Jobs should be the means to an end, and not the end itself.

FORBES: Jobs and Public Policy

The defeat means the Canaries slip below Nottingham Forest into third in the table and brings an end to their eight-game unbeaten run in the Championship.

BBC: Sport - Football - Burnley 2-1 Norwich

In the prose context, this means starting an article or a book with a question and then waiting to answer it until the end.

FORBES: How To Overcome Workplace Distraction

In short, the fiscal cliff means an automatic end to the tax cuts put in place under George W., and automatic across-the-board cuts to the government budget, as promised in the August 2011 debt ceiling compromise.

FORBES: Who Gets Soaked Once U.S. Falls Over Fiscal Cliff?

To adapt the queen's one-liner: for all that the spectacle and unattainable glamour of royalty still fascinates (and helps sell books), for Britain's jubilee monarch the show is a means to an end.

ECONOMIST: Why the queen has to be seen to be believed

And the President looks forward tomorrow to thanking the troops, thanking those who served, and discussing what that sacrifice that Americans have made means now, as the Iraq war comes to an end -- which is, as you know, what the President promised he would do when he was running for President, which was to end this war responsibly.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

The Conservative AM added: "Mid Wales is suffering from a general wage packet downsizing which inevitably means a knock-on loss of spending power from the local economy and an end to any ideas of owning a house for many more local people".

BBC: Inside the Floform plant (library pictures)

For others a manager may address how failure is a means to an end, and while no one sets out to failure, learning from the experience can make the individual stronger and a better contributor.

FORBES: What a Famous Character Actor Can Teach You about Coaching Your Employees

The Immigration Minister, Beverley Hughes tells us the target was always a "means to an end", refuses to say what the new target is, and says the issue will be addressed in the next few months.

BBC: Asylum seeker removal target ditched