it, all her strength, slipping in between Morgead's arms and driving the stick to his midsection. The air in his lungs exploded out in a harsh gasp and he doubled over. Jez didn't hesitate. She had to finish him instantly, because in a second he would be fully recovered. By the time he was completely bent over she was already whipping her stick out and around to strike him behind the knee. Again, she put her whole weight behind the blow, following through to scoop him onto his back. Morgead landed with a thud. Before he could move, Jez snap-kicked hard, catching his wrist and knocking his stick away. It clattered across the floor, oak on oak. Then she held the pointed end of her own stick to his throat â€Å"Yield or die,† she said breathlessly, and smiled. Morgead glared up at her. He was even more breathless than she was, but there was nothing like surrender in those green eyes. He was mad. â€Å"You tricked me!† â€Å"All's fair.† He just looked at her balefully from under the disordered hair that fell across his forehead. He was sprawled flat, long legs stretched out, arms flung to either side, with the tip of the snakewood fighting stick resting snugly in the pale hollow of his throat. He was completely at her mercy-or at least that was how it seemed. Jez knew him better. She knew that he never gave up, and that when he wasn't too mad to think, he was as smart as she was. And as sneaky. Right now the helpless act was about as sincere as her wounded bird routine. So she was ready when he threw another blast of Power at her. She saw his pupils dilate like a cat's about to pounce, and she braced herself, shifting the stick minutely to push into his collarbone as she leaned forward. The energy smashed into her. She could almost see it now, with the sixth sense that was part of her vampire heritage. It was like the downrush of a nuclear cloud, the part that went flowing along the ground, destroying everything in its path, spreading in a circle from the point of impact. It seemed to be faintly green, the color of Morgead's eyes. And it packed quite a punch. Jez gritted her teeth and hung on to the fighting stick, keeping it in place, letting the Power wash through her. It blew her hair back to stream in a hot wind and it seemed to last forever. But finally it was over, and she was tingling with pain, with a metallic feeling in her teeth. And Morgead was still trapped. He hissed at her, an amazingly reptilian sound. â€Å"Got anything else?† Jez said, grinning down at him with narrowed eyes. Every bruise on her body hurt afresh in the aftermath of the blast-but she wasn't going to let him see that. â€Å"No? I didn't think so.† Morgead's upper lip lifted. â€Å"Drop dead, Jezebel.† Nobody was allowed to use her full name. â€Å"You first, Morgy,† she suggested, and leaned harder on the stick. The green eyes were beautifully luminous now, with sheer anger and hatred. â€Å"So kill me,† he said nastily. â€Å"Morgead-â€Å" â€Å"It's the only way you're going to win. Otherwise I'm just going to lie here and wait to recharge. And when I've got enough Power I'll hit you again.† â€Å"You never know when it's over, do you?† ‘It's never over.† Jez bit down on a rush of fury and exasperation. ‘I didn't want to have to do this,† she snarled, â€Å"but I will.† She didn't kill him. Instead, she hurt him. She grabbed his wrist and locked it, with her hand holding his and her stick on top of his wrist. She could use leverage here to cause severe pain- or to break the bone. â€Å"Give up, Morgead.† â€Å"Bite me.† â€Å"I'm going to break your wrist.† ‘Tine. I hope you enjoy it.† He kept glaring. Like a little kid threatening to play on the freeway, Jez thought, and suddenly, inexplicably she was almost overcome by laughter. She choked it back. She didn't want to break his wrist. But she knew she had to. And she had to do it soon, before he regenerated enough Power to hit her again. She couldn't take another of those blasts. â€Å"Morgead, give!† She put enough pressure on his wrist that it really hurt. He gave her the evil eye through dark lashes. â€Å"You're so stubborn!† Jez put on more pressure. She could tell it was hurting him. It was hurting her to keep the steady pressure up. Shooting stars of pain were zinging in her elbow. Jez's heart was beating hard and her muscles were beginning to tremble with fatigue. This was much more difficult for both of them than a clean break would have been. And he was a vampire- his wrist would heal in a few days. She wouldn't be injuring him permanently. I have to do it, she told herself. She tensed her muscles- And Morgead took a little quick breath, an indrawn hiss of pain. For just an instant his green eyes lost their gemlike clarity, unfocusing a bit as he winced. Jez let go of his wrist and collapsed to sit beside him, breathing hard. You are so stupid, her mind told her. She shook her hair out and shut her eyes, trying to deal with the fury. Beside her, Morgead sat up. â€Å"What are you doing?† â€Å"I don't know!† Jez snarled without opening her eyes. Being weak and idiotic, she answered herself. She didn't even know why she couldn't go through with it. She killed vampires-and less obnoxious ones than Morgead-all the time. â€Å"I didn't yield,† Morgead said. His voice was flat and dangerous. â€Å"So it's not over.† ‘Tine, blast me.† Tm going to.† â€Å"So do it.† â€Å"What, you like it so much?† Jez snapped. She grabbed her stick off the ground and turned to look at him for the first time since she'd sat down. â€Å"Yeah, I love it, Morgead! I'm crazy about pain! So do it, and then I'm going to hit you over your thick head so hard you won't wake up until next week!† She might have said more, but the look in his eyes stopped her. He was staring at her intently, not simply belligerently as she'd imagined. His green eyes were narrow and searching. â€Å"You're just crazy period,† he said, sitting back, his gaze still probing. In a different tone he said softly, â€Å"So why didn't you do it?† Jez lifted her shoulders and dropped them. There was a pit of anger and misery in her stomach. ‘I suppose because then I'd have to break every bone in your body, you jerk. You'd never give up, not with that new power you've got.† â€Å"I could teach it to you. The others aren't strong enough to learn it, but you are.† That forced a short laugh out of Jez. â€Å"Yeah, right.† She shut her eyes briefly, wondering what Morgead would say if she were to tell him why she could never learn it. He'd squash me like a bug, she thought, and laughed again. â€Å"You laugh weird, Jez.† â€Å"I have a twisted sense of humor.† She looked at him, blinking wetness out of her lashes. Where had that come from? There must be something in her eye. â€Å"So. Want to start this fight again?† He was staring at her hand gripping the snakewood stick. Jez tried to keep that hand steady, but she could feel the fine tremors in the muscles. She took a deep breath and clenched her teeth, making her gaze challenging. I can fight again. I can do it because I have to, and this time I won't let any stupid sympathy get in the way of beating him. I have to win. Everything depends on it. Morgead looked back at her face. â€Å"No,† he said abruptly. â€Å"We don't have to do it again. I yield.† Jez bunked in shock. It was the last thing she'd expected. Morgead's expression was cold and unreadable. Jez got mad. â€Å"Why?† she blazed at him. â€Å"Because I'm tired? Because you don't think I can take you?† She whipped the stick up, ready to split his stupid skull. â€Å"Because you're crazy!† Morgead yelled. â€Å"And because-† He stopped dead, looked furious. Then he said curtly, â€Å"Because you won fair the first time.† Jez stared at him. Slowly she lowered the stick. Morgead's expression was still distinctly unfriendly. But he'd just made an almost unbelievable admission. â€Å"You just don't want me to whop you anymore,† she said. He gave her a sideways look that would kill pigeons in midair. Jez let out her breath. Her heart was just beginning to settle down and relief was spreading through her. I did it I really did it. I'm not going to die today. â€Å"So it's over,† she said. â€Å"I'm back in.† â€Å"You're leader,† Morgead said sourly. â€Å"Enjoy it, because I'm going to be right behind you every step, just waiting for my chance.† â€Å"I wouldn't expect anything else,† Jez said. Then she blinked. â€Å"What are you doing?† â€Å"What do you think?† His face set, his eyes on the far wall, Morgead was tugging his shirt away from his neck, and leaning his head back. â€Å"I have no idea-† Then Jez realized. She went cold to the tips of her fingers. I didn't think. I should have remembered, but I didn't, and I didn't plan for this†¦. â€Å"Blood in, blood out,† Morgead said shortly. Why didn't I remember? Panic was stirring inside Jez. She couldn't see any way to get out of it. For human gangs â€Å"blood in, blood out† meant you got beat up when you were jumped in, and you didn't leave until you were dead. But for vampire gangs†¦ I can't bite him. The most frightening thing was that something inside her wanted to do it. Her entire skin was tingling, and it suddenly seemed as if it was only yesterday that she'd had her last blood meal. She could remember exactly how it felt, sinking her teeth into smooth skin, piercing it easily, feeling the warm flow start. And Morgead's blood would be dark and sweet and powerful. Vampire blood wasn't life-sustaining like human blood, but it was rich with the hidden promise of the Night World. And Morgead was one of the strongest vampires she'd ever met. His blood would be full of the mastery of that new attack, full of raw, vital young energy. But I don't drink blood. I'm not a vampire! Not anymore. Jez was trembling in shock. In the entire year since she'd stopped drinking blood, she'd never been so tempted. She had no idea why it had come on like this now, but it was almost out of her control. She pressed her tongue against one sharpening canine, trying to restrain it, trying to get some relief from the stress. Her upper and lower jaws were aching fiercely. I can't. It's unthinkable. If I do it once, I'll never be able to stop. I'll become-what I was back then. I'll be lost I can't-but I have to. I need to get back in the gang. Morgead was staring at her. â€Å"Now what's wrong with you?† â€Å"I. . .† Jez was dizzy with fear and longing and the sense of danger. She couldn't see any way out†¦. And then she saw it. â€Å"Here,† she said, unbuttoning the collar of her shirt. â€Å"You bite me.† â€Å"What?† ‘It satisfies the requirement. Blood has to be spilled. And it's the leader who does it† ‘You're the leader, idiot.† â€Å"Not until I'm back in the gang. And I'm not back in the gang until blood is spilled.† He was staring at her, his eyes hard and demanding and not amused at all. â€Å"Jez†¦ that's ridiculous. Why?† He was too smart. She didn't dare let him keep thinking about it. â€Å"Because I think it's the proper procedure. And because-I overfed last night. I don't want anymore.† She stared straight into his eyes, not allowing a muscle to quiver. Trying to force her version of the truth into his brain. Morgead blinked and looked away. Jez allowed herself to relax minutely. She had one advantage over Morgead; there was no way he could even imagine her real motives. She just hoped he wouldn't discern the human flavor to her blood. ‘If you won't tell me, I give up.† He shrugged. â€Å"So, fine. If that's the way you want it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It is.† â€Å"Whatever.† He turned back to her and reached for her shoulders. A new shock rocked Jez. Morgead never hesitated once he made up his mind, but this was a little unnerving. His grip was a bit too firm and authoritative; Jez felt out of control. And how am I going to shield myself? she thought wildly, clamping down on a new wave of fear. He's already a powerful telepath and sharing blood increases rapport How am I supposed to block that-? Everything was happening too fast; she didn't have time to plan or think. All she could do was try not to panic as Morgead drew her close. Jerk†¦ he's had too much experience at this, part of her thought furiously. At subduing any kind of prey. At gentling scared girls-human girls. He was holding her lightly and precisely; he was tilting her chin back. Jez shut her eyes and tried to blank her mind. And now she could feel the warmth of his face near her skin; she could feel his breath on her throat. She knew his canine teeth were extending, lengthening, thinning to needle points. She tried to control her breathing. She felt a swathe of warmth as he licked her throat once, and then a pain that made her own teeth ache. His teeth had pierced her skin, sharp as obsidian. Then the release of blood flowing. Her life, spilling out The instinctive twinge of fear Jez felt had nothing to do with him invading her mind. No vampire liked to make this kind of submission. Letting someone drink your blood meant you were weaker, it meant you were willingly making yourself prey. Everything inside Jez protested at just relaxing and letting Morgead do this. And maybe that was the answer, she thought suddenly. A wall of turmoil to cover her thoughts. Pretend to be too agitated to let him make contact. †¦ But his lips were surprisingly soft on her throat, and the pain was gone, and he was holding her more like a lover than like a predator. She could feel his mind all around her, strong, demanding. He wasn't trying to hurt her. He was trying to make it not-terrible for her. But I want it to be terrible. I don't want to feel like this†¦. It didn't matter. She felt as if she were being pulled by a swift current, dragged and tumbled into some place she had never been before. Sparkling lights danced behind her closed eyelids. Electricity crackled through her body. And then she felt his mouth moving gently on her throat, and the world fell away†¦.

Causesof Political violence essays

Causesof Political violence essays Political violence is like a festering wound, in that, without the aid of antibiotics the wound has the potential to depress the immune system and eventually overwhelm the individual, leading to death. In this analogy, antibiotics could represent forces that are always looking for the rogue virus's bent on the destruction of the whole body (society). I often wonder why people resort to violence, of any kind, to solve a particular problem. Questions can be asked of the individual(s) involved in carrying out the attacks, but the questions never seem to be answered in a way that will show why violence is needed to resolve conflict. Rather, excuses are rendered in the hopes that by the logic used in explaining why conflict must be resolved, this will justify the actions. This leads, though, to a sort of circular argument. For example, in the case of Saddam Hussein (put aside the fact that he is the president of a nation) is an idiot. Why exactly he felt it was justifiable to invade a cou ntry, who at the time had an OK relationship with the United States, and then think the US and/or other countries would allow him to forcibly occupy that country. Whatever his logic, his actions were not justifiable. I believe his logic was as follows: Something happened to his country (economically, socially, politically etc.) that he did not like or want to happen. Hussein decided to adopt the "eye-for-an-eye" approach to conflict resolution. Except he changed the rules and instead of responding in a like manner consistent with "eye-for-an-eye", he went over board with his reaction. He forcibly invaded a country. I use the Persian Gulf War as a recent example of reasons for why people resolve conflict not through peaceful means but through violent actions. Iraq is not the only country in the system to use this type of logic when tackling an issue that is perceived to have only one avenue of approach to resolution: war. It seems that every, or nearly e...

The easiest way to settle office grammar disputes

The easiest way to settle office grammar disputes The easiest way to settle office grammar disputes Like it or not, we all end up getting thrown into arguments about whether something weve written is correct. This could be a colleague picking you up on your apostrophes. Or it might be a subtle point of style that your manager crosses out with angry red pen. It may just be a snide Facebook comment from someone who sees correcting the grammar of strangers as the highest good in earthly existence. Seemingly minor disputes like this can blow up into major arguments and tetchy, defensive disputes. And while some people can devote over forty thousand words to debating capitalisation after a colon, for most of us this isnt the best use of our time. So how do you settle an argument over whats right and wrong as quickly as possible? Seeking the Authority The easiest thing would be to check against the correct usage in the book that says what counts as correct English. But heres the thing: there is no such book. Nor is there any individual person. There is nobody, at all, on the planet, whom you can ask for the definitive answer on whether or not a particular piece of usage is absolutely correct. But surely this is too much? Dont some things stay the same? Not really. In language, very little is safe from change. Practically every area of English has changed in some way: from fundamental aspects of grammar right down to the meaning of words. For example, the word ‘December’ originally meant ‘the tenth month of the year’. So you might want to think twice about inviting pedants to Christmas dinner – unless you want someone turning up with mince pies in October. Where does this leave us? Were all passengers on a ship without a captain. But dont worry, its fine: we dont need one. We dont need a gold standard, just a set of conventions that most people agree on – especially in professional contexts. To draw an analogy: theres no single authority to tell you that showing up to a job interview at a consulting firm in board shorts and a tank top is the wrong thing to do. And maybe in fifty years surfer chic will be de rigeur for any aspiring professional. But for the moment were happy to call this wrong. This is all very interesting, but how does it help you when you need to check which conventions to obey? And which ones to ignore? Heres a rundown of three ports of call when youre in the midst of an office argument: Single words We recommend picking a good dictionary to use across your organisation. For example, at Emphasis we use Collins English Dictionary. This allows us to spell and hyphenate words consistently. Rather than spending time debating whether or not to write coordinate or co-ordinate, we just use their first preferred variant. Grammar and punctuation rules So many of the arguments we see professionals have are based on half-remembered superstitions from school. But its best to skip this act of strained remembrance and go directly to the best available information. Some of the best ports of call here are books written by linguists whove looked into these matters in detail, and offer facts instead of conjecture. For example, Steven Pinker’s The Sense of Style, which contains extremely in-depth analysis of dozens of grammar rules (or supposed rules). If someone is bringing out grammatical artillery during your discussion, Pinker is an excellent guide through the confusion. A lot of other arguments come from an over-reliance on rules of thumb about good writing (such as the golden rule that you should never use the passive voice). When you come across this kind of debate, we recommend Joseph Williams Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace and his nuanced, up-to-date analysis of what precisely makes good writing. Huge swathes of the finicky arguments that you can get into over split infinitives or starting a sentence with an And or a But can be solved by pointing people to these kinds of sources. But what if your argumentative friend continues to disagree with professors of linguistics on the matter? You may have just spotted either a lost cause, or an argument that is threatening to take up too much of your time. Points of style Some questions will never be ultimately decided. For example, the capitalisation of job titles varies considerably across organisations and contexts. So theres flexibility on this point when choosing a style for yourself or your organisation. Making decisions about these sorts of questions every time you encounter them is a big waste of time and a recipe for inconsistency across your organisation. One of the best ways round this is to get into the habit of checking style guides. Good examples are the style guides of The Economist and the Guardian. Theyve already done the work of looking into questions about grammar and usage, and tend to offer much more succinct recommendations than youll find if you trawl through the internet looking for answers. And our own style guide, The Write Stuff, is designed specifically to help you with the questions you face most in your day-to-day writing. These include questions like how to capitalise job titles or how to write common abbreviations like CEO. Youll find all the answers in one place – and you can download your free copy here. (Well be talking more about the ways style guides can help you at work next week.) Beware rabbit holes Above all, make sure that the time you spend looking into these questions is time well spent. The main problem with looking things up is it can work too well. You can easily end up spending hours reading about the tiniest points of usage and style. For example, here are over 20 blog posts, written by reasonable, informed users of English, on the differences between that and which. This is just too much information when youre trying to solve an argument quickly. Instead, we recommend taking one of the three routes above for solving each question, ending your disputes, and getting on with your life. Don’t forget: if you’d like a handy reference for resolving some of those office-based style matters, you can download a free PDF of our guide The Write Stuff here. And if you’d like our help with developing a style guide for your company, get in touch. Image credit: Junial Enterprises / Shutterstock

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It also operates seven leading hotel brands InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. It also manages the worlds largest hotel loyalty programme in the industry known as the, Priority Club Rewards, which has 48 million members worldwide. IHG is molded around these three regions: The Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific. 2(IHG Annual Report) 1 Strategic Corporate Development History of IHG: The formation of IHG has gone through various stages as any other company would have gone through which was taken successfully by William Bass who had a brewery in 1777 slowly but gradually entered in the hotel industry by acquisition of a breweries like the Mitchells Butlers in the 1960s which grew considerably large which when the government realized issued orders in legislations that breweries cannot hold on a large number of pubs which then made Bass reduce the pubs it owned dramatically which triggered a huge amount of cash flow which gave Bass an ability to develop an international hotel business which started with the acquisitions of a few hotel groups like Holiday Inn in 1988 also launched the Holiday Inn Express to be complementary to the Holiday Inn brand, side by side Bass grew his pub business side by side acquired The Harvester Chain of Restaurants in 1994 also launched its new brand of hotels known as Crown Plaza Hotels resorts climbing up to the upscale hotel mar ket. In 1996 bass tried to acquire  ½ of Carlsberg Tetley which again was hampered by the UK government which helps Bass to come back on line concentrate on the hotels pubs divisions leaving breweries aside. A year later in 1997 the hotel business focus becomes truly brand focused because Bass had already sold a few north American midscale hotels but held back to the brand name of the hotels through franchising agreements. Also that year Bass created launched a new brand of hotels known as the Staybridge Suites which was targeted at the upscale hotel market. Staybridge suites became the fastest brand in this upscale segment to reach 50 units in America. In 1998 Bass acquired the intercontinental hotel company, adding adding to its fold another upscale brand to its hotel portfolio. It was another considerable acquisition to cost saving synergies to the fold of hotel portfolio run by Bass. In 1999 Bass again acquired 550 handpicked high potential sites in UK also a strong 3500 strong pub estate from allied domecq. In 2000 Bass went on to acquire the Southern Pacific Corporation (SPHC) in Australia, which guaranteed Basss position as the leading hotel company in Asia Pacific. Later in the year Bass sold of his Bass breweries for 2.3 billion pounds. This was the final step by Bass to completely focusing on being the international hospitality retailer from being a domestic brewer a process which took a long period of 10 years to complete. Over the period of time Bass sold off name of bass and changed the name to Six Continents PLC. a name which it bettered into to reflect the global spread of the groups business. In the month of February 2001 Six Continents sold 988 of its smaller unbranded pubs for 625million pounds, which further funded the buying of the European Posthouse chain of hotels for 810million pounds. The acquisition of this company which had strategically placed hotels could be converted to Holiday Inn concentrating the Holiday Inn brand in UK Europe. Later that year it went on to acquire Intercontinental Hong Kong for 241 Million pounds strengthening its position in the Chinese Asia Pacific markets. On 1st October 2002 Six Continents Plc announced its separation of the groups hotel soft drinks businesses (to be called Inter Continental Group Plc) from the retail business (to be called Mitchells Butlers Plc) of which 700 million Pounds of the proceedings returned capital to shareholders. The whole procedure of separation was completed on the 15th of April 2003. Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc (IHG) from then on is a distinct, discrete company, listed in the UK US stock markets. In July 2003 IHG sold Staybridge Suites to Hospitality Properties Trust (HPT) entered into a 20year management agreement. Later in the year they added a midscale extended stay brand Candlewood Suites to its portfolio. In the year 2004 IHG announced the introduction of a new brand, hotel Indigo which focused on providing affordable boutique accommodation. In the same month, the group adopted new standards for selling and re-selling hotel rooms for guest stay through online travel companies. Following the success of the Up Scale market brand of Staybridge Suites North America IHG launched its extension of Staybridge suites to UK in April2005. Also in 2005 IHG went ahead disposed of its soft drinks 100% holdings in Britvic Plc. With this disposal IHG became a company with a pure hotel focus. In 2006 IHG went ahead signed a joint venture with All Nippon Airways (ANA), resulting the following projects IHG ANA hotels group Japan will be the largest international hotel operator in Japan, the worlds second largest hotel market. The deal saw the introduction of three new brands created for Japan. ANA-IHG, ANA-Crowne Plaza ANA Holiday Inn. In the year 2007 IHG announces that a worldwide relaunch of the Holiday Inn brand family, comprising Holiday Inn, Express by Holiday Inn Holiday Inn Express. The re launch was done with the intention of giving it a refreshed contemporary brand image. All the hotels were supposed to have completed the re launch in 2010 with the 1st re launch taking place in 2008. In the year 2008 after the re launches of Holiday Inn taking place Staybridge Suites extended its brand more in UK the first Hotel Indigo opened in London. In 2009 the1500th hotel was relaunched over the 40% of Holiday Inn Holiday Inn Express. Strategy used from the start to the current time period: Bass the main brain behind the whole formation of the Intercontinental Hotel Group has played a major role in the slow but steady growth of this company from a small company to a worldwide known company. Bass has grown this huge group through the basis of trial error round which he has experimented in various concepts of owning then selling then franchising finally managing properties. Bass has being following the linear model of growth through various acquisitions. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC was formed by the separation of Six Continents PLC (previously Bass PLC) on 15 April 2003. The restaurant and pubs part of Six Continents became Mitchells Butlers plc. However, IHGs brands trace their history back much further than 2003. Our Holiday Inn brand, one of the worlds most recognized was created in the 1950s by Kemmons Wilson in the US. InterContinental, another of our brands was created by Pan Am in the 1940s, when hotels were built in many of Pan Ams destinations. 3(ihg.com) Over the past few years, Intercontinental hotels group has maintained itself strategically to be more efficient and effective and make full use of their global status. A predominantly franchised and managed, fee-based business was the main focus of IHG. The strategy that IHG followed made their income stream predictable with a strong cash generation which allowed it to continue in growth because all their new hotels were funded by third-party investment. IHG went ahead and relaunched Holiday Inn in 2007 and although the unexpected economic circumstances that came by IHG during that time period, it went on and got on with the $1 billion programme because of the belief of the heads of IHG that it was exactly the right time to go ahead with the relaunches. The relaunch went on to building back peoples perceptions of Holiday Inn. The guest wanting to try Holiday Inn with IHG with its value theyre giving the Brand once down another try and liking and accepting what they found. Guest satisfaction was going up and owners could see the Revenue per rooms out perform. These economic circumstances might seem like a great reason to shy away from making such big changes, but time will show that it is both a very opportune and very effective initiative for this, our biggest brand, as quoted by the CEO of IHG Mr. Andrew Cosslett. 3 http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=40 Current strategy used by Intercontinental Hotels Group: Bass the main brain behind the whole formation of the Intercontinental Hotel Group has played a major role in the slow but steady growth of this company from a small company to a worldwide known company which currently has an operating strength of 4400 hotels with 130 million guests visiting a year and under its umbrella has and widely known and reputed hotel brands covering all the major segments of the market, also have a reservations system which consists of 10 call centers in 29 languages it has also strived to be the top leader in the market has been able to position itself through its strategy of growing doing retailing in hotel sector have been able to position itself among the 6 largest hotel market, much more than any other company. Intercontinental hotel group has also been able to make the no.1 website for its guests investors in 13 different languages. They also have a global sales team of 8000 to conduct the sales of the hotels situated all over the 100 countries that they have their presence. Intercontinental hotels also has a loyalty programme which offers priority club rewards which are largest in the industry for over 48milllion of the guests which has been planned so strategically that . It has been stated on IHGs website that We have moved from investing heavily in hotel properties to return to our roots as a hotel franchise and management company with only a few owned assets. This change of focus has led to an industry-leading asset sale programme. Since 2003 we have sold  £2.9 billion worth of property. Many of these hotels have remained under our brands with management or franchise contracts, thereby creating a future income stream for IHG 4 (ihg.com). Over the past few months, IHGs continued growth in new rooms has helped to put off some of the revenue lost from Revenue per room declines. Driving in coming revenue into the hotels had been a priority and its system is the key to delivering this. Their system comprises of world class reservations centres, websites, global sales teams and Priority Club Rewards loyalty scheme and delivered 68 per cent of rooms revenue to the hotels in 2009. Reducing the overall cost base of IHG was crucial to managing through the downturn. IHG was already reducing costs to run the properties more effectively but with the economic downturn they steeped up the pace of change that was being gradually run. While they were reducing costs by taking better advantage of their way of operation as well their spread being worldwide, this also forced them to make reductions in the number of staff which unfortunately impacted jobs of IHG staff all over in the majority of properties. All these actions were taken in 2009 to reduce costs, while it was a very difficult period of the economic downturn; it allowed IHG to save a lot of cash and continue its investments in those things that attract guests to come to its hotels and revenues to the owners. The great working relationship that IHG shares with the owners of their properties, both directly and through the IAHI, which is IHGs Owners Association, has also been major contributor to the quick recovery also to the massive expansion taking place. By working alongside with the hotel owners, IHGs able to focus on the guest experience and on delivering Great Hotels Guests Love. 5 (ihg.com). 4http://www.ihgplc.com/files/reports/ar2009/files/pdf/2009_Annual_Report.pdf 5http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=40 The 48 million members of IHGs Priority Club Rewards programme remained loyal though the economic downturn and had been most supportive during the difficult times. Not only did these guests stay with IHG more often, they spent more when they did. A guests loyalty can never be taken for granted it is something that can take years to achieve and seconds to lose. So IHG had made sure they have continued to add benefits to the loyalty programme right through the downturn, and made membership of it even more worthwhile. In 2009 it enrolled six million new members into the programme thats a significant number of people whose first choice will now be to stay in one of IHGs hotels. IHGs future growth will be achieved predominantly through franchising and managing rather than owning hotels which in turn will drive down costs increase profits by the fact that all the investment in the hotels would be done by third parties. Approximately 641,000 rooms operating under the Group brands are franchised or managed and 5,800 rooms are owned and leased. The franchised and managed fee-based model is attractive because it enables the Group to achieve its goals with limited capital investment at an accelerated pace. A further advantage is the reduced volatility of the fee-based income stream, compared with ownership of assets. A key characteristic of the franchised and managed business is that it generates more cash than is required for investment in the business, with a high return on capital employed. Currently 87% of continuing earnings before regional and central overheads, exceptional items, interest and tax is derived from franchised and managed operations. The Current Strategies followed by IHG Hotels Group: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 90% of deals signed in scale markets and key gateway cities; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 10 signings of Hotel Indigo and Staybridge Suites outside of North America; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 439 hotels opened globally. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Increased proportion of revenue delivery through IHG global reservations channels and PCR members direct by four percentage points to an average 68% of global hotel rooms revenue in 2009 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Major procurement savings made; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Increased use of offshore transaction processing; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Technology infrastructure developed to support owner management and loyalty marketing. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Continued to cascade Great Hotels Guests Love in hotels and corporate offices; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Meeting ongoing resourcing requirements to match hotel growth in scale markets; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Managing employee engagement; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Continued focus on attracting and retaining talent. 1,697 relaunched Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels open around the world; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Industry-leading Priority Club Rewards (PCR) loyalty programme with 48 million members, contributing $5.6bn of global system rooms revenue à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Green Engage sustainability management system developed (patent pending); rolled out to over 900 hotels by 31 December 2009; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Extensive consumer research undertaken to quantify green opportunity with consumers; and (IHG annual report) 3 Future strategies to be used by Intercontinental Hotels Group: IHGs prime focus should be on growing faster by making its brands the first choice for both guests and hotel owners. We will do this by building the hotel industrys strongest operating system, focused on the biggest markets and segments where scale really counts. 5 (ihg.com). During these tough economic times, IHG had taken decisive action both to strengthen the efficiency of its businesses and to keep their course with its growth strategy. IHG should continue to invest in its staff, its systems and its brands, while moving even closer in working relationships with its hotel owners and partners. With momentum and a united, winning spirit inside the business, IHG is well placed to make the most of the upturn when it comes. As quoted by the CEO of IHG Mr. Andrew Cosslett. IHGs Ambition IHG should focus on its core purpose of creating Great Hotels Guests Love as the moto has always been, which is a growing crave to deliver among other key performance indicators (KPIs), closely enduring top quartile shareholders returns when measured against a broad global hotel peer group. For the three-year period of 2007 to 2009, IHG was fourth among its peers on Total Shareholder Return (TSR) and should always remain focused and try to come to the 1st position. Measuring IHG against a collection of specific KPIs aimed at delivering its core purpose, cascaded to the hotel level. Successful performance against various combinations of these metrics would result in higher profitability.. IHGs Future Strategy: IHGs strategy has seen significant development through 2009 as it moved to make its core purpose a reality, despite challenging economic circumstances. In 2009, IHG took a hard look at its operations and capabilities to focus on what really matters most to deliver Great Hotels Guests Love. It has backed this up with a major effort to align its staff and measure the most important drivers, resulting in a clear, target-based programme within the hotels to motivate teams and guide behaviors. IHGs strategy encompasses two key aspects: Where does it choose to compete; and How will it win where it competes? The Groups underlying Where strategy is that IHG would grow a portfolio of differentiated hospitality brands in select strategic countries and global key cities to maximise the scale advantage. The How aspect of our strategy flows from our core purpose and our research at the hotel level as to what really makes a difference for guests. In support of this overall strategy there are key priorities like Where we compete and How we win. To help IHGs hotels and corporate staff measure their efforts in achieving Great Hotels Guests Love, IHG provides clear metrics aligned with the four How we win priorities against which progress is gauged. The Group strategy also translates into specific regional objectives and priorities. . IHGs Delivery System:C:UsersdDesktopUntitled.png Driving demand IHGs operating system is made up of all the things we do to drive demand for our brands. This includes our advertising and marketing campaigns, our 10 global call centres, 13 local language websites, an 8,000-strong sales force, Priority Club Rewards the worlds largest hotel loyalty scheme which has 48 million members and all the advantages that IHGs global hotel distribution and scale brings to brand awareness. Hotel distribution IHG has over 4,400 hotels in over 100 countries worldwide. Our brands are in the top 3 in 7 of the 12 largest hotel markets in the world. When people travel, they look for familiar brands they know from home, increasing the demand for hotels that operate under our brands around the world. Advertising and marketing Each year, IHGs franchisees pay a fee into a central fund. This fund is used on their behalf for marketing and promotions to drive guest demand for IHGs brands. Brand sponsorships, television and print advertising campaigns and public relations activity across the globe are all ways in which the fund can be used. Priority Club Rewards IHGs Priority Club Rewards is the largest hotel loyalty scheme in the world, with 48 million members. Web presence The 13 local language websites take over 7.4 million bookings a year theyre a shop window for the hotels across the world under IHG,s banner, 365 days a year. www.holiday-inn.com is one of the industrys most visited websites, notching up 75 million site visits in 2005. The websites operate in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. Reservation system IHG,s 10 global reservation offices are available to take hotel bookings from guests 24 hours a day in 26 languages including Arabic, Cantonese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog and Thai. They deal with 700 transactions per minute. Sales force IHG have a global sales force of more than 8,000 professionals throughout the world, talking about and selling the booking of hotels under our brands to individuals and companies. Considering the future strategy which is goin to be used to the growth achievement of IHG are as follows: Consumer understanding: As one of the worlds largest hotel groups, IHG has gained valuable insights into where and how consumers seek hotel information and make reservations across various channels and from various local, regional and global sources. This information has shaped the way we engage with our customers and enabled us to drive up returns for owners. Global Reservations System All IHG hotels benefit from the worlds most advanced reservation system Holidex Plus.The system links more than 230,000 terminals worldwide and processes over 130 million stays a year thats about 700 transactions per second. This is serviced by our 12 worldwide reservation centres which receive up to 14 million calls annually in 15 different languages. Global Distribution Systems (GDS) Our reservation systems also link with all the major GDS, the channel of choice for travel professionals and large corporate buyers. This gives us global around the clock access to the travel trade. IHG online Our websites continue to be a fast-growing reservation channel. They offer a comprehensive, customer-friendly and secure booking service in 13 languages and provide a low cost of sale. We receive more than 5 million unique web visitors per month and also benefit from the lowest clicks-to-book rate in the industry. Worldwide sales IHGs worldwide sales team is more than 8,000 strong. As well as generating new revenue, the team also manages key corporate and agent accounts and provides local hotel sales support to maximise revenue and keep IHG hotels top of mind. 6 (IHG.com) Some Of the Future Milestones to be achieved: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Continue international roll-out of Staybridge Suites and Hotel Indigo; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Execute growth strategies in agreed scale markets; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Continue to leverage scale and build improved strategic position during the economic downturn Increase global sales force effectiveness; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Continue further procurement programmes to identify efficiencies; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Begin migration to next-generation revenue management IT systems; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Continue focus on owned and managed estate margins and return on capital employed (ROCE), especially in our key InterContinental assets. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Drive greater efficiency and simplicity through better use of technology; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Focus on developing skills to support the key goals for responsible business, guest experience and financial returns. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Complete Holiday Inn repositioning roll-out; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Continue to simplify brand standards process to improve owner returns without impairing guest experience; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Continue to enhance experience for PCR members in hotels and across global reservations channels; increase IHG business from PCR members à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Continue to roll out the Green Engage sustainability management system to 100% of our owned and managed hotels and expand into the franchised estate in all three regions; and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Focus on innovation within new and existing brands to deliver valued green related hotels and services to guests. (IHG annual report) 6 http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=293 BIBLOGRAPHY: 1http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=16 2http://www.ihgplc.com/files/reports/ar2009/files/pdf/2009_Annual_Report.pdf 3 http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=40 4http://www.ihgplc.com/files/reports/ar2009/files/pdf/2009_Annual_Report.pdf 5http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=40 6 http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=293