Institution Based View of Business Strategy | Case Study

Institution Based View of Business Strategy | Case Study An industry-based view, illustrated by Porter (1980), decides firm strategy and performance. Sustainable competitive advantages can be discovered by industry analysis and by selecting from the generic strategies. The competitive strength and the firms ability can maintain positional advantages through the efficient and effective implementation of competitive strategy. (Morgan et al, 2004) Secondly, a resource-based view (RBV), was demonstrated by Barney (1991), advocates that firm-specific differences determine strategy and performance. RBV emphases internal resources and capabilities of organisations (Peng et al, 2009). RBV portraits companies as idiosyncratic bundles of resources and capabilities that are available for distribution by the organizations business units. Heterogeneity in the resources and capabilities is the reason of variations in organization performance. Sustainable competitive advantage is not the result of correct position in the external environment but is derived from the organizations internal resources, which are valuable, inimitable, rare, and nonsubstitutable. Industry-based view and resource-based view are complementary because they settle the relationship between a organizations resources and capabilities and its positional advantage by arranging how resources and capabilities are coordinated with market situations, the suitability of planned resource and capability and the quality of strategy implementation. (Morgan et al, 2004) Emerging economies institutions are largely different from those in developed economies. Formal and informal institutions are commonly recognized as the rules of the game that importantly outline the strategy and performance of both domestic and foreign firms in these economies. (Peng et al, 2008). Institution is the humanly created constraints that structure human interaction (Peng et al,2009). It is regulative, normative, and cognitive structures and activities that provide meaningful and stable social behaviour (Scott,1995). Institutions can be generally classified as formal and informal. Institutions rule societal issues in the areas of politics (e.g., corruption, transparency), law (e.g., economic liberalization, regulatory regime), and society (e.g., ethical norms, attitudes toward entrepreneurship). The culture can be viewed as a part of informal institutions in the environment that support formal institutions (Redding, 2005). Formal institutions (such as laws and regulations) and informal institutions (such as norms and cognitions) have long been presumed as background. However, Institution-based view is important for better understand the growth of emerging economies by investigation the complicated and fast changing relationships between organizations and institutions. (Pang et al, 2008) Institution-based view help internationalizing emerging economies companies to improve their competitiveness, knowledge of the game rules of abroad. In short, the industry-based view does not pay sufficient attention to contexts. Likewise, the resource-based view has been criticized for its little exertion to establish suitable contexts (Priem Butler, 2001). Barney (2001, p. 52) admitted the value of a firms resources must be understood in the particular market context within which an organisation is running. The frustration has called for the new perspective that can conquer these problems. The result is the rise of the institution-based view (Peng et al., 2008). An institution-based view focuses on the dynamic relations of institutions and organizations, and considers strategic choices as the result of such an interaction (Peng et al,2009). Strategic choices are not only determined by industry situations and company capabilities, but also the formal and informal constraints of a particular institutional situation. (Jarzabkowski, 2008) Therefore, IB strategy cannot just focus on industry conditions and capabilities. An institution-based view, in combination with the industry- and resource-based views, thus puts the strategy tripod on firmer ground. Institutions are much more than background conditions and it determines the formulation and implementation of strategy and creation of competitive advantage. Emerging economies is tended to have more essential and integrated changes to the formal and informal rules of the game which are regarded as institutional transitions (Peng et al, 2009). There are two core propositions emerging out of the institution- based view to reduce uncertainty in emerging market (Peng et al, 2008). The first proposition is that managers and companies rationally hunt for what they interest and make strategic choices within the formal and informal institutional situation. The second one is while formal and informal institutions combine to rule the organisation behaviour, if formal constraints are ambiguous or failed, informal institution will play a larger role in reducing uncertainty by providing guidance and legitimacy. For example, the institution-based view suggests that if a firm cannot be a cost or a differentiation leader in the markets, it can still overcome the competitors in nonmarket political area where informal relationships has large influence. (O liver Holzinger, 2008) There are three important questions in strategy that institution-based view brings new views beyond the perspectives of the industry-based and resource-based views. (Peng et al, 2009) The first question is why do firms differ? A major assumption in strategy, especially from the resource-based view, is firm heterogeneity. (Barney, 1991) It is long recognized that economic growth can hardly happen in ill-regulated economies. However, given Chinas strong economic growth and its underdeveloped formal institutional structures, there is always a question that how can Chinese economy become fast growth with such an institutional situation. An answer suggests that interpersonal networks (known as guanxi) which are used by managers may serve as informal substitutes for formal institutional support (Peng Heath, 1996). In other words, interpersonal relationships among managers are considered as an interfirm strategy of networks and alliances to grow the company that support to the growth of the economy (Peng Luo, 2000). There is a prevalent belief that guanxi and the related network-based strategies are commodities of the unique Chinese culture that favours collectivism (Peng et al, 2009). The use of informal networks during institutional transitions is mentioned in the second proposition, which stresses the stronger dependence on informal constraints to handle potential opportunism and transactions when formal market-supporting institutions are immature. From the first proposition, managers and organizations act rationally under these circumstances. In institutional situations, industry-based and resource-based views alone will not provide a strong reason of the differences between firms (Khanna Yafeh, 2007). Overall, in situations that formal institutions are weak, informal institutions, such as norms ruling interpersonal relationships, will play a larger role in organisation strategies and performance (Peng Heath, 1996). It is important to note that foreign entrants have also positively facilitated their network and relationships when going global, as shown by the abundant international strategic alliances with local organizations (Peng et al, 2009). For example, the UK retailer Boots opened a new shop in Japan. Although the Japanese market has opened to foreign company in recent years, the regulation, cultural norms and arcane business practices are still difficult for foreign firms. By being successful in adapting its style of retailing to the Japanese market, Boots found the best way to overcome the barriers that all foreigners face by adopting the strategy tripod. (Financial Times, 2000) As mentioned, strategic choices are not only driven by industry situations and firm capabilities, but also the formal and informal constraints of a particular institutional framework. For example, the company has reformulated more than 2,000 of its products to gain a Japanese licence, despite they meet the UK and US standards. Also, Boots has redesigned the packaging of its products to meet the Japanese preference and culture. Institution-based view helps to understand the impact of institutional transition (Peng, 2003). For example, at the beginning, Boots was unable to bring many of its products to Japan due to its regulations. Yet, the situations changed and there are new regulations that ease restrictions on imports of ingredients used in cosmetics. This helped in the formulation process and logistics process of Boots. Besides, Boots has realised the special rule of the game in Japan. The buy two, get one free campaign were failed in Japan. It is because many of its customers are single or have small families and they do not need to buy a large amount of products. Furthermore, to solve the regulation, cultural norms and arcane difficulties, Boots has adopted the institution based strategy to gain local support. It therefore formed joint venture with Mitsubishi. It is a good solution for complicated government contacts because Boots is dealing with logistics, contacts in the legal profession, healthcare professionals and advice on localising the business are very important for Boots. Apart from the institution-based view, Boots has adopted another two legs of views to compete in the market such as the introduction of seating at its cosmetics counters and this is an usual arrangement in Japanese stores. Besides, it has changed the packaging of its products to meet the Japanese preference for lavish presentation and the concept of lipstick amnesties that customers return old lipstick and get a free replacement. Even though the industry-based view is important for gaining the economy of scale and competing the rivalries by competitive advantage, and resource-based view is important for identifying the firms potential key resources and product differentiation, but organizations like Boots still actively seek to make use of the rules of the game. In terms of benefits, an institution-based view can help firms like Boots in emerging economies improve their competitiveness. Boots is necessary to know more about the rules of the game abroad that may be different from the familiar rules at home. Therefore, it is natural to expect firms in emerging economies (including some foreign entrants) to perform similarly (Lewin Kim, 2004). The second question is how do firms behave? The industry-based view suggests that the strategic task is primarily to remove a position that is vulnerable according to the five forces within an industry. The resource-based view uses capabilities to differentiate successful firms from failing ones. The institution-based view adds by arguing that except industry- and firm-level conditions, organizations also need to consider the effect of formal and informal rules of the game. Most research on entry barriers has focused on market-based variables such as economies of scale and product differentiation, but not nonmarket-based, institutional variables such as antidumping laws which are clearly considered as entry barriers in IB. The industry-based view, based on Porters five forces, rarely consider questions behind such rivalry. In international trade, the hunt of a cost leadership strategy that neglects host country trading laws and regulations can simply cause legal action such as antidumping (Peng et al, 2009) Foreign firms are often discriminated by the formal rules of the game in many countries (Peng et al, 2009). Discrimination is also obvious in the case of antidumping. Overall, when industry- and resource-based views fail, there is a strong implication for domestic organizations under competitive pressures to use an institution-based view by filling an antidumping petition to organisations which are selling below cost and planning to raise prices after eliminating domestic organisations. (Schuler et al., 2002). The IB strategy , concerning foreign market entry, needs to keep an eye on antidumping as entry barriers and institution-based view pays large attention to the strategic topic of antidumping. Besides, grey markets are defined as legal importation of genuine products into a country by grey marketers as they buy products cheaper in countries and sell it in another at higher prices. The grey marketer has to be careful as grey market is not legal in every country as it is banned in EU as retailers cannot sell products without the consent of trademark owners. UK supermarket leader Tesco has lost its legal combat for the right to sell cut price Levis jeans in a case which has implications for trade mark owners and retailers operating in the grey market. Tesco bought jeans from wholesalers in the US and Canada where jeans are sold more cheaply. The jeans were sold in the UK at about half the price suggested by Levis. (BBC, 2002) In short, company should not just keep an eye on industry based view and resource based view only but institution-based view as doing business needs strong knowledge about the formal and informal rules governing competition in various countries. What determines the success and failure of firms around the globe is the third question. From the cases above, it is obvious that it is difficult to imagine firms that do not know the rules of the game in a particular country will become winners. In general, an institution-based view suggests that the success and failure of firms around the world, at least in part, are allowed and constrained by the different rules of the game (Peng et al., 2008) The institution-based view has added meaningfully new insights to three questions above. Overall, the institution based view complements the industry-based and resource-based views to collectively sustain a strategy tripod. Industry position, resource and capability, and institutions all affect organisation strategy and performance. The institution-based view suggests that foreign entrants need to develop a strong knowledge of the rules of the game, both formal and informal in host countries. The industry-based view suggests that the degree of competitiveness in an industry determines organisation performance. The resource-based view suggests that firm-specific capabilities determine performance differences. The institution-based view argues that institutional forces also provide an influence to differences in firm performance because of its significant effects on exporters strategy and performance beyond the impact of firm competencies and industry factors. An institution-based view of IB strategy in combination with industry and resource-based views do not only help su stain a strategy tripod, but also provide significant new perspectives of international business that what determines organizations strategy in IB and What determines the international success and failure of organizations.

Ethics in Our Everyday Lives Essay

This paper will discuss how ethics relate in our everyday lives and more specifically how ethics are used in our workplace also how ethics are used by companies. This paper will also cover how businesses have implemented ethical procedures, standards and how these businesses flourished because of the effective use of ethical standards. â€Å"I consider ethics, as well as religion, as supplements to law in the government of man.† Thomas Jefferson Ethics in our Everyday Lives. As a society we are faced with ethical problems every day, and how we handle these situations shape our culture and lives. However, what are ethics? The meaning of â€Å"ethics† is hard to pin down, and the views many people have about them are shaky. People tend to associate ethics with their feelings. But being ethical is clearly not a matter of following one’s feelings, nor should one identify ethics with religion, the law or â€Å"whatever society accepts.† Ethics refers to the constant effort of studying our moral conduct, and our own moral beliefs, and striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are reasonable and concrete. It is not enough to be able to do the right thing when we ourselves have nothing to lose. We must be willing to fulfill our ethical obligations at the expense of our self-centered desires and vested interests. (Dr. Richard Paul & Dr. Linda Elder, 2003) In short, ethics is doing what is right even when no one is looking. Well-founded standards of right and wrong that advocate what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, benefits to society, obligations, fairness, or specific virtues stem directly from having ethics. Ethical standards also impose the judicious obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, and fraud, therefore a society with a strong code of ethics tends to run smoothly. A society with no code of ethics could very well develop into anarchy. Although arguments have been made, to the contrary, ethics are just as vital in the workplace. Ethics are essential in the workplace because a tough ethical code provides a non-threatening environment with high employee morale, a company that exhibits clear-cut ethics tends to show higher profits, and simply because it is the right thing to do. Perhaps most important, attention to ethics in the workplaces helps ensure that when leaders and managers are strugg ling in times of crises and confusion, they retain a strong moral compass, and this goes for the workers as well. The Ethics Resource Center, a non-profit, non-partisan organization devoted to business ethics, released the results of its 2005 National Business Ethics Survey, polling more than 3000 workers across America. The results were disheartening; 21% observed abusive or intimidating behavior toward employees. 19% observed lying to customers, employees, vendors or the public. 18% observed situations that placed employee interests over company interests. 16% observed violations of safety regulations and misreporting of time worked (Verschoor, 2000, pp. 19-20) Environments that accommodate these low ethical standards tend to feel hostile to the average employee. When this behavior is witnessed repeatedly over time, it lowers morale. And low moral easily leads the employee feels no loyalty towards the company and in turn the company feels no loyalty towards its employees. A workplace that encourages the effective ethical administration, however, is a workplace that breeds strong morale. Patricia Harned, ERC president, states â€Å"Creating a strong ethical environment should be a top priority of all companies.† (Verschoor, 2000, pp. 19-20) According to â€Å"Workplace Ethics†, a company with strong ethical guidelines has a few commonalities. Companies watch encouraged communication; the staff feels open and unthreatened about reporting and discussing ethical concerns. They also clarify rewards and punishments, which provides a meaningful context to what otherwise seems arbitrary. Businesses that encourage trust between management and employs well tend to have a much easier time enforcing their ethical standards. Also businesses found out that by promoting this strategy that it was much less expensive and more effective than legally defining and enforcing their ethical standards. These organizations also build corporate values, which improves the corporate image. (Compilation, 1999) This creates an environment that employees find a joy to work in. Furthermore, from a corporate perspective it is just as significant to note that an ethical company tends to be a profitable company. Can a company have ethical practices, and still show a profit? Yes, according to Business Ethics magazine. By concentrating on the effects of business decisions made and how they enhance or diminish the well being of others, benefits can be seen for the company, the employee, the stockholder, and the consumer. Many of the corporations that show up on the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Business magazine also show up on Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and Working Mother magazine’s Best Companies to Work For. (Do Good, Do Well, 2001, p. 28) Starbucks is one of these companies and has been a regular on these lists. Starbucks is working to empower farmers in East Timor, where coffee provides the livelihood of 25% of the population. The company also participates in various external programs to help benefit the envir onment and provide relief efforts after disasters. Internally, Starbucks offers many benefits to its employees-including tuition reimbursement, partner benefits, a wellness program and a 25 to 150% match in its 401(k) plan. (Examining the benefits of corporate social responsibility, May1 2006) These factors are just some that contribute to the success of Starbucks and provide the company with the foundation to build a coffeehouse on every street corner. Another company that is perennially honored for its ethical conduct is Southwest Airlines. Although the airline industry has been through what some may characterize as catastrophic circumstances over the last several years Southwest has never cut employee pay. In fact, the organization’s employees took a voluntary pay cut after Sept. 11, 2001, rather than allow surging costs to force Southwest to reduce its flight schedule. â€Å"I’ve been here 28 years,† states Donna Conover, Southwest’s executive vice president of customer service, â€Å"and from the beg inning, we’ve felt that employees are our greatest assets.† (Examining the benefits of corporate social responsibility, May1 2006) An unethical company, however, can expect none of these benefits, and it may actually be part of the reason for failing. A perfect example of an unethical fallout would be that of the oil giant Enron. Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay, discussing his company’s collapse due to fraud, and insider trading and tax evasion, recently insisted that his once great and honest company adhered to prevailing business practices. â€Å"The Enron task force investigation is largely a case about normal business activities typically engaged in on a daily basis by corporate officers of publicly held companies throughout the country,† Lay insisted in a December 2005 speech. Lay went on to say that the Enron task force was â€Å"attempting to criminalize† what he characterized as common business practices. Under Lay’s perverted ethics code, transactions meant to deceive are not wrong if these transactions, legal or not, are commonly practiced by corporate America. Stockholder s often paid the price of such as moral relativism. (Zamansky, 02/01/2006, p. 11a) This points out what should be the overriding reason for expecting high ethical standards in the workplace-it’s the right thing to do. A recent survey by The Society for Human Resource Management found that 54% of human-resource professionals surveyed had witnessed conduct in the workplace which violated either the law or common practices of their organizations. Some of the violations witnessed ware, Fair Labor Standards Act, violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employees engaging in fraud, falsifying records, altering the results of product tests, and misusing insider information. (Schumann, Spring/Summer 2001, p. 93) The survey found that 47% of those surveyed felt pressured to compromise ethical standards to achieve business objectives. They stated that they did not report observed conduct due to factors such as fear of retribution, lack of trust in the organization’s procedures, the desire to be part of the team, or a feeling that ethics were unimportant to the organizations. (Schumann, Spring/Summer 2001, p. 93) The main culprit for this pervading ethical dilemma is moral relativism. Moral relativism is the belief that because different people have different moral principles, there is no way to pass judgment on these principles as to their validity or lack thereof. Taken to its extreme, this belief would allow any action, from lying to murder, if the perpetrator simply believes his moral framework does not preclude that action. An excellent example of this new moral relativism is recounted by Rhonda Gibbs. â€Å"About three years ago,† she recalls, â€Å"My daughter’s high school basketball coach, (also a teacher), was having a relationship with a minor.† The relationship, she details, was very obvious to those who had daily contact with the pair. Staff, faculty, and students watched the relationship develop over a period of nine months to a year; however, not a single person spoke up about the impropriety of this relationship or the seriousness of this crime. Whether for reasons of not wanting to upset the coach, not wanting to look like a whistle blower, or simply to maintain the status quo, this teacher’s colleagues, the very people charged with protection of the young girl, allowed him to violate her for at least nine months. The school was only forced to deal with the issue when outside parties informed the police. Although the landscape sometimes looks bleak for the proponents of a strong ethical society, ethics do get used in a moral fashion, as this next example illustrates. Some surplus land adjacent to a shopping center was donated to a city by the developers who owned the mall. The land was earmarked by the builders to be used for community soccer fields. They then spent large sums of their own money to develop the fields. The donated land was adjacent to a river, and after many years of spring floods swamping the fields, the city abandoned them. The developers, realizing that the land was no longer being used for their intended purpose, contacted the city. Developers are notorious for taking otherwise useless land and turning it into acres of parking lots. These individuals, however, decided to transform the property, at their own expense, into a community wetland park. This transformation took over two years and several hundred thousand dollars. These businessmen, who were well within their rights to demand the land back since it wasn’t being utilized for its donated purpose, instead did the ethical thing at great cost to themselves. As I can be seen, ethics are important in the workplace and our every day life as well because they provide higher profits, higher morale, and ethical behavior is the proper course of action. Whether decisions made affect the operation of a home, small business, large corporation, or a nation, a clear ethical foundation will always serve to improve our society. References Compilation. (1999). Bulletpoint. Retrieved May 6, 2006, from Workplace Ethics Web site: http://web107.epnet.com Examining the benefits of corporate social responsibility. (May1 2006). Employee Benefit News, pITEM0612100B. Retrieved May 5, 2006, from http://find.galegroup.com. Do Good, Do Well. (2001, January). Workforce, 80, 28. Retrieved May 5, 2006, from http://find.galegroup.com. Dr. Richard Paul & Dr. Linda Elder. (2003). The Miniature Guide to Understanding the Foundations of Ethical Reasoning. The Foundation for Critical Thinking. Guest, E. (n.d.). SoFinesJoyfulMoments. Retrieved May 8, 2006, from Mary (Garren) Morand Web site: http://sofinesjoyfulmoments.com/quotes/sermon.htm Schumann, P.L. (Spring/Summer 2001). A moral principles framework for human resource management ethics. Human Resource Management Review, 11 (1/2), 93. Retrieved May 6, 2006, from http://web102.epnet.com. Verschoor, C. (2000, December). Ethical Culture: Most Important Barrier to Ethical Misconduct. Strategic Finance, 87, 19-20. Retrieved May 6, 2006, from http://web107.epnet.com. Zamansky, J. (02/01/2006). At the least, former Enron chiefs are guilty of moral bankruptcy. USAToday, 0734-7456, p. 11a. Retrieved from http://web102.epnet.com.

How Can We Become a Good Citizens? & Ways to Be a Good Citizens

A good citizen is one who properly fulfills his or her role as a citizen. There are many opinions as to what constitutes a good citizen. Theodore Roosevelt said, â€Å"The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight. † Education is sometimes viewed as a prerequisite to good citizenship, in that it helps citizens make good decisions and deal with demagogues who would delude them. Roger Soder writes that in a democracy, where the demands of good citizenship are placed upon all, â€Å"only the common schools can provide to all the education that all need. † Science literacy is also frequently touted as a key to good citizenship. Good citizenship is sometimes viewed as requiring both intellectual skills (such ascritical thinking) and participatory skills (such as deliberating civilly, monitoring the government, building coalitions, managing conflict peacefully and fairly, and petitioning, speaking or testifying before public bodies). Henry David Thoreau wrote that men who serve the state making â€Å"no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense†¦ are commonly esteemed good citizens. † Orit Ichilov notes that children â€Å"tend to perceive the government in the image of an ideal father that is benevolent and protective. At this stage, the good citizen is characterized as one who, through his behavior, proves himself one worthy of the love and protection of the government rather than one possessing certain political obligations and rights. Through their early school years, children usually continue to think in apolitical terms of their citizenship, expressing loyalty by their desire to remain in their country due to an attachment to its beauty, wildlife, and good people. By age twelve or thirteen, they begin referring more to political qualities, such as the nature and values of the regime. High school seniors define the good citizen primarily in political terms. Some students defin e good citizenship in terms of standing up for what one believes in. Joel Westheimer identifies the personally responsible citizen (who acts responsibly in his community, e. g. by donating blood), the participatory citizen (who is an active member of community organizations and/or improvement efforts) and the justice-oriented citizen (who critically assesses social, political, and economic structures to see beyond surface causes) as three different types of â€Å"good citizen. † Sometimes incentives prevail over desires to be a good citizen. For example, many people will avoid coming forth as witnesses in court cases because they do not want to deal with the inconvenience and red tape. Aristotle makes a distinction between the good citizen and the good man, writing, â€Å"†¦ there cannot be a single absolute excellence of the good citizen. But the good man is so called in virtue of a single absolute excellence. It is thus clear that it is possible to be a good citizen without possessing the excellence which is the quality of a good man. † Specifically, in his view, the good citizen is measured in relation to ruling and being ruled, the good man only in ruling. Some of the ambiguity is likely due to more than one Greek word being translated â€Å"good. Many organizations attempt to promote â€Å"good citizenship. † For example, the Boy Scouts of America published Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship, and theOntario Medal for Good Citizenship is given to those who are deemed to have made outstanding contributions to the well being of their communities without expectation of remuneration or reward. Another non profit or ganization, Good Citizen, has a mission to teach Americans how to be effective citizens and focuses on 100 citizen actions. Ways to be a good citizens. We can probably be a good citizen if we follow the given instructions 1. We must obey rules and regulations. 2. We must respect all nationalities. 3. Stand for the right of others. 4. We must be helpful and considerate, willing to put others first. 5. We must listens to the views of others and thinks about what they have to say. 6. We should helps people who are not in a position to help themselves. 7. A responsible citizen always respects the environment and does not damage it in anyway. 8. We must work hard as well as willing to learn new things. 9. We must be well mannered and pleasant.

Descriptive Essay - Original Writing - 997 Words

The fresh grass tickled his sticky body as he crushed the living daylights out of them. Beneath the sun’s gaze, he laid still while absorbing the beauty of the outside world. It was perfect. â€Å"Run,† an elderly man shouted at his students, interrupting his photosynthesis moment. â€Å"Off the ground, Junho.† Junho’s eyes unlocked, his vision flooded with the cotton clouds and baby blue sky. The lively looking grass unfolded as Junho hustled to his rowdy coach. The day was too perfect. Preparing himself to run off with much confidence, rain broke out, abruptly stopping him as he made his first step to sprint. Junho took his eyes off the finish line and fixed his stare upon the upsetting clouds. Keeping his stare upon the gray clouds, he tilted†¦show more content†¦Within a few minutes, Junho reached into his stiff pocket and piled a blue and white deck of cards on top of his books along with his white bulky headphones. His headphones shielded rounded ears from the rambling students. â€Å"As time goes by, I only let out sighs. Always blaming the heavens Pounding the floor in regret. Isn’t that why I couldn’t fly or walk?† Consciously stacking card after card, Junho had formed a house of cards. It was perfect. Finishing his masterpiece, he looked back to the rain, building more sighs and the tear-shaped rain fell constantly. Song after song, his view was filled with the house of cards. Three layers of cards, stacked upon one another. Without the bottom, the tower is unstable. Without the bottom, the whole house falls and is no longer one. Without the bottom, the house is nothing. At that very moment, the bell rang and interrupted his gaze. His eyes shifted as the bell rang throughout the school startling him. But he wasn’t the only one startled, the cards collapsed. Junho stared at the fallen cards as the faint beeping rang once more. The bus stop was in full view from where Junho stood. He had to run. The bus wasn’t too far away from it’s designated destination. With such little thought, he prepared himself once more to run. As soon as he met contact with the concrete floor a drop of water targetted him. Rain. Drip drop. One fell right after another like a cycle. The perfect day had been ruined again by the drizzling rain.